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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/8644-8.txt b/8644-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..186a0fe --- /dev/null +++ b/8644-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6820 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Ab, by Stanley Waterloo + +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: The Story of Ab + A Tale of the Time of the Cave Man + +Author: Stanley Waterloo + +Posting Date: April 5, 2014 [EBook #8644] +Release Date: August, 2005 +First Posted: July 29, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF AB *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, Andy Schmitt, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: GREAT TRUNK SHOT DOWNWARD AND BACKWARD PICKED UP THE MAN +AND HURLED HIM YARDS AWAY] + + + + + THE STORY OF AB + + A TALE OF THE TIME OF THE CAVE MAN + + BY + + STANLEY WATERLOO + + 1905 + + + Author of "A Man and a Woman," "An Odd Situation," etc. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +This is the story of Ab, a man of the Age of Stone, who lived so long ago +that we cannot closely fix the date, and who loved and fought well. + +In his work the author has been cordially assisted by some of the ablest +searchers of two continents into the life history of prehistoric times. +With characteristic helpfulness and interest, these already burdened +students have aided and encouraged him, and to them he desires to express +his sense of profound obligation and his earnest thanks. + +Once only does the writer depart from accepted theories of scientific +research. After an at least long-continued study of existing evidence and +information relating to the Stone Ages, the conviction grew upon him that +the mysterious gap supposed by scientific teachers to divide Paleolithic +from Neolithic man never really existed. No convulsion of nature, no new +race of human beings is needed to explain the difference between the +relics of Paleolithic and Neolithic strugglers. Growth, experiment, +adaptation, discovery, inevitable in man, sufficiently account for all +the relatively swift changes from one form of primitive life to another +more advanced, from the time of chipped to that of polished implements. +Man has been, from the beginning, under the never resting, never +hastening, forces of evolution. The earth from which he sprang holds the +record of his transformations in her peat-beds, her buried caverns and +her rocky fastnesses. The eternal laws change man, but they themselves do +not change. + +Ab and Lightfoot and others of the cave people whose story is told in the +tale which follows the author cannot disown. He has shown them as they +were. Hungry and cold, they slew the fierce beasts which were scarcely +more savage than they, and were fed and clothed by their flesh and fur. +In the caves of the earth the cave men and their families were safely +sheltered. Theirs were the elemental wants and passions. They were +swayed by love, in some form at least, by jealousy, fear, revenge, and by +the memory of benefits and wrongs. They cherished their young; they +fought desperately with the beasts of their time, and with each other, +and, when their brief, turbulent lives were ended, they passed into +silence, but not into oblivion. The old Earth carefully preserved their +story, so that we, their children, may read it now. + +S. W. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER. + +I. THE BABE IN THE WOODS. + +II. MAN AND HYENA. + +III. A FAMILY DINNER. + +IV. AB AND OAK. + +V. A GREAT ENTERPRISE. + +VI. A DANGEROUS VISITOR. + +VII. THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS. + +VIII. SABRE-TOOTH AND RHINOCEROS. + +IX. DOMESTIC MATTERS. + +X. OLD MOK, THE MENTOR. + +XI. DOINGS AT HOME. + +XII. OLD MOK'S TALES. + +XIII. AB'S GREAT DISCOVERY. + +XIV. A LESSON IN SWIMMING. + +XV. A MAMMOTH AT BAY. + +XVI. THE FEAST OF THE MAMMOTH. + +XVII. THE COMRADES. + +XVIII. LOVE AND DEATH. + +XIX. A RACE WITH DREAD. + +XX. THE FIRE COUNTRY. + +XXI. THE WOOING OF LIGHTFOOT. + +XXII. THE HONEYMOON. + +XXIII. MORE OF THE HONEYMOON. + +XXIV. THE FIRE COUNTRY AGAIN. + +XXV. A GREAT STEP FORWARD. + +XXVI. FACING THE RAIDER. + +XXVII. LITTLE MOK. + +XXVIII. THE BATTLE OF THE BARRIERS. + +XXIX. OLD HILLTOP'S LAST STRUGGLE. + +XXX. OUR VERY GREAT GRANDFATHER. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +BY SIMON HARMON VEDDER + +"HIS GREAT TRUNK SHOT DOWNWARD AND BACKWARD, PICKED UP THE MAN, AND +HURLED HIM YARDS AWAY" + +MAP + +"AB SEIZED UPON TWO OF THE SNARLING CUBS, AND OAK DID THE SAME" + +"AB SPRANG TO HIS FEET, AND DREW HIS ARROW TO THE HEAD" + +"THE YOUNG MEN CALLED TO HER, BUT SHE MADE NO ANSWER. SHE BUT FISHED AWAY +DEMURELY" + +"AB STOOD THERE WEAPONLESS, A CREATURE WANDERING OF MIND" + +"WITH A GREAT LEAP HE WENT AT AND THROUGH THE CURLING CREST OF THE YELLOW +FLAME!" + +"THE GIRL COWERED BEHIND A REFUGE OF LEAVES AND BRANCHES" + +"UPON THE STRONG SHAFT OF ASH THE MONSTER WAS IMPALED" + + + + +THE STORY OF AB. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +THE BABE IN THE WOODS. + +Drifted beech leaves had made a soft, clean bed in a little hollow in a +wood. The wood was beside a river, the trend of which was toward the +east. There was an almost precipitous slope, perhaps a hundred and fifty +feet from the wood, downward to the river. The wood itself, a sort of +peninsula, was mall in extent and partly isolated from the greater forest +back of it by a slight clearing. Just below the wood, or, in fact, almost +in it and near the crest of the rugged bank, the mouth of a small cave +was visible. It was so blocked with stones as to leave barely room for +the entrance of a human being. The little couch of beech leaves already +referred to was not many yards from the cave. + +On the leafy bed rolled about and kicked up his short legs in glee a +little brown babe. It was evident that he could not walk yet and his lack +of length and width and thickness indicated what might be a babe not more +than a year of age, but, despite his apparent youth, this man-child +seemed content thus left alone, while his grip on the twigs which had +fallen into his bed was strong, as he was strong, and he was breaking +them delightedly. Not only was the hair upon his head at least twice as +long as that of the average year-old child of today, but there were downy +indications upon his arms and legs, and his general aspect was a swart +and rugged one. He was about as far from a weakly child in appearance as +could be well imagined and he was about as jolly a looking baby, too, as +one could wish to see. He was laughing and cooing as he kicked about +among the beech leaves and looked upward at the blue sky. His dress has +not yet been alluded to and an apology for the negligence may be found in +the fact that he had no dress. He wore nothing. He was a baby of the time +of the cave men; of the closing period of the age of chipped stone +instruments; the epoch of mild climate; the ending of one great animal +group and the beginning of another; the time when the mammoth, the +rhinoceros, the great cave tiger and cave bear, the huge elk, reindeer +and aurochs and urus and hosts of little horses, fed or gamboled in the +same forests and plains, with much discretion as to relative distances +from each other. + +It was some time ago, no matter how many thousands of years, when the +child--they called him Ab--lay there, naked, upon his bed of beech +leaves. It may be said, too, that there existed for him every chance for +a lively and interesting existence. There was prospect that he would be +engaged in running away from something or running after something during +most of his life. Times were not dull for humanity in the age of stone. +The children had no lack of things to interest, if not always to amuse, +them, and neither had the men and women. And this is the truthful story +of the boy Ab and his playmates and of what happened when he grew to be a +man. + +It is well to speak here of the river. The stream has been already +mentioned as flowing to the eastward. It did not flow in that direction +regularly; its course was twisted and diverted, and there were bays and +inlets and rapids between precipices, and islands and wooded peninsulas, +and then the river merged into a lake of miles in extent, the waters +converging into the river again. So it was that the banks in one place +might form a height and in another merge evenly into a densely wooded +forest or a wide plain. It was so, too, that these conditions might exist +opposite each other. Thus the woodland might face the plain, or the +precipice some vast extending marsh. + +To speak further of this river it may be mentioned, incidentally, that +to-day its upper reaches still exist and that the relatively small stream +remaining is called the Thames. Beside and across it lies the greatest +city in the world and its mouth is upon what is called the English +Channel. At the time when the baby, Ab, slept that afternoon in his nest +in the beech leaves this river was not called the Thames, it was only +called the Running Water, to distinguish it from the waters of the coast. +It did not empty into the British Channel, for the simple and sufficient +reason that there was no such channel at the time. Where now exists that +famous passage which makes islands of Great Britain, where, tossed upon +the choppy waves, the travelers of the world are seasick, where Drake and +Howard chased the Great Armada to the Northern seas and where, to-day, +the ships of the nations are steered toward a social and commercial +center, was then good, solid earth crowned with great forests, and the +present little tail end of a river was part of a great affluent of the +Rhine, the German river famous still, but then with a size and sweep +worth talking of. Then the Thames and the Elbe and Weser, into which +tumbled a thousand smaller streams, all went to feed what is now the +Rhine, and that then tremendous river held its course through dense +forests and deep gorges until it reached broad plains, where the North +Sea is to-day, and blended finally with the Northern Ocean. + +The trees which stood upon the bank of the great river, or which could be +seen in the far distance beyond the marsh or plain, were not all the same +as now exist. There was still a distinctive presence of the towering +conifers, something such as are represented in the redwood forests of +California to-day, or, in other forms, in some Australian woods. There +was a suggestion of the fernlike but gigantic age of growth of the +distant past, the past when the earth's surface was yet warm and its air +misty, and there was an exuberance of all plant and forest growth, +something compared with which the growth in the same latitude, just now, +would make, it may be, but a stunted showing. It is wonderful, though, +the close resemblance between most of the trees of the cave man's age, so +many tens of thousands of years ago, and the trees most common to the +temperate zone to-day. The peat bogs and the caverns and the strata of +deposits in a host of places tell truthfully what trees grew in this +distant time. Already the oak and beech and walnut and butternut and +hazel reared their graceful forms aloft, and the ground beneath their +spreading branches was strewn with the store of nuts which gave a portion +of food for many of the beasts and for man as well. The ash and the yew +were there, tough and springy of fiber and destined in the far future to +become famous in song and story, because they would furnish the wood from +which was made the weapon of the bowman. The maple was there with all its +symmetry. There was the elm, the dogged and beautiful tree-thing of +to-day, which so clings to life and nourishes in the midst of unwholesome +city surroundings and makes the human hive so much the better. There were +the pines, the sycamore, the foxwood and dogwood, and lime and laurel and +poplar and elder and willow, and the cherry and crab apple and others of +the fruit-bearing kind, since so developed that they are great factors in +man's subsistence now. It was a time of plenty which was riotous. There +remained, too, a vestige of the animal as well as of the vegetable life +of the remoter ages. There were strange and dangerous creatures which +came sometimes up the river from its inlet into the ocean. Such events +had been matters of interest, not to say of anxiety, to Ab's ancestors. + +The baby lying there among the beech leaves tired, finally, of its cooing +and twig-snapping and slept the sleep of dreamless early childhood. He +slept happily and noiselessly, but when he at last awoke his demeanor +showed a change. He had nothing to distract him, unless it might be the +breaking of twigs again. He had no toys, and, being hungry, he began to +yell. So far as can be learned from early data, babies, when hungry, have +always yelled. And, of old, as to-day, when a baby yelled, the woman who +had borne it was likely to appear at once upon the scene. Ab's mother +came running lightly from the river bank toward where the youngster lay. +She was worthy of attention as she ran, and this is but a bungling +attempt at a description of her and of her dress. + +It should be explained here, with much care and caution, that the mother +of Ab moved in the best and most exclusive circles of the time. She +belonged to the aristocracy and, it may be added, regarding this fine +lady personally, that she had the weakness of paying much attention to +her dress. She was what might properly be called a leader of society, +though society was at the time somewhat attenuated, families living, +generally, some miles apart, and various obstacles, chiefly in the form +of large, man-eating animals, complicating the matter of paying calls. As +for the calls themselves, they were nearly as often aggressive as social, +and there is a certain degree of difference between the vicious use of a +flint ax and the leaving of a card with a bending lackey. But all this +doesn't matter. The mother of Ab belonged to the very cream of the cream, +and was dressed accordingly. Her garb was elegant but simple; it had, +first, the one great merit, that it could easily be put on or taken off. +It was sustained with but a single knot, a bow-knot--they had learned to +make a bow-knot and other knots in the stone age, for, because of the +manual requirements for living, they were cleverer fumblers with their +fingers than we are now--and the lady here described had tied her knot in +a manner not to be excelled by any other woman in all the fiercely +beast-ranged countryside. + +The gown itself was of a quality to please the eye of the most carping. +It was made from the skins of wolverines, and was drawn in loosely about +the waist by a tied band, but was really sustained by a strip of the skin +which encircled the left shoulder and back and breast. This left the +right arm free from all encumbrance, a matter of some importance, for to +be right-handed was a quality of the cave man as of the man today. We +should have a grudge against them for this carelessness, and should, may +be, form an ambidextrous league, improving upon the past and teaching and +forcing young children to use each hand alike. + +The garment of wolverine skins, sewed neatly together with thread of +sinews, was all the young mother wore. Thus hanging from the shoulder and +fully encircling her, it reached from the waist to about half way down +between the hips and the knees. It was as delightful a gown as ever was +contrived by ambitious modiste or mincing male designer in these modern +times. It fitted with a free and easy looseness and its colors were such +as blended smoothly and kindly with the complexion of its wearer. The fur +of the wolverine was a mixed black and white, but neither black nor white +is the word to use. The black was not black; it was only a swart sort of +color, and the white was not white; it was but a dingy, lighter contrast +to the darker surface beside it. Yet the combination was rather good. +There was enough of difference to catch the eye and not enough of +glaringness to offend it. The mother of Ab would be counted by a wise +observer as the possessor of good taste. Still, dress is a small matter. +There is something to say about the cave mother aside from the mere +description of her gown. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +MAN AND HYENA. + +It is but an act of simple gallantry and justice to assert that the cave +woman had a certain unhampered swing of movement which the modern woman +often lacks. Without any reflection upon the blessed woman of to-day, it +must be said truthfully that she can neither leap a creek nor surmount +some such obstacle as a monster tree trunk with a close approach to the +ease and grace of this mother who came bounding through the forest. There +was nothing unknowing or hesitant about her movements. She ran swiftly +and leaped lightly when occasion came. She was lithe as the panther and +as careless of where her brown feet touched the ground. + +The woman had physical charms. She was of about the average size of +womanhood as we see it embodied now, but her waist was not compressed at +an unseemly angle, and much resembled in its contour that of the Venus of +Milo which has become such a stock example of the healthfully +symmetrical. Her hair was brown and long. It was innocent of knot or coil +or braid, and was transfixed by no abatis of dangerous pins. It was not +parted but was thrown straight backward over the head and hung down +fairly and far between brown shoulders. It was a fine head of hair; there +could be no question about that. It had gloss and color. Captious +critics, reasoning from the standpoint of another age, might think it +needed combing, but that is only a matter of opinion. It was tangled +together in a compact and fluffy mass, and so did not wander into the +woman's eyes, which was a good thing and a great convenience, for bright +eyes and unobstructed vision were required in those lively days. + +The face of this lady showed, at a glance, that no cosmetic had ever been +relied upon to give it an artificial charm. As a matter of fact it would +have been difficult to use cosmetics upon that face in the modern way, +for there was a suggestion of something more than down upon the +countenance, and there were certain irregularities of facial outline so +prominent that such details as the little matter of complexion must be +trifling. The eyes were deep set and small, the nose was short and thick +and possessed a certain vagueness of outline not easy of description. The +upper lip was excessively long and the under lip protruding. The chin was +well defined and firm. The mouth was rather wide, and the teeth were +strong and even, and as white as any ivory ever seen. Such was the face, +and there may be added some details of interest about the figure. The +arms of this fascinating woman were perfectly proportioned. They were +adapted to the times and were very beautiful. Down each of them from +shoulder to elbow ran a strip of short dark hair. From either hand ran +upward to the elbow another strip of hair, and the two, meeting at the +elbow, formed a delightful little tuft reminding one of what is known as +a "widow's peak," or that little point which grows down so charmingly on +an occasional woman's forehead. Her biceps were tremendous, as must +necessarily be the case with a lady accustomed to swing from limb to limb +along the treetops. Her thumb was nearly as long as her fingers, and the +palms of her hands were hard. Her legs were like her arms in their degree +of muscular development and hairy adornment. She had beautiful feet. It +is to be admitted that her heels projected a trifle more than is counted +the ideal thing at the present day, and that her big toe and all the +other toes were very much in evidence, but there is not one woman in +ten thousand now who could as handily pick up objects with her toes as +could the mother of the baby Ab. She was as brown as a nut, with the tan +of a half tropical summer, and as healthy a creature, from tawny head to +backward sloping heel, as ever trod a path in the world's history. This +was the quality of the lady who came so swiftly to learn the nature of +her offspring's trouble. Ladies of that day attended, as a rule, to the +wants of their own children. A wet nurse was a thing unknown and a dry +one as unthought of. This was good for the children. + +The woman made a dive into the little hollow and picked the babe from its +nest of leaves and tossed him up lightly, and at once his crying ceased, +and his little brown arms went around her neck, and he cooed and prattled +in very much the same fashion as does a babe of the present time. He was +content, all in a moment, yet some noise must have aroused him, for, as +it chanced, there was great need that this particular babe at this +particular moment should have awakened and cried aloud for his mother. +This was made evident immediately. As the woman tossed him aloft in her +arms and cuddled him again there came a sound to her ears which made her +leap like some wilder creature of the forest up to a little vantage +ground. She turned her head, and then--you should have seen the woman! + +Very nearly above them swung down one of the branches of a great beech +tree. The mother threw the child into the hollow of her left arm, and +leaped upward a yard to catch the branch with her right hand. So she hung +dangling. Then, instantly, holding him firmly by one arm in her left +hand, she lowered the child between her legs and clasped them about him +closely. And then, had it been your fortune to be born in those times, +you might have seen good climbing. With both her strong arms free, this +vigorous matron ran up the stout beech limb which depended downward from +the great bole of the tree until she was twenty feet above the ground, +and then, lifting herself into a comfortable place, in a moment was +sitting there at ease, her legs and one arm coiled about the big branch +and a smaller upstanding one, while the other arm held the brown babe +close to her bosom. + +This charming lady of the period had reached her perch in the beech tree +top none too soon. Even as she swung herself into place upon the huge +bough, there came rushing across the space beneath, snarling, smelling +and seeking, a brute as foul and dangerous as could be imagined for +mother and son upon the ground. It was of a dirty dun color, mottled and +striped with a lighter but still dingy hue. It had a black, hoggish nose, +but there were fangs in its great jaws. It resembled a huge wolf, save as +to its massiveness and club countenance, It was one of the monster hyenas +of the time, a beast which must have been as dangerous to the men then +living as any animal except the cave tiger and the cave bear. Its +degenerate posterity, as they shuffle uneasily back and forth when caged +to-day, are perhaps not less foul of aspect, but are relatively pygmies. +Doubtless the brute had scented the sleeping babe, and, snarling aloud in +its search, had waked it, inducing the cry which proved the child's +salvation. + +The beast scented immediately the prey above him and leaped upward +ferociously and vainly. Was the woman thus beset thus holding herself +aloft and with her child upon one arm in a state of sickening anxiety? +Hardly! She but encircled the supporting branch the closer, and laughed +aloud. She even poked one bare foot down at the leaping beast, and waved +her leg in provocation. At the same time there was no doubt that she was +beset. Furthermore she was hungry, and so she raised her voice, and sent +out through the forest a strange call, a quavering minor wail, but +something to be heard at a great distance. There was no delay in the +response, for delays were dangerous when cave men lived. The call was +answered instantly and the answering cry was repeated as she called +again, the sound of the reply approaching near and nearer all the time. +All at once the manner of her calling changed; it was an appeal no +longer; it was a conversation, an odd, clucking, penetrating speech in +the shortest of sentences. She was telling of the situation. There was +prompt reply; the voice seemed suddenly higher in the air and then came, +swinging easily from branch to branch along the treetops, the father of +Ab, a person who felt a natural and aggressive interest in what was going +on. + +To describe the cave man it is, it may be, best of all to say that he was +the woman over again, only stronger, longer limbed and deeper chested, +firmer of jaw and more grim of countenance. He was dressed almost as she +was. From his broad shoulder hung a cloak of the skin of some wild beast +but the cord which tied it was a stout one, and in the belt thus formed +was stuck a weapon of such quality as men have rarely carried since. It +was a stone ax; an ax heavier than any battle-ax of mediaeval times, its +haft a scant three feet in length, inclosing the ax through a split in +the tough wood, all being held in place by a taut and hardened mass of +knotted sinews. It was a fearful weapon, but one only to be wielded by +such a man as this, one with arms almost as mighty as those of the +gorilla. + +The man sat himself upon the limb beside his wife and child. The two +talked together in their clucking language for a moment or two, but few +words were wasted. Words had not their present abundance in those days; +action was everything. The man was hungry, too, and wanted to get home as +soon as possible. He had secured food, which was awaiting them, and this +slight, annoying episode of the day must be ended promptly. He clambered +easily up the tree and wrenched off a deadened limb at least two yards in +length, then tumbling back again and passing his wife and child along the +main branch, he swung down to where the leaping beast could almost reach +him. The heavy club he carried gave him an advantage. With a whistling +sweep, as the hyena leaped upward in its ravenous folly, came this huge +club crashing against the thick skull, a blow so fair and stark and +strong that the stunned beast fell backward upon the ground, and then, +down, lightly as any monkey, dropped the cave man. The huge stone ax went +crashing into the brain of the quivering brute, and that was the end of +the incident. Mother and child leaped down together, and the man and +woman went chattering toward their cave. This was not a particularly +eventful day with them; they were accustomed to such things. + +They went strolling off through the beech glades, the strong, hairy, +heavy-jawed man, the muscular but more lightly built woman and the child, +perched firmly and chattering blithely upon her shoulder as they walked, +or, rather, half trotted along the river side and toward the cave. They +were light of foot and light of thought, but there was ever that almost +unconscious alertness appertaining to their time. Their flexible ears +twitched, and turned, now forward now backward, to catch the slightest +sound. Their nostrils were open for dangerous scents, or for the scent of +that which might give them food, either animal or vegetable, and as for +the eyes, well, they were the sharpest existent within the history of the +human race. They were keen of vision at long distance and close at hand, +and ever were they in motion, swiftly turned sidewise this way and that, +peering far ahead or looking backward to note what enemies of the wood +might be upon the trail. So, swiftly along the glade and ever alert, went +the father and mother of Ab, carrying the strong child with them. + +There came no new alarm, and soon the cave was reached, though on the way +there was a momentary deviation from the path, to gather up the nuts and +berries the woman had found in the afternoon while the babe was lying +sleeping. The fruitage was held in a great leaf, a pliant thing pulled +together at the edges, tied stoutly with a strand of tough grass, and +making a handy pouch containing a quart or two of the food, which was the +woman's contribution to the evening meal. As for the father, he had more +to offer, as was evident when the cave was reached. + +The man and woman crept through the narrow entrance and stood erect in a +recess in the rocks twenty feet square, at least, and perhaps fifteen +feet in height. Looking upward one could see a gleam of light from the +outer world. The orifice through which the light came was the chimney, +dug downward with much travail from the level of the land above. Directly +underneath the opening was the fireplace, for men had learned thoroughly +the use of fire, and had even some fancies as to getting rid of smoke. +There were smoldering embers upon the hearth, embers of the hardest of +wood, the wood which would preserve a fire for the greatest length of +time, for the cave man had neither flint and steel nor matches, and when +a fire expired it was a matter of some difficulty to secure a flame +again. On this occasion there was no trouble. The embers were beaten up +easily into glowing coals and twigs and dry dead limbs cast upon them +made soon a roaring flame. As the cave was lighted the proprietor pointed +laughingly to the abundance of meat he had secured. It was food of the +finest sort and in such quantity that even this stalwart being's strength +must have been exceptionally tested in bringing the burden to the cave. +It was something in quality for an epicure of the day and there was +enough of it to make the cave man's family easy for a week, at least. It +was a hind quarter of a wild horse. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +A FAMILY DINNER. + +Despite the hyena and baby incident, the day had been a satisfactory one +for this cave family. Of course, had the woman failed to reach just when +she did the hollow in which her babe was left there would have come a +tragedy in the extinction of a young and promising cave child, and the +two would have been mourning, as even wild beasts mourn for their lost +young. But there was little reversion to past possibilities in the minds +of the cave people. The couple were not worrying over what might have +been. The mother had found food of one sort in abundance, and the +father's fortune had been royal. He had tossed a rock from a precipice a +hundred feet in height down into a passing herd of the little wild +horses, and great luck had followed, for one of them had been killed, and +so this was a holiday in the cave. The man and wife were at ease and had +each an appetite. + +The nuts gathered by the woman were tossed in a heap among the ashes and +live coals were raked upon them, and the popping which followed showed +how well they were being roasted. A sturdy twig, two yards in length and +sharpened at the end, was utilized by the man in cooking the strips of +meat cut from the haunch of the wild horse and very savory were the odors +that filled the cave. There was the faint perfume of the crackling nuts +and there was the fragrant beneficence of the broiling meat. There are no +definite records upon the subject; the chef of to-day can give you no +information on the point, but there is reason to believe that a steak +from the wild horse of the time was something admirable. There is a sort +of maxim current in this age, in civilized rural communities, to the +effect that those quadrupeds are good to eat which "chew the cud or part +the hoof." The horse of to-day is a creature with but one toe to each +leg--we all know that--but the horse of the cave man's time had only +lately parted with the split hoof, and so was fairly edible, even +according to the modern standard. + +The father and mother of Ab were not more than two years past their +honeymoon. They, in their way, were glad that their union had been so +blest and that a lusty man-child was rolling about and crowing and cooing +upon the earthen floor of the cave. They lived from hand to mouth, and +from day to day, and this day had been a good one. They were there +together, man, woman and child. They had warmth and food. The entrance to +the cave was barred so that no monster of the period might enter. They +could eat and sleep with a certainty of the perfect digestion which +followed such a life as theirs and with a certainty of all peace for the +moment. Even the child mumbled heartily, though not yet very strongly, at +the delicious meat of the little horse, and, the meal ended, the two lay +down upon a mass of leaves which made their bed, and the child lay +snuggled and warm within reach of them. The aristocracy of the time had +gone to sleep. + +There was silence in the cave, but, outside, the world was not so still. +The night was not always one of silence in the cave man's time. The hours +of darkness were those when the creature which walked upon two legs was +no longer gliding through the forest with ready club or spear, and when +those creatures which used four legs instead of two, especially the +defenseless, felt more at ease than in the daytime. The grass-eating +animals emerged from the forest into the plateaus and upon the low plains +along the river side and the flesh-eaters began again their hunting. It +was a time of wild life, and of wild death, for out of the abundance much +was taken; there were nightly tragedies, and the beasts of prey were as +glutted as the urus or the elk which fed on the sweet grasses. It was but +a matter of difference in diet and in the manner of doing away with one +life which must be sacrificed to support another. There was liveliness at +night with the queer thing, man, out of the way, and brutes and beasts of +many sorts, taking their chances together, were happier with him absent. +They could not understand him, and liked him not, though the great-clawed +and sharp-toothed ones had a vast desire to eat him. He was a disturbing +element in the community of the plain and forest. + +And, while all this play of life and death went on outside, the three +people, the man, woman and child, in the cave slept as soundly as sleep +the drunken or the just. They were full-fed and warm and safe. No beast +of a size greater than that of a lank wolf or sinewy wildcat could enter +the cave through the narrow entrance between the heaped-up rocks, and of +these, as of any other dangerous beast, there was none which would face +what barred even the narrow passage, for it was fire. Just at the +entrance the all-night fire of knots and hardest wood smoked, flamed and +smoldered and flickered, and then flamed again, and held the passageway +securely. No animal that ever lived, save man, has ever dared the touch +of fire. It was the cave man's guardian. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +AB AND OAK. + +Such were the father and mother of Ab, and such was the boy himself. His +surroundings have not been indicated with all the definiteness desirable, +because of the lack of certain data, but, in a general way, the degree of +his birth, the manner of his rearing and the natural aspects of his +estate have been described. That the young man had a promising future +could not admit of doubt. He was the first-born of an important family of +a great race and his inheritance had no boundaries. Just where the +possessions of the Ab family began or where they terminated no bird nor +beast nor human being could tell. The estates of the family extended from +the Mediterranean to the Arctic Ocean and there were no dividing lines. +Of course, something depended upon the existence or non-existence of a +stronger cave family somewhere else, but that mattered not. And the babe +grew into a sturdy youth, just as grow the boys of today, and had his +friendships and adventures. He did not attend the public schools--the +school system was what might reasonably be termed inefficient in his +time--nor did he attend a private school, for the private schools were +weak, as well, but he did attend the great school of Nature from the +moment he opened his eyes in the morning until he closed them at night. +Of his schoolboy days and his friendships and his various affairs, this +is the immediate story. + +The father and mother of Ab as has, it is hoped, been made apparent, were +strong people, intelligent up to the grade of the time and worthy of +regard in many ways. The two could fairly hold their own, not only +against the wild beasts, but against any other cave pair, should the +emergency arise. They had names, of course. The name of Ab's father was +One-Ear, the sequence of an incident occurring when he was very young, an +accidental and too intimate acquaintance with a species of wildcat which +infested the region and from which the babe had been rescued none too +soon. The name of Ab's mother was Red-Spot, and she had been so called +because of a not unsightly but conspicuous birthmark appearing on her +left shoulder. As to ancestry, Ab's father could distinctly remember his +own grandfather as the old gentleman had appeared just previous to his +consumption by a monstrous bear, and Red-Spot had some vague remembrance +of her own grandmother. + +As for Ab's own name, it came from no personal mark or peculiarity or as +the result of any particular incident of his babyhood. It was merely a +convenient adaptation by his parents of a childish expression of his own, +a labial attempt to say something. His mother had mimicked his babyish +prattlings, the father had laughed over the mimicry, and, almost +unconsciously, they referred to their baby afterward as "Ab," until it +grew into a name which should be his for life. There was no formal early +naming of a child in those days; the name eventually made itself, and +that was all there was to it. There was, for instance, a child living not +many miles away, destined to be a future playmate and ally of Ab, who, +though of nearly the same age, had not yet been named at all. His title, +when he finally attained it, was merely Oak. This was not because he was +straight as an oak, or because he had an acorn birthmark, but because +adjoining the cave where he was born stood a great oak with spreading +limbs, from one of which was dangled a rude cradle, into which the babe +was tied, and where he would be safe from all attacks during the absence +of his parents on such occasions as they did not wish the burden of +carrying him about. "Rock-a-by-baby upon the tree-top" was often a +reality in the time of the cave men. + +Ab was fortunate in being born at a reasonably comfortable stage of the +world's history. He had a decent prospect as to clothing and shelter, and +there was abundance of food for those brave enough or ingenious enough to +win it. The climate was not enervating. There were cold times for the +people of the epoch and, in their seasons, harsh and chilling winds swept +over bare and chilling glaciers, though a semi-tropical landscape was all +about. So suddenly had come the change from frigid cold to moderate +warmth, that the vast fields of ice once moving southward were not thawed +to their utmost depths even when rank vegetation and a teeming life had +sprung up in the now European area, and so it came that, in some places, +cold, white monuments and glittering plateaus still showed themselves +amid the forest and fed the tumbling streams which made the rivers +rushing to the ocean. There were days of bitter cold in winter and sultry +heat in summer. + +It may fairly be borne in mind of this child Ab that he was somewhat +different from the child of to-day, and nearer the quadruped in his +manner of swift development. The puppy though delinquent in the matter of +opening it's eyes, waddles clumsily upon its legs very early in its +career. Ab, of course, had his eyes open from the beginning, and if the +babe of to-day were to stand upright as soon as Ab did, his mother would +be the proudest creature going and his father, at the club, would be +acting intolerable. It must be admitted, though, that neither One-Ear nor +Red-Spot manifested an extraordinary degree of enthusiasm over the +precociousness of their first-born. He was not, for the time, remarkable, +and parents of the day were less prone than now to spoiling children. +Ab's layette had been of beech leaves, his bed had been of beech leaves, +and a beech twig, supple and stinging, had already been applied to him +when he misbehaved himself. As he grew older his acquaintance with it +would be more familiar. Strict disciplinarians in their way, though +affectionate enough after their own fashion, were the parents of +the time. + +The existence of this good family of the day continued without dire +misadventure. Ab at nine years of age was a fine boy. There could be no +question about that. He was as strong as a young gibbon, and, it must be +admitted, in certain characteristics would have conveyed to the learned +observer of to-day a suggestion of that same animal. His eyes were bright +and keen and his mouth and nose were worth looking at. His nose was +broad, with nostrils aggressively prominent, and as for his mouth, it was +what would be called to-day excessively generous in its proportions for a +boy of his size. But it did not lack expression. His lips could quiver at +times, or become firmly set, and there was very much of what might, even +then, be called "manliness" in the general bearing of the sturdy little +cave child. He had never cried much when a babe--cave children were not +much addicted to crying, save when very hungry--and he had grown to his +present stature, which was not very great, with a healthfulness and +general manner of buoyancy all the time. He was as rugged a child of his +age as could be found between the shore that lay long leagues westward of +what is now the western point of Ireland and anywhere into middle Europe. +He had begun to have feelings and hopes and ambitions, too. He had found +what his surroundings meant. He had at least done one thing well. He had +made well-received advances toward a friend; and a friend is a great +thing for a boy, when he is another boy of about the same age. This +friendship was not quite commonplace. + +Ab, who could climb like a young monkey, laid most casually the +foundation for this companionship which was to affect his future life. He +had scrambled, one day, up a tree standing near the cave, and, climbing +out along a limb near its top, had found a comfortable resting-place, and +there upon the swaying bough was "teetering" comfortably, when something +in another tree, further up the river, caught his sharp eye. It was a +dark mass,--it might have been anything caught in a treetop,--but the odd +part of it was that it was "teetering" just as he was. Ab watched the +object for a long time curiously, and finally decided that it must be +another boy, or perhaps a girl, who was swaying in the distant tree. +There came to him a vigorous thought. He resolved to become better +acquainted; he resolved dimly, for this was the first time that any idea +of further affiliation with anyone had come into his youthful mind. Of +course, it must not be understood that he had been in absolute retirement +throughout his young but not uneventful life. Other cave men and women, +sometimes accompanied by their children, had visited the cave of One-Ear +and Red-Spot and Ab had become somewhat acquainted with other human +beings and with what were then the usages of the best hungry society. He +had never, though, become really familiar with anyone save his father and +mother and the children which his mother had borne after him, a boy and a +girl. This particular afternoon a sudden boyish yearning came upon him. +He wanted to know who the youth might be who was swinging in the distant +tree. He was a resolute young cub, and to determine was to act. + +It was rare, particularly in the wooded districts of the country of the +cave men, for a boy of nine to go a mile from home alone. There was +danger lurking in every rod and rood, and, naturally, such a boy would +not be versed in all woodcraft, nor have the necessary strength of arm +for a long arboreal journey, swinging himself along beneath the +intermingling branches of close-standing trees. So this departure was, +for Ab, a venture something out of the common. But he was strong for his +age, and traversed rapidly a considerable distance through the treetops +in the direction of what he saw. Once or twice, though, there came +exigencies of leaping and grasping aloft to which he felt himself +unequal, and then, plucky boy as he was, he slid down the bole of the +tree and, looking about cautiously, made a dash across some little glade +and climbed again. He had traversed little more than half the distance +toward the object he sought when his sharp ears caught the sound of +rustling leaves ahead of him. He slipped behind the trunk of the tree +into whose top he was clambering and then, reaching out his head, peered +forward warily. As he thus ensconced himself, the sound he had heard +ceased suddenly. It was odd. The boy was perplexed and somewhat anxious. +He could but peer and peer and remain absolutely quiet. At last his +searching watchfulness was rewarded. He saw a brown protuberance on the +side of a great tree, above where the branches began, not twoscore yards +distant from him, and that brown protuberance moved slightly. It was +evident that the protuberance was watching him as he was watching it. He +realized what it meant. There was another boy there! He was not +particularly afraid of another boy and at once came out of hiding. The +other boy came calmly into view as well. They sat there, looking at each +other, each at ease upon a great branch, each with an arm sustaining +himself, each with his little brown legs dangling carelessly, and each +gazing upon the other with bright eyes evincing alike watchfulness and +curiosity and some suspicion. So they sat, perched easily, these +excellent young, monkeyish boys of the time, each waiting for the other +to begin the conversation, just as two boys wait when they thus meet +today. Their talk would not perhaps be intelligible to any professor of +languages in all the present world, but it was a language, however +limited its vocabulary, which sufficed for the needs of the men and women +and children of the cave time. It was Ab who first broke the silence: + +"Who are you?" he said. + +"I am Oak," responded the other boy. "Who are you?" + +"Me? Oh, I am Ab." + +"Where do you come from?" + +"From the cave by the beeches; and where do you come from?" + +"I come from the cave where the river turns, and I am not afraid of you." + +"I am not afraid of you, either," said Ab. + +"Let us climb down and get upon that big rock and throw stones at things +in the water," said Oak. + +"All right," said Ab. + +And the two slid, one after the other, down the great tree trunks and ran +rapidly to the base of a huge rock overtopping the river, and with sides +almost perpendicular, but with crevices and projections which enabled the +expert youngsters to ascend it with ease. There was a little plateau upon +its top a few yards in area and, once established there, the boys were +safe from prowling beasts. And this was the manner of the first meeting +of two who were destined to grow to manhood together, to be good +companions and have full young lives, howbeit somewhat exciting at times, +and to affect each other for joy and sorrow, and good and bad, and all +that makes the quality of being. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +A GREAT ENTERPRISE. + +What always happens when two boys not yet fairly in their 'teens meet, at +first aggressively, and then, each gradually overcoming this apprehension +of the other, decide upon a close acquaintance and long comradeship? +Their talk is firmly optimistic and they constitute much of the world. As +for Ab and Oak, when there had come to them an ease in conversation, +there dawned gradually upon each the idea that, next to himself, the +other was probably the most important personage in the world, fitting +companion and confederate of a boy who in an incredibly short space of +time was going to become a man and do things on a tremendous scale. +Seated upon the rock, a point of ease and vantage, they talked long of +what two boys might do, and so earnest did they become in considering +their possible great exploits that Ab demanded of Oak that he go with him +to his home. This was a serious matter. It was a no slight thing for a +boy of that day, allowed a playground within certain limits adjacent to +his cave home, to venture far away; but this in Oak's life was a great +occasion. It was the first time he had ever met and talked with a boy of +his age, and he became suddenly reckless, assenting promptly to Ab's +proposal. They ran along the forest paths together toward Ab's cave, +clucking in their queer language and utilizing in that short journey most +of the brief vocabulary of the day in anticipatory account of what they +were going to do. + +Ab's father and mother rather approved of Oak. They even went so far as +to consent that Ab might pay a return visit upon the succeeding day, +though it was stipulated that the father--and this was a demand the +mother made--should accompany the boy upon most of the journey. One-Ear +knew Oak's father very well. Oak's father, Stripe-Face, was a man of +standing in the widely-scattered community. Stripe-Face was so called +because in a casual, and, on his part, altogether uninvited encounter +with a cave bear when he was a young man, a sweep of the claws of his +adversary had plowed furrows down one cheek, leaving scars thereafter +which were livid streaks. One-Ear and Stripe-Face were good friends. +Sometimes they hunted together; they had fought together, and it was +nothing out of the way, and but natural, that Ab and Oak should become +companions. So it came that One-Ear went across the forest with his boy +the next day and visited the cave of Stripe-Face, and that the two young +cubs went out together buoyant and in conquering mood, while the grown +men planned something for their own advantage. Certainly the boys matched +well. A finer pair of youngsters of eight or nine years of age could +hardly be imagined than these two who sallied forth that afternoon. They +send very fine boys nowadays to our great high schools in the United +States, and to Rugby and Eaton and Harrow in England, but never went +forth a finer pair to learn things. No smattering of letters or lore of +any printed sort had these rugged youths, but their eyes were piercing as +those of the eagle, the grip of their hands was strong, their pace was +swift when they ran upon the ground and their course almost as rapid when +they swung along the treetops. They were self-possessed and ready and +alert and prepared to pass an examination for admission to any university +of the time; that is, to any of Nature's universities, where +matriculation depended upon prompt conception of existing dangers and the +ways of avoiding them, and of all adroitness in attainments which gave +food and shelter and safety. Eh! but they were a gallant pair, these two +young gentlemen who burst forth, owning the world entirely and feeling a +serene confidence in their ability, united, to maintain their rights. And +their ambitions soon took a definite turn. They decided that they must +kill a horse! + +The wild horse of the time, already referred to as esteemed for his +edible qualities, was, in the opinion of the cave people, but of moderate +value otherwise. He was abundant, ranging in herds of hundreds along the +pampas of the great Thames valley, and furnished forth abundant food for +man as well as the wild beasts, when they could capture him. His skin, +though, was not counted of much worth. Its short hair afforded little +warmth in cloak or breech-clout, and the tanned pelt became hard and +uncomfortable when it dried after a wetting. Still, there were various +uses for this horse's hide. It made fine strings and thongs, and the +beast's flesh, as has been said, was a staple of the larder. The first +great resolve of Ab and Oak, these two gallant soldiers of fortune, was +that, alone and unaided, they would circumvent and slay one of these wild +horses, thereby astonishing their respective families, at the same time +gaining the means for filling the stomachs of those families to +repletion, and altogether covering themselves with glory. + +Not in a day nor in a week were the plans of these youthful warriors and +statesmen matured. The wild horse had long since learned that the +creature man was as dangerous to it as were any of the fierce four-footed +animals which hunted it, and its scent was good and its pace was swift +and it went in herds and avoided doubtful places. Not so easy a task as +it might seem was that which Ab and Oak had resolved upon. There must be +some elaborate device to attain their end, but they were confident. They +had noted often what older hunters did, and they felt themselves as good +as anybody. They plotted long and earnestly and even made a mental +distribution of their quarry, deciding what should be done with its skin +and with its meat, far in advance of any determination upon a plan for +its capture and destruction. They were boys. + +There was no objection from the parents. They knew that the boys must +learn to become hunters, and if the two were not now capable of taking +care of themselves in the wood, then they were but disappointing +offspring. Consent secured, the boys acted entirely upon their own +responsibility, and, to make their subsequent plans clearer, it may be +well to explain a little more of the geography of the region. The cave of +Ab was on the north side of the stream, where the rocky banks came close +together with a little beach at either side, and the cave of Oak was +perhaps a mile to the westward, on the same side of the stream and with +very similar surroundings. On the south side of the river, opposite the +high banks between the two caves, the land was a prairie valley reaching +far away. On the north side as well there was at one place a little +valley, but it reached back only a few hundred yards from the river and +was surrounded by the forest-crowned hills. The close standing oaks and +beeches afforded, in emergency, a highway among their ranches, and along +this pathway the boys were comparatively safe. Either could climb a tree +at any time, and of the animals that were dangerous in the treetops there +were but few; in fact, there was only one of note, a tawny, cat-like +creature, not numerous, and resembling the lynx of the present day. +Almost in the midst of the little plain or valley, on the north side of +the river, rose a clump of trees, and in this the two boys saw means +afforded them for a realization of their hopes. The wild horses fed +daily in the valley to the north, as in the greater one to the south of +the river. But there also, in the high grass, as upon the south, +sometimes lurked the great beasts of prey, and to be far away from a tree +upon the plain was an unsafe thing for a cave man. From the forest edge +to the clump of trees was not more than two minutes' rush for a vigorous +boy and it was this fact which suggested to the youths their plan of +capture of the horse. + +The homes of the cave men were located, when possible, where the refuge +of safety overhung closely the river's bank, and where the non-climbing +animals must pass along beneath them, but, even at that period of few men +and abundant animal life, there had developed an acuteness among the +weaker beasts, and they had learned to avoid certain paths that had +proved fatal to their brethren. They were numerous in the plains and +comparatively careless there, relying upon their speed to escape more +dangerous wild beasts, but they passed rarely beneath the ledges, where a +weighty rock dropped suddenly meant certain death. It was not a task +entirely easy for the cave men to have meat with regularity, flush as was +the life about them. New devices must be resorted to, and Ab and Oak were +about to employ one not infrequently successful. + +The clam of the period, particularly the clam along this reach of the +upper Thames, was a marvel in his make-up. He was as large as he was +luscious, as abundant as he was both and was a great feature in the food +supply of the time. Not merely was he a feature in the food supply, but +in a mechanical way, and the first object sought by the boys, after their +plan had been agreed upon, was the shell of the great clam. They had no +difficulty in securing what they wanted, for strewn all about each cave +were the big shells in abundance. Sharp-edged, firm-backed, one of these +shells made an admirable little shovel, something with which to cut the +turf and throw up the soil, a most useful implement in the hands of the +river haunting people. The idea of the youngsters was simply this: Their +rendezvous should be at that point in the forest nearest the clump of +trees standing solitary in the valley below. They would select the safest +hours and then from the high ground make a sudden dash to the tree clump. +They would be watchful, of course, and seek to avoid the class of animals +for whom boys made admirable luncheon. Once at the clump of trees and +safely ensconced among the branches, they could determine wisely upon the +next step in their adventure. They were very knowing, these young men, +for they had observed their elders. What they wanted to do, what was the +end and aim of all this recklessness, was to dig a pit in this rich +valley land close to the clump of trees, a pit say some ten feet in +length by six feet in breadth and seven or eight feet in depth. That +meant a gigantic labor. Gillian, of "The Toilers of the Sea," assigned to +himself hardly a greater task. These were boys of the cave kind and must, +perforce, conduct themselves originally. As to the details of the plan, +well, they were only vague, as yet, but rapidly assuming a form more +definite. + +The first thing essential for the boys was to reach the clump of trees. +It was just before noon one day when they swung together on a tree branch +sweeping nearly to the ground, and at a point upon the hill directly +opposite the clump. This was the time selected for their first dash. They +studied every square yard of the long grass of the little valley with +anxious eyes. In the distance was feeding a small drove of wild horses +and, farther away, close by the river side, upreared occasionally what +might be the antlers of the great elk of the period. Between the boys and +the clump of trees there was no movement of the grass, nor any sign of +life. They could discern no trace of any lurking beast. + +"Are you afraid?" asked Ab. + +"Not if we run together." + +"All right," said Ab; "let's go it with a rush." + +The slim brown bodies dropped lightly to the ground together, each of the +boys clasping one of the clamshells. Side by side they darted down the +slope and across through the deep grass until the clump of trees was +reached, when, like two young apes, they scrambled into the safety of the +branches. + +The tree up which they had clambered was the largest of the group and of +dense foliage. It was one of the huge conifers of the age, but its +branches extended to within perhaps thirty feet of the ground, and from +the greatest of these side branches reached out, growing so close +together as to make almost a platform. It was but the work of a half hour +for these boys, with their arboreal gifts, to twine additional limbs +together and to construct for themselves a solid nest and lookout where +they might rest at ease, at a distance above the greatest leap of any +beast existing. In this nest they curled themselves down and, after much +clucking debate, formulated their plan of operation. Only one boy should +dig at a time, the other must remain in the nest as a lookout. + +Swift to act in those days were men, because necessity had made it a +habit to them, and swifter still, as a matter of course, were impulsive +boys. Their tree nest fairly made, work, they decided, must begin at +once. The only point to be determined upon was regarding the location of +the pit. There was a tempting spread of green herbage some hundred feet +to the north and east of the tree, a place where the grass was high but +not so high as it was elsewhere. It had been grazed already by the +wandering horses and it was likely that they would visit the tempting +area again. There, it was finally settled, should the pit be dug. It was +quite a distance from the tree, but the increased chances of securing a +wild horse by making the pit in that particular place more than offset, +in the estimation of the boys, the added danger of a longer run for +safety in an emergency. The only question remaining was as to who should +do the first digging and who be the first lookout? There was a violent +debate upon this subject. + +"I will go and dig and you shall keep watch," said Oak. + +"No, I'll dig and you shall watch," was Ab's response. "I can run faster +than you." + +Oak hesitated and was reluctant. He was sturdy, this young gentleman, but +Ab possessed, somehow, the mastering spirit. It was settled finally that +Ab should dig and Oak should watch. And so Ab slid down the tree, +clamshell in hand, and began laboring vigorously at the spot agreed upon. + +It was not a difficult task for a strong boy to cut through tough grass +roots with the keen edge of the clamshell. He outlined roughly and +rapidly the boundaries of the pit to be dug and then began chopping out +sods just as the workman preparing to garnish some park or lawn begins +his work to-day. Meanwhile, Oak, all eyes, was peering in every +direction. His place was one of great responsibility, and he recognized +the fact. It was a tremendous moment for the youngsters. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +A DANGEROUS VISITOR. + +It was not alone necessary for the plans of Ab and Oak that there should +be made a deep hole in the ground. It was quite as essential for their +purposes that the earth removed should not be visible upon the adjacent +surface. The location of the pit, as has been explained, was some yards +to the northeast of the tree in which the lookout had been made. A few +yards southwest of the tree was a slight declivity and damp hollow, for +from that point the land sloped, in a reed-grown marsh toward the river. +It was decided to throw into this marsh all the excavated soil, and so, +when Ab had outlined the pit and cut up its surface into sods, he carried +them one by one to the bank and cast them down among the reeds where the +water still made little puddles. In time of flood the river spread out +into a lake, reaching even as far as here. The sod removed, there was +exposed a rectangle of black soil, for the earth was of alluvial deposit +and easy of digging. Shellful after shellful of the dirt did Ab carry +from where the pit was to be, trotting patiently back and forth, but the +work was wearisome and there was a great waste of energy. It was Oak who +gave an inspiration. + +"We must carry more at a time," he called out. And then he tossed down to +Ab a wolfskin which had been given him by his father as a protection on +cold nights and which he had brought along, tied about his waist, quite +incidentally, for, ordinarily, these boys wore no clothing in warm +weather. Clothing, in the cave time, appertained only to manhood and +womanhood, save in winter. But Oak had brought the skin along because he +had noticed a vast acorn crop upon his way to and from the rendezvous and +had in mind to carry back to his own home cave some of the nuts. The pelt +was now to serve an immediately useful purpose. + +Spreading the skin upon the grass beside him, Ab heaped it with the dirt +until there had accumulated as much as he could carry, when, gathering +the corners together, he struggled with the enclosed load manfully to the +bank and spilled it down into the morass. The digging went on rapidly +until Ab, out of breath and tired, threw down the skin and climbed into +the treetop and became the watchman, while Oak assumed his labor. So they +worked alternately in treetop and upon the ground until the sun's rays +shot red and slanting from the west. Wiser than to linger until dusk had +too far deepened were these youngsters of the period. The clamshells were +left in the pit. The lookout above declared nothing in sight, then slid +to the ground and joined his friend, and another dash was made to the +hill and the safety of its treetops. It was in great spirits that the +boys separated to seek their respective homes. They felt that they were +personages of consequence. They had no doubt of the success of the +enterprise in which they had embarked, and the next day found them +together again at an early hour, when the digging was enthusiastically +resumed. + +Many a load of dirt was carried on the second day from the pit to the +marsh's edge, and only once did the lookout have occasion to suggest to +his working companion that he had better climb the tree. A movement in +the high grass some hundred yards away had aroused suspicion; some wild +animal had passed, but, whatever it was, it did not approach the clump of +trees and work was resumed at once. When dusk came the moist black soil +found in the pit had all been carried away and the boys had reached, to +their intense disgust, a stratum of hard packed gravel. That meant +infinitely more difficult work for them and the use of some new utensil. + +There was nothing daunting in the new problem. When it came to the mere +matter of securing a tool for digging the hard gravel, both Ab and Oak +were easily at home. The cave dwellers, haunting the river side for +centuries, had learned how to deal with gravel, and when Ab returned to +the scene the next day he brought with him a sturdy oaken stave some six +feet in length, sharpened to a point and hardened in the fire until it +was almost iron-like in its quality. Plunged into the gravel as far as +the force of a blow could drive it, and pulled backward with the leverage +obtained, the gravel was loosened and pried upward either in masses which +could be lifted out entire, or so crumbled that it could be easily dished +out with the clamshell. The work went on more slowly, but not less +steadily nor hopefully than on the days preceding, and, for some time, +was uninterrupted by any striking incident. The boys were becoming +buoyant. They decided that the grassy valley was almost uninfested by +things dangerous. They became reckless sometimes, and would work in the +pit together. As a rule, though, they were cautious--this was an inherent +and necessary quality of a cave being--and it was well for them that it +was so, for when an emergency came only one of them was in the pit, while +the other was aloft in the lookout and alert. + +It was about three o'clock one afternoon when Ab, whose turn it chanced +to be, was working valiantly in the pit, while Oak, all eyes, was perched +aloft. Suddenly there came from the treetop a yell which was no boyish +expression of exuberance of spirits. It was something which made Ab leap +from the excavation as he heard it and reach the side of Oak as the +latter came literally tumbling down the bole of the tree of watching. + +"Run!" Oak said, and the two darted across the valley and reached the +forest and clambered into safe hiding among the clustering branches. +Then, in the intervals between his gasping breath, Oak managed to again +articulate a word: + +"Look!" he said. + +Ab looked and, in an instant, realized how wise had been Oak's alarming +cry and how well it was for them that they were so distant from the clump +of trees so near the river. What he saw was that which would have made +the boys' fathers flee as swiftly had they been in their children's +place. Yet what Ab looked upon was only a waving, in sinuous regularity, +of the rushes between the tree clump and the river and the lifting of a +head some ten or fifteen feet above the reed-tops. What had so alarmed +the boys was what would have disturbed a whole tribe of their kinsmen, +even though they had chanced to be assembled, armed to the teeth with +such weapons as they then possessed. What they saw was not of the common. +Very rarely indeed, along the Thames, had occurred such an invasion. The +father of Oak had never seen the thing at all, and the father of Ab had +seen it but once, and that many years before. It was the great serpent of +the seas! + +Safely concealed in the branches of a tree overlooking the little valley, +the boys soon recovered their normal breathing capacity and were able to +converse again. Not more than a couple of minutes, at the utmost, had +passed between their departure from their place of labor and their +establishment in this same tree. The creature which had so alarmed them +was still gliding swiftly across the morass between the lowland and the +river. It came forward through the marsh undeviatingly toward the tree +clump, the tall reeds quivering as it passed, but its approach indicated +by no sound or other token of disturbance. The slight bank reached, there +was uplifted a great serpent head, and then, without hesitation, the +monster swept forward to the trees and soon hung dangling from the +branches of the largest one, its great coils twined loosely about trunk +and limb, its head swinging gently back and forth just below the lower +branch. It was a serpent at least sixty feet in length, and two feet or +more in breadth at its huge middle. It was queerly but not brilliantly +spotted, and its head was very nearly that of the anaconda of to-day. +Already the sea-serpent had become amphibious. It had already acquired +the knowledge it has transmitted to the anaconda, that it might leave the +stream, and, from some vantage point upon the shore, find more surely a +victim than in the waters of the sea or river. This monster serpent was +but waiting for the advent of any land animal, save perhaps those so +great as the mammoth or the great elk, or, possibly, even the cave +bear or the cave tiger. The mammoth was, of course, an impossibility, +even to the sea-serpent. The elk, with its size and vast antlers, was, to +put it at the mildest, a perplexing thing to swallow. The rhinoceros was +dangerous, and as for the cave bear and the cave tiger, they were +uncomfortable customers for anything alive. But there were the cattle, +the aurochs and the urus, and the little horses and deer, and wild hog +and a score of other creatures which, in the estimation of the +sea-serpent, were extremely edible. A tidbit to the serpent was a man, but +he did not get one in half a century. + +Not long did the boys remain even in a harborage so distant. Each fled +homeward with his story. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS. + +It was with scant breath, when they reached their respective caves, that +the boys told the story of the dread which had invaded the marsh-land. +What they reported was no light event and, the next morning, their +fathers were with them in the treetop at the safe distance which the +wooded crest afforded and watching with apprehensive eyes the movements +of the monster settled in the rugged valley tree. There was slight +movement to note. Coiled easily around the bole, just above where the +branches began, and resting a portion of its body upon a thick, extending +limb, its head and perhaps ten or fifteen feet of its length swinging +downward, the great serpent still hung awaiting its prey, ready to launch +itself upon any hapless victim which might come within its reach. That +its appetite would soon be gratified admitted of little doubt. Profiting +by the absence of the boys, who while at work made no effort to conceal +themselves, groups of wild horses were already feeding in the lowlands, +and the elk and wild ox were visible here and there. The group in the +treetop on the crest realized that it had business on hand. The +sea-serpent was a terror to the cave people, and when one appeared to +haunt the river the word was swiftly spread, and they gathered to +accomplish its end if possible. With warnings to the boys they left +behind them, the fathers sped away in different directions, one up, the +other down, the river's bank, Stripe-Face to seek the help of some of the +cave people and One-Ear to arouse the Shell people, as they were called, +whose home was beside a creek some miles below. Into the home of the +little colony One-Ear went swinging a little later, demanding to see the +head man of the fishing village, and there ensued an earnest conversation +of short sentences, but one which caused immediate commotion. To the hill +dwellers the rare advent of a sea-serpent was comparatively a small +matter, but it was a serious thing to the Shell folk. The sea-serpent +might come up the creek and be among them at any moment, ravaging their +community. The Shell people were grateful for the warning, but there were +few of them at home, and less than a dozen could be mustered to go with +One-Ear to the rendezvous. + +They were too late, the hardy people who came up to assail the serpent, +because the serpent had not waited for them. The two boys roosting in the +treetop on the height had beheld what was not pleasant to look upon, for +they had seen a yearling of the aurochs enveloped by the thing, which +whipped down suddenly from the branches, and the crushed quadruped had +been swallowed in the serpent's way. But the dinner which might suffice +it for weeks had not, in all entirety, the effect upon it which would +follow the swallowing of a wild deer by its degenerate descendants of the +Amazonian or Indian forests. + +The serpent did not lie a listless mass, helplessly digesting the product +of the tragedy upon the spot of its occurrence, but crawled away slowly +through the reeds, and instinctively to the water, into which it slid +with scarce a splash, and then went drifting lazily away upon the current +toward the sea. It had been years since one of these big water serpents +had invaded the river at such a distance from its mouth and never came +another up so far. There were causes promoting rapidly the extinction of +their dreadful kind. + +Three or four days were required before Ab and Oak realized, after what +had taken place, that there were in the community any more important +personages than they, and that they had work before them, if they were to +continue in their glorious career. When everyday matters finally asserted +themselves, there was their pit not yet completed. Because of their +absence, a greater aggregation of beasts was feeding in the little +valley. Not only the aurochs, the ancient bison, the urus, the progenitor +of the horned cattle of to-day, wild horse and great elk and reindeer +were seen within short distances from each other, but the big, hairy +rhinoceros of the time was crossing the valley again and rioting in its +herbage or wallowing in the pools where the valley dipped downward to the +marsh. The mammoth with its young had swung clumsily across the area of +rich feed, and, lurking in its train, eyeing hungrily and bloodthirstily +the mammoth's calf, had crept the great cave tiger. The monster cave bear +had shambled through the high grass, seeking some small food in default +of that which might follow the conquest of a beast of size. The uncomely +hyenas had gone slinking here and there and had found something worthy +their foul appetite. All this change had come because the two boys, being +boys and full of importance, had neglected their undertaking for about a +week and had talked each in his own home with an air intended to be +imposing, and had met each other with much dignity of bearing, at their +favorite perching-place in the treetop on the hillside. When there came +to them finally a consciousness that, to remain people of magnitude in +the world, they must continue to do something, they went to work bravely. +The change which had come upon the valley in their brief absence tended +to increase their confidence, for, as thus exhibited, early as was the +age, the advent of the human being, young or old, somehow affected all +animate nature and terrified it, and the boys saw this. Not that the +great beasts did not prey upon man, but then, as now, the man to the +great beast was something of a terror, and man, weak as he was, knew +himself and recognized himself as the head of all creation. The mammoth, +the huge, thick-coated rhinoceros, sabre-tooth, the monstrous tiger, or +the bear, or the hyena, or the loping wolf, or short-bodied and vicious +wolverine were to him, even then, but lower creatures. Man felt himself +the master of the world, and his children inherited the perception. + +Work in the pit progressed now rapidly and not a great number of days +passed before it had attained the depth required. The boy at work was +compelled, when emerging, to climb a dried branch which rested against +the pit's edge, and the lookout in the tree exercised an extra caution, +since his comrade below could no longer attain safety in a moment. But +the work was done at last, that is, the work of digging, and there +remained but the completion of the pitfall, a delicate though not a +difficult matter. Across the pit, and very close together, were laid +criss-crosses of slender branches, brought in armfuls from the forest; +over these dry grass was spread, thinly but evenly, and over this again +dust and dirt and more grass and twigs, all precautions being observed to +give the place a natural appearance. In this the boys succeeded very +well. Shrewd must have been the animal of any sort which could detect the +trap. Their chief work done, the boys must now wait wisely. The place was +deserted again and no nearer approach was made to the pitfall than the +treetops of the hillside. There the boys were to be found every day, +eager and anxious and hopeful as boys are generally. There was not +occasion for getting closer to the trap, for, from their distant perch, +its surface was distinctly visible and they could distinguish if it had +been broken in. Those were days of suppressed excitement for the two; +they could see the buffalo and wild horses moving here and there, but +fortune was still perverse and the trap was not approached. Before its +occupation by them, the place where they had dug had appeared the +favorite feeding-place; now, with all perversity, the wild horses and +other animals grazed elsewhere, and the boys began to fear that they had +left some traces of their work which revealed it to the wily beasts. On +one day, for an hour or two, their hearts were in their mouths. There +issued from the forest to the westward the stately Irish elk. It moved +forward across the valley to the waters on the other side, and, after +drinking its fill, began feeding directly toward the tree clump. It +reached the immediate vicinity of the pitfall and stood beneath the +trees, fairly outlined against the opening beyond, and affording +to the almost breathless couple a splendid spectacle. A magnificent +creature was the great elk of the time of the cave men, the Irish elk, as +those who study the past have named it, because its bones have been found +so frequently in what are now the preserving peat bogs of Ireland. But +the elk passed beyond the sight of the watchers, and so their bright +hopes fell. + +The crispness of full autumn had come, one morning, when Ab and Oak met +as usual and looked out across the valley to learn if anything had +happened in the vicinity of the pitfall. The hoar frost, lying heavily on +the herbage, made the valley resemble a sea of silver, checkered and +spotted all over darkly. These dark spots and lines were the traces of +such animals as had been in the valley during the night or toward early +morning. Leading everywhere were heavy trails and light ones, telling the +story of the night. But very little heed to these things was paid by the +ardent boys. They were too full of their own affairs. As they swung into +place together upon their favorite limb and looked across the valley, +they uttered a simultaneous and joyous shout. Something had taken place +at the pitfall! + +All about the trap the surface of the ground was dark and the area of +darkness extended even to the little bank of the swamp on the riverside. +Careless of danger, the boys dropped to the ground and, spears in hand, +ran like deer toward the scene of their weeks of labor. Side by side they +bounded to the edge of the excavation, which now yawned open to the sky. +They had triumphed at last! As they saw what the pitfall held, they +yelled in unison, and danced wildly around the opening, in the very +height of boyish triumph. The exultation was fully justified, for the +pitfall held a young rhinoceros, a creature only a few months old, but so +huge already that it nearly filled the excavation. It was utterly +helpless in the position it occupied. It was wedged in, incapable of +moving more than slightly in any direction. Its long snout, with its +sprouting pair of horns, was almost level with the surface of the ground +and its small bright eyes leered wickedly at its noisy enemies. It +struggled clumsily upon their approach, but nothing could relieve the +hopelessness of its plight. + +All about the pitfall the earth was plowed in furrows and beaten down by +the feet of some monstrous animal. Evidently the calf was in the company +of its mother when it fell a victim to the art of the pitfall diggers. It +was plain that the mother had spent most of the night about her young in +a vain effort to release it. Well did the cave boys understand the signs, +and, after their first wild outburst of joy over the capture, a sense of +the delicacy, not to say danger, of their situation came upon them. It +was not well to interfere with the family affairs of the rhinoceros. +Where had the mother gone? They looked about, but could see nothing to +justify their fears. Only for a moment, though, did their sense of safety +last; hardly had the echo of their shouting come back from the hillside +than there was a splashing and rasping of bushes in the swamp and the +rush of some huge animal toward the little ascent leading to the valley +proper. There needed no word from either boy; the frightened couple +bounded to the tree of refuge and had barely begun clambering up its +trunk than there rose to view, mad with rage and charging viciously, the +mother of the calf rhinoceros. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +SABRE-TOOTH AND RHINOCEROS. + +The rhinoceros of the Stone Age was a monstrous creature, an animal +varying in many respects from either species of the animal of the present +day, though perhaps somewhat closely allied to the huge double-horned and +now nearly extinct white rhinoceros of southern Africa. But the brute of +the prehistoric age was a beast of greater size, and its skin, instead of +being bare, was densely covered with a dingy colored, crinkly hair, +almost a wool. It was something to be dreaded by most creatures even in +this time of great, fierce animals. It turned aside for nothing; it was +the personification of courage and senseless ferocity when aroused. +Rarely seeking a conflict, it avoided none. The huge mammoth, a more +peaceful pachyderm, would ordinarily hesitate before barring its path, +while even the cave tiger, fiercest and most dreaded of the carnivora of +the time, though it might prey upon the young rhinoceros when opportunity +occurred, never voluntarily attacked the full-grown animal. From that +almost impervious shield of leather hide, an inch or more in thickness, +protected further by the woolly covering, even the terrible strokes of +the tiger's claws glanced off with but a trifling rending, while one +single lucky upward heave of the twin horns upon the great snout would +pierce and rend, as if it were a trifling obstacle, the body of any +animal existing. The lifting power of that prodigious neck was something +almost beyond conception. It was an awful engine of death when its +opportunity chanced to come. On the other hand, the rhinoceros of this +ancient world had but a limited range of vision, and was as dull-witted +and dangerously impulsive as its African prototype of today. + +But short-sighted as it was, the boys clambering up the tree were near +enough for the perception of the great beast which burst over the +hummock, and it charged directly at them, the tree quivering when the +shoulder of the monster struck it as it passed, though the boys, already +in the branches, were in safety. Checking herself a little distance +beyond, the rhinoceros mother returned, snorting fiercely, and began +walking round and round the calf imprisoned in the pitfall. The boys +comprehended perfectly the story of the night. The calf once ensnared, +the mother had sought in vain to rescue it, and, finally, wearied with +her exertion, had retired just over the little descent, there to wallow +and rest while still keeping guard over her imprisoned young. The +spectacle now, as she walked around the trap, was something which would +have been pitiful to a later race of man. The beast would get down upon +her knees and plow the dirt about the calf with her long horns. She would +seek to get her snout beneath its body sidewise, and so lift it, though +each effort was necessarily futile. There was no room for any leverage, +the calf fitted the cavity. The boys clung to their perches in safety, +but in perplexity. Hours passed, but the mother rhinoceros showed no +inclination to depart. It was three o'clock in the afternoon when she +went away to the wallow, returning once or twice to her young before +descending the bank, and, even when she had reached the marsh, snorting +querulously for some time before settling down to rest. + +The boys waited until all was quiet in the marsh, and, as a matter of +prudence, for some time longer. They wanted to feel assured that the +monster was asleep, then, quietly, they slid down the tree trunk and, +with noiseless step, stole by the pitfall and toward the hillside. A few +yards further on their pace changed to a run, which did not cease until +they reached the forest and its refuge, nor, even there, did they linger +for any length of time. Each started for his home; for their adventure +had again assumed a quality which demanded the consideration of older +heads and the assistance of older hands. It was agreed that they should +again bring their fathers with them--by a fortunate coincidence each knew +where to find his parent on this particular day--and that they should +meet as soon as possible. It was more than an hour later when the two +fathers and two sons, the men armed with the best weapons they possessed, +appeared upon the scene. So far as the watchers from the hillside could +determine, all was quiet about the clump of trees and the vicinity of the +pitfall. It was late in the afternoon now and the men decided that the +best course to pursue would be to steal down across the valley, kill the +imprisoned calf and then escape as soon as possible, leaving the mother +to find her offspring dead; reasoning that she would then abandon it. +Afterward the calf could be taken out and there would be a feast of cave +men upon the tender food and much benefit derived in utilization of +the tough yet not, at its age, too thick hide of the uncommon quarry. +There was but one difficulty in the way of carrying out this enterprise: +the wind was from the north and blew from the hunters toward the river, +and the rhinoceros, though lacking much range of vision, was as acute of +scent as the gray wolves which sometimes strayed like shadows through the +forest or the hyenas which scented from afar the living or the dead. +Still, the venture was determined upon. + +The four descended the hill, the two boys in the rear, treading with the +lightness of the tiger cat, and went cautiously across the valley and +toward the tree trunk. Certainly no sound they made could have reached +the ear of the monster wallowing below the bank, but the wind carried to +its nostrils the message of their coming. They were not half way across +the valley when the rhinoceros floundered up to the level and charged +wildly along the course of the wafted scent. There was a flight for the +hillside, made none too soon, but yet in time for safety. Walking around +in circles, snorting viciously, the great beast lingered in the vicinity +for a time, then went back to its imprisoned calf, where it repeated the +performance of earlier in the day and finally retired again to its hidden +resting-place near by. It was dusk now and the shadows were deepening +about the valley. + +The men, well up in the tree with the boys, were undetermined what to do. +They might steal along to the eastward and approach the calf from another +direction without disturbing the great brute by their scent. But it was +becoming darker every moment and the region was a dangerous one. In the +valley and away from the trees they were at a disadvantage and at night +there were fearful things abroad. Still, they decided to take the risk, +and the four, following the crest of the slight hill, moved along its +circle southeastward toward the river bank, each on the alert and each +with watchful eyes scanning the forest depths to the left or the valley +to the right. Suddenly One-Ear leaped back into the shadow, waved his +hand to check the advance of those behind him, then pointed silently +across the valley and toward the clump of trees. + +Not a hundred yards from the pitfall the high grass was swaying gently; +some creature was passing along toward the pitfall and a thing of no +slight size. Every eye of the quartet was strained now to learn what +might be the interloper upon the scene. It was nearly dark, but the eyes +of the cave men, almost nocturnal in their adaptation as they were, +distinguished a long, dark body emerging from the reeds and circling +curiously and cautiously around the pitfall; nearer and nearer it +approached the helpless prisoner until perhaps twenty feet distant from +it. Here the thing seemed to crouch and remain quiescent, but only for a +little time. Then resounded across the valley a screaming roar, so fierce +and raucous and death-telling and terrifying that even the hardened +hunters leaped with affright. At the same moment a dark object shot +through the air and landed on the back of the creature in the shallow +pit. The tiger was abroad! There was a wild bleat of terror and agony, a +growl fiercer and shorter than the first hoarse cry of the tiger, and, +then, for a moment silence, but only for a moment. Snorts, almost as +terrible in their significance as the tiger's roar, came from the +marsh's edge. A vast form loomed above the slight embankment and there +came the thunder of ponderous feet. The rhinoceros mother was charging +the great tiger! + +There was a repetition of the fierce snorts, with the wild rush of the +rhinoceros, another roar, the sound of which reechoed through the valley, +and then could be dimly seen a black something flying through the air and +alighting, apparently, upon the back of the charging monster. There was a +confusion of forms and a confusion of terrifying sounds, the snarling +roar of the great tiger and half whistling bellow of the great pachyderm, +but nothing could be seen distinctly. That a gigantic duel was in +progress the cave men knew, and knew, as well, that its scene was one +upon which they could not venture. The clamor had not ended when the +darkness became complete and then each father, with his son, fled swiftly +homeward. + +Early the next morning, the four were together again at the same point of +safety and advantage, and again the frost-covered valley was a sea of +silver, this time unmarred by the criss-crosses of feeding or hunting +animals. There was no sign of life; no creature of the forest or the +plain was so daring as to venture soon upon the battlefield of the +rhinoceros and the cave tiger. Cautiously the cave men and their sons +made their way across the valley and approached the pitfall. What was +revealed to them told in a moment the whole story. The half-devoured body +of the rhinoceros calf was in the pit. It had been killed, no doubt, by +the tiger's first fierce assault, its back broken by the first blow of +the great forearm, or its vertebrae torn apart by the first grasp of the +great jaws. There were signs of the conflict all about, but that it had +not come to a deadly issue was apparent. Only by some accident could the +rhinoceros have caught upon its horns the agile monster cat, and only by +an accident even more remote could the tiger have reached a vital part of +its huge enemy. There had been a long and weary battle--a mother creature +fighting for her young and the great flesh-eater fighting for his prey. +But the combatants had assuredly separated without the death of either, +and the bereaved rhinoceros, knowing her young one to be dead, had +finally left the valley, while the tiger had returned to its prey and fed +its fill. But there was much meat left. There were, in the estimation of +the cave people, few more acceptable feasts than that obtainable from the +flesh of a young rhinoceros. The first instinct of the two men was to +work fiercely with their flint knives and cut out great lumps of meat +from the body in the pit. Hardly had they begun their work, when, as +by common impulse, each clambered out from the depression suddenly, and +there was a brief and earnest discussion. The cave tiger, monarch of the +time, was not a creature to abandon what he had slain until he had +devoured it utterly. Gorged though he might be, he was undoubtedly in +hiding within a comparatively short distance. He would return again +inevitably. He might be lying sleeping in the nearest clump of bushes! It +was possible that his appetite might come upon him soon again and that he +might appear at any moment. What chance then for the human beings who had +ventured into his dining-room? There was but one sensible course to +follow, and that was instant retreat. The four fled again to the hillside +and the forest, carrying with them, however, the masses of flesh already +severed from the body of the calf. There was food for a day or two for +each family. + +And so ended the first woodland venture of these daring boys. For days +the vicinity of the little valley was not sought by either man or youth, +since the tiger might still be lurking near. When, later, the youths +dared to visit the scene of their bold exploit, there were only bones in +the pitfall they had made. The tiger had eaten its prey and had gone to +other fields. In later autumn came a great flood down the valley, rising +so high that the father of Oak and all his family were driven temporarily +from their cave by the water's influx and compelled to seek another +habitation many miles away. Some time passed before the comrades met +again. + +As for Ab, this exploit might be counted almost as the beginning of his +manhood. His father--and fathers had even then a certain paternal +pride--had come to recognize in a degree the vigor and daring of his son. +The mother, of course, was even more appreciative, though to her firstborn +she could give scant attention, as Ab had the small brother in the cave +now and the little sister who was still smaller, but from this time the +youth became a person of some importance. He grew rapidly, and the sinewy +stripling developed, not increasing strength and stature and rounding +brawn alone, for he had both ingenuity and persistency of purpose, +qualities which made him rather an exception among the cave boys of his +age. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +DOMESTIC MATTERS. + +Attention has already been called to the fact that the family of Ab were +of the aristocracy of the region, and it should be added that the +interior of One-Ear's mansion corresponded with his standing in the +community. It was a fine cave, there was no doubt about that, and Red-Spot +was a notable housekeeper. As a rule, the bones remaining about the +fire after a meal were soon thrown outside--at least they were never +allowed to accumulate for more than a month or two. The beds were +excellent, for, in addition to the mass of leaves heaped upon the earth +which formed a resting-place for the family, there were spread the skins +of various animals. The water privileges of the establishment were +extensive, for there was the river in front, much utilized for drinking +purposes. There were ledges and shelves of rock projecting here and there +from the sides of the cave, and upon these were laid the weapons and +implements of the household, so that, excepting an occasional bone upon +the earthen floor, or, perhaps, a spattering of red, where some animal +had been cut up for roasting, the place was very neat indeed. The fact +that the smoke from the fire could, when the wind was right, ascend +easily through the roof made the residence one of the finest within a +large district of the country. As to light, it cannot be said that the +house was well provided. The fire at night illuminated a small area and, +in the daytime, light entered through the doorway, and, to an extent, +through the hole in the cave's top, as did also the rains, but the light +was by no means perfect. The doorway, for obvious reasons, was narrow and +there was a huge rock, long ago rolled inside with much travail, which +could on occasion be utilized in blocking the narrow passage. Barely room +to squeeze by this obstruction existed at the doorway. The sneaking but +dangerous hyena had a keen scent and was full of curiosity. The monster +bear of the time was ever hungry and the great cave tiger, though rarer, +was, as has been shown, a haunting dread. Great attention was paid to +doorways in those days, not from an artistic point of view exactly, but +from reasons cogent enough in the estimation of the cave men. But the +cave was warm and safe and the sharp eyes of its inhabitants, accustomed +to the semi-darkness, found slight difficulty in discerning objects in +the gloom. Very content with their habitation were all the family and +Red-Spot particularly, as a chatelaine should, felt much pride in her +surroundings. + +It may be added that the family of One-Ear was a happy one. His life with +Red-Spot was the sequence of what might be termed a fortunate marriage. +It is true that standards vary with times, and that the demeanor of the +couple toward each other was occasionally not what would be counted the +index of domestic felicity in this more artificial and deceptive age. It +was never fully determined whether One-Ear or Red-Spot could throw a +stone ax with the greater accuracy, although certainly he could hurl one +with greater force than could his wife. But the deftness of each in +eluding such dangerous missiles was about the same, and no great harm had +at any time resulted from the effects of momentary ebullitions of anger, +followed by action on the part of either. There had not been at any time +a scandal in the family. The pair were faithful to each other. Society +was somewhat scattered in those days, and the cave twain, anywhere, were +generally as steadfast as the lion and the lioness. It was centuries +later, too, before the cave men's posterity became degenerate enough or +prosperous enough, or safe enough, to be polygamous, and, so far as the +area of the Thames valley or even the entire "Paris basin," as it is +called, was concerned, monogamy held its own very fairly, from the +shell-beds of the earliest kitchen-middens to the time of the bronze ax +and the dawn of what we now call civilization. + +There were now five members in this family of the period, One-Ear, +Red-Spot, Ab, Bark and Beech-Leaf, the two last named being Ab's younger +brother and little more than baby sister. The names given them had come +in the same accidental way as had the name of Ab. The brother, when very +small, had imitated in babyish way the barking of some wolfish creature +outside which had haunted the cave's vicinity at night time, and so the +name of Bark, bestowed accidentally by Ab himself, had become the +youngster's title for life. As to Beech-Leaf, she had gained her name in +another way. She was a fat and joyous little specimen of a cave baby and +not much addicted to lying as dormant as babies sometimes do. The +bearskin upon which her mother laid her had not infrequently proven too +limited an area for her exploits and she would roll from it into the +great bed of beech leaves upon which it was placed, and become fairly +lost in the brown mass. So often had this hilarious young lady to be +disinterred from the beech leaf bed, that the name given her came +naturally, through association of ideas. Between the birth of Ab and that +of his younger brother an interval of five years had taken place, the +birth of the sister occurring three or four years later. So it came that +Ab, in the absence of his father and mother, was distinctly the head of +the family, admonitory to his brother, with ideas as to the physical +discipline requisite on occasion, and, in a rude way, fond of and +protective toward the baby sister. + +There was a certain regularity in the daily program of the household, +although, with reference to what was liable to occur outside, it can +hardly be said to have partaken of the element of monotony. The work of +the day consisted merely in getting something to eat, and in this work +father and mother alike took an active part, their individual duties +being somewhat varied. In a general way One-Ear relied upon himself for +the provision of flesh, but there were roots and nuts and fruits, in +their season, and in the gathering of these Red-Spot was an admitted +expert. Not that all her efforts were confined to the fruits of the soil +and forest, for she could, if need be, assist her husband in the pursuit +or capture of any animal. She was not less clever than he in that +animal's subsequent dissection, and was far more expert in its cooking. +In the tanning of skins she was an adept. So it chanced that at this time +the father and mother frequently left the cave together in the morning, +their elder son remaining as protector of the younger inmates. When +occasionally he went with his parents, or was allowed to venture forth +alone, extra precautions were taken as to the cave's approaches. Just +outside the entrance was a stone similar to the one on the inside, and +when the two young children were left unguarded this outside barricade +was rolled against what remained of the entrance, so that the small +people, though prisoners, were at least secure from dangerous animals. +Of course there were variations in the program. There was that degree of +fellowship among the cave men, even at this early age, to allow of an +occasional banding together for hunting purposes, a battle of some sort +or the surrounding and destruction of some of the greater animals. At +such times One-Ear would be absent from the cave for days and Ab and his +mother would remain sole guardians. The boy enjoyed these occasions +immensely; they gave him a fine sense of responsibility and importance, +and did much toward the development of the manhood that was in him, +increasing his self-reliance and perfecting him in the art of winning his +daily bread, or what was daily bread's equivalent at the time in which he +lived. It was not in outdoor and physical life alone that he grew. There +was something more to him, a combination of traits somewhere which made +him a little beyond and above the mere seeker after food. He was never +entirely dormant, a sleeper on the skins and beech leaves, even when in +the shelter of the cave, after the day's adventures. He reasoned +according to such gifts as circumstances had afforded him and he had the +instinct of devising. An instinct toward devising was a great thing to +its possessor in the time of the cave people. + +We know very well to-day, or think we know, that the influence of the +mother, in most cases, dominates that of the father in making the future +of the man-child. It may be that this comes because in early life the +boy, throughout the time when all he sees or learns will be most clear in +his memory until he dies, is more with the woman parent than with the +man, who is afield; or, it may be, there is some criss-cross law of +nature which makes the man ordinarily transmit his qualities to the +daughter and the woman transmit hers to the son. About that we do not +know yet. But it is certain that Ab was more like his mother than his +father, and that in these young days of his he was more immediately under +her influence. And Red-Spot was superior in many ways to the ordinary +woman of the cave time. + +It was good for the boy that he was so under the maternal dominion, and +that, as he lingered about the cave, he aided in the making of threads of +sinew or intestine, or looked on interestedly as his mother, using the +bone needle, which he often sharpened for her with his flint scraper, +sewed together the skins which made the garments of the family. The +needle was one without an eye, a mere awl, which made holes through which +the thread was pushed. As the growing boy lounged or labored near his +mother, alternately helpful or annoying, as the case might be, he learned +many things which were of value to him in the future, and resolved upon +brave actions which should be greatly to his credit. He was but a cub, a +young being almost as unreasoning in some ways as the beasts of the wood, +but he had his hopes and vanities, as has even the working beaver or the +dancing crane, and from the long mother-talks came a degree of +definiteness of outline to his ambitions. He would be the greatest hunter +and warrior in all the region! + +The cave mother easily understood her child's increasing daringness and +vigor, and though swift to anger and strong of hand, she could not but +feel a pride in and tell her tales to the boy beside her. After a time, +when the family of Oak returned to the cave above and the boys were much +together again, the mother began to see less of her son. The influence of +the days spent by her side remained with the boy, however, and much that +he learned there was of value in his later active life. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +OLD MOK, THE MENTOR. + +It was at about this time, the time when Ab had begun to develop from +boyhood into strong and aspiring youth, that his family was increased +from five to six by the addition of a singular character, Old Mok. This +personage was bent and seemingly old, but he was younger than he looked, +though he was not extremely fair to look upon. He had a shock of grizzled +hair, a short, stiff, unpleasant beard, and the condition of one of his +legs made him a cripple of an exaggerated type. He could hobble about and +on great occasions make a journey of some length, but he was practically +debarred from hunting. The extraordinary curvature of his twisted leg +was, as usual in his time, the result of an encounter with some wild +beast. The limb curved like a corkscrew and was so much shorter than the +other leg that the man was really safe only when the walls of a cave +enclosed him. But if his legs were weak his brain and arms were not. In +that grizzled head was much intelligence and the arms were those of a +great climber. His toes were clasping things and he was at home in a +treetop. But he did not travel much. There was no need. Old Mok had +special gifts, and they were such as made him a desirable friend among +the cave men. He had, in his youth, been a mighty hunter and had so +learned that he could tell wonderfully the ways of beasts and swimming +things and the ways of slaying or eluding them. Best of all, he was such +a fashioner of weapons as the valley had rarely known, and, because of +this, was in great request as a cared-for inmate of almost any cave which +hit his fancy. After his crippling he had drifted from one haven to +another, never quite satisfied with what he found, and now he had come to +live, as he supposed, with his old friend, One-Ear, until life should +end. Despite his harshness of appearance--and neither of the two could +ever afterward explain it--there was something about the grim old man +which commended him to Ab from the very first. There was an occasional +twinkle in the fierce old fellow's eye and sometimes a certain cackle in +his clucking talk, which betokened not unkindliness toward a healthy +youngster, and the two soon grew together, as often the young and old may +do. + +Though but what might be called in one sense a dependent, the crippled +hunter had a dignity and was arbitrary in the expression of his views. +Never once, through all the thousands of years which have passed since he +hobbled here and there, has lived an armorer more famous among those who +knew him best. No fashioner of sword, or lance, or coat of mail or plate, +in the far later centuries, had better reputation than had Mok with his +friends and patrons for the making of good weapons, though it may be that +his clientele was less numerous by hundreds to one than that of some +later manufacturer of a Toledo blade. He might be living partly as a +dependent, but he could do almost as he willed. Who should have standing +if it were not accorded to the most gifted chipper of flint and carver of +mammoth tooth in all the region from where the little waters came down to +make a river, to where the blue, broad stream, blending with friendly +currents, was lost in what is now the great North Sea? + +A boy and an old man can come together closely, and that has, through all +the ages, been a good thing for each. The boy learns that which enables +him to do things and the man is happy in watching the development of one +of his own kind. Helping and advising Ab, and sometimes Oak as well, Old +Mok did not discourage sometimes reckless undertakings. In those days +chances were accepted. So when any magnificent scheme suggested itself to +the two youths, Ab at once sought his adviser and was not discountenanced. + +It was a great night in the cave when Ab brought home two fluffy gray +bundles not much larger than kittens and tied them in a corner with +thongs of sinew, sinew so tough and stringy that it could not easily be +severed by the sharp teeth which were at once applied to it. The fluffy +gray bundles were two young wolves, and were, for Ab, a great possession. +They were not even brother and sister, these cubs, and had been gallantly +captured by the two courageous rangers, Ab and Oak. For some time the +boys had noted lurking shadows about a rugged height close by the river, +some distance below the cave of Ab, and had resolved upon a closer +investigation. A particularly ugly brute was the wolf of the cave man's +time, but one which, when not in pack, was unlikely to assail two +well-armed and sturdy youths in daylight; and the result of much cautious +spying was that they found two dens, each with young in them, and at a +time when the old wolves were away. In one den Ab seized upon two of the +snarling cubs and Oak did the same in the other, and then the raiders +fled with such speed as was in them, until they were at a safe distance +from the place where things would not go well with them should the robbed +parents return. Once in safe territory, each exchanged a cub for one +seized by the other and then each went home in triumph. Ab was especially +delighted. He was determined to feed his cubs with the utmost care and to +keep them alive and growing. He was full of the fancy and delighted in +it, but he had assumed a great responsibility. + +[Illustration: AB SEIZED UPON TWO OF THE SNARLING CUBS AND OAK DID THE +SAME] + +The cubs were tied in a corner of the cave and at once commanded the +attention and unbounded admiration of Bark and Beech-Leaf. The young lady +especially delighted in the little beasts and could usually be found +lying in the corner with them, the baby wolves learning in time to play +with her as if she were a wolf-suckled cub herself. Bark had almost the +same relations with the little brutes and Ab looked after them most +carefully. Even the father and mother became interested in the antics of +the young children and young wolves and the cubs became acknowledged, if +not particularly respected, members of the family. But Ab's dream was too +much for sudden realization. Not all at once could the wild thing become +a tame one. As the cubs grew and their teeth became longer and sharper, +there was an occasional conflict and the arms of Bark and Beech-Leaf were +scarred in consequence, until at last Ab, though he protested hardly, was +compelled to give up his pets. Somehow, he was not in the mood for +killing the half grown beasts, and so he simply turned them loose, but +they did not, as he had thought they would, flee to the forest. They had +known almost no life except that of the cave, they had got their meat +there and, at night, the twain were at the doorway whining for food. To +them were tossed some half-gnawed bones and they received them with +joyous yelps and snarls. Thenceforth they hung about the cave and +retained, practically, their place in the family, oddly enough showing +particular animosity to those of their own kind who ventured near the +place. One day, the female was found in the cave's rear with four little +whelps lying beside her, and that settled it! The family petted the young +animals and they grew up tamer and more obedient than had been their +father and mother. Protected by man, they were unlikely to revert to +wildness. Members of the pack which grew from them were, in time, +bestowed as valued gifts among the cave men of the region and much came +of it. The two boys did a greater day's work than they could comprehend +when they raided the dens by the river's side. + +But there was much beside the capture of wolf cubs to occupy the +attention of the boys. They counted themselves the finest bird hunters in +the community and, to a certain extent, justified the proud claim made. +No youths could set a snare more deftly or hurl a stone more surely, and +there was much bird life for them to seek. The bustard fed in the vast +nut forests, the capercailzie was proud upon the moors, where the +heath-cock was as jaunty, and the willow grouse and partridge were wise in +covert to avoid the hungry snowy owl. Upon the river and lagoons and +creeks the swan and wild goose and countless duck made constant clamor, +and there were water-rail and snipe along the shallows. There were eggs +to be found, and an egg baked in the ashes was a thing most excellent. It +was with the waterfowl that the boys were most successful. The ducks +would in their feeding approach close to the shores of the river banks or +the little islands and would gather in bunches so near to where the boys +were hidden that the young hunters, leaping suddenly to their feet and +hurling their stones together, rarely failed to secure at least a single +victim. There were muskrats along the banks and there was a great beaver, +which was not abundant, and which was a mighty creature of his kind. Of +muskrats the boys speared many--and roasted muskrat is so good that it is +eaten by the Indians and some of the white hunters in Canada to-day--but +the big beaver they did not succeed in capturing at this stage of their +career. Once they saw a seal, which had come up the river from the sea, +and pursued it, running along the banks for miles, but it proved as +elusive as the great beaver. + +But, as a matter of course, it was upon land that the greatest sport was +had. There were the wild hogs, but the hogs were wary and the big boars +dangerous, and it was only when a litter of the young could be pounced +upon somewhere that flint-headed spears were fully up to the emergency. +On such occasions there was fine pigsticking, and then the atmosphere in +the caves would be made fascinating with the odor of roasting suckling. +There is a story by a great and gentle writer telling how a Chinaman +first discovered the beauties of roast pig. It is an admirable tale and +it is well that it was written, but the cave man, many tens of thousands +of years before there was a China, yielded to the allurements of young +pig, and sought him accordingly. + +The musk-ox, which still mingled with the animals of the river basin, was +almost as difficult of approach as in arctic wilds to-day, as was a small +animal, half goat, half antelope, which fed upon the rocky hillsides or +wherever the high reaches were. There were squirrels in the trees, but +they were seldom caught, and the tailless hare which fed in the river +meadows was not easily approached and was swift as the sea wind in its +flight, swifter than a sort of fox which sought it constantly. But the +burrowing things were surer game. There were martens and zerboas, and +marmots and hedgehogs and badgers, all good to eat and attainable to +those who could dig as could these brawny youths. The game once driven to +its hole, the clamshell and the sharpened fire-hardened spade-stick were +brought into use and the fate of the animal sought was rarely long in +doubt. It is true that the scene lacked one element very noticeable when +boys dig out any animal to-day. There was not the inevitable and +important dog, but the youths were swift of sight and quick of hand, and +the hidden creature, once unearthed, seldom escaped. One of the prizes of +those feats of excavation was the badger, for not only was it edible, but +its snow-white teeth, perforated and strung on sinew, made necklaces +which were highly valued. + +The youths did not think of attacking many of the dangerous brutes. They +might have risked the issue with a small leopard which existed then, or +faced the wildcat, but what they sought most was the wolverine, because +it had fur so long and oddly marked, and because it was braver than other +animals of its size and came more boldly to some bait of meat, affording +opportunity for fine spear-throwing. And, apropos of the wolverine, the +glutton, as it is called in Europe, it is something still admired. It is +a vicious, bloodthirsty, unchanging and, to the widely-informed and +scientifically sentimental, lovable animal. It is vicious and +bloodthirsty because that is its nature. It is lovable because, through +all the generations, it has come down just the same. The cave man knew it +just as it is now; the early Teuton knew it when "hides" of land were the +rewards of warriors. The Roman knew it when he made forays to the far +north for a few centuries and learned how sharp were the blades of the +Rhine-folk and the Briton. The Druid and the Angle and Jute and Saxon +knew it, and it is known to-day in all northern Europe and Asia and +America, in fact, in nearly all the northern temperate zone. The +wolverine is something wonderful; it laughs at the ages; its bones, found +side by side with those of the cave hyena, are the same as those found in +its body as it exists to-day. It is an anomaly, an animal which does not +advance nor retrograde. + +The two big boys grew daily in the science of gaining food and grew more +and more of importance in their respective households. Sometimes either +one of them might hunt alone, but this was not the rule. It was safer for +two than one, when the forest was invaded deeply. But not all their time +was spent in evading or seeking the life of such living things as they +might discover. They had a home life sometimes as entertaining as the +life found anywhere outside. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +DOINGS AT HOME. + +Those were happy times in the cave, where Ab, developing now into an +exceedingly stalwart youth, found the long evenings about the fire far +from monotonous. There was Mok, the mentor, who had grown so fond of him, +and there was most interesting work to do in making from the dark flint +nodules or obsidian fragments--always eagerly seized upon when discovered +by the cave people in their wanderings--the spearheads and rude knives +and skin scrapers so essential to their needs. The flint nodule was but a +small mass of the stone, often somewhat pear-shaped. Though apparently a +solid mass, composed of the hardest substance then known, it lay in what +might be called a series of flakes about a center, and, in wise hands, +these flakes could be chipped or pried away unbroken. The flake, once +won, was often slightly concave on the outside and convex on the other, +but the core of the stone was something more equally balanced in +formation and, when properly finished, made a mighty spearhead. For the +heavy axes and mallets, other stones, such as we now call granite, +redstone or quartose grit, were often used, but in the making of all the +weapons was required the exercise of infinite skill and patience. To make +the flakes symmetrical demanded the nicest perception and judgment of +power of stroke, for, with each flake gained, there resulted a new form +to the surface of the stone. The object was always to secure a flake with +a point, a strong middle ridge and sides as nearly edged as possible. And +in the striking off of these flakes and their finishing others of the +cave men were to old Mok as the child is to the man. + +Ab hung about the old man at his work and was finally allowed to help +him. If, at first, the boy could do nothing else, he could, with his +flint scraper, work industriously at the smoothing of the long spear +shafts, and when he had learned to do well at this he was at last allowed +to venture upon the stone chipping, especially when into old Mok's +possession had come a piece of flint the quality of which he did not +quite approve and for the ruining of which in the splitting he cared but +little. + +There were disasters innumerable when the boy began and much bad stone +was spoiled, but he had a will and a good eye and hand, and it came, in +time, that he could strike off a flake with only a little less of +deftness than his teacher and that, even in the more delicate work of the +finer chipping to complete the weapon, he was a workman not to be +despised. He had an ambition in it all and old Mok was satisfied with +what he did. + +The boy was always experimenting, ever trying a new flint chipper or +using a third stone to tap delicately the one held in the hand to make +the fracture, or wondering aloud why it would not be well to make this +flint knife a little thinner, or that spearhead a trifle heavier. He was +questioning as he worked and something of a nuisance with it all, but old +Mok endured with what was, for him, an astonishing degree of patience, +and would sometimes comment grumblingly to the effect that the boy could +at least chip stone far better than some men. And then the veteran would +look at One-Ear, who was, notoriously, a bad flint worker,--though, a +weapon once in his grasp, there were few could use it with surer eye or +heavier hand--and would chuckle as he made the comment. As for One-Ear, +he listened placidly enough. He was glad a son of his could make good +weapons. So much the better for the family! + +As times went, Ab was a tolerably good boy to his mother. Nearly all +young cave males were good boys until the time came when their thews and +sinews outmatched the strength of those who had borne them, and this, be +it said, was at no early age, for the woman, hunting and working with the +man, was no maternal weakling whose buffet was unworthy of notice. A blow +from the cave mother's hand was something to be respected and avoided. +The use of strength was the general law, and the cave woman, though she +would die for her young, yet demanded that her young should obey her +until the time came when the maternal instinct of first direction blended +with and was finally lost in pride over the force of the being to whom +she had given birth. So Ab had vigorous duties about the household. + +As has been told already, Red-Spot was a notable housekeeper and there +was such product of the cave cooking as would make happy any gourmand of +to-day who could appreciate the quality of what had a most natural +flavor. Regarding her kitchen appliances Red-Spot had a matron's +justifiable pride. Not only was there the wood fire, into which, held on +long, pointed sticks, could be thrust all sorts of meat for the somewhat +smoky broiling, and the hot coals and ashes in which could be roasted the +clams and the clay-covered fish, but there was the place for boiling, +which only the more fortunate of the cave people owned. Her growing son +had aided much in the attainment of this good housewife's fond desire. + +With much travail, involving all the force the cave family could muster +and including the assistance of Oak's father and of Oak himself, who +rejoiced with Ab in the proceedings, there had been rolled into the cave +a huge sandstone rock with a top which was nearly flat. Here was to be +the great pot, sometimes used as a roasting place, as well, which only +the more pretentious of the caves could boast. On the middle of the big +stone's uppermost surface old Mok chipped with an ax the outline of a +rude circle some two feet in diameter. This defined roughly the size of +the kettle to be made. Inside the circle, the sandstone must be dug out +to a big kettle's proper depth, and upon the boy, Ab, must devolve most +of this healthful but not over-attractive labor. + +The boy went at the task gallantly, in the beginning, and pecked away +with a stone chisel and gained a most respectable hollow within a day or +two, but his enthusiasm subsided with the continuity of much effort with +small result. He wanted more weight to his chisel of flint set firmly in +reindeer's horn, and a greater impact to the blows into which could not +be put the force resulting from a swing of arm. He thought much. Then he +secured a long stick and bound his chisel strongly to it at one end, the +top of the chisel resting against a projecting stub of limb, so that it +could not be driven upward. To the other end of the stick he bound a +stone of some pounds in weight and then, holding the shaft with both +hands, lifted it and let the whole drop into the depression he had +already made. The flint chisel bit deeply under the heavy impact and the +days were few before Ab had dug in the sandstone rock a cavity which +would hold much meat and water. There was an unconscious celebration when +the big kettle was completed. It was nearly filled with water, and into +the water were flung great chunks of the meat of a reindeer killed that +day. Meanwhile, the cave fire had been replenished with dry wood and +there had been formed a wide bed of coals, upon which were cast numerous +stones of moderate size, which soon attained a shining heat. A sort of +tongs made of green withes served to remove the stones, one after +another, from the mass of coal, and drop them in with the meat and water. +Within a little time the water was fairly boiling and soon there was a +monster stew giving forth rich odors and ready to be eaten. And it was +not allowed to get over-cool after that summoning fragrance had once +extended throughout the cave. There was a rush for the clam shells which +served for soup dishes or cups, there was spearing with sharpened sticks +for pieces of the boiled meat, and all were satisfied, though there was +shrill complaint from Bark, whose turn at the kettle came late, and much +clamor from chubby Beech-Leaf, who was not yet tall enough to help +herself, but who was cared for by the mother. It may be that, to some +people of to-day, the stew would be counted lacking in quality of +seasoning, but an opinion upon seasoning depends largely upon the stomach +and the time, and, besides, it may be that the dirt clinging to the +stones cast into the water gave a certain flavor as fine in its way as +could be imparted by salt and pepper. + +Old Mok, observing silently, had decidedly approved of Ab's device for +easier digging into sandstone than was the old manner of pecking away +with a chisel held in the hand. He was almost disposed now to admit the +big lad to something like a plane of equality in the work they did +together. He became more affable in their converse, and the youth was, in +the same degree, delighted and ambitious. They experimented with the +stick and weight and chisel in accomplishing the difficult work of +splitting from boulders the larger fragments of stone from which weapons +were to be made, and learned that by heavy, steady pressure of the +breast, thus augmented by heavy weight, they could fracture more evenly +than by blow of stone, ax or hammer. They learned that two could work +together in stone chipping and do better work than one. Old Mok would +hold the forming weapon-head in one hand and the horn-hafted chisel in +another, pressing the blade close against the stone and at just such +angle as would secure the result he sought, while Ab, advised as to the +force of each succeeding stroke, tapped lightly upon the chisel's head. +Woe was it for the boy if once he missed his stroke and caught the old +man's fingers! Very delicate became the chipping done by these two +artists, and excellent beyond any before made were the axes and +spearheads produced by what, in modern times, would have been known under +the title of "Old Mok & Co." + +At this time, too, Ab took lessons in making all the varied articles of +elk or reindeer horn and the drinking cups from the horns of urus and +aurochs. Old Mok even went so far as to attempt teaching the youth +something of carving figures upon tusks and shoulder blades, but in this +art Ab never greatly excelled. He was too much a creature of action. The +bone needles used by Red-Spot in making skin garments he could form +readily enough and he made whistles for Bark and Beech-Leaf, but his +inclinations were all toward larger things. To become a fighter and a +hunter remained his chief ambition. + +Rather keen, with light snows but nipping airs, were the winters of this +country of the cave men, and there were articles of food essential to +variety which were, necessarily, stored before the cold season came. +There were roots which were edible and which could be dried, and there +were nuts in abundance, beyond all need. Beechnuts and acorns were +gathered in the autumn, the children at this time earning fully the right +of home and food, and the stores were heaped in granaries dug into the +cave's sides. Should the snow at any time fall too deeply for +hunting--though such an occurrence was very rare--or should any other +cause, such, for instance, as the appearance of the great cave tiger in +the region, make the game scarce and hunting perilous, there was the +recourse of nuts and roots and no danger of starvation. There was no fear +of suffering from thirst. Man early learned to carry water in a pouch of +skin and there were sometimes made rock cavities, after the manner of the +cave kettle, where water could be stored for an emergency. Besieging wild +beasts could embarrass but could not greatly alarm the family, for, with +store of wood and food and water, the besieged could wait, and it was not +well for the flesh-seeking quadruped to approach within a long +spear-thrust's length of the cavern's narrow entrance. + +The winter following the establishment of Ab's real companionship with +Old Mok, as it chanced, was not a hard one. There fell snow enough for +tracking, but not so deeply as to incommode the hunter. There had been a +wonderful nut-fall in the autumn and the cave was stored with such +quantity of this food that there was no chance of real privation. The ice +was clean upon the river and through the holes hacked with stone axes +fish were dragged forth in abundance upon the rude bone and stone hooks, +which served their purpose far better than when, in summer time, the line +was longer and the fish escaped so often from the barbless implements. It +was a great season in all that made a cave family's life something easy +and complacent and vastly promotive of the social amenities and the +advancement of art and literature--that is, they were not compelled to +make any sudden raid on others to assure the means of subsistence, and +there was time for the carving of bones and the telling of strange +stories of the past. The elders declared it one of the finest winters +they had ever known. + +And so Old Mok and Ab worked well that winter and the youth acquired such +wisdom that his casual advice to Oak when the two were out together was +something worth listening to because of its confidence and ponderosity. +Concerning flint scraper, drill, spearhead, ax or bone or wooden haft, +there was, his talk would indicate, practically nothing for the boy to +learn. That was his own opinion, though, as he grew older, he learned to +modify it greatly. With his adviser he had made good weapons and some +improvements; yet all this was nothing. It was destined that an +accidental discovery should be his, the effect of which would be to +change the cave man's rank among living things. But the youth, just now, +was greatly content with himself. He was older and more modest when he +made his great discovery. + +It was when the fire blazed out at night, when all had fed, when the +tired people lay about resting, but not ready yet for sleep, and the +story of the day's events was given, that Old Mok's ordinarily still +tongue would sometimes loosen and he would tell of what happened when he +was a boy, or of the strange tales which had been told him of the time +long past, the times when the Shell and Cave people were one, times when +there were monstrous things abroad and life was hard to keep. To all +these legends the hearers listened wonderingly, and upon them afterward +Ab and Oak would sometimes speculate together and question as to their +truth. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +OLD MOK'S TALES. + +It was worth while listening to Old Mok when he forgot himself and talked +and became earnestly reminiscent in telling of what he had seen or had +heard when he was young. One day there had been trouble in the cave, for +Bark, left in charge, had neglected the fire and it had "gone out," and +upon the return of his parents there had been blows and harsh language, +and then much pivotal grinding together of dry sticks before a new flame +was gained, and it was only after the odor of cooked flesh filled the +place and strong jaws were busy that the anger of One-Ear had abated and +the group became a comfortable one. Ab had come in hungry and the value of +fire, after what had happened, was brought to his mind forcibly. He laid +himself down upon the cave's floor near Old Mok, who was fashioning a +shaft of some sort, and, as he lay, poked his toes at Beechleaf, who +chuckled and gurgled as she rolled about, never for a moment relinquishing +a portion of the slender shin bone of a deer, upon the flesh of which the +family had fed. It was a short piece but full of marrow, and the child +sucked and mumbled away at it in utmost bliss. Ab thought, somehow, of how +poor would have been the eating with the meat uncooked, and looked at his +hands, still reddened--for it was he who had twisted the stick which made +the fire again. "Fire is good!" he said to Mok. + +The old man kept his flint scraper going for a moment or two before he +answered; then he grunted: + +"Yes, it's good if you don't get burned. I've been burned," and he thrust +out an arm upon which appeared a cicatrice. + +Ab was interested. "Where did you get that?" he queried. + +"Far from here, far beyond the black swamp and the red hills that are +farther still. It was when I was strong." + +"Tell me about it," said the youth. + +"There is a fire country," answered Old Mok, "away beyond the swamp and +woods and the place of the big rocks. It is a wonderful place. The fire +comes out of the ground in long sheets and it is always the same. The rain +and the snow do not stop it. Do I not know? Have I not seen it? Did I not +get this scar going too near the flame and stumbling and falling against a +hot rock almost within it? There is too much fire sometimes!" + +The old man continued: "There are many places of fire. They are to the +east and south. Some of the Shell People who have gone far down the river +have seen them. But the one where I was burned is not so far away as they; +it is up the river to the northwest." + +And Ab was interested and questioned Old Mok further about the strange +region where flames came from the ground as bushes grow, and where snow or +water did not make them disappear. He was destined, at a later day, to be +very glad that he had learned the little that was told him. But to-night +he was intent only on getting all the tales he could from the veteran +while he was in the mood. "Tell about the Shell People," he cried, "and +who they are and where they came from. They are different from us." + +"Yes, they are different from us," said Old Mok, "but there was a time, I +have heard it told, when we were like them. The very old men say that +their grandfathers told them that once there were only Shell People +anywhere in this country, the people who lived along the shores and who +never hunted nor went far away from the little islands, because they were +afraid of the beasts in the forests. Sometimes they would venture into the +wood to gather nuts and roots, but they lived mostly on the fish and +clams. But there came a time when brave men were born among them who said +they would have more of the forest things, and that they would no longer +stay fearfully upon the little islands. So they came into the forest and +the Cave Men began. And I think this story true." + +"I think it is true," Old Mok continued, "because the Shell People, you +can see, must have lived very long where they are now. Up and down the +creek where they live and along other creeks there lie banks of earth +which are very long and reach far back. And this is not really earth, but +is all made up of shells and bones and stone spearheads and the things +which lie about a Shell Man's place. I know, for I have dug into these +long banks myself and have seen that of which I tell. Long, very long, +must the Shell People have lived along the creeks and shores to have made +the banks of bones and shells so high." + +And Old Mok was right. They talk of us as the descendants of an Aryan +race. Never from Aryan alone came the drifting, changing Western being of +to-day. But a part of him was born where bald plains were or where were +olive trees and roses. All modern science, and modern thoughtfulness, and +all later broadened intelligence are yielding to an admission of the fact +that he, though of course commingling with his visitors of the ages, was +born and changed where he now exists. The kitchen-midden--the name given +by scientists to refuse from his dwelling places--the kitchen-middens of +Denmark, as Denmark is to-day, alone, regardless of other fields, suffice +to tell a wondrous story. Imagine a kitchen-midden, that is to say the +detritus of ordinary living in different ages, accumulated along the side +of some ancient water course, having for its dimensions miles in length, +extending hundreds of yards back from the margin of this creek, of tens +and tens of thousands of years ago, and having a depth of often many feet +along this water course. Imagine this vast deposit telling the history of +a thousand centuries or more, beginning first with the deposit of clams +and mussel shells and of the shells of such other creatures as might +inhabit this river seeking its way to the North Sea. Imagine this deposit +increasing year after year and century by century, but changing its +character and quality as it rose, and the base is laid for reasoning. + +At first these creatures who ranged up and down the ancient Danish creek +and devoured the clams and periwinkles must have been, as one might say, +but little more than surely anthropoid. Could such as these have migrated +from the Asiatic plateaus? + +The kitchen-middens tell the early story with greater accuracy than could +any writer who ever lifted pen. Here the creek-loving, ape-like creatures +ranged up and down and quelled their appetites. They died after they had +begotten sons and daughters; and to these sons and daughters came an added +intelligence, brought from experience and shifting surroundings. The +kitchen-middens give graphic details. The bottom layer, as has been said, +is but of shells. Above it, in another layer, counting thousands of years +in growth, appear the cracked bones of then existing animals and appear +also traces of charred wood, showing that primitive man had learned what +fire was. And later come the rudely carved bones of the mammoth and woolly +rhinoceros and the Irish elk; then come rude flint instruments, and later +the age of smoothed stone, with all its accompanying fossils, bones and +indications; and so on upward, with a steady sweep, until close to the +surface of this kitchen-midden appear the bronze spear, the axhead and the +rude dagger of the being who became the Druid and who is an ancestor whom +we recognize. From the kitchen-midden to the pinnacle of all that is great +to-day extends a chain not a link of which is weak. + +"They tell strange stories, too, the Shell People," Old Mok continued, +"for they are greater story-tellers than the Cave Men are, more of them +being together in one place, and the old men always tell the tales to the +children so that they are never forgotten by any of the people. They say +that once huge things came out of the great waters and up the creeks, such +as even the big cave tiger dare not face. And the old men say that their +grandfathers once saw with their own eyes a monster serpent many times as +large as the one you two saw, which came swimming up the creek and seized +upon the river horses there and devoured them as easily as the cave bear +would a little deer. And the serpent seized upon some of the Cave People +who were upon the water and devoured them as well, though such as they +were but a mouthful to him. And this tale, too, I believe, for the old +Shell Men who told me what their grandfathers had seen were not of the +foolish sort." + +"But of another sort of story they have told me," Mok continued, "I think +little. The old men tell of a time when those who went down the river to +the greater river and followed it down to the sea, which seems to have no +end, saw what no man can see to-day. But they do not say that their +grandfathers saw these things. They only say that their grandfathers told +of what had been told them by their grandfathers farther back, of a story +which had come down to them, so old that it was older than the great trees +were, of monstrous things which swam along the shores and which were not +serpents, though they had long necks and serpent heads, because they had +great bodies which were driven by flippers through the water as the beaver +goes with his broad feet. And at the same time, the old story goes, were +great birds, far taller than a man, who fed where now the bustards and the +capercailzie are. And these tales I do not believe, though I have seen +bones washed from the riversides and hillsides by the rains which must +have come from creatures different from those we meet now in the forests +or the waters. They are wonderful story-tellers, the old men of the Shell +People." + +"And they tell other strange stories," continued the old man. "They say +that very long ago the cold and ice came down, and all the people and +animals fled before it, and that the summer was cold as now the winter is, +and that the men and beasts fled together to the south, and were there for +a long time, but came back again as the cold and ice went back. They say, +too, that in still later times, the fireplaces where the flames came out +of great cracks in the earth were in tens of places where they are in one +now, and that, even in the ice time, the flames came up, and that the ice +was melted and then ran in rivers to the sea. And these things I do not +believe, for how can men tell of what there was so long ago? They are but +the gabblings of the old, who talk so much." + +Many other stories the veteran told, but what most affected Ab was his +account of the vale of fire. He hoped to see it sometime. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +AB'S GREAT DISCOVERY. + +It may be that never in what was destined to be a life of many changes was +Ab happier than in this period of his lusty boyhood and early manhood, +when there was so much that was new, when he was full of hope and +confidence and of ambition regarding what a mighty hunter and great man he +would become in time. As the years passed he was not less indefatigable in +his experiments, and the day came when a marvelous success followed one of +them, although, like most inventions, it was suggested in the most trivial +and accidental manner. + +It chanced one afternoon that Ab, a young man of twenty now, had returned +early from the wood and was lying lazily upon the sward near the cave's +entrance, while, not far away, Bark and the still chubby Beechleaf were +rolling about. The boy was teasing the girl at times and then doing +something to amuse or awe her. He had found a stiff length of twig and was +engaged in idly bending the ends together and then letting them fly apart +with a snap, meanwhile advancing toward and threatening with the impact +the half-alarmed but wholly delighted Beechleaf. Tired of this, at last, +Bark, with no particular intent, drew forth from the pouch in his skin +cloak a string of sinew, and drawing the ends of the strong twig somewhat +nearly together, attached the cord to each, thus producing accidentally a +petty bow of most rotund proportions. He found that the string twanged +joyously, and, to the delight of Beechleaf, kept twanging it for such time +as his boyish temperament would allow a single occupation. Then he picked +from the ground a long, slender pencil of white wood, a sliver, perhaps, +from the making of a spear shaft, and began strumming with it upon the +taut sinew string. This made a twang of a new sort, and again the boy and +girl were interested temporarily. But, at last, even this variation of +amusement with the new toy became monotonous, and Bark ceased strumming +and began a series of boyish experiments with his plaything. He put one +end of the stick against the string and pushed it back until the other end +would press against the inside of the twig, and the result would be a +taut, new figure in wood and string which would keep its form even when +laid upon the ground. Bark made and unmade the thing a time or two, and +then came great disaster. He had drawn the little stick, so held in the +way we now call arrowwise, back nearly to the point where its head would +come inside the bent twig and there fix itself, when the slight thing +escaped his hands and flew away. + +The quiet of the afternoon was broken by a piercing childish yell which +lacked no element of earnestness. Ab leaped to his feet and was by the +youngsters in a moment. He saw the terrified Beechleaf standing, screaming +still, with a fat arm outheld, from which dangled a little shaft of wood +which had pierced the flesh just deeply enough to give it hold. Bark stood +looking at her, astonished and alarmed. Understanding nothing of the +circumstances, and supposing the girl's hurt came from Bark's careless +flinging of sticks toward her, Ab started toward his brother to administer +one of those buffets which were so easy to give or get among cave +children. But Bark darted behind a convenient tree and there shrieked out +his innocence of dire intent, just as the boy of to-day so fluently +defends himself in any strait where castigation looms in sight. He told of +the queer plaything he had made, and offered to show how all had happened. + +Ab was doubtful but laughing now, for the little shaft, which had scarcely +pierced the skin of Beechleaf's arm had fallen to the ground and that +young person's fright had given way to vengeful indignation and she was +demanding that Bark be hit with something. He allowed the sinner to give +his proof. Bark, taking his toy, essayed to show how Beechleaf had been +injured. He was the most unfortunate of youths. He succeeded but too well. +The mimic arrow flew again and the sound that rang out now was not the cry +of a child. It was the yell of a great youth, who felt a sudden and +poignant hurt, and who was not maintaining any dignity. Had Bark been as +sure of hand and certain of aim as any archer who lived in later centuries +he could not have sent an arrow more fairly to its mark than he sent that +admirable sliver into the chest of his big brother. For a second the +culprit stood with staring eyes, then dropped his toy and flew into the +forest with a howl which betokened his fear of something little less than +sudden death. + +Ab's first impulse was to pursue his sinful younger brother, but, after +the first leap, he checked himself and paused to pluck away the thing +which, so light the force that had impelled it, had not gone deeply in. He +knew now that Bark was really blameless, and, picking up the abandoned +plaything, began its examination thoughtfully and curiously. + +The young man's instinct toward experiment exhibited itself as usual and +he put the splinter against the string and drew it back and let it fly as +he had seen Bark do--that promising sprig, by the way, being now engaged +in peering from the wood and trying to form an estimate as to whether or +not his return was yet advisable. Ab learned that the force of the bent +twig would throw the sliver farther than he could toss it with his hand, +and he wondered what would follow were something like this plaything, the +device of which Bark had so stumbled upon, to be made and tried on a +greater scale. "I'll make one like it, only larger," he said to himself. + +The venturesome but more or less diplomatic Bark had, by this time, +emerged from the wood and was apprehensively edging up toward the place +where Ab was standing. The older brother saw him and called to him to come +and try the thing again and the youngster knew that he was safe. Then the +two toyed with the plaything for an hour or two and Ab became more and +more interested in its qualities. He had no definite idea as to its +possibilities. He thought only of it as a curious thing which should be +larger. + +The next day Ab hacked from a low-limbed tree a branch as thick as his +finger and about a yard in length, and, first trimming it, bent it as Bark +had bent the twig and tied a strong sinew cord across. It was a not +discreditable bow, considering the fact that it was the first ever made, +though one end was smaller than the other and it was rough of outline. +Then Ab cut a straight willow twig, as long nearly as the bow, and began +repeating the experiments of the day before. Never was man more astonished +than this youth after he had drawn the twig back nearly to its head and +let it go! + +So drawn by a strong arm, the shaft when released flew faster and farther +than the maker of what he thought of chiefly as a thing of sport had +imagined could be possible. He had long to search for the headless arrow +and when he found it he went away to where were bare open stretches, that +he might see always where it fell. Once as he sent it from the string it +struck fairly against an oak and, pointless as it was, forced itself +deeply into the hard brown bark and hung there quivering. Then came to the +youth a flash of thought which had its effect upon the ages: "What if +there had been a point to the flying thing and it had struck a reindeer or +any of the hunted animals?" + +He pulled the shaft from the tree and stood there pondering for a moment +or two, then suddenly started running toward the cave. He must see Old +Mok! + +The old man was at work and alone and the young man told him, somewhat +excitedly, why he had thus come running to him. The elder listened with +some patience but with a commiserating grin upon his face. He had heard +young men tell of great ideas before, of a new and better way of digging +pits, or of fishing, or making deadfalls for wild beasts. But he listened +and yielded finally to Ab's earnest demand that he should hobble out into +the open and see with his own eyes how the strung bow would send the +shaft. They went together to an open space, and again and again Ab showed +to his old friend what the new thing would do. With the second shot there +came a new light into the eyes of the veteran hunter and he bade Ab run to +the cave and bring back with him his favorite spear. The young man was +back as soon as strong legs could bring him, and when he burst into the +open he found Mok standing a long spear's cast from the greatest of the +trees which stood about the opening. + +"Throw your spear at the tree," said Mok. "Throw strongly as you can." + +Ab hurled the spear as the Zulu of later times might hurl his assagai, as +strongly and as well, but the distance was overmuch for spear throwing +with good effect, and the flint point pierced the wood so lightly that the +weight of the long shaft was too great for the holding force and it sank +slowly to the ground and pulled away the head. A wild beast struck by the +spear at such distance would have been sorely pricked, but not hurt +seriously. + +"Now take the plaything," said Old Mok, "and throw the little shaft at the +tree with that." + +Ab did as he was told, and, poor marksman with his new device, of course +missed the big tree repeatedly, broad as the mark was, but when, at last, +the bolt struck the hard trunk fairly there was a sound which told of the +sharpness of the blow and the headless shaft rebounded back for yards. Old +Mok looked upon it all delightedly. + +"It may be there is something to your plaything," he said to the young +man. "We will make a better one. But your shaft is good for nothing. We +will make a straighter and stronger one and upon the end of it will put a +little spearhead, and then we can tell how deeply it will go into the +wood. We will work." + +For days the two labored earnestly together, and when they came again into +the open they bore a stronger bow, one tapered at the end opposite the +natural tapering of the branch, so that it was far more flexible and +symmetrical than the one they had tried before. They had abundance of ash +and yew and these remained the good bow wood of all the time of archery. +And the shaft was straight and bore a miniature spearhead at its end. The +thought of notching the shaft to fit the string came naturally and +inevitably. The bow had its first arrow. + +An old man is not so easily affected as a young one, nor so hopeful, but +when the second test was done the veteran Mok was the wilder and more +delighted of the two who shot at the tree in the forest glade. He saw it +all! No longer could the spear be counted as the thing with which to do +most grievous hurt at a safe distance from whatever might be dangerous. +With the better bow and straighter shaft the marksmanship improved; even +for these two callow archers it was not difficult to hit at a distance of +a double spear's cast the bole of the huge tree, two yards in width at +least. And the arrow whistled as if it were a living thing, a hawk seeking +its prey, and the flint head was buried so deeply in the wood that both +Mok and Ab knew that they had found something better than any weapon the +cave men had ever known! + +There followed many days more of the eager working of the old man and the +young one in the cave, and there was much testing of the new device, and +finally, one morning, Ab issued forth armed with his ax and knife, but +without his spear. He bore, instead, a bow which was the best and +strongest the two had yet learned to fashion, and a sheaf of arrows slung +behind his back in a quiver made of a hollow section of a mammoth's leg +bone which had long been kicked about the cave. The two workers had +drilled holes in the bone and passed thongs through and made a wooden +bottom to the thing and now it had found its purpose. The bow was rude, as +were the arrows, and the archer was not yet a certain marksman, though he +had practiced diligently, but the bow was stiff, at least, and the arrows +had keen heads of flint and the arms of the hunter were strong as was the +bow. + +There was a weary and fruitless search for game, but late in the afternoon +the youth came upon a slight, sheer descent, along the foot of which ran a +shallow but broad creek, beyond which was a little grass-grown valley, +where were feeding a fine herd of the little deer. They were feeding in +the direction of the creek and the wind blew from them to the hunter, so +that no rumor of their danger was carried to them on the breeze. Ab +concealed himself among the bushes on the little height and awaited what +might happen. The herd fed slowly toward him. + +As the deer neared the creek they grouped themselves together about where +were the greenest and richest feeding-places, and when they reached the +very border of the stream they were gathered in a bunch of half a hundred, +close together. They were just beyond a spear's cast from the watcher, but +this was a test, not of the spear, but of the bow, and the most +inexperienced of archers, shooting from where Ab was hidden, must strike +some one of the beasts in that broad herd. Ab sprang to his feet and drew +his arrow to the head. The deer gathered for a second in affright, +crowding each other before the wild bursting away together, and then the +bow-string twanged, and the arrow sang hungrily, and there was the swift +thud of hundreds of light feet, and the little glade was almost silent. It +was not quite silent, for, floundering in its death struggles, was a +single deer, through which had passed an arrow so fiercely driven that its +flint head projected from the side opposite that which it had entered. + +[Illustration: AB SPRANG TO HIS FEET, AND DREW HIS ARROW TO THE HEAD] + +Half wild with triumph was the youth who bore home the arrow-stricken +quarry, and not much more elated was he than the old man, who heard the +story of the hunt, and who recognized, at once far more clearly than the +younger one, the quality of the new weapon which had been discovered; the +thing destined to become the greatest implement both of chase and warfare +for thousands of years to come, and which was to be gradually improved, +even by these two, until it became more to them than they could yet +understand. + +But the lips of each of the two makers of the bow were sealed for the +time. Ab and Old Mok cherished together their mighty secret. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +A LESSON IN SWIMMING. + +Ab and Oak, ranging far in their hunting expeditions, had, long since, +formed the acquaintance of the Shell People, and had even partaken of +their hospitality, though there was not much to attract a guest in the +abodes of the creek-haunters. Their homes were but small caves, not much +more than deep burrows, dug here and there in the banks, above high water +mark, and protected from wild beasts by the usual heaped rocks, leaving +only a narrow passage. This insured warmth and comparative safety, but the +homes lacked the spaciousness of the caves and caverns of the hills, and +the food of fish and clams and periwinkles, with flesh and fruit but +seldom gained, had little attraction for the occasional cave visitor. Ab +and Oak would sometimes traffic with the Shell People, exchanging some +creature of the land for a product of the water, but they made brief stay +in a locality where the food and odors were not quite to their accustomed +taste. Yet the settlement had a slight degree of interest to them. They +had noted the buxom quality of some of the Shell maidens, and the two had +now attained an age when a bright-eyed young person of the other sex was +agreeable to look upon. But there had been no love passages. Neither of +the youths was yet so badly stricken. + +There came an autumn morning when Ab and Oak, who had met at daybreak, +determined to visit the Shell People and go with them upon a fishing +expedition. The Shell People often fished from boats, and the boats were +excellent. Each consisted of four or five short logs of the most buoyant +wood, bound firmly together with tough withes, but the contrivance was +more than a simple raft, because, at the bow, it had been hewed to a +point, and the logs had been so chosen that each curved upward there. It +had been learned that the waves sometimes encountered could so more easily +be cleft or overridden. None of these boats could sink, and the man of the +time was quite at home in the water. It was fun for the young men whose +tale is told here to go with the Shell People and assist in spearing fish +or drawing them from the river's depths upon rude hooks, and the Shell +People did not object, but were rather proud of the attendance of +representatives of the hillside aristocracy. + +The morning was one to make men far older than these two most confident +and full of life. The season was late, though the river's waters were not +yet cold. The mast had already begun to fall and the nuts lay thickly +among the leaves. Every morning, and more regularly than it comes now, +there was a spread of glistening hoar frost upon the lowlands and the +little open lands in the forest and upon every spot not tree-protected. At +such times there appeared to the eyes of the cave people the splendor of +nature such as we now can hardly comprehend. It came most strikingly in +spring and autumn, and was something wonderful. The cave men, probably, +did not appreciate it. They were accustomed to it, for it was part of the +record of every year. Doubtless there came a greater vigor to them in the +keen air of the hoar frost time, doubtless the step of each was made more +springy and each man's valor more defined in this choice atmosphere. +Temperate, with a wonderful keenness to it, was the climate of the cave +region in the valley of the present Thames. Even in the days of the cave +men, the Gulf Stream, swinging from the equator in the great warm current +already formed, laved the then peninsula as it now laves the British +Isles. The climate, as has been told, was almost as equable then as now, +but with a certain crispness which was a heritage from the glacial epoch. +It was a time to live in, and the two were merry on their journey in the +glittering morning. + +The young men idled on their way and wasted an hour or two in vain +attempts to approach a feeding deer nearly enough for effective +spear-throwing. They were late when, after swimming the creek, they +reached the Shell village and there learned that the party had already +gone. They decided that they might, perhaps, overtake the fishermen, and +so, with the hunter's easy lope, started briskly down the river bank. They +were not destined to fish that day. + +Three or four miles had been passed and a straight stretch of the river +had been attained, at the end of which, a mile away, could be seen the +boats of the Shell People, to be lost to sight a moment later as they +swept around a bend. But there was something else in sight. Perched +comfortably upon a rock, the sides of which were so precipitous that they +afforded a foothold only for human beings, was a young woman of the Shell +People who had before attracted Ab's attention and something of his +admiration. She was fishing diligently. She had been left by the fishing +party, to be taken up on their return, because, in the rush of waters +about the base of the rock, was a haunt of a small fish esteemed +particularly, and because the girl was one of the little tribe's adepts +with hook and line She raised her eyes as she heard the patter of +footsteps upon the shore, but did not exhibit any alarm when she saw the +two young men. The ordinary young woman of the Shell People did not worry +when away from land. She could swim like an otter and dive like a loon, +and of wild beasts she had no fear when she was thus safely bestowed away +from the death-harboring forest. The maiden on the rock was most serene. + +[Illustration: THE YOUNG MEN CALLED TO HER BUT SHE MADE NO ANSWER. SHE BUT +FISHED AWAY DEMURELY] + +The young men called to her, but she made no answer. She but fished away +demurely, from time to time hauling up a flashing finny thing, which she +calmly bumped on the rock and then tossed upon the silvery heap, which had +already assumed fair dimensions, close behind her. As Ab looked upon the +young fisherwoman his interest in her grew rapidly and he was silent, +though Oak called out taunting words and asked her if she could not talk. +It was not this young woman, but another, who had most pleased Oak among +the girls of the Shell People. + +It was not love yet with Ab, but the maiden interested him. He held no +defined wish to carry her away to a new home with him, but there arose a +feeling that he wanted to know her better. There might,--he didn't +know--be as good wives among the Shell maidens as among the well-running +girls of the hills. + +"I'll swim to the rock!" he said to his companion, and Oak laughed loudly. + +Short time elapsed between decision and action in those days, and hardly +had Ab spoken when he flung his fur covering into the hands of Oak, and, +clad only in the clout about his hips, dropped, with a splash, into the +water. All this time the girl had been eyeing every motion closely. As the +little waves rose laughingly about the man, she descended lightly from her +perch and slid into the stream as easily and silently as a beaver might +have done. And then began a chase. The girl, finding mid-current swiftly, +was a full hundred yards ahead as Ab came fairly in her wake. + +A splendid swimmer was the stalwart young man of the hills. He had been in +and out of water almost daily since early childhood, and, though there had +never been a test, was confident that, among all the Shell People, there +was none he could not overtake, despite what he had heard and knew of +their wonderful cleverness in the water. Were not his arms and legs longer +and stronger than theirs and his chest deeper? He felt that he could +outswim easily any bold fisherman among them, and as for this girl, he +would overtake her very quickly and draw her to the bank, and then there +would be an interview of much enjoyment, at least to him. His strong arm +swept the water back, and his strong legs, working with them, drove his +body forward swiftly toward the brown object not very far ahead. Along the +bank ran the laughing and shouting Oak. + +Yard by yard, Ab's mighty strokes brought him nearer the object of his +pursuit. She was swimming breast forward, as was he--for that was his only +way--she with a dog-like paddling stroke, and often she turned her head to +look backward at the man. She did not, even yet, appear affrighted, and +this Ab wondered at, for it was seldom that a girl of the time, thus +hunted, was not, and with reason, terrified. She, possibly, understood +that the chase did not involve a real abduction, for she and her pursuer +had often met, but there was, at least, reason enough for avoiding too +close contact on this day. She swam on steadily, and, as steadily, Ab +gained upon her. + +Down the long stretch of tumbling river, sweeping eastward between hill +and slope and plain and woodland, went the chase, while the panting and +cheering Oak, strong-legged and enduring as he was, barely kept pace with +the two heads he could see bobbing, not far apart now, in the tossing +waters. Ab had long since forgotten Oak. He had forgotten how it was that +he came to be thus swimming in the river. His thought was only what now +made up an overmastering aim. He must reach and seize upon the girl before +him! + +Closer and closer, though she as much as he was aided by the swift +current, the young man approached the girl. The hundred yards had lessened +into tens and he could plainly see now the wake about her and the +occasional up-flip of her brown heels as she went high in her stroke. He +now felt easily assured of her and laughed to himself as he swept his arms +backward in a fiercer stroke and came so close that he could discern her +outline through the water. It was but a matter of endurance, he chuckled +to himself. How could a woman outswim a man like him? + +It was just at the time when this thought came that Ab saw the Shell girl +lift her head and turn it toward him and laugh--laugh recklessly, almost +in his very face, so close together were they now. And then she taught him +something! There was a dip such as the otter makes when he seeks the +depths and there was no longer a girl in sight! But this was only a +demonstration, made in sheer audacity and blithesome insolence, for the +brown head soon appeared again some yards ahead and there was another +twist of it and another merry laugh. Then the neat body turned upon its +side, and with quick outdriving legstrokes and the overhand and underhand +pulling-forward which modern swimmers partly know, the girl shot ahead +through the tiny white-capped waves and away from the swimmer so close +behind her, as to-day the cutter leaves the scow. From the river bank came +a wild yelp, the significance of which, if analyzed, might have included +astonishment and great delight and brotherly derision. Oak was having a +great day of it! He was the sole witness of a swimming-match the like of +which was rare, and he was getting even with his friend for various +assumptions of superiority in various doings. + +Unexhausted and sturdy and stubborn, Ab was not the one to abandon his +long chase because of this new phase of things. He inhaled a great breath +and made the water foam with his swift strokes, but as well might a wild +goose chase a swallow on the wing as he seek to overtake that brown streak +on the water. It was wonderful, the manner in which that Shell girl swam! +She was like the birds which swim and dive and dip, and know of nothing +which they fear if only they are in the water far enough away from where +there is the need of stalking over soil and stone. It was not that the +Shell girl was other than at home on land. She was quite at home there and +reasonably fleet, but the creek and river had so been her element from +babyhood that the chase of the hill man had been, from the start, a sheer +absurdity. + +Ab lifted himself in the waters and gazed upon the dark spot far away, +and, piqued and maddened, put forth all the swimming strength there was +left in his brawny body. It seemed for a brief time that he was almost +equal to the task of gaining upon what was little more than a dot upon the +surface far ahead. But his scant prospect of success was only momentary. +The trifling spot in the distant drifts of the river seemed to have +certain ideas of its own. The speed of its course in the water did not +abate and, in a moment, it was carried around the bend, and lost to sight. +Ab drifted to the turn and saw, below, a girl clambering into safety among +the rafts of the fishing Shell People. What she would tell them he did not +know. That was not a matter to be much considered. + +There was but one thing to be done and that was to reach the land and +return to a life more strictly earthly and more comfortable. There is +nothing like water for overcoming a young man's fancy for many things. Ab +swam now with a somewhat tired and languid stroke to the shore, where Oak +awaited him hilariously. They almost came to blows that afternoon, and +blows between such as they might have easily meant sudden death. But they +were not rivals yet and there was much to talk of good-naturedly, after +some slight outflamings of passion on the part of Ab, and the two men were +good friends again. + +The sum of all the day was that there had been much exercise and fun, for +Oak at least. Ab had not caught the Shell girl, manfully as he had +striven. Had he caught her and talked with her upon the river bank it +might have changed the current of his life. With a man so young and sturdy +and so full of life the laughing fancy of a moment might have changed into +a stronger feeling and the swimming girl might have become a woman of the +cave people, one not quite so equal by heritage to the task of breeding +good climbing and running and fighting and progressive beings as some girl +of the hills. + +It matters little what might have happened had the outcome of the day's +effort been the reverse of what it was. This is but the account of the +race and what the sequel was when Ab swam so far and furiously and well. +It was his first flirtation. It was yet to come to him that he should be +really in love in the cave man's way. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +THE MAMMOTH AT BAY. + +It was late autumn, and a light snow covered the ground, when one day a +cave man, panting for breath, came running down the river bank and paused +at the cave of One-Ear. He had news, great news! He told his story +hurriedly, and then was taken into the cave and given meat, while Ab, +seizing his weapons, fled downward further still toward the great +kitchen-midden of the Shell People. Just as ages and ages later, not far +from the same region, some Scottish runner carried the fiery cross, Ab ran +exultingly with the news it was his to bring. There must be an immediate +gathering, not only of the cave men, but of the Shell People as well, and +great mutual effort for great gain. The mammoths were near the point of +the upland! + +The runner to the cave of One-Ear was a hunter living some miles to the +north, upon a ledge of a broad forest-covered plateau terminating on the +west in a slope which ended in a precipice with more than a hundred feet +of sheer descent to the valley below. On rare occasions a herd of mammoths +invaded the forest and worked itself toward the apex of the plateau, and +then word went all over the region, for it was an event in the history of +the cave men. If but a sufficient force could be suddenly assembled, food +in abundance for all was almost certainly assured. The prize was something +stupendous, but prompt action was required, and there might be tragedies. +As bees hum and gather when their hive is disturbed, so did the Shell +People when Ab burst in upon them and delivered his message. There was +rushing about and a gathering of weapons and a sorting out of men who +should go upon the expedition. But little time was wasted. Within half an +hour Ab was straining back again up the river toward his own abode, while +behind him trailed half a hundred of the Shell People, armed in a way +effective enough, but which, in the estimation of the cave men, was +preposterous. The spears of the Shell People had shafts of different wood +and heads of different material from those of the cave men, and they used +their weapons in a different manner. Accustomed to the spearing of fish or +of an occasional water beast, like a small hippopotamus, which still +existed in the rivers of the peninsula, they always threw their +spears--though the cave people were experts with this as well--and, as a +last resource in close conflict, they used no stone ax or mace, but simply +ran away, to throw again from a distance, or to fly again, as conditions +made advisable. But they were brave in a way--it was necessary that all +who would live must have a certain animal bravery in those days--and +their numbers made them essential in the rare hunting of the mammoth. + +When the company reached the home of Ab they found already assembled there +a score of the hill men, and, as the word had gone out in every direction, +it was found, when the rendezvous was reached, which was the cave of +Hilltop, the man living near the crest of the plateau, and the one who had +made the first run down the river, that there were more than a hundred, +counting all together, to advance against the herd and, if possible, drive +the great beasts toward the precipice. Among this hundred there was none +more delighted than Ab and Oak, for, of course, these two had found each +other in the group, and were almost like a brace of dogs whining for the +danger and the hunt. + +Not lightly was an expedition against a herd of mammoths to be begun, even +by a hundred well-armed people of the time of the cave men. The mammoth +was a monster beast, with perhaps somewhat less of sagaciousness than the +modern elephant, but with a temper which was demoniacal when aroused, and +with a strength which nothing could resist. He could be slain only by +strategy. Hence the everlasting watch over the triangular plateau and the +gathering of the cave and river people to catch him at a disadvantage. +But, even with a drove feeding near the slope which led to the precipice, +the cave men would have been helpless without the introduction of other +elements than their weapons and their clamor. The mammoth paid no more +attention to the cave man with a spear than to one of the little wild +horses which fed near him at times. The pygmy did not alarm him, but did +the pygmy ever venture upon an attack, then it was likely to be seized by +the huge trunk and flung against rock or tree, to fall crushed and +mangled, or else it was trodden viciously under foot. From one thing, +though, the mammoth, huge as he was, would flee in terror. He could not +face the element of fire, and this the cave men had learned to their +advantage. They could drive the mammoth when they dare not venture to +attack him, and herein lay their advantage. + +Under direction of the veteran hunter, Hilltop, who had discovered the +whereabouts of the drove, preparations were made for the dangerous +advance, and the first thing done was the breaking off of dry roots of the +overturned pitch pines, and gathering of knots of the same trees, with +limbs attached, to serve as handles. These roots and knots, once lighted, +would blaze for hours and made the most perfect of natural torches. +Lengths of bark of certain other trees when bound together and lighted at +one end burned almost as long and brightly as the roots and knots. Each +man carried an unlighted torch of one kind or another, in addition to his +weapons, and when this provision was made the band was stretched out in a +long line and a silent advance began through the forest. The herd of +mammoths was composed of nineteen, led by a monster even of his kind, and +men who had been watching them all night and during the forenoon said that +the herd was feeding very near the edge of the wood, where it ended on the +slope leading to the precipice. There was ice upon the slope and there +were chances of a great day's hunting. To cut off the mammoths, that is, +to extend a line across the uprising peninsula where they were feeding, +would require a line of not more than about five hundred yards in length, +and as there were more than a hundred of the hunters, the line which could +be formed would be most effective. Lighted punk, which preserved fire and +gave forth no odor to speak of, was carried by a number of the men, and +the advance began. + +It had been an exhilarating scene when the cave men and Shell People first +assembled and when the work of gathering material for the torches was in +progress. So far was the gathering from the present haunt of the game that +caution had been unnecessary, and there was talk and laughter and all the +open enjoyment of an anticipated conquest. The light snow, barely covering +the ground, flashed in the sun, and the hunters, practically impervious to +the slight cold, were almost prankish in their demeanor. Ab and Oak +especially were buoyant. This was the first hunt upon the rocky peninsula +of either of them, and they were delighted with the new surroundings and +eager for the fray to come. All about was talk and laughter, which became +general with any slight physical disaster which came to one among the +hunters in the climbing of some tree for a promising dead branch or +finding a treacherous hollow when assailing the roots of some upturned +pine. It was a brisk scene and a lively one, that which occurred that +crisp morning in late autumn when the wild men gathered to hunt the +mammoth. All was brightness and jollity and noise. + +Very different, in a moment, was the condition when the hunters entered +the forest and, extended in line, began their advance toward the huge +objects of their search. The cave man, almost a wild beast himself in some +of his ways, had, on occasion, a footfall as light as that of any animal +of the time. The twig scarcely crackled and the leaf scarcely rustled +beneath his tread, and when the long line entered the wood the silence of +death fell there, for the hunters made no sound, and what slight sound the +woodland had before--the clatter of the woodpeckers and jays--was hushed +by their advance. So through the forest, which was tolerably close, the +dark line swept quietly forward until there came from somewhere a sudden +signal, and with a still more cautious advance and contraction of the line +as the peninsula narrowed the quarry was brought in sight of all. + +Close to the edge of the slope, and separated by a slight open space from +the forest proper, was an evergreen grove, in which the herd of monster +beasts was feeding. A great bull, with long up-curling tusks, loomed above +them all, and was farthest away in the grove. The hunters, hidden in the +forest, lay voiceless and motionless until the elders decided upon a plan +of attack, and then the word was passed along that each man must fire his +torch. + +All along the edge of the wood arose the flashing of little flames. These +grew in magnitude until a line of fire ran clear across the wood, and the +mammoths nearest raised their trunks and showed signs of uneasiness. Then +came a signal, a wild shout, and at once, with a yell, the long line burst +into the open, each man waving his flaming torch and rushing toward the +grove. + +There was a chance--a slight one--that the whole herd might be stampeded, +but this had rarely happened within the memory of the oldest hunter. The +mammoth, though subject to panic, did not lack intelligence and when in a +group was conscious of its strength. As that yell ascended, the startled +beasts first rushed deeper into the grove and then, as the slope beyond +was revealed to them, turned and charged blindly, all save one, the great +tusker, who was feeding at the grove's outer verge. They came on, great +mountains of flesh, but swerved as they met the advancing line of fire and +weaved aimlessly up and down for a moment or two. Then a huge bull, stung +by a spear hurled by one of the hunters and frantic with fear, plunged +forward across the line and the others followed blindly. Three men were +crushed to death in their passage and all the mammoths were gone save the +big bull, who had started to rejoin his herd but had not reached it in +time. He was now raging up and down in the grove, bewildered and +trumpeting angrily. Immediately the hunters gathered closer together and +made their line of fire continuous. + +The mammoth rushed out clear of the trees and stood looming up, a +magnificent creature of unrivaled size and majesty. His huge tusks shone +out whitely against the mountain of dark shaggy hair. His small eyes +blazed viciously as he raised his trunk and trumpeted out what seemed +either a hoarse call to his herd or a roar of agony over his strait. He +seemed for a moment as if about to rush upon the dense line of his +tormentors, but the flaming faggots dashed almost in his face by the +reckless and excited hunters daunted him, and, as a spear lodged in his +trunk, he turned with almost a shriek of pain and dashed into the grove +again. Close at his heels bounded the hundred men, yelling like demons and +forgetting all danger in the madness of the chase. Right through the grove +the great beast crashed and then half turned as he came to the open slope +beyond. Running beside him was a daring youth trying in vain to pierce him +in the belly with his flint-headed spear, and, as the mammoth came for the +moment to a half halt, his keen eyes noted the pygmy, his great trunk shot +downward and backward, picked up the man and hurled him yards away against +the base of a great tree, the body as it struck being crushed out of all +semblance to man and dropping to the earth a shapeless lump. But the fire +behind and about the desperate mammoth seemed all one flame now, countless +spears thrown with all the force of strong arms were piercing his tough +hide, and out upon the slope toward the precipice the great beast plunged. +Upon his very flanks was the fire and about him all the stinging danger +from the half-crazed hunters. He lunged forward, slipped upon the smooth +glacial floor beneath him, tried to turn again to meet his thronging foes +and face the ring of flame, and then, wavering, floundering, moving +wonderfully for a creature of his vast size, but uncertain as to foothold, +he was driven to the very crest of the ledge, and, scrambling vainly, +carrying away an avalanche of ice, snow and shrubs, went crashing to his +death, a hundred feet below! + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +THE FEAST OF THE MAMMOTH. + +To the right and left of the precipice the fall to the plain below was +more gradual, and with exultant yells, the cave and Shell men rushed in +either direction, those venturing nearest the sheer descent going down +like monkeys, clinging as they went to shrubs and vines, while those who +ran to where the drop was a degree more passable fairly tumbled downward +to the plain. In an incredibly short space of time absolute silence +prevailed in and about the grove where the scene had lately been so +fiercely stirring. In the valley below there was wildest clamor. + +It was a great occasion for the human beings of the region. There was no +question as to the value of the prize the hunters had secured. Never +before in any joint hunting expedition, within the memory of the oldest +present, had followed more satisfactory result. The spoil was well worth +the great effort that had been made; in the estimation of the time, +perhaps worth the death of the hunters who had been killed. The huge beast +lay dead, close to the base of the cliff. One great, yellow-white, curved +tusk had been snapped off and showed itself distinct upon the grass some +feet away from the mountain of flesh so lately animated. The sight was one +worth looking upon in any age, for, in point of grandeur of appearance, +the mammoth, while not as huge as some of the monsters of reptilian times, +had a looming impressiveness never surpassed by any beast on the earth's +surface. Though prone and dead he was impressive. + +But the cave and Shell men were not so much impressed as they were +delighted. They had come into possession of food in abundance and there +would be a feast of all the people of the region, and, after that, +abundant meat in many a hut and cave for many a day. The hunters were +noisy and excited. A group pounced upon the broken tusk--for a mammoth +tusk, or a piece of one, was a prize in a cave dwelling--and there was +prospect of a struggle, but grim voices checked the wrangle of those who +had seized upon this portion of the spoil and it was laid aside, to be +apportioned later. The feast was the thing to be considered now. + +Again swift-footed messengers ran along forest paths and swam streams and +thridded wood and thicket, this time to assemble, not the hunters alone, +but with them all members of households who could conveniently and safely +come to the gathering of the morrow, when the feast of the mammoth would +be on. The messengers dispatched, the great carcass was assailed, and keen +flint knives, wielded by strong and skillful hands, were soon separating +from the body the thick skin, which was divided as seemed best to the +leaders of the gathering, Hilltop, the old hunter, for his special +services, getting the chief award in the division. Then long slices of the +meat were cut away, fires were built, the hunters ate to repletion and +afterward, with a few remaining awake as guards, slept the sleep of the +healthy and fully fed. Not in these modern days would such preliminary +consumption of food be counted wisest preparation for a feast on the +morrow, but the cave and Shell men were alike independent of affections of +the stomach or the liver, and could, for days in sequence, gorge +themselves most buoyantly. + +The morning came crisp and clear, and, with the morning, came from all +directions swiftly moving men and women, elated and hungry and expectant. +The first families and all other families of the region were gathering for +the greatest social function of the time. The men of various households +had already exerted themselves and a score or two of fires were burning, +while the odor of broiling meat was fragrant all about. Hunter husbands +met their broods, and there was banqueting, which increased as, hour after +hour, new groups came in. The families of both Ab and Oak were among those +early in the valley, Beechleaf and Bark, wide-eyed and curious, coming +upon the scene as a sort of advance guard and proudly greeting Ab. All +about was heard clucking talk and laughter, an occasional shout, and ever +the cracking of stone upon the more fragile thing, as the monster's +roasted bones were broken to secure the marrow in them. + +There was hilarity and universal enjoyment, though the assemblage, almost +by instinct, divided itself into two groups. The cave men and the Shell +men, while at this time friendly, were, as has been indicated, unlike in +many tastes and customs and to an extent unlike in appearance. The cave +man, accustomed to run like the deer along the forest ways, or to avoid +sudden danger by swift upward clambering and swinging along among +treetops, was leaner and more muscular than the Shell man, and had in his +countenance a more daring and confident expression. The Shell man was +shorter and, though brawny of build, less active of movement. He had spent +more hours of each day of his life in his rude raft-boat, or in walking +slowly with poised spear along creek banks, or, with bent back, digging +for the great luscious shell-fish which made a portion of his food, than +he had spent afoot and on land, with the smell of growing things in his +nostrils. The flavor of the water was his, the flavor of the wood the cave +man's. So it was that at the feast of the mammoth the allies naturally and +good-naturedly became somewhat grouped, each person according to his kind. +When hunger was satisfied and the talking-time came on, those with objects +and impulses the same could compare notes most interestedly. Constantly +the number of the feasters increased, and by mid-day there was a company +of magnitude. Much meat was required to feed such a number, but there were +tons of meat in a mammoth, enough to defy the immediate assaults of a much +greater assemblage than this of exceedingly healthy people. And the smoke +from the fires ascended and these rugged ones ate and were happy. + +But there came a time in the afternoon when even such feasters as were +assembled on this occasion became, in a measure, content, when this one +and that one began to look about, and when what might be called the social +amenities of the period began. Veterans flocked together, reminiscent of +former days when another mammoth had been driven over this same cliff; the +young grouped about different firesides, and there was talk of feats of +strength and daring and an occasional friendly grapple. Slender, sinewy +girls, who had girls' ways then as now, ate together and looked about +coquettishly and safely, for none had come without their natural +guardians. Rarely in the history of the cave men had there been a +gathering more generally and thoroughly festive, one where good eating had +made more good fellowship. Possibly--for all things are relative--there +has never occurred an affair of more social importance within the +centuries since. Human beings, dangerous ones, were merry and trusting +together, and the young looked at each other. + +Of course Ab and Oak had been eating in company. They had risked +themselves dangerously in the battle on the cliff, had escaped injury and +were here now, young men of importance, each endowed with an appetite +corresponding with the physical exertion of which he was capable and which +he never hesitated to make. The amount either of those young men had eaten +was sufficient to make a gourmand, though of grossest Roman times, fairly +sick with envy, and they were still eating, though, it must be confessed, +with modified enthusiasm. Each held in his hand a smoking lump of flesh +from some favored portion of the mammoth and each rent away an occasional +mouthful with much content. Suddenly Ab ceased mastication and stood +silent, gazing intently at a not unpleasing object a few yards distant. + +Two girls stood together near a fire about which were grouped perhaps a +dozen people. The two were eating, not voraciously, but with an apparent +degree of interest in what they were doing, for they had not been among +the early arrivals. It was upon these two that Ab's wandering glance had +fallen and had been held, and it was not surprising that he had become so +interested. Either of the couple was fitted to attract attention, though a +pair more utterly unlike it would be difficult to imagine. One was slight +and the other the very reverse, but each had striking characteristics. + +They stood there, the two, just as two girls so often stand to-day, the +hand of one laid half-caressingly upon the hip of the other. The beaming, +broad one was chattering volubly and the slender one listening carelessly. +The talking of the heavier girl was interrupted evenly by her mumbling at +a juicy strip of meat. Her hunger, it was clear, had not yet been +satisfied, and it was as clear, too, that her companion had yet an +appetite. The slender one was, seemingly, not much interested in the +conversation, but the other chattered on. It was plain that she was a most +contented being. She was symmetrical only from the point of view of +admirers of the heavily built. She had very broad hips and muscular arms +and was somewhat squat of structure. It is hesitatingly to be admitted of +this young lady that, sturdy and prepossessing, from a practical point of +view, as she might be to the average food-winning cave man, she lacked a +certain something which would, to the observant, place her at once in good +society. She was an exceedingly hairy young woman. She wore the usual +covering of skins, but she would have been well-draped, in moderately +temperate weather, had the covering been absent. Either for fashion's sake +or comfort, not much weight of foreign texture in addition to her own +hirsute and, to a certain extent, graceful, natural garb, was needed. She +was a female Esau of the time, just a great, good-hearted, strong and +honest cave girl, of the subordinate and obedient class which began +thousands of years before did history, one who recognized in the girl who +stood beside her a stronger and dominating spirit, and who had been +received as a trusted friend and willing assistant. It is so to-day, even +among the creatures which are said to have no souls, the dogs especially. +But the girl had strength and a certain quick, animal intelligence. She +was the daughter of a cave man living not far from the home of old +Hilltop, and her name was Moonface. Her countenance was so broad and +beaming that the appellation had suggested itself in her jolly childhood. + +Very different from Moonface was the slender being who, having eaten a +strip of meat, was now seeking diligently with a splinter for the marrow +in the fragment of bone her father had tossed toward her. Her father was +Hilltop, the veteran of the immediate region and the hero of the day, and +she was called Lightfoot, a name she had gained early, for not in all the +country round about was another who could pass over the surface of the +earth with greater swiftness than could she. And it was upon Lightfoot +that Ab was looking. + +The young woman would have been fair to look upon, or at least +fascinating, to the most world-wearied and listless man of the present +day. She stood there, easily and gracefully, her arms and part of her +breast, above, and her legs from about the knees, below, showing clearly +from beneath her covering of skins. Her deep brown hair, knotted back with +a string of the tough inner bark of some tree, hung upon the middle of her +flat, in-setting back. She was not quite like any of the other girls about +her. Her eyes were larger and softer and there was more reflection and +variety of expression in them. Her limbs were quite as long as those of +any of her companions and the fingers and toes, though slenderer, were +quite as suggestive of quick and strong grasping capabilities, but there +was, with all the proof of springiness and litheness, a certain rounding +out. The strip of hair upon her legs below the knees was slight and +silken, as was also that upon her arms. Yet, undoubted leader in society +as her appearance indicated, quite aside from her father's standing, there +was in her face, with all its loftiness of air, a certain blithesomeness +which was almost at variance with conditions. She was a most lovable young +woman--there could be no question about that--and Ab had, as he looked +upon her for the first time, felt the fact from head to heel. He thought +of her as like the leopard tree-cat, most graceful creature of the wood, +so trim was she and full of elasticity, and thought of her, too, as he +looked in her intelligent face, as higher in another way. He was somewhat +awed, but he was courageous. He had, so far in life, but sought to get +what he wanted whenever it was in sight. Now he was nonplussed. + +Presently Lightfoot raised her eyes and they met those of Ab. The young +people looked at each other steadily for a moment and then the glance of +the girl was turned away. But, meanwhile, the man had recovered himself. +He had been eating, absent-mindedly, a well-cooked portion of a great +steak of the mammoth's choicest part. He now tore it in twain and watched +the girl intently. She raised her eyes again and he tossed her a half of +the smoking flesh. She saw the movement, caught the food deftly in one +hand as it reached her, and looked at Ab and laughed. There was no mock +modesty. She began eating the choice morsel contentedly; the two were, in +a manner, now made formally acquainted. + +The young man did not, on the instant, pursue his seeming advantage, the +result of an impulsive bravery requiring a greater effort on his part than +the courage he had shown in conflict with many a beast of the forest. He +did not talk to the young woman. But he thought to himself, while his +blood bubbled in his veins, that he would find her again; that he would +find her in the wood! She did not look at him more, for her people were +clustering about her and this was a great occasion. + +Ab was recalled to himself by a hoarse exclamation. Oak was looking at him +fiercely. There was no other sound, but the young man stood gazing fixedly +at the place where the girl had just been lost amid the group about her. +And Ab knew instinctively, as men have learned to know so well in all the +years, from the feeling which comes to them at such a time, that he had a +rival, that Oak also had seen and loved this slender creature of the +hillside. + +There was a division of the mammoth flesh and hide and tusks. Ab struggled +manfully for a portion of one of the tusks, which he wanted for Old Mok's +carving, and won it at last, the elders deciding that he and Oak had +fought well enough upon the cliff to entitle them to a part of the honor +of the spoil, and Oak opposing nothing done by Ab, though his looks were +glowering. Then, as the sun passed toward the west, all the people +separated to take the dangerous paths toward their homes. Ab and Oak +journeyed away together. Ab was jubilant, though doubtful, while the face +of Oak was dark. The heart of neither was light within him. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +THE COMRADES. + +Drifting away in various directions toward their homes the Cave and Shell +People still kept in groups, by instinct. Social functions terminated +before dark and guests going and coming kept together for mutual +protection in those days of the cave bear and other beasts. But on the day +of the Feast of the Mammoth there was somewhat less than the usual +precaution shown. There were vigorous and well-armed hunters at hand by +scores, and under such escort women and children might travel after dusk +with a degree of safety, unless, indeed, the great cave tiger, +Sabre-Tooth, chanced to be abroad, but he was more rarely to be met than +others of the wild beasts of the time. When he came it was as a +thunderbolt and there were death and mourning in his trail. The march +through the forest as the shadows deepened was most watchful. There was a +keen lookout on the part of the men, and the women kept their children +well in hand. From time to time, one family after another detached itself +from the main body and melted into the forest on the path to its own cave +near at hand. Thus Hilltop and his family left the group in which were Ab +and Oak, and glances of fire followed them as they went. The two girls, +Lightfoot and Moonface, had walked together, chattering like crows. They +had strung red berries upon grasses and had hung them in their hair and +around their necks, and were fine creatures. Lightfoot, as was her wont, +laughed freakishly at whatever pleased her, and in her merry mood had an +able second in her sturdy companion. There were moments, though, when even +the irrepressible Lightfoot was thoughtful and so quiet that the girl who +was with her wondered. The greater girl had been lightly touched with that +unnamable force which has changed men and women throughout all the ages. +The picture of Ab's earnest face was in her mind and would not depart. She +could not, of course, define her own mood, nor did she attempt it. She +felt within herself a certain quaking, as of fear, at the thought of him, +and yet, so she told herself again and again, she was not afraid. All the +time she could see Ab's face, with its look of longing and possession, but +with something else in it, when his eyes met hers, which she could not +name nor understand. She could not speak of him, but Moonface had upon her +no such stilling influence. + +"They look alike," she said. + +Lightfoot assented, knowing the girl meant Ab and Oak. "But Ab is taller +and stronger," Moonface continued, and Lightfoot assented as +indifferently, for, somehow, of the two she had remembered definitely one +only. She became daring in her reflections: "What if he should want to +carry me to his cave?" and then she tried to run away from the thought and +from anything and everybody else, leaping forward, outracing and leaving +all the company. She reached her father's cave far ahead of the others and +stood, laughing, at the entrance, as the family and Moonface, a guest for +the night, came trotting up. + +And Ab, the buoyant and strong, was not himself as he journeyed with the +homeward-pressing company. His mood changed and he dropped away from Oak +and lagged in the rear of the little band as it wound its way through the +forest. Slight time was needed for others to recognize his mood, and he +was strong of arm and quick of temper, as all knew well, and, so, he was +soon left to stalk behind in independent sulkiness. He felt a weight in +his breast; a fiery spot burned there. He was fierce with Oak because Oak +had looked at Lightfoot with a warm light in his eyes. He! when he should +have known that Ab was looking at her! This made rage in his heart; and +sadness came, too, because he was perplexed over the girl. "How can I get +her?" he mumbled to himself, as he stalked along. + +Meanwhile, at the van of the company there was noise and frolic. Assembled +in force, they were for the hour free from dread of the haunting terror of +wild beasts, and, satisfied with eating, the Cave and Shell People were in +one of the merriest moods of their lives, collectively speaking. The young +men were especially jubilant and exuberant of demeanor. Their sport was +rough and dangerous. There were scuffling and wrestling and the more +reckless threw their stone axes, sometimes at each other, always, it is +true, with warning cries, but with such wild, unconscious strength put in +the throwing that the finding of a living target might mean death. Ab, +engrossed in thoughts of something far apart from the rude sport about +him, became nervously impatient. Like the girl, he wanted to escape from +his thoughts, and bounding ahead to mingle with the darting and swinging +group in front, he was soon the swift and stalwart leader in their +foolishly risky sport, the center of the whole commotion. One muscled man +would hurl his stone hatchet or strong flint-headed spear at a green tree +and another would imitate him until a space in advance was covered and the +word given for a rush, when all would race for the target, each striving +to reach it first and detach his own weapon before others came. It was a +merry but too careless contest, with a chance of some serious happening. +There followed a series of these mad games and the oldsters smiled as they +heard the sound of vigorous contest and themselves raced as they could, to +keep in close company with the stronger force. + +Ab had shown his speed in all his playing. Now he ran to the front and +plucked out his spear, a winner, then doubled and ran back beside the +pathway to mingle with the central body of travelers, having in mind only +to keep in the heart and forefront of as many contests as possible. There +was more shouting and another rush from the main body and, bounding aside +from all, he ran to get the chance of again hurling his spear as well. A +great oak stood in the middle of the pathway and toward it already a spear +or two had been sent, all aimed, as the first thrower had indicated, at a +white fungus growth which protruded from the tree. It was a matter of +accuracy this time. Ab leaped ahead some yards in advance of all and +hurled his spear. He saw the white chips fly from the side of the fungus +target, saw the quivering of the spear shaft with the head deep sunken in +the wood, and then felt a sudden shock and pain in one of his legs. He +fell sideways off the path and beneath the brushwood, as the wild band, +young and old, swept by. He was crippled and could not walk. He called +aloud, but none heard him amid the shouting of that careless race. He +tried to struggle to his feet, but one leg failed him and he fell back, +lying prone, just aside from the forest path, nearly weaponless and the +easy prey of the wild beasts. What had hurt him so grievously was a spear +thrown wildly from behind him. It had, hurled with great strength, struck +a smooth tree trunk and glanced aside, the point of the spear striking the +young man fairly in the calf of the leg, entering somewhat the bone +itself, and shocking, for the moment, every nerve. The flint sides had cut +a vein or two and these were bleeding, but that was nothing. The real +danger lay in his helplessness. Ab was alone, and would afford good eating +for those of the forest who, before long, would be seeking him. The scent +of the wild beast was a wonderful thing. The man tried to rise, then lay +back sullenly. Far in the distance, and growing fainter and fainter, he +could hear the shouts of the laughing spear-throwers. + +The strong young man, thus left alone to death almost inevitable, did not +altogether despair. He had still with him his good stone ax and his long +and keen stone knife. He would, at least, hurt something sorely before he +was eaten, he thought grimly to himself. And then he pressed leaves +together on the cut upon his leg, and laid himself back upon the leaves +and waited. + +He did not have to wait long. He had not thought to do so. How full the +woods were of blood-scenting and man-eating things none knew better than +he. His ear, keen and trained, caught the patter of a distant approach. +"Wolves," he said to himself at first, and then "Hyenas," for the step was +puzzling. He was perplexed. The step was regular, and it was not in the +forest on either side, but was coming up the path. A terror came upon him +and he had crawled deeper into the shades, when he noted that the steps +first ceased, and then that they wandered searchingly and uncertainly. +Then, loud and strong, rang out a voice, calling his name, and it was the +voice of Oak! He could not answer for a moment, and then he cried out +gladly. + +Oak had, in the forward-rushing group, seen Ab's hurt and fall, but had +thought it a trifling matter, since no outcry came from those behind, and +so had kept his course away and ahead with the rest. But finally he had +noted the absence of Ab and had questioned, and then--first telling some +of his immediate companions that they were to lag and wait for him--had +started back upon a run to reach the place where he had last seen his +friend. It was easy now to arrange wet leaves about Ab's crippling, but +little more than temporary, wound. The two, one leaning upon the other and +hobbling painfully, and each with weapons in hand, contrived, at last, to +reach Oak's lingering and grumbling contingent. Ab was helped along by two +instead of one then, and the rest was easy. When the pathway leading to +home was reached, Oak accompanied his friend, and the two passed the night +together. + +Ab, once on his own bed, with Oak couched beside him, was surprised to +find, not merely that his physical pain was going, but that the greater +one was gone. The weight and burning had left his breast and he was no +longer angry at Oak. He thought blindly but directly toward conclusions. +He had almost wanted to kill Oak, all because each saw the charm of and +wanted the possession of a slender, beautiful creature of their kind. Then +something dangerous had happened to him, and this same Oak, his friend, +the man he had wished to kill, had come back and saved his life. The sense +which we call gratitude, and which is not unmingled with what we call +honor, came to this young cave man then. He thought of many things, +worried and wakeful as he was, and perhaps made more acute of perception +by the slight, exciting fever of his wound. + +He thought of how the two, he and Oak, had planned and risked together, of +their boyish follies and failures and successes, and of how, in later +years, Oak had often helped him, of how he had saved Oak's life once in +the river swamp, where quicksands were, of how Oak had now offset even +that debt by carrying him away from certain ending amid wild beasts. No +one--and of the cave men he knew many--no one in all the careless, merry +party had missed him save Oak. He doubtless could not have told himself +why it was, but he was glad that he could repay it all and have the +balance still upon his side. He was glad that he had the secret of the bow +and arrow to reveal. That should be Oak's! So it came that, late that +night, when the fire in the cave had burned low and when one could not +wisely speak above a whisper, Ab told Oak the story of the new weapon, of +how it had been discovered, of how it was to be used and of all it was for +hunters and fighters. Furthermore, he brought his best bow and best arrows +forth, and told Oak they were his and that they would practice together in +the morning. His astonished and delighted companion had little to say over +the revelation. He was eager for the morning, but he straightened out his +limbs upon the leafy mattress and slept well. So, somewhat later, did the +half-feverish Ab. + +Morning came and the cave people were astir. There was brief though hearty +feeding and then Ab and Oak and Old Mok, to whom Ab had said much aside, +went away from the cave and into the forest. There Oak was taught the +potency of the new weapon, its deadly quality and the safety of distance +it afforded its user. It was a great morning for all three, not excepting +the stern and critical old teacher, when they thus met together in the +wood and the secret of what two had found was so transmitted to another. +As for Oak, he was fairly aflame with excitement. He was far from slow of +mind and he recognized in a moment the enormous advantage of the new way +of killing either the things they ate, or the things they dreaded most. He +could scarcely restrain his eagerness to experiment for himself. Before +noon had come he was gone, carrying away the bow and the good arrows. As +he disappeared in the wood Ab said nothing, but to himself he thought: + +"He may have all the bows and arrows he can make, but I will have +Lightfoot myself!" + +Ab and Mok started for the cave again, Ab, bow in hand and with ready +arrow. There was a patter of feet upon leaves in the wood beside them and +then the arrow was fitted to the string, while Old Mok, strong-armed if +weak-legged, raised aloft his spear. The two were seeking no conflict with +wild beasts today and were but defensive and alert. They were puzzled by +the sound their quick ears caught. "Patter, patter," ever beside them, but +deep in the forest shade, came the sound of menacing followers of some +sort. + +There was tension of nerves. Old Mok, sturdy and unconsciously fatalistic, +was more self-contained than the youth at his side, bow-armed and with +flint ax and knife ready for instant use. At last an open space was +reached across which ran the well-worn path. Now the danger must reveal +itself. The two men emerged into the glade, and, a moment later, there +bounded into it gamboling and full of welcome, the wolf cubs, which had +played about the cave so long, who were now detached from their own kind +and preferred the companionship of man. There was laughter then, and a +more careless demeanor with the weapon borne. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +LOVE AND DEATH. + +Different from his former self became this young forester, Ab. He was +thinking of something other than wild beasts and their pursuit. +Instinctively, the course of his hunting expeditions tended toward the +northwest and soon the impulse changed to a design. He must look upon +Lightfoot again! Henceforth he haunted the hill region, and never keener +for quarry or more alert for the approach of some dangerous animal was the +eye of this woodsman than it was for the appearance somewhere of a slender +figure of a cave girl. Neither game nor things to dread were numerous in +the vicinity of the home of Hilltop, for there one of the hardiest and +wisest among hunters had occupied his cave for many years, and wild beasts +learn things. So it chanced that Lightfoot could wander farther afield +than could most girls of the time. Ab knew all this well, for the quality +of expert and venturesome old Hilltop was familiar to all the cave men +throughout a wide stretch of country. So Ab, somewhat shamefaced to his +own consciousness, hunted in a region not the best for spoil, and looked +for a girl who might appear on some forest path, moderately safe from the +rush of any of the hungry man-eaters of the wood. + +But not all the time of this wild lover was wasted in haunting the +possible idling-places of the girl he wanted so. With love there had come +to him such sense and thoughtfulness as has come with earnest love to +millions since. What could he do with Lightfoot should he gain her? He was +but a big, young fighting man and hunter, still sleeping, almost nightly, +on one of the leaf beds in his father's cave. With a wife of his own he +must have a cave of his own. Compared with his first impulses toward the +girl, this was a new train of thought, and, as we recognize it to-day, a +nobler one. He wanted to care for his own. He wanted a cave fit for the +reception of such a woman as this, to him, the sweetest and proudest of +all beings, Lightfoot, daughter of old Hilltop, of the wooded highlands. + +Far up the river, far beyond the home of Oak's father and beyond the +shining marshlands and the purple heather reaches which made the foothills +pleasant, extended to the river's bank a promontory, bold and picturesque +and clad heavily with the best of trees. It was a great stretch of land, +where, in some of nature's grim work, the earth had been up-heaved and +there had been raised good soil for giant forests, and at the same time +been made broad caverns to become future habitations of the creature known +as man. But the trees bore nuts and fruits, and such creatures as found +food in nuts and fruits, and, later, such as loved rich herbage, came to +the forest in great numbers, and then followed such as fed upon these +again, all the flesh eaters, to whom man was, as any other living thing, +to be seized upon and devoured. The promontory, so rich in game and nuts +and fruits, was, at the same time, the most dangerous in all the region +for human habitation. There were deep, dry caves within its limits, but in +none of them had a cave man yet ventured to make his home. It was toward +this promontory that the young man in love turned his eyes. Because others +had feared to make a home in this lone, high region should he also fear? +There was food there in plenty and if there were chance of fighting in +plenty, so much the better! Was he not strong and fleet; had he not the +best of spears and axes? Above all, had he not the new weapon which made +man far above the beasts? Here was the place for a home which should be +the best in all this region of the cave men. Here game and food of all +kinds would be most abundant. The situation would demand a brave man and a +woman scarcely less courageous, but would not he and the girl he was +determined to bring there meet all occasion? His mind was fixed. + +Ab found a cave, one clean and dry and opening out upon a slight treeless +area, and this he, lover-like, improved for the woman he had resolved to +bring there, arranging carefully the interior of which must be a home. He +had fancies such as lovers have exhibited from since the time when the +plesiosaurus swashed away in the strand of a warm sea a hollow nursery for +the birth and first tending of the young of his odd kind, up to the later +time when men have squandered fortunes on the sleeping rooms of women they +have loved. He toiled for many days. With his ax he chipped away the +cavern's sharp protuberances at each side, and with the stone chips from +the walls and with what he brought from outside, he made the floor white +and clean and nearly level. He built a fireplace and chipped into a huge +stone, which, fortunately, lay inside the cave, a hollow for holding +drinking water, or for the boiling of meat. He built up a passage-way at +the entrance, allowing something but not too much more than his own width, +as the gauge for measurement of its breadth. He brought into the cave a +deep carpet of leaves and made a wide bed in one corner and this he +covered with furred skins, for many skins Ab owned in his own right. Then, +with a thick fragment of tough branch as a lever, he rolled a big stone +near the cave's entrance and left it ready to be occupied as a home. The +woman was still lacking. + +There came a day when Ab, impatient after his searching and waiting, but +yet resolute, had killed a capercailzie--the great grouse-like bird of the +time, the descendants of which live to-day in northern forests--and had +built a fire and feasted, and then, instinctively careful, had climbed to +the first broad, low branch of an enormous tree and there adjusted himself +to sleep the sleep of one who has eaten heartily. He lay with the big +branch for a bed, supported on either side by green, upspringing twigs, +and slept well for an hour or two and then awoke, lazy and listless, but +with much good to him from the repast and rest. It was not yet very late +in the afternoon and the sun still shone kindly upon him, as upon a whole +world of rejoicing things. Something like a reflection of the life of the +morning was beginning to manifest itself, as is ever the way where forests +and wild things are. The wonderful noise of wood life was renewed. As the +young man awakened, he felt in every pulse the thrilling powers of +existence. Everything was fair to look upon. His ears took in the sound of +the voices of birds, already beginning vesper songs, though the afternoon +was yet so early as scarcely to hint of evening, and the scent from a +thousand plants and flowers, permeating and intoxicating, reached his +senses as he lounged sprawlingly upon his safe bed aloft. + +It was attractive, the scene which Ab looked upon. The forest was in all +the glory of summer and nesting and breeding things were happy. There was +the fullness of the being of trees and plants and of all birds and beasts. +There was a soft commingling of sounds which told of the life about, the +effect of which was, somehow, almost drowsy in the blending of all +together. The great ferns waved gently along the hollows as the slight +breeze touched them. They were queer, those ferns. They were not quite so +slender and tapering and gothic as the ferns we see to-day. They were a +trifle more lush and ragged, and their tips were sometimes almost rounded. +But Ab noted little of fern or bird. It was only the general sensuousness +that was upon him. The smell of the pines was a partial tonic to the +healthy, half-awakened man, and, though he lay back upon the rugged wooden +bed and half dozed again, nature had aroused him a trifle beyond the point +of relapse into absolute, unknowing slumber. There was coming to him a +sharpness of perception which affected the quiescence of his enjoyment. He +rose to a sitting posture and looked about him. At once his eyes flashed, +every nerve and muscle became tense and the blood leaped turbulently in +his veins. He had seen that for which he had come into this region, the +girl who had so reached his rude, careless heart. Lightfoot was very near +him! + +The girl, all unconscious, was sitting upon the trunk of a fallen tree +which lay close beside a creek. There was an abundance of small pebbles +upon the little strand and the young lady was absent-mindedly engaged in +an occupation in which, to the observer, she took some interest, while +she, no doubt, was really thinking of something else. She sat there, +slender, beautiful and excelling, in her way, the belle of the period, +merely amusing herself. Her toes were charming toes. There could be no +debate on that point, for, while long and strong and flexible, they had a +certain evenness and symmetry. They were being idly employed just now. At +the creek's edge, half imbedded in the ground, uprose the crest of a +granite stone. Picking up pebble after pebble in her admirable toes, +Lightfoot was engaged in throwing them, one after another, at the +outstanding point of granite, utilizing in the performance only those toes +and the brown leg below the knee. She did exceedingly well and hit the +red-brown target often. Ab, hot-headed and fierce lover in the tree top, +looked on admiringly. How perfect of form was she; how bright the face! +and then, forgetting himself, he cried aloud and slid from the branch as +easily and swiftly as any serpent and started running toward the girl. He +must have her! + +With his cry, the girl leaped to her feet, and as he reached the ground, +recognized him on the instant. She knew in the same instant that they had +felt together and that it was not by accident that he was near her. She +had felt as he; so far as a woman may feel with a man; but maidens are +maidens, and sweet lightness dreads force, and a modified terror came upon +her. She paused for a moment, then turned and ran toward the upland +forest. + +Not a moment hesitating or faltering as affected by the girl's action was +the young man who had tumbled from the tree bed. The blood dancing within +him and the great natural impulse of gaining what was greatest to him in +life controlled him now. He was hot with fierce lovingness. He ran well, +but he did not run better than the graceful thing before him. + +Even for the critical being of the great cities of to-day, the one who +"manages" races of all sorts, it would have been worth while to see this +race in the forest. As the doe leaps, scarcely touching the ground, ran +Lightfoot. As the wolf or hound runs, less swift for the moment, but +tireless, ran the man behind her. Yet of all the men in the cave region, +this flying girl wanted most this man to take her! It was the maidenly +force-dreading instinct alone which made her run. + +Ab, dogged and enduring, lost no space as the race led away toward the +hill and home of the fleet thing ahead of him. There were miles to be +covered, and therein he had hope. They were on the straight path to +Hilltop's cave, though there were divergent, curving side paths almost as +available; but to avoid her pursuer, the fugitive could take none of +these. There were cross-cuts everywhere. In leaving the direct path she +would but lose ground. To reach soon enough by straight, clean running the +towering wooded hill in which was her father's cave seemed the only hope +of the half-unwilling fugitive. + +There were descents and ascents in the long chase and plateaus where the +running was on level ground. Straining forward, gaining little, but +confident of overtaking the girl, Ab, deep-chested and physically +untroubled, pressed onward, when he noted that the girl made a sudden +spurt and bounded forward with a speed not shown before, while, at the +same time, she swerved from the right of the path. + +It was not Ab who had made her swerve. Some new alarm had come to her. She +was about to reach and, as Ab supposed, pass one of the inletting paths +entering almost at right angles from the left. She did not pass it. She +leaped into it in evident terror and then, breaking out from the wood on +the right, came another form and one surely in swift following. Ab knew +the figure well. Oak was the new pursuer! + +The awful rage which rose in the heart of Ab as he saw what was happening +is what can no more be described than one can tell what a tiger in the +jungle thinks. He saw another--the other his friend--pursuing and +intending to take what he wanted to be his and what had become to him more +than all else in the world; more than much eating and the skins of things +to keep him warm, more than a mammoth's tooth to carve, more than the +glorious skin of the great cave tiger, the possession of which made a rude +nobility, more than anything and all else! He leaped aside from the path. +He knew well the other path upon which were running Oak and Lightfoot. He +knew that he could intercept them, because, though the running was not so +good, the distance to be covered was much less, for to him path running +was a light matter. In the wood he ran as easily and leaped as well and +attained a point almost as quickly as the beasts. There was a stress of +effort and, as the shadows deepened, he burst in upon the cross path where +he knew were the fleeing Lightfoot and following Oak. He had thought to +head them off, but Ab was not the only man who was swift of foot in the +cave country. They passed, almost as he bounded from the forest. He saw +them close together not many yards ahead of him and, with a shout of rage, +bent himself in swift and terrible pursuit again. + +It was all plain to Ab now as he flew along, unnoted by the two ahead of +him. He knew that Oak had, like him, determined to own Lightfoot, and had +like him, been seeking her. Only chance had made the chase thus cross +Oak's path; but that made no difference. There must be a grim meeting +soon. Ab could see that the endurance of the wonderfully fleet-footed +woman was not equal to that of the man so near her. She would soon be +overtaken. Before her rose the hill, not a mile in its slope, where were +her father's cave, and safety. He knew that she had not the strength to +breast it fleetly enough for covert. And, as he looked, he saw the girl +turn a frightened face toward her close pursuer and knew that she saw him +as well. Her pace slackened for a moment as this revelation came to her, +and he felt, somehow, that in him she recognized comparative protection. +Then she recovered herself and bent all the power she had toward the +ascent. But Oak had been gaining steadily, and now, with a sudden rush, he +reached her and grasped her, the woman shrieking wildly. A moment later Ab +rushed in upon them with a shout. Instinctively Oak released the girl, for +in the cry he heard that which meant menace and immediate danger. As +Lightfoot felt herself free she stood for a moment or two without a +movement, with wide-open eyes, looking upon what was happening before her. +Then she bounded away, not looking backward as she ran. + +[Illustration: AB STOOD THERE WEAPONLESS, A CREATURE WANDERING OF MIND] + +The two men stood there glaring at each other, Oak perched, and yet not +perched, so broad and perfect was his foothold, on the crest of a slight +shelf of the downward slope. There stood the two men, poised, the one +above, the other below, two who had been as close together from childhood +as all the attributes of mind and body might allow, and yet now as far +apart as human beings may be. They were beautiful in a way, each in his +murderous, unconscious posing for the leap. The sun hit the blue ax of Oak +and made it look a gray. The raised ax of Ab, which was of a lighter +colored stone, was in the shade and its yellowness was darkened into +brown. The spectacle lasted for but a second. As Oak leaped Ab bounded +aside and they stood upon a level, a tiny plateau, and there was fierce, +strong fencing. One could not note its methods; even the keen-eyed +wolverine, crouching low upon an adjacent monster limb, could never have +followed the swift movements of these stone axes. The dreadful play was +brief. The clash of stone together ceased as there came a duller sound, +which told that stone had bitten bone. Oak, slightly the higher of the +two, as they stood thus in the fray, leaned forward suddenly, his arms +aloft, while from his hand dropped the blue ax. He floundered down +uncouthly and grasped the beech leaves with his hands, and then lay still. +Ab stood there weaponless, a creature wandering of mind. His yellow ax had +parted from his hand, sunk deeply into the skull of Oak, and he looked +upon it curiously and vacantly. He was not sane. He stepped forward and +pulled the ax away and lifted it to a level with his eyes and went to +where the sunlight shone. The ax was not yellow any more. Meanwhile a girl +was flitting toward her home and the shadows of the waning day were +deepening. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +A RACE WITH DREAD. + +Ab looked toward the forest wherein Lightfoot had fled and then looked +upon that which lay at his feet. It was Oak--there were the form and +features of his friend--but, somehow, it was not Oak. There was too much +silence and the blood upon the leaves seemed far too bright. His rage +departed, and he wanted Oak to answer and called to him, but Oak did not +answer. Then came slowly to him the idea that Oak was dead and that the +wild beasts would that night devour the dead man where he lay. The thought +nerved him to desperate, sudden action. He leaped forward, he put his arms +about the body and carried it away to a hollow in the wooded slope. He +worked madly, doing some things as he had seen the cave people do at other +buryings. He placed the weapons of Oak beside him. He took from his belt +his own knife, because it was better than that of Oak, and laid it close +to the dead man's hand, and then, first covering the body with beech +leaves, he worked frantically upon the overhanging soil, prying it down +with a sharp-pointed fragment of limb, and tossing in upon all as heavy +stones as he could lift, until a great cairn rose above the hunter who +would hunt no more. + +Panting with his efforts, Ab sat himself down upon a rock and looked upon +the monument he had raised. Again he called to Oak, but there was still no +answer. The sun had set, evening shadows thickened around him. Then there +came upon the live man a feeling as dreadful as it was new, and, with a +yell, which was almost a shriek, he leaped to his feet and bounded away in +fearful flight. + +He only knew this, that there was something hurt his inside of body and +soul, but not the inside of him as it had been when once he had eaten +poisonous berries or when he had eaten too much of the little deer. It was +something different. It was an awful oppression, which seemed to leave his +body, in a manner, unfeeling but which had a great dread about it and +which made him think and think of the dead man, and made him want to run +away and keep running. He had always run far that day, but he was not +tired now. His legs seemed to have the hard sinews of the stag in them but +up toward the top of him was something for them to carry away as fast and +far as possible from somewhere. He raced from the dense woodland down into +the broad morass to the west--beyond which was the rock country--and into +which he had rarely ventured, so treacherous its ways. What cared he now! +He made great leaps and his muscles and sinews responded to the thought of +him. To cross that morass safely required a touch on tussocks and an +upbounding aside, a zig-zag exhibition of great strength and knowingness +and recklessness. But it was unreasoning; it was the instinct begotten of +long training and, now, of the absence of all nervousness. Each taut toe +touched each point of bearing just as was required above the quagmire, +and, all unperceiving and uncaring, he fled over dirty death as easily as +he might have run upon some hardened woodland pathway. He did not think +nor know nor care about what he was doing. He was only running away from +the something he had never known before! Why should he be running now? He +had killed things before and not cared and had forgotten. Why should he +care now? But there was the something which made him run. And where was +Oak? Would Oak meet him again and would they hunt together? No, Oak would +not come, and he, this Ab, had made it so! He must run. No one was +following him--he knew that--but he must run! + +The marsh was passed, night had fallen, but he ran on, pressing into the +bear and tiger haunted forest beyond. Anything, anything, to make him +forget the strange feeling and the thing which made him run! He plunged +into a forest path, utterly reckless, wanting relief, a seeker for +whatever might come. + +In that age and under such conditions as to locality it was inevitable +that the creature, man, running through such a forest path at night, must +face some fierce creature of the carnivora seeking his body for food. Ab, +blinded of mood, cared not for and avoided not a fight, though it might be +with the monster bear or even the great tiger. There was no reason in his +madness. He was, though he knew it not, a practical suicide, yet one who +would die fighting. What to him were weight and strength to-night? What to +him were such encounters as might come with hungry four-footed things? It +would but relieve him were some of the beasts to try to gain his life and +eat his body. His being seemed valueless, and as for the wild beasts--and +here came out the splendid death-facing quality of the cave man--well, it +would be odd if there were not more deaths than one! But all this was +vague and only a minor part of thought. + +Sometimes, as if to invite death, he yelled as he ran. He yelled whenever +in his fleeting visions he saw Oak lying dead again. So ran the man who +had killed another. + +There was a growl ahead of him, a sudden breaking away of the bushes, and +then he was thrown back, stunned and bleeding, because a great paw had +smitten him. Whatever the beast might be, it was hungry and had found what +seemed easy prey. There was a difference, though, which the animal,--it +was doubtless a bear--unfortunately for him, did not comprehend, between +the quality of the being he proposed to eat just now and of other animals +included in his ordinary menu. But the bear did not reason; he but plunged +forward to crush out the remaining life of the runner his great paw had +driven back and down and then to enjoy his meal. + +The man was little hurt. His skin coat had somewhat protected him and his +sinewy body had such toughness that the hurling of it backward for a few +feet was not anything involving a fatality. Very surely and suddenly had +been thrust upon him now the practical lesson of being or dying, and it +was good for the half-crazed runner, for it cleared his mind. But it made +him no less desperate or careless. With strength almost maniacal he leaped +at what he would have fled from at any other time, and, swinging his ax +with the quickness of light, struck tremendously at the great lowering +head. He yelled again as he felt stone cut and crash into bone, though +himself swept aside once more as a great paw, sidestruck, hurled him into +the bushes. He bounded to his feet and saw something huge and dark and +gasping floundering in the pathway. He thought not but ran on panting. By +some strange freak of forest fortune abetting might the man wandering of +mind had driven his ax nearly to the haft into the skull of his huge +assailant. It may be that never before had a cave man, thus armed, done so +well. The slayer ran on wildly, and now weaponless. + +Soon to the runner the scene changed. The trees crowded each other less +closely and there was less of denned pathway. There came something of an +ascent and he breasted it, though less swiftly, for, despite the impelling +force, nature had claims, and muscles were wearying of their work. Fewer +and fewer grew the trees. He knew that he was where there was now a sweep +of rocky highlands and that he was not far from the Fire Country, of which +Old Mok had so often told him. He burst into the open, and as he came out +under the stars, which he could see again, he heard an ominous whine, too +near, and a distant howl behind him. A wolf pack wanted him. + +He shuddered as he ran. The life instinct was fully awakened in him now, +as the dread from which he had run became more distant. Had he heard that +close whine and distant howl before he fairly reached the open he would +have sought a treetop for refuge. Now it was too late. He must run ahead +blindly across the treeless space for such harborage as might come. Far +ahead of him he could see light, the light of fire, reaching out toward +him through the darkness. He was panting and wearied, but the sounds +behind him were spur enough to bring the nearly dead to life. He bowed his +head and ran with such effort as he had never made before in all his wild +and daring existence. + +The wolves of the time, greater, swifter and fiercer than the gaunt gray +wolves of northern latitudes and historic times, ran well, but so did +contemporaneous man run well, and the chase was hard. With his life to +save, Ab swept panting over the rocky ground with a swiftness begotten of +the grand last effort of remaining strength, running straight toward the +light, while the wolf pack, now gathered, hurled itself from the wood +behind and followed swiftly and relentlessly. Ever before the man shone +the light more brightly; ever behind him became more distinct the sound +made by the following pack. It was a dire strait for the running man. He +was no longer thinking of what he had lately done. He ran. + +[Illustration: WITH A GREAT LEAP HE WENT AT AND THROUGH THE CURLING CREST +OF THE YELLOW FLAME] + +The light he had seen extended as he neared it into what looked like a +great fence of flame lying across his way. There were gaps in the fence +where the flame, still continuous, was not so high as elsewhere. He did +not hesitate. He ran straight ahead. Closer and closer behind him crowded +the pursuing wolves, and straight at the flame he ran. There was one +chance in many, he thought, and he took it without hesitation. Close +before him now loomed the wall of flame. Close behind him slavering jaws +were working in anticipation, and there was a strain for the last rush. +There was no alternative. Straight at the fire wall where it was lowest +rushed Ab, and with a great leap he went at and through the curling crest +of the yellow flame! + +The man had found safety! There was a moment of heat and then he knew +himself to be sprawling upon green turf. A little of the strength of +desperation was still with him and he bounded to his feet and looked +about. There were no wolves. Beside him was a great flat rock, and he +clambered upon this, and then, over the crest of the flames could see +easily enough the glaring eyes of his late pursuers. They were running up +and down, raging for their prey, but kept from him beyond all peradventure +by the fire they could not face. Ab started upright on the rock panting +and defiant, a splendid creature erect there in the firelight. + +Soon there came to the man a more perfect sense of his safety. He shouted +aloud to the flitting, snarling creatures, which could not harm him now; +he stooped and found jagged stones, which he sent whirling among them. +There was a savage satisfaction in it. + +Suddenly the man fell to the ground, fairly groaning with exhaustion. +Nature had become indignant and the time for recuperation had been +reached. The wearied runner lay breathing heavily and was soon asleep. The +flames which had afforded safety gave also a grateful warmth in the chill +night, and so it was that scarcely had his body touched the ground when he +became oblivious to all about him, only the heaving of the broad chest +showing that the man lying fairly exposed in the light was a living thing. +The varying wind sometimes carried the sheet of flame to its utmost extent +toward him, so that the heat must have been intense, and again would carry +it in an opposite direction while the cold air swept down upon the +sleeping man. Nothing disturbed him. Inured alike to heat and cold, Ab +slept on, slept for hours the sleep which follows vast strain and +endurance in a healthy human being. Then the form lying on the ground +moved restlessly and muttered exclamations came from the lips. The man was +dreaming. + +For as the sleeper lay there--he remembered it when he awoke and wondered +over it many times in after years--Oak sprang through the flames, as he +himself had done, and soon lay panting by his side. The lapping of the +fire, the snapping and snarling of the wolves beyond and the familiar +sound of Oak's voice all mingled confusedly in his ears, and then he and +Oak raced together over the rough ground, and wrestled and fought and +played as they had wrestled and fought and played together for years. And +the hours passed and the wind changed and the flames almost scorched him +and Ab started up, looking about him into the wild aspect of the Fire +Country; for the night had passed and the sun had risen and set again +since the exhausted man had fallen upon the ground and become unconscious. + +Ab rolled instinctively a little away from the smoky sheets of flame and, +sitting up, looked for Oak. He could not see him. He ran wildly around +among the rocks looking for him and despairingly called aloud his name. +The moment his voice had been hoarsely lifted, "Oak!" the memory of all +that had happened rushed upon him. He stood there in the red firelight a +statue of despair. Oak was dead; he had killed Oak, and buried him with +his own hands, and yet he had seen Oak but a minute ago! He had bounded +through the flames and had wrestled and run races with Ab, and they had +talked together, and yet Oak must be lying in the ground back there in the +forest by the little hill. Oak was dead. How could he get out of the +ground? Fear clutched at Ab's heart, his limbs trembled under him. He +whimpered like a lost and friendless hound and crouched close to the +hospitable fire. His brain wavered under the stress of strange new +impressions. He recalled some mutterings of Old Mok about the dead, that +they had been seen after it was known that they were deep in the ground, +but he knew it was not good to speak or think of such things. Again Ab +sprang to his feet. It would not do to shut his eyes, for then he saw +plainly Oak in his shallow hole in the dark earth and the face Ab had +hurried to cover first when he was burying his friend, there under the +trees. And so the night wore away, sleep coming fitfully from time to +time. Ab could not explore his retreat in the strange firelight nor run +the risks of another night journey across the wild beasts' chosen country. +He began to be hungry, with the fierce hunger of brute strength, sharpened +by terrific labors, but he must wait for the morning. The night seemed +endless. There was no relief from the thoughts which tortured him, but, at +last, morning broke, and in action Ab found the escape he had longed for. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +THE FIRE COUNTRY. + +It was light now and the sun shone fairly on Ab's place of refuge. As his +senses brought to him full appreciation he wondered at the scene about +him. He was in a glade so depressed as to be a valley. About it, to the +east and north and west, in a wavering, tossing wall, rose the uplifting +line of fire through which he had leaped, though there were spaces where +the height was insignificant. On the south, and extending till it circled +a trifle to east, rose a wall of rock, evidently the end of a +forest-covered promontory, for trees grew thickly to its very edge and +their green branches overhung its sheer descent. Coming from some crevice +of the rocks on the east, and tumbling downward through the valley, was a +riotous brook, which disappeared through some opening at the west. Within +this area, thus hemmed in by fire and rock, appeared no living thing save +the birds which sang upon the bushes beside the small stream's banks and +the butterflies which hung above the flowers and all the insect world +which joined in the soft, humming chorus of the morning. It was something +that Ab looked upon with delighted wonder, but without understanding. What +he saw was not a marvel. It was but the result of one of many upheavals at +a time when the earth's cooled shell was somewhat thinner than now and +when earthquakes, though there were no cities to overthrow, at least made +havoc sometimes by changing the face of nature. There had come a great +semi-circular crack in the earth, near and extending to the line of the +sheer rock range. The natural gas, the product of the vegetation of +thousands of centuries before, had found a chance to escape and had poured +forth into the outer world. Something, perhaps a lightning stroke and a +flaming tree, perhaps some cave man making fire and consumed on the +instant when he succeeded, had ignited the sheet of rising gas, and the +result was the wall of flame. It was all natural and commonplace, for the +time. There were other upleaping flame sheets in the surrounding region +forever burning--as there are in northern Asia to-day--but Ab knew of +these fires only from Old Mok's tales. He stood wonderstruck at what he +saw about him. + +But this man in the valley was young and very strong, with tissues to be +renewed, and the physical man within him clamored and demanded. He must +eat. He ran forward and around, anxiously observant, and soon learned that +at the western end of the valley, where the little creek tumbled through a +rocky cut into a lower level, there was easy exit from the +fire-encompassed and protected area. He clambered along the creek's rough, +descending side. He emerged upon an easier slope and then found it +possible to climb the hillside to the plane of the great wood. There must, +he thought, be food of some sort, even for a man with only Oak's knife in +his possession! There was the forest and there were nuts. He was in the +forest soon, among the gray-trunked, black-mottled beeches and the rough +brown oaks. He found something of what he sought, the nuts lying under +shed leaves, though the supply was scant. But nuts, to the cave man, made +moderately good food, supplying a part of the sustenance he required, and +Ab ate of what he could find and arose from the devouring search and +looked about him. + +He was weaponless, save for the knife, and a flint knife was but a thing +for closest struggle. He longed now for his ax and spear and the strong +bow which could hurt so at a distance. But there was one sort of weapon to +be had. There was the club. He wandered about among the tops of fallen +trees and wrenched at their dried limbs, and finally tore one away and +broke off, later, with a prying leverage, what made a rough but available +club for a cave man's purposes. It was much better than nothing. Then +began a steady trot toward what should be fair life again. There were +vague paths through the forest made by wild beasts. As he moved the man +thought deeply. + +He thought of the fire-wall, and could not with all his reasoning +determine upon the cause of its existence, and so abandoned the subject as +a thing, the nub of which was unreachable. That was the freshest object in +his mind and the first to be mentally disposed of. But there were other +subjects which came in swift succession. As he went along with a dog's +gait he was not in much terror, practically weaponless as he was. His eye +was good and he was going through the forest in the daylight. He was +strong enough, club in hand, to meet the minor beasts. As for the others, +if any of them appeared, there were the trees, and he could climb. So, as +he trotted he could afford to think. + +And he thought much that day, this perplexed man, our grandfather with so +many "greats" before the word. He had nothing to divert him even in the +selection of the course toward his cave. He noted not where the sun stood, +nor in what direction the tiny head-waters of the rivulets took their +course, nor how the moss grew on the trees. He traveled in the wood by +instinct, by some almost unexplainable gift which comes to the thing of +the woods. The wolf has it; the Indian has it; sometimes the white man of +to-day has it. + +As he went Ab engaged in deeper and more sustained thought than ever +before in all his life. He was alone; new and strange scenes had enlarged +his knowledge and swift happenings had made keener his perceptions. For +days his entire being had been powerfully affected by his meeting with +Lightfoot at the Feast of the Mammoth and the events which had followed +that meeting in such swift succession. The tragedy of Oak's death had +quickened his sensibilities. Besides, what had ensued latest had been what +was required to make him in a condition for the divination of things. The +wise agree that much stimulant or much deprivation enables the brain +convolutions to do their work well, though deprivation gets the cleaner +end. The asceticism of Marcus Aurelius was productive of greater results +than the deep drinking of any gallant young Roman man of letters of whom +he was a patron. The literature of fasting thinkers is something fine. Ab, +after exerting his strength to the utmost for days, had not eaten of +flesh, and the strong influences to which he was subjected were exerted +upon a man still, practically, fasting. For a time, the rude and +earth-born child of the cave was lifted into a region of comparative +sentiment and imagination. It was an experience which affected materially +all his later life. + +Ever to the trotting man came the feelings which must follow fierce love +and deadly action and vague remorse and fear of something indefinable. He +saw the face and form of Lightfoot; he saw again the struggle, +death-ending, with the friend of youth and of mutual growing into manhood. +He remembered dimly the half insane flight, the leaps across the dreaded +morass and, more distinctly, the chase by the wolves. The aspect of the +Fire Country and of all that followed his awakening was, of course, yet +fresh in his mind. He was burdened. + +Ever uprising and oppressing above all else was the memory of the man he +had killed and buried, covering the face first, so that it might not look +at him. Was Oak really dead? he asked himself again! Had not he, Ab, as +soon as he slept again, seen, alive and well, the close friend of his? He +clung to the vision. He reasoned as deeply as it was in him to reason. + +As he struggled in his mind to obtain light there came to him the fancy of +other things dimly related to the death mystery which had perplexed him +and all his kind. There must be some one who made the river rise and fall +or the nut-bearing forest be either fruitful or the hard reverse. Who and +what could it be? What should he do, what should all his friends do in the +matter of relation to this unknown thing? + +With this day and hour did not come really the beginning of Ab's thought +upon the subject of what was, to him and those he knew, the supernatural. +He had thought in the past--he could not help it--of the shadow and the +echo. He remembered how he and Oak had talked about the echo, and how they +had tried to get rid of the thing which had more than once called back to +them insolently across the valley. Every word they shouted this hidden +creature would mockingly repeat and there was no recourse for them. They +had once fully armed themselves and, in a burst of desperate bravery, had +resolved to find who and what the owner of this voice was and have, at +least, a fight. They had crossed the valley and ranged about the woodland +whence the voice seemed to have come, but they never found what they +sought! + +The shadow which pursued them on sunny afternoons had puzzled them in +another way. Very persistent had been the flat, black, earth-clinging and +distorted thing which followed them so everywhere. What was this black, +following thing, anyhow, this thing which swung its unsubstantial body +around as one moved but which ever kept its own feet at the feet of the +pursued, wherever there was no shade, and which lay there beside one so +persistently? + +But the echoes and the shadows were nothing as compared with the things +which came to one at night. What were those creatures which came when a +man was sleeping? Why did they escape with the dawn and appear again only +when he was asleep and helpless, at least until he awoke fairly and seized +his ax? + +The sun rose high and dropped slowly down toward the west, where the far +ocean was, and the shadows somewhat lengthened, but it was still light +along the forest pathways and the untiring man still hurried on. He was +now close to his country and becoming careless and at ease. But his +imagination was still busy; he could not free himself of memory. There +came to him still the vision of the friend he had buried, hiding his face +first of all. The frenzy of his wish for knowing rushed again upon him. +Where was Oak now? he demanded of himself and of all nature. "Where is +Oak?" he yelled to the familiar trees beside his path. But the trees, even +to the cave man, so close to them in the economy of wild life, so like +them in his naturalness, could give no answer. + +So the cave man struggled in his dim, uncertain way with the eternal +question: "If a man die shall he live again?" So the human mind still +struggles, after thousands of centuries have contributed to its +development. A wall more impassable than the wall of flame Ab had so +lately looked upon still rises between us and those who no longer live. We +reach out for some knowledge of those who have died, and go almost into +madness because we can grasp nothing. Silence unbroken, darkness +impenetrable ever guard the mystery of death. In the long ages since the +cave man ran that day, love and hope have in faith erected, beyond the +grim barriers of blackness and despair, fair pavilions of promise and +consolation, but to the stern examiners of physical fact and reality there +has come no news from beyond the walls of silence since. We clamor +tearfully for some word from those who are dead, but no answer comes. So +Ab groped and strove alone in the forest, in his youth and ignorance, and +in the youth and ignorance of our race. + +Upon the pathway along the river's bank Ab emerged at last. All was +familiar to him now. There, by the clump of trees in the flat below, was +the place where he and Oak had dug the pit when they were but mere boys +and had learned their first important lessons in sterner woodcraft. Soon +came in sight, as he ran, the entrance to the cave of his own family. He +was home again. But he was not the one who had left that rude habitation +three days before. He had gone away a youth. He had come back one who had +suffered and thought. He came back a man. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +THE WOOING OF LIGHTFOOT. + +Lightfoot, when Ab seized Oak, had fled away from the two infuriated men, +as the hare runs, and had sped into the forest. She had the impetus of new +fear now and ran swiftly as became her name, never looking behind her, nor +did she slacken her pace, though panting and exhausted, until she found +herself approaching the cave where lived her playmate, Moonface, not more +than an hour's run from her own home. + +The fleeing girl was fortunate in stumbling upon her friend as soon as she +came into the open space about the cave. Moonface was enjoying herself +lazily that afternoon. She was leaning back idly in a swing of vines to +which she had braided a flexible back, and was blinking somnolently in the +sunshine as the visitor leaped from the wood. Moonface recognized her +friend, gave a quavering cry of delight and came slipping and rolling +recklessly to the ground to meet her. Lightfoot uttered no word. She stood +breathless, and was rather carried than led by Moonface to an easy seat, +moss-padded, upon twisted tree roots, which was that young lady's ordinary +resting-place. Upon this seat the two sank, one overcome with past fear +and present fatigue, and the other with an all-absorbing and demanding +curiosity. It was beyond the ordinary scope of the self-restraining forces +in Moonface to await with calm the recovery of Lightfoot's breath and +powers of conversation. She pinched and shook her friend and demanded, +half-crying but impatiently, some explanation. It was a great hour for +Moonface, the greatest in her life. Here was her friend and dictator +panting and terrified like some weak, hunted-down thing of the wood. It +was a marvel. At last Lightfoot spoke: + +"They are fighting at the foot of the hill!" she said, and Moonface at +once guessed the whole story, for she was not blind, this wide-mouthed +creature. + +"Why did you run away?" she asked. + +"I ran because I was scared. One of them must be dead before this time. I +am glad I am alive myself," Lightfoot gasped. Then the girl covered her +face with her hands as she recalled Ab's face, distorted by passion and +murderous hate, and Oak's equally maddened look as, before the onrush, he +had grasped her so firmly that the marks of his fingers remained blue upon +her arms and slender waist and neck. + +Then Lightfoot, slow to regain her composure, told tremblingly the story +of all that had occurred, finding comfort in the unaffrighted look upon +the face, as well as in the reassuring talk, of her easy-going, +unimaginative and cheerful and faithful companion. She remained as a guest +at the cave overnight and the next forenoon, when she took her way for +home, she was accompanied by Moonface. Gradually, as the hours passed, +Lightfoot regained something of her usual frame of mind and a little of +her ordinary manner of careless light-heartedness, but when home had been +reached and the girls had rested and eaten and she heard Moonface telling +anew for her the story of the flight in the wood, while her father, +Hilltop, and her two strapping brothers listened with interest, but with +no degree of excitement, she felt again the wild alarm and horror and +uncertainty which had affected her when first she fled from what was to +her so dreadful. She crept away from the cave door near which the others +sat enjoying the balmy midsummer afternoon, beckoning to one of her +brothers to follow her, as the big fellow did unquestioningly, for +Lightfoot had been, almost from young girlhood, the dominant force in the +family, even the strong father, though it was contrary to the spirit of +the time, admiring and yielding to his one daughter without much comment. +The great, hulking youth, well armed and ready for any adventure, joined +her, nothing both, and the two disappeared, like shadows, in the depths of +the forest. + +Lightfoot had been the housekeeper in the cave of Hilltop, the cave of the +greatest hunter of the region, young despite the years which had +encompassed him, and father of two boys who were fine specimens of the +better men of the time. They were splendid whelps, and this slim thing, +whom they had cared for as she grew, dominated them easily, though the age +was not one of vast family affection, while chivalry, of course, did not +exist. Hilltop's wife had died two years before, and Lightfoot, with +unconscious force, had taken her mother's place. There was none other with +woman's ways to help the men in the rock-guarded home on the windy hill. +Hilltop had not been altogether unthinking all this time. He had often +looked upon his daughter's friend, the jolly, swart and well-fed Moonface, +and had much approved of her, but, today, as he listened to her story, he +did not pay such attention as was demanded by the interest of the theme. +An occasional death, though it were the killing of one cave man by +another, was not a matter of huge importance. He was not inflamed in any +way by what he heard, but as he looked and listened to the comfortable +young person who was speaking, the idea, hastened it may be by some loving +and domestic instinct, grew slowly in his brain that she might make for +him as excellent a mate as any other of the "good matches" to be found in +the immediately surrounding country. He was a most directly reasoning +person, this Hilltop, best of hunters and generally respected on the +forest ridges. After the thought once dawned upon him, it grew and grew, +and an idea fairly developed in Hilltop's mind meant action. His +fifty-five years of age had hardly cooled and had certainly not nearly +approached to freezing the blood in his outstanding veins. He had a suit +to make, and make at once. That he might have no interruption he bade +Stone-Arm, his remaining son, who sat on a rock near by, and who had +listened, open-mouthed, to the recital of Moonface, to seek his brother +and Lightfoot in the forest path. There might be beasts abroad and two men +were better than one, said this crafty father-hunter-lover. + +The boy, clever tracker as a red Indian or Australian trailer, soon found +the path his brother and Lightfoot had taken and joined them. As he +listened to what they were saying he was glad he had been sent to follow +them. They were hastening toward the valley. The trees were beginning to +cast long shadows when the three came to where the more abrupt hillside +reached the slope and where the torn ground, broken limbs and twigs and +deep-indented footprints in the soil gave glaring evidence to the eye of +yesterday's struggle. But, aside from all this, there was something else. +There was a carpet of yellowish-brown leaves, at the edge of the circle of +fray, where a man had fallen. On the clean stretch of evenly rain-packed +leaves there were spots from which the scarlet had but lately faded into +crimson. There was a place where the surface was disturbed and sunken a +little. All three knew that a man had died there. + +The two young men and their sister stood together uttering no word. The +men were amazed. The woman half comprehended all. She did not hesitate a +moment. Guided by a sure instinct, Lightfoot reached, without thought or +conscious search, the spot of unnatural earth which reared itself so near +to them, the spot where was fresh stone-covered soil and where a man was +buried. The pile of stones, newly heaped upon the moist earth, told their +story. + +Someone was buried there, but whom? Was it Oak or Ab? + +"Shall I dig?" said Stone-Arm, making ready for the task, while Branch, +his elder brother, prepared for work as well. + +"No! No!" cried Lightfoot. "He is buried deep and the stones are over him. +It will be night soon and the wolves and hyenas would be here before we +could get away. Let it be. Someone is there, but the one who killed him +has buried him. He will come back!" The two boys were silent, and +Lightfoot led the way toward home. When the three reached the cave of +Hilltop the sun was setting. Something had happened at the cave, but there +arises at this point no stern demand for going into details. Hilltop, +brave man, was no laggard in wooing, and Moonface was not a nervous young +person. When the other members of the household reached the cave Moonface +was already installed as mistress. There would be no reprisals from an +injured family. The girl had lived with her ancient father, whom she had +half-supported and who would, possibly, be transplanted to Hilltop's cave +for such pottering life as he was still capable of during the rest of his +existence. The new régime was fairly established. + +The arrangement suited Lightfoot well enough. This astounding stepmother +had been her humble but faithful friend. Lightfoot was a ruling woman +spirit wherever she was, and she knew it, though she bowed at all times to +the rule of strength as the only law. Nevertheless she knew how to get her +own way. With Moonface, everything was easy for her and she found it +rather pleasant than otherwise to find the other young woman made suddenly +a permanent resident of the cave in which she had been born and had lived +all her life. As the two girls met, and the situation was curtly announced +by Hilltop, their faces were worth the seeing. There was alarm and +hopefulness upon the countenance of Moonface, sudden astonishment and +indignation, and then reflection, upon the face of Lightfoot. After a few +moments of thought both girls laughed cheerfully. + +The story of the newly found grave made but little impression upon the +group and Lightfoot, the only one of the household who thought much about +it, thought silently. To her the single question was: "Who lay there?" +There was nothing strange to the others of the family in the thought that +one man should have killed another, and no one attached blame to or +proposed punishment of the slayer. Sometimes after such a happening, the +cave man who had slain another might have a rock rolled suddenly upon him +from a height, or in passing a thicket have the flint head of a spear +driven through him, but this was only the deed, perhaps, of an enraged +father or brother, not in any sense a matter of course in the way of +justice, and even such attempt at reprisal was not the rule. + +But in the bosom of Lightfoot was a weight like a stone. It was as heavy, +she thought, as one of the stones on the bare ground over the body of the +man who lay there in the dark earth, because he had run after her. Who was +it? It might be Ab! And all through the night the girl tossed uneasily on +her bed of leaves, as she did for nights to come. + +As for Moonface, who shall say what that rotund and hairy young person +thought when the family had settled down to the changed order of things +and she had adjusted herself to the duties of a matron in her new home? +She was not less broadly buoyant and beaming, but who can tell that, when +she noted Lightfoot's burning look and thoughtful mien, Moonface did not +sometimes think of the two young men who, but yesterday, had rejoiced in +such strength and vigor and charm of power and who were so good to look +upon? She was a wife now, but to another sort of man. Even the feminine +among writers of erotic novels have not yet revealed what the young moon +thinks when she "holds the old moon in her arms." Anyhow, Hilltop was a +defense and a great provider of food. He was a fine figure of a man, too. + +[Illustration: THE GIRL COWERED BEHIND A REFUGE OF LEAVES AND BRANCHES] + +Lightfoot was not much in the cave now. She lingered about the open space +or wandered in the near wood. A woman's instinct told her to be out-doors +all the time she could. A man would seek her, but with the thought came an +awful dread. Which man? One afternoon she saw something. + +Two gray forms flitted across an open space in the forest near the cave, +and in a moment the girl was in a treetop. What followed was the +unexpected. Close behind the gray things came a man, fully armed, +straight, eager and alert and silent in his wood surroundings, with eyes +roving over and searching all the open space about the cave of Hilltop. +The man was Ab. + +The girl gave a shriek of delight, then, alarmed at the sound she had +made, cowered behind a refuge of leaves and branches. She was happy beyond +all her experience before. The question which had been in all her thoughts +was answered! It was Oak, not Ab, who lay in the ground on the hillside. +And, even as she realized this fully, there was a swift upward scramble +and the young cave man was beside her on the limb. There was no running +away this time. The girl's face told its story well enough, so well that +Ab, still lately doubting, though resolved, knew that his fitting mate +belonged to him. There came to them the happiness which ever comes to +lovers, be they man or bird or beast, and then came swift conclusion. He +told her she must go with him at once, told her of the new cave and of all +he had done, but the girl, well aware of the dangers of the beast-haunted +region where the new home had been selected, was thoroughly alarmed. Then +Ab told her of the little flying spears which Old Mok had made for him, +and about the wonderful bow which sent them to their mark, and the girl +was reassured and soon began to feel exceedingly brave and proud of her +lover and his prowess. + +No need of carrying off a girl by force or craft on this occasion, for +Hilltop had fully recognized Ab's strength and quality. The two went to +the cave together and there was eating and then, later, two skin-clad +human beings, a man and a woman, went away together through the forest. +Their journey was a long one and a careful lookout was necessary as they +hurried along a pathway of the strange country. But the cave was reached +at last, just as the sun burned red and gave a rosy glow to everything. + +Silently the two came into the open space in front of what was to be their +fortress and abode. Solid was the rock about the entrance and narrow the +blocked opening. Smoke curled in a pretty spiral upward from where +smoldered the fire Ab had made the day before. Lightfoot looked upon it +all and laughed joyously, though tremblingly, for she had now given +herself to a man and he had brought her to his place of living. + +As for the man, he looked down upon the girl delightedly. His pulse beat +fast. He put his arm about her and together they entered the cave. There +was a marriage but no ceremony. Just as robins mate when they have met or +as the buck and doe, so faithful man and wife became these two. + +Darkness fell, the fire at the cave entrance flashed up fiercely and Ab +and Lightfoot were "at home." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +THE HONEYMOON. + +The sun shone brilliantly, birds were singing and the balsam firs gave +forth their morning incense as Ab and Lightfoot issued from their cave. +They had eaten heartily, and came out buoyant and delighted with the +world which was theirs. The chattering of the waterfowl along the river +reached their ears faintly, the leaves were moved by a gentle breeze, +there was a hum of insects in the air and the very pulse of living could +be felt. Ab carried his new weapon proudly, hungering for the love and +admiration of this girl of his, and eager to show her its powers and to +exhibit his own skill. At his back hung his quiver of mammoth bone. His +bow, unstrung, was in his hand. In front of the cave was a bare area of +many yards in extent, then came a few scattering trees and, at a distance +of perhaps two hundred yards, the forest began. Across the open space of +ground, with its great mass of branches crushed together not far from the +cave's mouth, had fallen one of the gigantic conifers' of the time, and +was there gradually decaying, its huge limbs and bole, disintegrating, +and dry as punk, affording, close at hand, a vast fuel supply, the +exceptional value of which Ab had recognized when making his selection of +a home. Near the edge of the little clearing made by nature, Ab seated +himself upon a log, and drawing Lightfoot down to a seat beside him, +began enthusiastically to make clear the marvels of the weapon he had +devised and which he and Old Mok had developed into something startling +in its possibilities. + +All details of the explanation made by the earnest young hunter, it is +probable, Lightfoot did not comprehend. She looked proudly at him, +fingering the flint pointed arrows curiously, yet seemed rather intent +upon the man than the wood and stone. But when he pointed at a great knot +in a tree near them and bent his bow and sent an arrow fairly into the +target, and when, even with her strength, Lightfoot could not pull the +arrow out, she was wild with admiration and excitement. She begged to be +taught how to use, herself, this wonderful new weapon, for she recognized +as readily as could anyone its adaptation to the use of one of inferior +strength. The delighted lover was certainly as desirous as she that she +should some day become an expert. He handed her the bow, retaining, slung +over his shoulder, fortunately, as it developed, the bone quiver full of +Old Mok's best arrows. He taught her, first, how to bend and string the +bow. There were failures and successes, and there was much laughter from +the merry-hearted Lightfoot. Finally, it happened that Ab was not just +content with the quality of the particular arrow which he had selected +for Lightfoot's use. He had taken a slender one with a clean flint head, +but something about the notch had not quite suited him. With a thin, hard +stone scraper, carried in a pouch of his furry garb, he began rasping and +filing at this notch to make it better fit the string of tendons, while +Lightfoot, with the bow still strung, stood beside him. At last, tired of +holding the thing in her hands, she passed it over her head and one +shoulder and stood there jauntily, with both hands free, while the man +scraped away with the one little flake of flint in his possession, and, +as he worked, paused from time to time note how well he was rounding the +notch in the end of the slight hardwood shaft. It was just as he was +holding up to her eyes the arrow, now made almost an ideal one, according +to his fancy, when there came to the ears of the two a sound, distinct, +ominous and implying to them deadly peril, a sound such that, though +nerves spoke and muscles acted, they were very near the momentary +paralysis which sometimes come from sudden fearful shock. From close +beside them came the half grunt and half growl of the great cave bear! + +With the instinct born of generations, each leaped independently toward +the nearest tree, and, with the unconscious strength and celerity which +comes to even wild animals with the dread of death at hand, each +clambered to a treetop before a word was spoken. Scarcely had either left +the ground before there was a rush into the open glade of a huge brown +hairy form, and this was instantly followed by another. As Ab and +Lightfoot climbed far amid the branches and looked down, they saw +upreared at the base of each tree the figure of one of the monsters whose +hungry exclamations they knew so well. They had been careless, these two +lovers, especially the man. He had known well, but for the moment had +forgotten how beast-infested was the immediate area about his new home, +and now had come the consequence of his thoughtlessness. He and his wife +had been driven to the treetops within a few yards of their own +hearthstone, leaving their weapons inside their cave! + +Alarmed and panting, after settling down to a firm seat far aloft, each +looked about to see what had become of the other. Each was at once +reassured as to the present, and each became much perplexed as to the +future. The cave bear, like his weaker and degenerate descendant, the +grizzly of to-day, had the quality of persistence well developed, and +both Ab and Lightfoot knew that the siege of their enemies would be +something more than for the moment. The trees in which they perched were +very close to the wood, but not so close that the forest could be reached +by passing from branch to branch. Their two trees were not far from each +other, but their branches did not intermingle. There was a distinct +opening between them. The tree up which Lightfoot had scrambled was a +great fir towering high above the strong beech in which Ab had found his +safety. Branches of the fir hung down until between their ends and Ab's +less lofty covert there were but a few yards of space. Still, one trying +to reach the beech from the lofty fir would find an unpleasantly wide +gap. + +Each of the creatures in the tree was unarmed. Ab still bore the quiver +full of admirable arrows, and across the breast of Lightfoot still hung +the strong bow which she had slung about her in such blithesome mood. +Soon began an exceedingly earnest conversation. Ab, eager to reach again +the fair creature who now belonged to him, was half frantic with rage, +and Lightfoot was far from her usual mood of careless gaiety. The two +talked and considered, though but to little purpose, and, finally, after +weary hours, the night came on. It was a trying situation. Man and woman +were in equal danger. The bears were hungry--and the cave bear knew his +quarry. The beasts beneath were not disposed to leave the prey they had +imprisoned aloft. The night grew, but either Ab or Lightfoot, looking +down, could see the glare of small, hungry eyes. There was gentle talk +between the two, for this was a great strait and, in straits, souls, be +they prehistoric, historic or of to-day, always come closer together. +Very much more loving lovers, even, than they were before, became the two +perched aloft that night. It was a comfort for the wedded pair to call to +each other through the darkness. After a time, however, muscles grew lax +with the continued strain. Weariness clouded the spirits of the couple +and almost overcame them and only the thing which has always, in great +stress, given the greatest strength in this world--the love of male and +female--sustained them. They stood the test pretty well. To sleep in a +tree top was an easy thing for them, with the precautions, simple and +natural, of the time. Each plaited a withe of twigs with which to be tied +to the tree or limb, and resting in the hollow nest where some great limb +joined the bole, slept as sleep tired children, until the awakening of +nature awoke these who were nature's own. When Ab awoke, he had more on +his mind than Lightfoot, for he was the one who must care for the two. He +blinked and wondered where he was. Then he remembered all, suddenly. He +looked across anxiously at a slender brown thing lying asleep, coiled so +close to the bole of the tree to which she was bound that she seemed +almost a part of it. Then he looked down, and, after what he saw, thought +very seriously. The bears were there! He looked up at the bright sky and +all about him, and inhaled all the fragrance of the forest, and felt +strong, and that he knew what he should do. He called aloud. + +The girl awoke, frightened. She would have fallen had she not been bound +to the tree. Gradually, the full meaning of the situation dawned upon her +and she began to cry. She was hungry, her limbs were stiffened by her +bands, and there was death below. But there, close to her, was the Man. +His voice gradually reassured her. He was becoming angry now, almost +raging. Here he was, the lord of a cave, independent and master as much +as any other man whom he knew, perched in one tree while his bride of a +day was in the top of another, yet kept apart from her by the brutes +below! + +He had decided what to do, and now he talked to Lightfoot with all the +frankness of the strong male who felt that he had another to care for, +and who realized his responsibility and authority together. As the +strength and decided personality of the young man came to her through his +voice, the young woman drew her scanty fur robe about her and checked her +tears. She became comparatively calm and reasonable. + +The tree in which Lightfoot had found refuge had many long slender +branches lowering toward the giant beech into which the man had made his +retreat. Ab argued that it was possible--barely possible--for Lightfoot's +compact, agile, slender body to be launched in just the right way from +one of the branches of the taller tree, and, swinging in its descent +across the space between the two, lodge among the branches of the beech +with him. Strong arms ready to clasp her as she came and to withstand the +shock and to hold her safely he promised and, to enforce his plea, he +pointed out that, unless they thus took their fate in hand, there was +starvation awaiting them as they were, while carrying out his plan, if +any accident befell, there was only swift though dreadful death to reckon +with. There was one chance for their lives and that chance must be taken. +Ab called to his young wife: + +"Crawl out upon a branch above me, swing down from it, swing hard and +throw yourself to me. I will catch you and hold you. I am strong." + +The woman, with all faith in the man, still demurred. It was a great +test, even for the times and the occasion. But hunger was upon her and +she was cold and was, naturally, very brave. She lowered herself and +climbed down and reached an out-extending limb, and there, across the +gap, she saw Ab with his strong legs twined about the uprearing branch +along which he laid, with giant brown arms stretched out confidently and +with eyes steadily regarding her, eyes which had love and longing and a +lot of fight in them. She walked out along the limb, holding herself +safely by a firm hand-hold on the limb above, until the one her bare feet +rested upon swayed and tipped uncertainly. Then came her time of trial of +nerve and trust. Suddenly she stooped, caught the lower limb with her +hands and then swung beneath it, hanging by her hands alone, and, hand +over hand, passed herself along until she reached almost its end. Then +she began swaying back and forth. She was but a few yards above Ab now, +dangling in mid-air, while, below her, the two hungry bears had rushed +together and were looking upward with red, anticipating eyes, the ooze +coming from their mouths. The moment was awful. Soon she must be a +mangled thing devoured by frightful beasts, or else a woman with a life +renewed. She looked at Ab, and, with courage regained, prepared for the +great effort which must end all or gain a better lease of life. + +She swung back and forth, each drawing up and outreach and flexible +motion of her arms giving more momentum to the sway and conserving force +for the launch of herself she was about to make. The desperation and +strength of a wood-wise creature, so bravely combined, alone enabled her +to obey Ab's hoarse command. + +Ab, with his arms outreaching in their strength, feeling the fierce eyes +of the hungry bears below boring into his very heart, leaned forward and +upward as the swing of the woman reached its climax. With a cry of +warning, the woman launched herself and shot downward and forward, like a +bolt to its mark, a very desirable lump of femininity as appearing in +mid-air, but one somewhat forcible in its alighting. + +Ab was strong, but when that girl landed fairly in his brawny arms, as +she did beautifully, it was touch and go, for a fraction of a second, +whether both should fall to the ground together or both be saved. He +caught her deftly, but there was a great shock and swing and then, with a +vast effort, there came recovery and the man drew himself, shaking, back +to the support of the branch from which he had been almost wrenched away, +at the same time placing beside him the object he had just caught. + +There was absolute silence for a moment or two between these +unconventional lovers to whom had come escape from a hard situation. They +were drawing deep breaths and recovering an equilibrium. There they sat +together on the strong branch, each of them as secure and, for the +moment, as perfectly at home as if lying on a couch in the cave. Each of +them was panting and each of them rejoicing. It was unlikely that upon +their trained, robust nerves the life-endangering episode of a moment +could have a more than passing effect. They sat so together for some +minutes with arms entwined, still drawing deep breaths, and, a little +later, began to laugh chucklingly, as breath came to be spared for such +exhibition if human feeling. Gradually, the indrawing and expelling of +the glorious air shortened. The two had regained their normal condition +and Ab's face lengthened and the lines upon it became more distinct. He +was all himself again, but in no dallying mood. He gave a triumphant +whoop which echoed through the forest, shook his clenched hand savagely +at the brutes below and reached toward Lightfoot for the bow which hung +about her shoulders. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +MORE OF THE HONEYMOON. + +The brown, downy woman knew, on the instant, what was her husband's mood +and immediate intent when he thus shouted and took into his own keeping +again the stiff bow which hung about her shoulders. She knew that her +lord was not merely in a glad, but that he was also in a vengeful frame +of mind, that he wanted from her what would enable him to kill things, +and that, equipped again, he was full of the spirit of fight. She knew +that, of the four animals grouped together, two huge creatures of the +ground and two slighter ones perched in a tree top, the chances were that +the condition of those below had suddenly become the less preferable. + +The bow was about Ab's shoulders instantly, and then this preposterous +young gentleman of the period turned to the woman and laughed, and caught +her in one of his arms a little closer, and drew her up against him and +laid his cheek against her own for a moment and drew it away and laughed +again. The kiss, it is believed, had not fully developed itself in the +cave man's time, but there were substitutes. Then, releasing her, he said +gleefully and chucklingly, "follow me;" and they clambered down the bole +of the beech together until they reached the biggest and very lowest limb +of all. It was perhaps twenty feet above the ground. A little below their +dangling feet the hungry bears, hitherto more patient, now, with their +expected prey so close at hand, becoming desperately excited, ran about, +frothing and foaming and red-eyed, uprearing themselves in awful +nearness, at times, in their eagerness to reach the prey which they had +so awaited and which, to their intelligence, seemed about falling into +their jaws. They had so driven into trees before, and finally consumed +exhausted cave men and women. As bears went, they were doubtless logical +animals. They could not know that there had come into possession of this +particular pair of creatures of the sort they had occasionally eaten, a +trifling thing of wood and sinew string and flint point, which was +destined henceforth to make a decided change in the relative condition of +the biped and quadruped hunters of the time. How could they know that +something small and sharp would fly down and sting them more deeply than +they had ever been stung before, that it would sting so deeply that their +arteries might be cut, or their hearts pierced and that then they must +lie down and die? The well-thrown spear had been, in other ages, a vast +surprise to the carnivora of the period, but there was something yet to +learn. + +When they had reached the huge branch so near the ground both Ab and +Lightfoot were for a moment startled and lifted their feet instinctively, +but it was only for a moment in the case of the man. He knew that he was +perfectly safe and that he had with him an engine of death. He selected +his best and strongest arrow, he fitted it carefully to the string and +then, as his mother had done years before above the hyena which sought +her child, he reached one foot down as far as he could, and swung it back +and forth tantalizingly, just above the larger of the hungry beasts +below. The monster, fierce with hunger and the desire for prey, roared +aloud and upreared himself by the tree trunk and tore the bark with his +strong claws, throwing back his great head as he looked upward at the +quarry so near him and yet just beyond his reach. This was the man's +opportunity. Ab drew back the arrow till the flint head rested close by +his out-straining hand and the tough wood of the bow creaked under the +thrust of his muscled arm. Then he released the shaft. So close together +were man and bear that archer's skill of aim was not required. The brown +target could not be missed. The arrow struck with a tear and the flint +head drove through skin and tissue till its point protruded at the back +of the great brute's neck. The bear fell suddenly backward, then rose +again and reached blindly at its neck with its huge fore-paws, while from +where the arrow had entered the blood came out in spurts. Suddenly the +bear ceased its appalling roars and started for the cave. There had come +to it the instinct which makes such great beasts seek to die alone. It +rushed at the narrow entrance but its course was scarcely noted by the +couple in the tree. The other bear, the female, was seeking to reach them +in no less savage mood than had animated her stricken mate. + +Not often, when the cave man first learned the use of the bow, came to +him such fortune with a first strong shot as that which had so come to +Ab. Again he selected a good arrow, again shot his strongest and best, +but the shaft only buried itself in the shoulder and served but to drive +to absolute madness the raging creature thus sorely hurt. The forest +echoed with the roaring of the infuriated animal, and as she reared +herself clambering against the tree the tough fiber was rended away in +great slivers, and the man and woman were glad that the trunk was thick +and that they owned a natural citadel. Again and again did Ab discharge +his arrows and still fail to reach a vital part of the terror below. She +fairly bristled with the shafts. It was inevitable that she must die, but +when the last shot had sped she was still infuriate and, apparently, as +strong as ever. The archer looked down upon her with some measure of +despondency in his face, but by no means with despair. He and his bride +must wait. That was all, and this he told to Lightfoot. That intelligent +and reliable young helpmate of a few hours, who had looked upon what had +occurred with an awed admiration, did not exhibit any depression. Her +husband, fortunate Benedict, had produced a great effect upon her by his +feat. She felt herself something like a queen. Had she known enough and +had the fancies of the Ruth of some thousands of decades later she would +have told him how completely thenceforth his people were her people and +his gods her gods. + +The she bear became finally somewhat quieted; she tore less angrily at +the tree and made less of the terrible clamor which had for the moment +driven from the immediate region all the inmates of the wood, for none +save the cave tiger cared to be in the immediate neighborhood of the cave +bear. Her roars changed into roaring growls, and she wandered +staggeringly about. At last she started blindly and weakly toward the +forest, and just as she had passed beneath its shadow, paused, weaved +back and forth for a moment, and then fell over heavily. She was dead. + +Not an action of the beast had escaped the eyes of Ab. Well he knew the +ways of wounded things. As the bear toppled over he gave utterance to a +whoop and, with a word to the girl beside him, slid lightly to the +ground, she following him at once. It was very good to be upon the earth +again. Ab stamped with his feet and stretched his arms, and the woman +danced upon the grass and laughed gleefully. But this was only for a +moment or so. Ab started toward the cave, and as he reached the entrance, +gave a great cry of rage and dismay. Lightfoot ran to his side and even +her ready laugh failed her when she looked upon his perplexed and stormy +countenance and saw what had happened. The rump of the monster he bear +was what she looked upon. The beast, in his instinctive effort to crawl +into some dark place to die, had fairly driven himself into the cave's +entrance, dislodging some of the stones Ab had placed there, had wedged +himself in firmly, and had died before he could extricate his great +carcass. The two human beings were homeless and, with all the arrows +gone, weaponless, in the midst of a region so dangerously infested that +any movement afoot was but inviting death. They were hungry, too, for +many hours had passed since they had tasted food. It was not matter of +surprise that even the stout-hearted cave man stood aghast. + +The occasion for Ab's alarm was fully verified. From the spot where the +cave bear lay at the forest's edge came a sharp, snapping growl. The +lurking hyenas had found the food, and a long, inquiring howl from +another direction told that the wolves had scented it and were gathering. +For the instant Ab was himself almost helpless with fear. The woman was +simply nerveless. Then the man, so accustomed to physical danger, +recovered himself. He sprang forward, seized a stout fragment of limb +which might serve as a sort of weapon, and, turning to the woman, said +only the one word "fire." + +Lightfoot understood and life came to her again. None in all the region +could make a fire more swiftly than she. Her quick eye detected just the +base she wanted in a punkish fragment of wood and the harder and pointed +bit of limb to be used in making the friction. In a time scarcely worth +the noting the point was whirling about and burning into the wooden base, +twirling with a skill and velocity not comprehensible by us to-day, for +the cave people had perfected wonderfully this greatest manual art of the +time, and Lightfoot, muscular and enduring, was, as already said, in this +thing the cleverest among the clever. Ab, with ready club in hand, +advanced cautiously toward the point at the wood's edge where lay the +body of the bear. He paused as he came near enough to see what was +happening. Four great hyenas were tearing eagerly at the flesh of the +dead brute, and behind them, deeper in the wood, were shining eyes, and +Ab knew that the wolf pack was gathering. The bear consumed, the man and +woman, without defense, would surely be devoured. It was a desperate +strait, but, though he was weaponless, there was the cave man's great +resort, the fire, and there might be a chance for life. To seek the tree +tops would be dangerous even now, and once ensconced in such harborage, +only starvation was awaiting. He moved back noiselessly, with as little +apparent motion as possible, for he did not want to attract the attention +of the gleaming eyes in the distance, until he came near Lightfoot again, +and then he abandoned caution of movement and began tearing frantically +at the limbs and débris of the great dead conifer, and to build a +semicircular fence in front of the cave entrance. He did the swift work +of half a score of men in his desperation and anxiety, his great strength +serving him well in his compelling strait. + +Meanwhile the stick twirled and rasped in the hands of the brown woman +seated on the ground, and at last a tiny thread of smoke arose. The +continued friction had done its work. Deft himself at fire-making, Ab +knew just what was wanted at this moment and ran to his wife's side with +punk from the dead tree, rubbed to a powder in his hard hands. The +powder, poured gently down upon the point where the increasing heat had +brought the gleam of fire, burst, almost at once, into a little flame. +What followed was simple and easy. Dry twigs made the slight flame a +greater one and then, at a dozen different points, the wall which Ab had +built was fired. They were safe, for the time at least. Behind them was +the uprearing rock in which was the cave and before them, almost +encircling them completely, was the ring of fire which no wild beast +would cross. At one end, close to the rock, a space had been left by Ab, +that he and Lightfoot might, through it, reach the vast store of fuel +which lay there ready to the hand and so close that there was no danger +in visiting it. Hardly had the flame extended itself along the slight +wooden barrier than the whole wood and clearing resounded with terrifying +sounds. The wolf pack had increased until strong enough to battle with +the hyenas for the remainder of the feast in the wood, and their fight +was on. + +The feeling of terror had passed away from this young bride and groom, +with the assurance of present safety, and Ab felt the need of eating. +"There is meat," he said, as he pointed toward the haunches of the bear, +half-protruding from the rock, "and there is fire. The fire will cook the +meat, and, besides, we are safe. We will eat!" + +The bridegroom of but a day or two said this somewhat grandiloquently, +but he was not disposed to be vain or grandiloquent a little later. He +put his hand to the belt of his furry garb and found no sharp flint knife +there! It had been lost in his late tree clambering. He put his hand into +the pouch of his cloak and found only the flint skin scraper, the scraper +with which he had improved the arrow's notch, though it was not +originally intended for such use. It was all that remained to him of +weapon or utensil. But it would cut or tear, though with infinite effort, +and the man, to reassure the woman, laughed, and assailed the brown +haunch before him. Even with his strength, it was difficult for Ab to +penetrate the tough skin of the bear with an implement intended for +scraping, not for cutting, and it was only after he had finally cut, or +rather dug, away enough to enable him to get his fingers under the skin +and tear away an area of it by sheer main strength that the flesh was +made available. That end once attained, there followed a hard transverse +digging with the scraper, a grasp about tissue of strong, impressed +fingers, and a shred of flesh came away. It was tossed at once to a young +person who, long twig in hand, stood eagerly waiting. She caught the +shred as she had caught the fine bit of mammoth when first she and Ab had +met, and it was at once impaled and thrust into the flames. It was +withdrawn, it is to be feared, a trifle underdone, and then it +disappeared, as did other shreds of excellent bear's meat which came +following. It was a sight for a dyspeptic to note the eating of this +belle-matron of the region on this somewhat exceptional occasion. + +Strip after strip did Ab tear away and toss to his wife until the +expression on her face became a shade more peaceful and then it dawned +upon him that she was eating and that he was not. There was clamor in his +stomach. He sprang away from the bear, gave Lightfoot the scraper and +commanded her to get food for him as he had done for her. The girl +complied and did as well as had done the man in digging away the meat. He +ate as she had done, and, at last, partly gorged and content, allowed her +to take her place at the fire and again eat to his serving. He had shown +what, from the standard of the time, must be counted as most gallant and +generous and courteous demeanor. He had thought a little of the woman. + +A tiny rill of cold water trickled down on one side of the outer door of +their cave. With this their thirst was slaked, and they ate and ate. The +shadows lengthened and Ab replenished again and again the fire. From the +semicircle of forest all about came the sound of footsteps rustling in +the leaves. But the two people inside the fire fence, hungry no longer, +were content. Ab talked to his wife: + +"The fire will keep the man-eating things away," he said. "I ran not long +ago with things behind me, and I would have been eaten had I not come +upon a ring of fire like the one we have made. I leaped it and the eaters +could not reach me. But, for the fire I leaped there was no wood. It came +out of a crack in the ground. Some day we will go there and I will show +you that thing which is so strange." + +The woman listened, delighted, but, at last, there was a nodding of the +head. She lay back upon the grass a sleepy being. Ab looked at her and +thought deeply. Where was safety? As they were, one of them must be awake +all the time to keep the fire replenished. Until he could enter the cave +again he must be weaponless. Only the fire could protect the two. They +had heat and food and nothing to fear for the moment, but they must +fairly eat their way into a safety which would be permanent! + +He kept the fire alight far into the darkness, and then, piling the fuel +high all along the line of defense, he aroused the sleeping woman and +told her she must keep the flames bright while he slept in his turn. She +was just the wife for such an emergency as this, and rose uncomplainingly +to do her part of the guarding work. From the forest all about came +snarling sounds or threatening growls, and eyes blazed in the somber +depths beneath the trees. There were hungry things out there and they +wanted to eat a man and woman, but fire they feared. The woman was not +afraid. + +After hours had passed the man awoke and took the woman's place and she +slept in his stead. Morning came and the sounds from the forest died away +partly, but the man and woman knew of the fierce creatures still lurking +there. They knew what was before them. They must delve and eat their way +into the cave as soon as possible. + +Ab scraped at the bear's huge body with his inefficient bit of flint and +dug away food in abundance, which he heaped up in a little red mound +inside the fire, but the bear was a monstrous beast and it was a long way +from tail to head. The days of the honeymoon passed with a degree of +travail, for there was no moment when one of the two must not be awake +feeding the guarding fire or digging at the bear. They ate still heartily +on the second day but it is simple, truthful history to admit that on the +sixth day bear's meat palled somewhat on the happy couple. To have eaten +thirty quails in thirty days or, at a pinch, thirty quails in two days +would have been nothing to either of them, but bear's meat eaten as part +of what might be called a tunneling exploit ceased, finally, to possess +an attractive flavor. There was a degree of shade cast by all these +obtrusive circumstances across this honeymoon, but there came a day and +hour when the bear was largely eaten, and fairly dug away as to much of +the rest of him, and then, quite suddenly, his head and fore-quarters +toppled forward into the cave, leaving the passage free, and when Ab and +Lightfoot followed, one shouting and the other laughing, one coming again +to his fortress and his weapons and his power, and the other to her +hearth and duties. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +THE FIRE COUNTRY AGAIN. + +The sun rose brightly the next morning and when Ab, armed and watchful, +rolled the big stone away and passed the smoldering fire and issued from +the cave into the open, the scene he looked upon was fair in every way. +Of what had been left of the great bear not a trace remained. Even the +bones had been dragged into the forest by the ravening creatures who had +fed there during the night. There were birds singing and there were no +enemies in sight. Ab called to Lightfoot and the two went forth together, +loving and brave, but no longer careless in that too interesting region. + +And so began the home life of these two people. It was, in its way and +relatively, as sweet and delicious as the first home life of any loving +and appreciating man and woman of to-day. The two were very close, as the +conditions under which they lived demanded. They were the only human +beings within a radius of miles. The family of the cave man of the time +was serenely independent, each having its own territory, and depending +upon itself for its existence. And the two troubled themselves about +nothing. Who better than they could daily win the means of animal +subsistence? + +Ab taught Lightfoot the art of cracking away the flakes of the flint +nodules and of the finer chipping and rasping which made perfect the +spear and arrowheads, and never was pupil swifter in the learning. He +taught her, too, the use of his new weapon, and in all his life he did no +wiser thing! It was not long before she became easily his superior with +the bow, so far as her strength would allow, and her strength was far +from insignificant. Her arrows flew with greater accuracy than his, +though the buzzing shaft had not as yet, and did not have for many +centuries later, the "gray goose" feather which made the doing of its +mission far more certain. Lightfoot brought to the cave the capercailzie +and willow grouse and other birds which were good things for the larder, +and Ab looked on admiringly. Even in their joint hunting, when there was +a half rivalry, he was happy in her. Somehow, the arrow sang more merrily +when it flew from Lightfoot's bow. + +Better than Ab, too, could the young wife do rare climbing when in a nest +far out upon some branch were eggs good for roasting and which could be +reached only by a light-weight. And she learned the woods about them +well, and, though ever dreading when alone, found where were the trees +from which fell the greatest store of nuts and where, in the mud along +the river's side, her long and highly educated toes could reach the clams +which were excellent to feed upon. + +But never did the hunter leave the cave without a fear. Ever, even in the +daytime, was there too much rustling among the leaves of the near forest. +Ever when day had gone was there the sound of padded feet on the sward +about the cave's blocked entrance. Ever, at night, looking out through +the narrow space between the heaped rocks, could the two inside the cave +see fierce and blazing eyes and there would come to them the sound of +snarls and growls as the beasts of different quality met one another. Yet +the two cared little for these fearful surroundings of the darkness. They +were safe enough. In the morning there were no signs of the lurking +beasts of prey. They were somewhere near, though, and waiting, and so Ab +and Lightfoot had the strain of constant watchfulness upon them. + +It may be that because of this ever present peril the two grew closer +together. It could not well be otherwise with human beings thus bound and +isolated and facing and living upon the rest of nature, part of it +seeking always their own lives. They became a wonderfully loving couple, +as love went in that rude time. Despite the too wearing outlook imposed +upon them, because they were in so dangerous a locality, they were very +happy. Yet, one day, came a difference and a hurt. + +Oak, apparently forgotten by others, was remembered by Ab, though never +spoken of. Sometimes the man had tossed upon his bed of leaves and had +muttered in his sleep, and the one word he had most often spoken in this +troubled dreaming was the name of Oak. Early in their married life +Lightfoot, to whom the memory of the dead man, so little had she known +him, was a far less haunting thing than to her husband, had suddenly +broken a silence, saying "Where is Oak?" There was no answer, but the +look of the man of whom she had asked the question was such that she was +glad to creep from his sight unharmed. Yet once again, months later, she +forgot herself and mocked Ab when he had been boastful over some exploit +of strength and courage and when he had seemed to say that he knew no +fear. She, but to tease him, sprang up with a face convulsed and +agonized, and with staring eyes and hands opening and shutting, had cried +out "Oak! Oak!" as she had seen Ab do at night. Her mimic terror was +changed on the moment into reality. With a shudder and then with a glare +in his eyes the man leaped toward her, snatching his great ax from his +belt and swinging it above her head. The woman shrieked and shrank to the +ground. The man whirled the weapon aloft and then, his face twitching +convulsively, checked its descent. He may, in that moment, have thought +of what followed the slaying of the other who had been close to him. +There was no death done, but, thenceforth, Lightfoot never uttered aloud +the name of Oak. She became more sedate and grave of bearing. + +The episode was but a passing, though not a forgotten one in the lives of +the two. The months went by and there were tranquil hours in the cave as, +at night, the weapons were shaped, and Lightfoot boasted of the +arrowheads she had learned to make so well. Sometimes Old Mok would be +rowed up the river to them by the sturdy and venturesome Bark, who had +grown into a particularly fine youth and who now cared for nothing more +than his big brother's admiration. Between Old Mok and Lightfoot, to Ab's +great delight, grew up the warmest friendship. The old man taught the +woman more of the details of good arrow-making and all he knew of +woodcraft in all ways, and the lord of the place soon found his wife +giving opinions with an air of the utmost knowledge and authority. +Whatever came to him from her and Old Mok pleased him, and when she told +him of some of the finer points of arrow-making he stretched out his +brawny arms and laughed. + +But there came, in time, a shade upon the face of the man. The incident +of the talk of Oak may have brought to his mind again more freshly and +keenly the memory of the Fire Country. There he had found safety and +great comfort. Why should not he and Lightfoot seize upon this home and +live there? It was a wonderful place and warm, and there were forests at +hand. He became so absorbed in his own thoughts on this great theme that +the woman who was his could not understand his mood, but, one day, he +told her of what he had been thinking and of what he had resolved upon. +"I am going to the Fire Country," he said. + +Armed, this time with spear and ax and bow and arrow, and with food +abundant in the pouch of his skin garb, Ab left the cave in which +Lightfoot was now to stay most of the time, well barricaded, for that she +was to hunt afar alone in such a region was not even to be thought of. +What thoughts came to the man as he traversed again the forest paths +where he had so pondered as he once ran before can be but guessed at. +Certainly he had learned no more of Oak. + +Lightfoot, left alone in the cave, became at once a most discreet and +careful personage, for one of her buoyant and daring temperament. She had +often taken risks since her marriage, but there was always the chance of +finding within the sound of her voice her big mate, Ab, should danger +overtake her. She remained close to the cave, and when early dusk came +she lugged the stone barriers into place and built a night-fire within +the entrance. The fierce and hungry beasts of the wood came, as usual, +lurking and sniffing harshly about the entrance, and when she ventured +there and peered outside she saw the wicked and leering eyes. Alone and a +little alarmed, she became more vengeful than she would have been with +the big, careless Ab beside her. She would have sport with her bow. The +advantage of the bow is that it requires no swing of space for its work +as is demanded of the flung spear. An arrow may be sent through a mere +loophole with no probable demerit as to what it will accomplish. So the +woman brought her strongest bow--and far beyond the rough bow of Ab's +first make was the bow they now possessed--and gathered together many of +the arrows she could make so well and use so well, and, thus equipped, +went again to the cave's entrance, and through the space between the +heaped rocks of the doorway sent toward the eyes of wolf, or cave hyena, +shafts to which they were unaccustomed, but which, somehow, pierced and +could find mid-body quite as well as the cave man's spear. There was a +certain comfort in the work, though it could not affect her condition in +one way or another. It was only something of a gain to drive the eyes +away. + +And Ab reached the Fire Valley again. He found it as comfortable and +untenanted as when the leap through the ring of flame had saved his life. +He clambered up the creek and wandered along its banks, where the grass +was green because of the warmth about, and studied all the qualities of +the naturally defended valley. "I will make my home here," he said. +"Lightfoot shall come with me." + +The man returned to his cave and his lonely mate again and told her of +the Fire Country. He said that in the Fire Valley they would be safer and +happier, and told her how he had found an opening underneath the cliff +which they could soon enlarge into a cave to meet all wants. Not that a +cave was really needed in a fire valley, but they might have one if they +cared. And Lightfoot was glad of the departure. + +The pair gathered their belongings together and there was the long +journey over again which Ab had just accomplished. But it was far +different from either journey that he had made. There with him was his +wife, and he was all equipped and was to begin a new sort of life which +would, he felt, be good. Lightfoot, bearing her load gallantly, was not +less jubilant. As a matter of plain fact, though Lightfoot had been happy +in the cave in the forest, she had always recognized certain of its +disadvantages, as had, in the end, her fearless husband. It is, in a +general way, vexatious to live in a locality where, as soon as you leave +your hearthstone, you incur, at least, a chance of an exciting and +uncomfortable episode and then lodgment in the maw of some imposing +creature of the carnivora. Lightfoot was quite ready to seek with Ab the +Fire Valley of which he had so often told her. She was a plucky young +matron, but there were extremes. + +There were no adventures on the journey worth relating. The Fire Valley +was reached at nightfall and the two struggled weariedly up the rugged +path beside the creek which issued from the valley's western end. As they +reached the level Ab threw down his burden, as did Lightfoot, and as the +woman's eyes roved over the bright scene, she gave a great gasp of +delight. "It is our home!" she cried. + +They ate and slept in the light and warmth of surrounding flames, and +when the day came they began the work of enlarging what was to be their +cave. But, though they worked earnestly, they did not care so much for +the prospective shelter as they might have done. What a cave had given +was warmth and safety. Here they had both, out of doors and under the +clear sky. It was a new and glorious life. Sometimes, though happy, the +woman worked a little wearily, and, not long after the settlement of the +two in their new home, a child was born to them, a son, robust and +sturdy, who came afterward to be known as Little Mok. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +A GREAT STEP FORWARD. + +There came to Ab and Lightfoot that comfort which comes with laboring for +something desired. In all that the two did amid their pleasant +surroundings life became a greater thing because its dangers were so +lessened and its burdens lightened. But they were not long the sole human +beings in the Fire Valley. There was room for many and soon Old Mok took +up his permanent abode with them, for he was most contented when with Ab, +who seemed so like a son to him. A cave of his own was dug for Mok, +where, with his carving and his making of arrows and spearheads, he was +happy in his old age. Soon followed a hegira which made, for the first +time, a community. The whole family of Ab, One-Ear, Red-Spot and Bark and +Beech-leaf and the later ones, all came, and another cave was made, and +then old Hilltop was persuaded to follow the example and come with +Moonface and Branch and Stone Arm, his big sons, and the group, thus +established and naturally protected, feared nothing which might happen. +The effect of daily counsel together soon made itself distinctly felt, +and, under circumstances so different, many of the old ways were departed +from. Half a mile to the south the creek, which made a bend adown its +course, tumbled into the river and upon the river were wild fowl in +abundance and in its depths were fish. The forest abounded in game and +there were great nut-bearing trees and the wild fruits in their season. +Wild bees hovered over the flowers in the open places and there were +hoards of wild honey to be found in the hollows of deadened trunks or in +the high rock crevices. A great honey-gatherer, by the way, was +Lightfoot, who could climb so well, and who, furthermore, had her own +fancy for sweet things. It was either Bark or Moonface who usually +accompanied her on her expeditions, and they brought back great store of +this attractive spoil. The years passed and the community grew, not +merely in numbers, but intelligence. Though always an adviser with Old +Mok, Ab's chief male companion in adventure was the stanch Hilltop, who +was a man worth hunting with. Having two such men to lead and with a +force so strong behind them the valley people were able to cope with the +more dangerous animals venturesomely, and soon the number of these was so +decreased that even the children might venture a little way beyond the +steep barriers which had been raised where the flame circle had its gaps. +The opening to the north was closed by a high stone wall and that along +the creek defended as effectively, in a different way. They were having +good times in the valley. + +At first, the home of all was in the caves dug in the soft rock of the +ledge, for of those who came to the novel refuge there was, for a season, +none who could sleep in the bright light from the never-waning flames. +There came a time, though, when, in midsummer, Ab grumbled at the heat +within his cave and he and Lightfoot built for themselves an outside +refuge, made of a bark-covered "lean-to" of long branches propped against +the rock. Thus was the first house made. The habitation proved so +comfortable that others in the valley imitated it and soon there was a +hive of similar huts along the foot of the overhanging precipice. When +the short, sharp winter came, all did not seek their caves again, but the +huts were made warmer by the addition to their walls of bark and skins, +and cave dwelling in the valley was finally abandoned. There was one +exception. Old Mok would not leave his warm retreat, and, as long as he +lived, his rock burrow was his home. + +There came also, as recruits, young men, friends of the young men of the +valley, and the band waxed and waned, for nothing could at once change +the roving and independent habits of the cave men. But there came +children to the mothers, the broad Moonface being especially to the fore +in this regard, and a fine group of youngsters played and straggled up +and down the creek and fought valiantly together, as cave children +should. The heads of families were friendly, though independent. Usually +they lived each without any reference to anyone else, but when a great +hunt was on, or any emergency called, the band came together and fought, +for the time, under Ab's tacitly admitted leadership. And the young men +brought wives from the country round. + +The area of improvement widened. Around the Fire Village the zone of +safety spread. The roar of the great cave tiger was less often heard +within miles of the flaming torches of the valley so inhabited. There +grew into existence something almost like a system of traffic, for, from +distant parts, hitherto unknown, came other cave men, bringing skins, or +flints, or tusks for carving, which they were eager to exchange for the +new weapon and for instruction in its uses. Ab was the first chieftain, +the first to draw about him a clan of followers. The cave men were taking +their first lesson in a slight, half unconfessed obedience, that first +essential of community life where there is yet no law, not even the +unwritten law of custom. + +Running in and out among the children, sometimes pummeled by them, were a +score or two of gray, four-footed, bone-awaiting creatures, who, though +as yet uncounted in such relation, were destined to furnish a factor in +man's advancement. They were wolves and yet no longer wolves. They had +learned to cling to man, but were not yet intelligent enough or taught +enough to aid him in his hunting. They were the dogs of the future, the +four-footed things destined to become the closest friends of men of +future ages, the descendants of the four cubs Ab and Oak had taken from +the dens so many years before. + +It was humanizing for the children, this association of such a number +together, though they ran only a little less wildly than those who had +heretofore been born in the isolated caves. There came more of an average +of intelligence among them, thus associated, though but little more +attention was paid them than the cave men had afforded offspring in the +past. There had come to Ab after Little Mok two strong sons, Reindeer and +Sure-Aim, very much like him in his youth, but of them, until they +reached the age of help and hunting, he saw little. Lightfoot regarded +them far more closely, for, despite the many duties which had come upon +her, there never disappeared the mother's tenderness and watchfulness. +And so it was with Moonface, whose brood was so great, and who was like a +noisy hen with chickens. So existed the hovering mother instinct with all +the women of the valley, though then the mothers fished and hunted and +had stirring events to distract them from domesticity and close affection +almost as much as had the men. + +From this oddly formed community came a difference in certain ways of +doing certain things, which changed man's status, which made a revolution +second only to that made by the bow and for which even men of thought +have not accounted as they should have done, with the illustration before +them in our own times of what has followed so swiftly the use of steam +and, later, of electricity. Men write of and wonder at the strange gap +between what are called the Paleolithic and the Neolithic ages, that is, +between the ages when the spearheads and ax and arrowheads were of stone +chipped roughly into shape, and the age of stone even-edged and smoothly +polished. There was really no gap worth speaking of. The Paleolithic age +changed as suddenly into the Neolithic as the age of horse power changed +into that of steam and electricity, allowance being always made for the +slower transmission of a new intelligence in the days when men lived +alone and when a hundred years in the diffusion of knowledge was as a +year to-day. + +One day Ab went into Old Mok's cave grumbling. "I shot an arrow into a +great deer," he said, "and I was close and shot it with all my force, but +the beast ran before it fell and we had far to carry the meat. I tore the +arrow from him and the blood upon the shaft showed that it had not gone +half way in. I looked at the arrow and there was a jagged point uprising +from its side. How can a man drive deeply an arrow which is so rough? Are +you getting too old to make good spears and arrows, Mok?" And the man +fumed a little. Old Mok made no reply, but he thought long and deeply +after Ab had left the cave. Certainly Ab must have good arrows! Was there +any way of bettering them? And, the next day, the crippled old man might +have been seen looking for something beside the creek where it found its +exit from the valley. There were stones ground into smoothness tossed up +along the shore and the old man studied them most carefully. Many times +he had bent over a stream, watching, thinking, but this time he acted. He +noted a small sandstone block against which were rasping stones of harder +texture, and he picked this from the tumbling current and carried it to +his cave. Then, pouring a little water upon a depression in the stone's +face, he selected his best big arrowhead and began rubbing it upon the +wet sandstone. It was a weary work, for flint and sandstone are different +things and flint is much the harder, but there came a slow result. +Smoother and smoother became the chipped arrowhead, and two days +later--for all the waking hours of two days were required in the weary +grinding--Old Mok gave to Ab an arrow as smooth of surface and keen of +edge as ever flew from bow while stone was used. And not many years +passed--as years are counted in old history--before the smoothed stone +weaponhead became the common property of cave men. The time of chipped +stone had ended and that of smoothed stone had begun. There was no space +between them to be counted now. One swiftly became the other. It was a +matter of necessity, this exhibition of enterprise and sense by the early +man in the prompt general utilization of a new discovery. And not alone +in the improvements in means which came when men of the hunting type were +so gathered in a community were the bow and the smoothed implements, +though these were the greatest of the discoveries of the epoch. The +fishermen who went to the river were not content with the raft-like +devices of the aquatic Shell People and learned, in time, that hollowed +logs would float and that, with the aid of fire and flint axes, a great +log could be hollowed. And never a Phoenician ship-builder, never a +Fulton of the steamer, never a modern designer of great yachts, stood +higher in the estimation of his fellows than stood the expert in the +making of the rude boats, as uncouth in appearance as the river-horse +which sometimes upset them, but from which men could, at least, let down +their lines or dart their spears to secure the fish in the teeming +waters. And the fishermen had better spears and hooks now, for comparison +was necessarily always made among devices, and bone barbs and hooks were +whittled out from which the fish no longer often floundered. There came, +in time, the making of rude nets, plaited simply from the tough marsh +grasses, but they served the purpose and lessened somewhat the gravity of +the great food question. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +FACING THE RAIDER. + +One day, at noon, a man burst, panting, through the wide open entrance to +the Fire Valley. His coat of skin was rent and hung awry and, as all +could see when he staggered down the pathway, the flesh was torn from one +cheek and arm, and down his leg on one side was the stain of dried blood. +He was exhausted from his hurt and his run and his talk was, at first, +almost unmeaning. He was met by some of the older and wiser among those +who saw him coming and to their questions answered only by demanding Ab, +who came at once. The hard-breathing and wounded man could only utter the +words "Big tiger," when he pitched forward and became unconscious. But +his words had been enough. Well understood was it by all who listened +what a raid of the cave tiger meant, and there was a running to the +gateway and soon was raised the wall of ready stone, upbuilt so high that +even the leaping monster could not hope to reach its summit. Later the +story of the wounded, but now conscious and refreshed runner, was told +with more of detail and coherence. + +The messenger brought out what he had to tell gaspingly. He had lost much +blood and was faint, but he told how there had taken place something +awful in the village of the Shell Men. It was but little after dusk the +night before when the Shell Men were gathered together in merrymaking +after good fishing and lucky gathering of what there was to eat along the +shores of the shell fish and the egg-laying turtles and the capture of a +huge river-horse. It had been, up to midnight, one of the greatest and +most joyous meetings the Shell People had joined in for many years. They +were close-gathered and prosperous and content, and though there was +daily turmoil and risk of death upon the water and sometimes as great +risk upon the land, yet the village fringing the waters had grown, and +the midden--the "kitchen-midden" of future ages--had raised itself +steadily and now stretched far up and down the creek which was a river +branch and far backward from the creek toward the forest which ended with +the uplands. They had learned to dread the forest little, the water +people, but from the forest now came what made for each in all the +village a dread and horror. The cave tiger had been among them! + +The Shell People had gathered together upon the sward fronting their line +of shallow caves and one of them, the story-teller and singer, was +chanting aloud of the river-horse and the great spoil which was theirs, +when there was a hungry roar and the yell or shriek of all, men or women +not too stricken by fear to be unable to utter sound, and then the leap +into their midst of the cave tiger! Perhaps the story-teller's chant had +called the monster's attention to him, perhaps his attitude attracted it; +whatever may have been the influence, the tiger seized the singer and +leaped lightly into the open beyond the caves and, as lightly, with long +bounds, into the blackness of the forest beyond. + +There was a moment of awe and horror and then the spirit of the brave +Shell Men asserted itself. There was grasping of weapons and an +outpouring in pursuit of the devourer. Easy to follow was the trail, for +a monster beast carrying a man cannot drop lightly in his leaps. There +was a brief mile or two traversed, though hours were consumed in the +search, and then, as morn was breaking, the seekers came upon what was +left of the singer. It was not much and it lay across the forest pathway, +for the cave tiger did not deign to hide his prey. There came a half +moaning growl from the forest. That growl meant lurking death. Then the +seekers fled. There was consultation and a resolve to ask for help. So +the runner, the man stricken down by a casual stroke in the tiger's rush, +but bravest among his tribe, had come to the Fire Valley. + +To the panting stranger Ab had not much to say. He saw to it that the man +was refreshed and cared for and that the deep scars along his side were +dressed after the cave man's fashion. But through the night which +followed the great cave leader pondered deeply. Why should men thus live +and dread the cave tiger? Surely men were wiser than any beast! This one +monster must, anyhow, be slain! + +But little it mattered to all surrounding nature that the strong man in +the Fire Valley had resolved upon the death of the cave tiger. The tiger +was yet alive! There was a difference in the pulse of all the woodland. +There was a hush throughout the forest. The word, somehow, went to every +nerve of all the world of beasts, "Sabre-Tooth is here!" Even the huge +cave bear shuffled aside as there came to him the scent of the invader. +The aurochs and the urus, the towering elk, the reindeer and the lesser +horned and antlered things fled wildly as the tainted air brought to them +the tale of impending murder. Only the huge rhinoceros and mammoth stood +their ground, and even these were terror-stricken with regard for their +guarded young whenever the tiger neared them. The rhinoceros stood then, +fierce-fronted and dangerous, its offspring hovering by its flanks, and +the mammoths gathered in a ring encircling their calves and presenting an +outward range of tusks to meet the hovering devourer. The dread was all +about. The forest became seemingly nearly lifeless. There was less +barking and yelping, less reckless playfulness of wild creatures, less +rustling of the leaves and pattering along the forest paths. There was +fear and quiet, for Sabre-Tooth had come! + +The runner, refreshed and strengthened by food and sleep, appeared before +Ab in the morning and told his story more in detail and got in return the +short answer: "We will go with you and help you and your people. Tigers +must be killed!" + +Rarely before had man gone out voluntarily to hunt the great cave tiger. +He had, sometimes in awful strait, defended himself against the monster +as best he could, but to seek the encounter where the odds were so great +against him was an ugly task. Now the man-slayer was to be the pursued +instead of the pursuer. It required courage. The vengeful wounded man +looked upon Ab with a grim, admiring regard. "You fear not?" he said. + +There was bustling in the valley and soon a stalwart dozen men were armed +with bow and spear and the journey was taken up toward the Shell Men's +home. The village was reached at mid-day and as the little troop emerged +from the forest the death wail fell upon their ears. "The tiger has come +again!" exclaimed the runner. + +It was true. The tiger had come again! Once more with his stunning roar +he had swept through the village and had taken another victim, a woman, +the wife of one of the head men. Too benumbed by fear, this time, to act +at once, the Shell Men had not pursued the great brute into the darkness. +They had but ventured out in the morning and followed the trail and found +that the tiger had carried the woman in very nearly the same direction as +he had borne the man and that what remained from his gorging of the night +lay where his earlier feast had been. It was the first tragedy almost +repeated. + +The little group of Fire Valley folk entered the village and were +received with shouts from the men, while from the throats of the women +still rose the death wail. There were more people about the huts than Ab +had ever seen there and he recognized at once among the group many of the +cave men from the East, strong people of his own kind. As the wounded +runner had gone to the Fire Valley, so another had been sent to the East, +to call upon another group for aid, and the Eastern cave people, under +the leadership of a huge, swarthy man called Boarface, had come to learn +what the strait was and to decide upon what degree of help they could +afford to give. Between these Eastern and the Western cave men there was +a certain coldness. There was no open enmity, though at some time in the +past there had been family battles and memories of feuds were still +existent. But Ab and Boarface met genially and there was not a trace of +difference now. Boarface joined readily in the council which was held and +decided that he would aid in the desperate hunt, and certainly his aid +was not to be despised when his followers were looked upon. They were a +stalwart lot. + +The way was taken by the gathered fighting men toward where, across the +forest path, lay part of a woman. As the place was neared the band +gathered close together and there were outpointing spears, just as the +mammoths' tusks outpointed when the beasts guarded their young from the +thing now hunted. But there came no attack and no sound from the forest. +The tiger must be sleeping. Beneath a huge tree bordering the pathway lay +what remained of the woman's body. Fifty feet above, and almost directly +over this dreadful remnant of humanity, shot out a branch as thick as a +man's body. There was consultation among the hunters and in this Ab took +the lead, while Boarface and the Shell Men who had come to help assented +readily. No need existed for the risk of an open fight with this great +beast. Craft must be used and Ab gave forth his swift commands. + +The Fire Valley leader had seen to it that his company had brought what +he needed in his effort to kill the tiger. There were two great tanned, +tough urus hides. There were lengths of rhinoceros hide, cut thickly, +which would endure a strain of more than the weight of ten brawny men. +There was one spear, with a shaft of ash wood at least fifteen feet in +length and as thick as a man's wrist. Its head was a blade of hardest +flint, but the spear was too heavy for a man's hurling. It had been made +for another use. + +There was little hesitation in what was done, for Ab knew well the +quality of the work he had in hand. He unfolded his plan briefly and then +he himself climbed to the treetop and out upon the limb, carrying with +him the knotted strip of rhinoceros hide. In the pouch of his skin +garment were pebbles. He reached a place on the big limb overhanging the +path and dropped a pebble. It struck the earth a yard or two away from +what remained of the woman's body and he shouted to those below to drag +the mangled body to the spot where the pebble had hit the earth. They +were about to do so when from the forest on one side of the path came a +roar, so appalling in every way that there was no thought of anything +among most of the workers save of sudden flight. The tiger was in the +wood and very near and a scent had reached him. There was a flight which +left upon the ground beneath the tree branches only old Hilltop and the +rough Boarface and some dozen sturdy followers, these about equally +divided between the East and the West men of the hills. There was swift +and sharp work then. + +The tiger might come at any moment, and that meant death to one at least. +But those who remained were brave men and they had come far to encompass +this tiger's ending. They dragged what remained of the tiger's prey to +where the pebble had hit the earth. Ab, clinging and raging aloft, afar +out upon the limb, shouted to Hilltop to bring him the spear and the urus +skins, and soon the sturdy old man was beside him. Then, about two deep +notches in the huge shaft, thongs were soon tied strongly, and just below +its middle were attached the bag-shaped urus skins. Near its end the +rhinoceros thong was knotted and then it was left hanging from the limb +supported by this strong rope, while, three-fourths of the way down its +length, dangled on each side the two empty bags of hide. Short orders +were given, and, directed by Boarface, one man after another climbed the +tree, each with a weight of stones carried in his pouch, and each +delivering his load to old Hilltop, who, lying well out upon the limb, +passed the stones to Ab, who placed them in the skin pouches on either +side the suspended and threatening spear. The big skin pouches on either +side were filling rapidly, when there came from the forest another roar, +nearer and more appalling than before, and some of the workers below fled +panic-stricken. Ab shouted and frothed and foamed as the men ran. Old +Hilltop slid down the tree, ax in hand, followed by the dark Boarface, +and one or two of the men below were captured and made to work again. +Soon all the work which Ab had in mind was done. Above the path, just +over what remained of the woman, hung the great spear, weighted with half +a thousand pounds of stone and sure to reach its mark should the tiger +seek its prey again. The branch was broad and the line of rhinoceros skin +taut, and Ab's flint knife was keen of edge. Only courage and calmness +were needed in the dread presence of the monster of the time. Neither the +swarthy Boarface nor the gaunt Hilltop wanted to leave him, but Ab forced +them away. + +Not long to wait had the cave man, but the men who had been with him were +already distant. The shadows were growing long now, but the light was +still from the sunshine of the early afternoon. The man lying along the +limb, knife in hand, could hear no sound save the soft swish of leaves +against each other as the breeze of later day pushed its way through the +forest, or the alarmed cries of knowing birds who saw on the ground +beneath them a huge thing slip along with scarce a sound from the impact +of his fearfully clawed but padded feet as he sought the meal he had +prepared for himself. The great beast was approaching. The great man +aloft was waiting. + +Into the open along the path came the tiger, and Ab, gripping the limb +more firmly, looked down upon the thing so closely and in daylight for +the first time in his life. Ab was certainly brave, and he was calm and +wise and thinking beyond his time, but when he saw plainly this beast +which had slipped so easily and silently from the forest, safe though he +was upon his perch, he was more than startled. The thing was so huge and +with an aspect so terrible to look upon! + +The great cat's head moved slowly from side to side; the baleful eyes +blazed up and down the pathway and the tawny muzzle was lifted to catch +what burden there might be on the air. The beast seemed satisfied, +emerging fairly into the sunlight. Immense of size but with the graceful +lankness of the tigers of to-day, Sabre-Tooth somewhat resembled them, +though, beside him, the largest inmate of the Indian jungle would appear +but puny. The creature Ab looked upon that day so long ago was beautiful, +in his way. He was beautiful as is the peacock or the banded rattlesnake. +There were color contrasts and fine blendings. The stripes upon him were +wonderfully rich, and as he came creeping toward the body, he was as +splendid as he was dreadful. + +With every nerve strained, but with his first impulse of something like +terror gone, Ab watched the devourer beneath him while his sharp flint +knife, hard gripped, bore lightly against the taut rhinoceros-hide rope. +The tiger began his ghastly meal but was not quite beneath the suspended +spear. Then came some distant sound in the forest and he raised his head +and shifted his position. + +[Illustration: UPON THE STRONG SHAFT OF ASH THE MONSTER WAS IMPALED] + +He was fairly under the spear now. The knife pressed firmly against the +rawhide was drawn back and forth noiselessly but with effectiveness. +Suddenly the last tissue parted and the enormously weighted spear fell +like a lightning-stroke. The broad flint head struck the tiger fairly +between the shoulders, and, impelled by such a weight, passed through his +huge body as if it had met no obstacle. Upon the strong shaft of ash the +monster was impaled. There echoed and reechoed through the forest a roar +so fearful that even the hunters whom Ab had sent far away from the scene +of the tragedy clambered to the trees for refuge. The struggles of the +pierced brute were tremendous beyond description, but no strength could +avail it now; it had received its death wound and soon the great tiger +lay still, as harmless as the squirrel, frightened and hidden in his +nest. In wild triumph Ab slid to the ground and then the long cry to +summon his party went echoing through the wood. When the others found him +he had withdrawn the spear and was already engaged, flint knife in hand, +in stripping from the huge body the glorious robe it wore. + +There was excitement and rejoicing. The terror had been slain! The Shell +People were frantic in their exultation. Meanwhile Ab had called upon his +own people to assist him and the wonderful skin of the tiger was soon +stretched out upon the ground, a glorious possession for a cave man. + +"I will have half of it," declared Boarface, and he and Ab faced each +other menacingly. "It shall not be cut," was the fierce retort. "It is +mine. I killed the tiger!" + +Strong hands gripped stone axes and there was chance of deadly fray then +and there, but the Shell People interfered and the Shell People excelled +in number, and were a potent influence for peace. Ab carried away the +splendid trophy, but as Boarface and his men departed, there were black +faces and threatening words. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +LITTLE MOK. + +Among all the children of Ab--and remarkable it was for the age--the best +loved was Little Mok, the eldest son. When the child, strong and joyous, +was scarcely two years old, he fell from a ledge off the cliff where he +had climbed to play, and both his legs were broken. Strange to say he +survived the accident in that time when the law of the survival of the +fittest was almost invariable in its sternest and most purely physical +demonstration. The mother love of Lightfoot warded off the last pitiless +blow of nature, although the child, a hopeless cripple, never after +walked. The name Little Mok was naturally given him, and before long the +child had won the heart, as well as the name, of the limping old maker of +axes, spearheads and arrows. + +The closer ties of family life, as we know them now, existed but in their +outlines to the cave man. The man and woman were faithful to each other +with the fidelity of the higher animals and their children were cared for +with rough tenderness in their infancy. The time of absolute dependence +was made very short, though, and children very early were required to +find some of their own food, and taught by necessity to protect +themselves. But Little Mok, unable to take up for himself the burden of +an independent existence, was not slain nor left to die of neglect as +might have been another child thus crippled in the time in which he +lived. He, once spared, grew into the wild hearts of those closest to him +and became the guarded and cherished one of the rude home of Ab and +Lightfoot, and to him was thus given the continuous love and care which +the strong-limbed boys and girls of the family lost and never missed. + +It was a strange thing for the time. The child had qualities other than +the negative ones of helplessness and weakness with which to bind to him +the hearts of those around him, but the primary fact of his entire +dependence upon them was what made him the center of the little circle of +untaught, untamed cave people who lived in the Fire Valley. He may have +been the first child ever so cherished from such impulse. + +From his mother the child inherited a joyous disposition which nothing +could subdue. Often on the return home from some little expedition on +which it had been practicable to take him, sitting on Lightfoot's +shoulder, or on the still stronger arm of old One-Ear, his silent, +somewhat brooding grandfather, the little brown boy made the woods ring +with shrill bird calls, or the mimicry of animals, and ever his laughter +filled the spaces in between these sounds. Other children flocked around +the merry youngster, seeking to emulate his play of voice and the +oldsters smiled as they saw and heard the joyous confusion about the tiny +reveler. The excursions to the river were Little Mok's chief delight from +his early childhood. He entered into the preparations for them with a +zest and keen enjoyment born of the presence of an adventurous spirit in +a maimed body, and when the fishing party left the Fire Camp it was +incomplete if Little Mok was not carried lightly at the van, the life and +joy of the occasion. + +No one ever forgot the day when Little Mok, then about six years old, +caught his first fish. His joy and pride infected all as he exhibited his +prize and boasted of what he would catch in the river next, and when, on +the return, Old Mok saluted him as the "Great Fisherman," the elf's +elation became too great for any expression. His little chest heaved, his +eyes flashed, and then he wriggled from Lightfoot's arms into the lap of +Old Mok, snuggled down into the old man's furs and hid his face there; +and the two understood each other. + +It was soon after this great event of the first fish-catching that +Red-Spot, Ab's mother, died. She had never quite adapted herself to the +new life in the Fire Valley, and after a time she began to grow old very +fast. At last a fever attacked her and the end of her patient, busy life +came. After her death One-Ear was much in Old Mok's cave, the two had so +long been friends. There with them the crippled boy was often to be +found. He was not always gay and joyous. Sometimes he lay for days on his +bed of leaves at home, in weakness and pain, silent and unlike himself. +Then when Lightfoot's care had given him back a little strength, he would +beg to be taken to Old Mok's cave. There he could sleep, he said, away +from the noise and the lights of the outside world, and finally he +claimed and was allowed a nest of his own in the warmest and darkest nook +of Old Mok's den, where he slept every night, and sometimes a good part +of the day, when one of his times of pain and weakness was upon him. Here +during many a long hour of work, experiment and argument, the wide eyes +and quick ears of Little Mok saw and heard, while Ab, Mok and One-Ear +bent over their work at arrowhead or spear point, and talked of what +might be done to improve the weapons upon which so much depended. Here, +when no one else remained in the weary darkness of night and the half +light of stormy days Old Mok beguiled the time with stories, and +sometimes in a hoarse voice even attempted to chant to his little hearer +snatches of the wild singing tales of the Shell People, for the Shell +People had a sort of story song. + +Once, when Lightfoot sat by Old Mok's fire, she told them of the time +when she and Ab found themselves outside their cave, unarmed, with a bear +to be eaten through before they could get into their door, and Little Mok +surprised his mother and Old Mok by an outburst of laughter at the tale. +He had a glimmering of humor, and saw the droll side of the adventure, a +view which had not occurred to Lightfoot, nor to Ab. The little lad, of +the world, yet not in it, saw vaguely the surprises, lights and shades +and contrasts of existence, and sometimes they made him laugh. The laugh +of the cave man was not a common event, and when it came was likely to be +sober and sardonic, at least it was so when not simply an evidence of +rude health and high animal spirits. Humor is one of the latest, as it is +one of the most precious, grains shaken out of Time's hour-glass, but +Little Mok somehow caught a tiny bit of the rainbow gift, long before its +time in the world, and soon, with him, it was to disappear for centuries +to come. + +One day when Little Mok was brought back from an expedition to the river, +he told Old Mok how he had sat long on the bank, too tired to fish, and +had just rested and feasted his eyes on the wood, the stream, the small +darting creatures in it, the birds, and the animals which came to drink. +Describing a herd of reindeer which had passed near him, Little Mok took +up a piece of Old Mok's red chalkstone and on the wall of the cave drew a +picture of the animal. The veteran stared in surprise. The picture was +wonderfully life-like in grasp and detail. The child owned that great +gift, the memory of sight, and his hand was cunning. Encouraged by his +success, the boy drew on, delighting Old Mok with his singular fidelity +and skill. Then came hours and days of sketching and etching in the old +man's cave. The master was delighted. He brought out from their hiding +places his choicest pieces of mammoth tusk or teeth of the river-horse +for Little Mok's etchings and carvings. And, as time passed, the young +artist excelled the old one, and became the pride and boast of his friend +and teacher. Sometimes the little lad would work far into the night, for +he could not pause when he had begun a thing until it was complete--but +then he would sleep in his warm nest until noon the next day, crawling +out to cook a bit of meat for himself at the nearest fire, or sharing Old +Mok's meal, as was more convenient. + +While everything else in the Fire Valley was growing, developing and +flourishing, Little Mok's frail body had ever grown but slowly, and about +the beginning of his twelfth year there appeared a change in him. He +became permanently weak and grew more and more helpless day by day. His +cherished excursions to the river, even his little journeys on old +One-Ear's strong arm to the cliff top, from whence he could see the whole +world at once, had all to be abandoned. + +When the winter snows began to whirl in the air Little Mok was lying +quietly on his bed, his great eyes looking wistfully up at Lightfoot, who +in vain taxed her limited skill and resources to tempt him to eat and +become more sturdy. She hovered over him like a distressed mother bird +over its youngling fallen from the nest, but, with all her efforts, she +could not bring back even his usual slight measure of health and strength +to the poor Little Mok. Ab came sometimes and looked sadly at the two and +then walked moodily away, a great weight on his breast. Old Mok was +always at work, and yet always ready to give Little Mok water or turn his +weary little frame on its rude bed, or spread the furs over the wasted +body, and always Lightfoot waited and hoped and feared. + +And at last Little Mok died, and was buried under the stones, and the +snow fell over the lonely cairn under the fir trees outside the Fire +Valley where his grave was made. + +Lightfoot was silent and sad, and could not smile nor laugh any more. She +longed for Little Mok, and did not eat or sleep. One night Ab, trying to +comfort her, said, "You will see him again." + +"What do you mean?" cried Lightfoot. And Ab only answered, "You will see +him; he will come at night. Go to sleep, and you will see him." + +But Lightfoot could not sleep yet and for many a night her eyes closed +only when extreme fatigue compelled sleep toward the morning. + +And at last, after many days and nights, Lightfoot, when asleep, saw +Little Mok. Just as in life, she saw him, with all his familiar looks and +motions. But he did not stay long. And again and again she saw him, and +it comforted her somewhat because he smiled. There had come to her such a +heartache about him, lying out there under the snow and stones, with no +one to care for him, that the smile warmed her heavy heart and she told +Ab that she had seen Little Mok, only whispering it to him--for it was +not well, she knew, to talk about such things--and she whispered to Ab, +too, her anguish that Little Mok only came at night, and never when it +was day, but she did not complain. She only said: "I want to see him in +the daytime." + +And Ab could think of nothing to say. But that made him think more and +more. He felt drawn closer to Lightfoot, his wife, no longer a young +girl, but the mother of Little Mok, who was dead, and of all his +children. + +In his mind arose, vaguely obscure, yet persistent, the idea that brute +strength and vigor, keen senses and reckless bravery were not, after all, +the sole qualities that make and influence men. Old Mok, crippled and +disabled for the hunt and defense, was nevertheless a power not to be +despised, and Little Mok, the helpless child, had been still strong +enough to win and keep the love of all the stalwart and rough cave +people. Ab was sorry for Lightfoot. When in the spring the forlorn mother +held in her arms a baby girl a little brightness came into her eyes +again, and Ab, seeing this, was glad, but neither Ab nor Lightfoot ever +forgot their eldest and dearest, Little Mok. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +THE BATTLE OF THE BARRIERS. + +While Ab had been occupied by home affairs trouble for him and his people +had been brewing. By no means unknown to each other before the tiger hunt +were Ab and Boarface. They had hunted together and once Boarface, with +half a dozen companions, had visited the Fire Valley and had noted its +many attractions and advantages. Now Boarface had gone away angry and +muttering, and he was not a man to be thought of lightly. His rage over +the memory of Ab's trophy did not decrease with the return to his own +region. Why should this cave man of the West have sole possession of that +valley, which was warm and green throughout the winter and where the wild +beasts could not enter? Why had he, this Ab, been allowed to go away with +all the tiger's skin? Brooding enlarged into resolve and Boarface +gathered together his relations and adherents. "Let us go and take the +Fire Valley of Ab," he said to them, and, gradually, though objections +were made to the undertaking of an enterprise so fraught with danger, the +listeners were persuaded. + +"There are other fires far down the river," said one old man. "Let us go +there, if it is fire we most need, and so we will not disturb nor anger +Ab, who has lived in his valley for many years. Why battle with Ab and +all his people?" + +But Boarface laughed aloud: "There are many other earth fires," he said. +"I know them well, but there is no other fire which chances to make a +flaming fence about a valley close to the great rocks, and which has +water within the space it surrounds and which makes a wall against all +the wild beasts. We will fight and win the valley of Ab." + +And so they were led into the venture. They sought, too, the aid of the +Shell People in this raid, but were not successful. The Shell People were +not unfriendly to those of the Fire Valley, and had not Ab been really +the one to kill the tiger? Besides, it was not wise for the waterside +dwellers to engage in any controversy between the forest factions, for +the hill people had memories and heavy axes. A few of the younger and +more adventurous joined the force of Boarface, but the alliance had no +tribal sanction. Still, the force of the swarthy leader of the Eastern +cave men was by no means insignificant. It contained good fighting men, +and, when runners had gone far and wide in the Eastern country, there +were gathered nearly ten score of hunters who could throw the spear or +wield the ax and who were not fearful of their lives. The band led by +Boarface started for the Fire Country, intending to surprise the people +in the valley. They moved swiftly, but not so swiftly as a fleet young +man from the Shell People who preceded them. He was sent by the elders a +day before the time fixed for the assault, and so Ab learned all about +the intended raid. Then went forth runners from the valley; then the +matron Lightfoot's eyes became fiery, since Ab was threatened; then old +Hilltop looked carefully over his spears, and poised thoughtfully his +great stone ax; then Moonface smote her children and gathered together +certain weapons, and then Old Mok went into his cave and stayed there, +working at none knew what. + +They came from all about, the Western cave men, for never in the valley +had food or shelter been refused to any and the Eastern cave men were not +loved. Many a quarrel over game had taken place between the raging +hunters of the different tribes, and many a bloody single-handed +encounter had come in the depths of the forest. The band was not a large +one, the Eastern men being far more numerous, but the outlook was not as +fine as it might be for the advancing Boarface. The force assembled +inside the valley was, in point of numbers, but little more than half his +own, but it was entrenched and well-armed, and there were those among the +defenders whom it was not well to meet in fight. But Boarface was +confident and was not dismayed when his force crept into the open only to +find the ordinary valley entrance barred and all preparations made for +giving him a welcome of the warmer sort. There was what could not be +thoroughly barricaded in so brief a time, the entrance where the brook +issued at the west. This pass must be forced, for the straight, uprising +wall between the flames and across the opening to the north was something +relatively unassailable. It was too narrow and too high and sheer and +there were too many holes in the wall through which could be sent those +piercing arrows which the Western cave men knew how to use so well. The +battle must be up along the bed of the little creek. The water was low at +this season, so low that a man might wade easily anywhere, and there had +been erected only a slight barrier, enough to keep wild beasts away, for +Ab had never thought of invasion by human beings. The creek tumbled +downward, through passages, between straight-sided, ruggedly built stone +heaps, with spaces between wide enough to admit a man, but not any great +beast of prey. There was no place where, by a man, the wall could not +easily be mounted and, above, there was no really good place of vantage +for the defenders. + +So the invading force, concealment of action being no longer necessary, +ranged themselves along the banks of the creek to the west of the valley +and prepared for a rush. They had certain chances in their favor. They +were strong men, who knew how to use their weapons well, and they were in +numbers almost as two to one. Meanwhile, inside the valley, where the +approach and plans of the enemy had been seen and understood, there had +gone on swiftly, under Ab's stern direction, such preparation for the +fray as seemed most adequate with the means at hand. + +The great advantage possessed was that the defenders, on firm footing +themselves, could meet men climbing, and so, a little further up the +creek than the beast-opposing wall, had been thrown up what was little +more than a rude platform of rock, wide and with a broad expanse of top, +on which all the valley's force might cluster in an emergency. Upon this +the people were to gather, defending the first pass, if they could, by +flights of spears and arrows and here, at the end, to win or lose. This +was the general preparation for the onslaught, but there had been +precautions taken more personal and more involving the course of the most +important of the people of the valley. + +At the left of the gorge, where must come the invaders, the rock rose +sheerly and at one place extended outward a shelf, high up, but reached +easily from the Fire Valley side. There were consultations between Ab and +the angry and anxious and almost tearful Lightfoot. That charming lady, +now easily the best archer of the tribe, had developed at once into a +fighting creature and now demanded that her place be assigned to her. +With her own bow, and with arrows in quantity, it was decided that she +should occupy the ledge and do all she could. Upon the ledge was +comparative safety in the fray, and Ab directed that she should go there. +Old Hilltop said but little. It was understood, almost as a matter of +course, that he would be upon the barrier and there face, with Ab, the +greatest issue. The old man was by no means unsatisfactory to look upon +as he moved silently about and got ready the weapons he might have to +use. Gaunt, strong-muscled and resolute, he was worthy of admiration. +Ever following him with her eyes, when not engaged in the chastisement of +one of her swart brood, was Moonface, for Moonface had long since learned +to regard her grizzled lord with love as well as much respect. + +There were other good fighting men and other women beside these mentioned +who would do their best, but these few were the dominant figures. +Meanwhile, Boarface and his strong band had decided upon their plan of +attack and would soon rush up the bed of the shallow stream with all the +bravery and ferocity of those who were accustomed to face death lightly +and to seize that which they wanted. + +The invaders came clambering up the creek's course, openly and with +menacing and defiant shouts, for any concealment was now out of the +question. They had but few bows and could, under the conditions, send no +arrow flight which would be of avail, but they had thews and sinews and +spears and axes. As they came with such rush as men might make up a +tumbling waterway with slipping pebbles beneath the feet and forced +themselves one by one between the heaped stone piles and fairly in front +of the barrier there was a discharge of arrows and more than one man, +impaled by a stone-headed shaft, fell, to dabble feebly in the water, and +did not rise again. But there came a time in the fight when the bow must +be abandoned. + +The assault was good and the demeanor of the men behind the barrier was +good as well. Not more gallant was one group than the other for there +were splendid fighters in both ranks. The boasted short sword of the +Romans, in times effeminate, as compared with these, afforded not in its +wielding a greater test of personal courage than the handling of the +flint-headed spear or the stone knife or chipped ax. There, all along the +barrier, was the real grappling of man and man, with further existence as +the issue. + +The invaders, losing many of their number, for arrows flew steadily and a +mass so large could not easily be missed even by the most bungling of +those strong archers, swept upward to the barrier and then was a +muscular, deadly tumult worth the seeing. To the south and nearest the +side where Lightfoot was perched with her bow and great bunch of arrows +Ab stood in front, while to his right and near the other end of the rude +stone rampart was stationed old Hilltop, and he hurled his spears and +slew men as they came. The fight became simply a death struggle, with the +advantage of position upon one side and of numbers on the other. And Ab +and Boarface were each seeking the other. + +So the struggle lasted for a long half hour, and when it ended there were +dead and dying men upon the barrier, while the waters of the creek were +reddened by the blood of the slain assailants. The assault now ebbed a +little. Neither Ab nor Hilltop had been injured in the struggle. As the +invaders pressed close Ab had noted the whish of an arrow now and then +and the hurt to one pressing him closely, and old Hilltop had heard the +wild cries of a woman who hovered in his rear and hurled stones in the +faces of those who strove to reach him. And now there came a lull. + +Boarface had recognized the futility of scaling, under such conditions, a +steep so well defended and had thought of a better way to gain his end +and crush Ab and his people. He had heard the story of Ab's first advent +into the valley when, chased by the wolves, he leaped through the flame, +and there came an inspiration to him! What one man had done others could +do, and, with picked warriors of his band, he made a swift detour, while, +at the same time, the main body rushed desperately upon the barrier +again. + +What had been good fighting before was better now. Lives were lost, and +soon all arrows were spent and all spears thrown, and then came but the +dull clashing of stone axes. Ab raged up and down, and, ever in the +front, faced the oncoming foe and slew as could slay the strong and +utterly desperate. More than once his life was but a toy of chance as men +sprang toward him, two or three together, but ever at such moment there +sang an arrow by his head and one of his assailants, pierced in throat or +body, fell back blindly, hampering his companions, whose heads Ab's great +ax was seeking fiercely. And, all the time, nearer the northern end of +the barrier, old Hilltop fought serenely and dreadfully. There were many +dead men in the pools of the creek between the barrier and the entrance +to the valley. And about Ab ever sang the arrows from the rocky shelf. + +There was wild clamor, the clash of weapons and the shouting of +battle-crazed men but there was not enough to drown the sound of a scream +which rose piercingly above the din. Ab recognized the voice of Lightfoot +and raised his eyes to see the woman, regardless of her own safety, +standing upright and pointing up the valley. He knew that something +meaning life and death was happening and that he must go. He leaped +backward and a huge Western cave man sprang to his place, to serve as +best he could. + +Not a moment too soon had that shrill cry reached the ears of the +fighting man. He ran backward, shouting to a score of his people to +follow him as he ran, and in an instant recognized that he had been +outwitted, at least for the moment, by the vengeful Boarface. As he +rushed to the east toward the wall of flame he saw a dark form pass +through its crest in a flying leap. There were others he knew would +follow. His own feat of long ago was being repeated by Boarface and his +chosen group of best men! + +It was not Boarface who leaped and it was hard for a gallant youth of the +Eastern cave men that he had strength and daring and had dashed ahead in +the assault, for he had scarcely touched the ground when there sank +deeply into his head a stone ax, impelled by the strongest arm of all +that region, and he was no more among things alive. Ab had reached the +fire wall with the speed of a great runner while, close behind him, came +his eager following. + +The forces could see each other clearly enough now, and those on the +outside outnumbered those on the inside again by two to one. But those +leaping the flames could not alight poised ready for a blow, and there +were adroit and vengeful axmen awaiting them. There was a momentary pause +for planning among the assailants, and then it was that Ab fumed over his +own lack of foresight. His chosen band who were with him now were all +bowmen, and about the shoulder and chest of each was still slung his +weapon, but there were no more arrows. Each quiverful had been shot away +early in the fight and then had come the spear and ax play. But what a +chance for arrows now, with that threatening band preparing for the rush +and leap together, and, while out of reach of spear or ax, within easy +reach of the singing little shafts! Oh, for the shafts now, those slender +barbed things which were hurled in his new way! And, even as he thus +raged, there came a feeble shout from down the valley behind him and he +saw something very good! + +Limping, with effort, but resolutely forward, was a bent old man, bearing +encircled within his long arms a burden which Ab himself could not have +carried for any distance without stress and labored breathing. The lean +old Mok's arms were locked about a monster sheaf of straight flint-headed +arrows, a sheaf greater in size than ever man had looked upon before. The +crippled veteran had not been idle in his cave. He had worked upon the +store of shafts and flintheads he had accumulated, and here was the +result in a great emergency! + +The old man cast his sheaf upon the ground and then sank down, somewhat +totteringly, beside it. There needed no shout of command from Ab to tell +those about him what to do. There was one combined yell of sudden +exultation, a rush together for the shafts and a swift filling of empty +quivers. It was but the work of a moment or two. Then something promptly +happened. The great fellows, though acting without orders, shot almost +"all together," as the later English archers did, and so close just +across the flame wall was the opposing group that the meanest archer in +all the lot could scarcely fail to reach a living target, and stronger +arms drew back those arrows than were the arms of those who drew +bowstring in the battles of mediæval history. With the first deadly +flight came a scattering outside and men lay tossing upon the ground in +their death agony. There was no cessation to the shot, though Boarface +sought fiercely to rally his followers, until all had fled beyond the +range of the bowmen. Upon the ground were so many dead that the numbers +of the two forces were now more nearly equal. But Boarface had brave +followers. They ranged themselves together at a safe distance and then +started for the flame wall with a rush, to leap it all together. + +There was another arrow-flight as the onslaught came, and more men went +down, but the charge could not be stopped. Over the low flame-crests shot +a great mass of bodies, there to meet that which was not good for them. +The struggle was swift and deadly, but the forces were almost evenly +matched now and the insiders had the advantage. Boarface and Ab met face +to face in the melée and each leaped toward the other with a yell. There +was to be a fight which must be excellent, for two strong leaders were +meeting and there were many lives at stake. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +OLD HILLTOP'S LAST STRUGGLE. + +Even as he leaped the flames, the desperate Boarface hurled at Ab a +fragment of stone, which was a thing to be wisely dodged, and the invader +was fairly on his feet and in position to face his adversary as the axes +came together. More active, more powerful, it may be, and certainly more +intelligent, was Ab than Boarface, but the leader of the assailants had +been a raider from early youth and knew how to take advantage. In those +fierce days to attain the death of an enemy, in any way, was the +practical end sought in a conflict. Close behind Boarface had leaped a +youth to whom the leader had given his commands before the onrush and +who, as he found his feet upon the valley's sward, sought, not an +adversary face to face, but circled about the two champions, seeking only +to get behind the leaping Ab while Boarface occupied his sole attention. +The young man bore a great stone-headed club, a dreadful weapon in such +hands as his. The men struck furiously and flakes spun from the heavy +axes, but Boarface was being slowly driven back when there descended upon +Ab's shoulder a blow which swerved him and would certainly have felled a +man with less heaped brawn to meet the impact. At the same instant +Boarface made a fierce downward stroke and Ab leaped aside without +parrying or returning it, for his arm was numbed. Another such blow from +the new assailant and his life was lost, yet he dare not turn. That would +be his death. And now Boarface rushed in again and as the axes came +together called to his henchman to strike more surely. + +And just then, just as it seemed to Ab the end was near, he heard behind +him the sharp twang of the bowstring which had sounded so sweetly at the +valley's other end and, with a groan, there pitched down upon the sward +beside him a writhing man whose legs drew back and forth in agony and who +had been pierced by an arrow shot fiercely and closely from behind and +driven in between his shoulder blades. He knew what it must mean. The arm +which had drawn that arrow to its head was that of a slight, strong +creature who was not a man. Lightfoot, wild with love and anxiety, had +shot past Old Mok just as he laid down his bundle of arrows, and, when +she saw her husband's peril, had leaped forward with arrow upon string +and slain his latest assailant in the nick of time. Now, with arrow +notched again and a face ablaze with murderous helpfulness, she hovered +near, intent only upon sending a second shaft into the breast of +Boarface. + +But there was no need. Unhampered now, Ab rushed in upon his enemy and +rained such blows as only a giant could have parried. Boarface fought +desperately, but it was only man to man, and he was not the equal of the +maddened one before him. His ax flew from his hand as his wrist was +broken by Ab's descending weapon, and the next moment he fell limply and +hardly moved, for a second blow had sunk the stone weapon so deeply in +his head that the haft was hidden in his long hair. + +It was all over in a moment now. As Ab turned with a shout of triumph +there was a swift end to the little battle. There were brief encounters +here and there, but the Eastern men were leaderless and less +well-equipped than their foes, and though they fought as desperately as +cornered wolves, there was no hope for them. Three escaped. They fled +wildly toward the flame and leaped over and through its flickering yellow +crest and there was no pursuit. It was not a time for besieged men to be +seeking useless vengeance. There came wild yells from the lower end of +the valley where the greater fight was on. With a cry Ab gathered his men +together and the victorious band ran toward the barrier again, there with +overwhelming force to end the struggle. Ever, in later years, did Ab +regret that his fight with Boarface had not ended sooner. To save an old +hero he had come too late. + +Boarface, when taking with him a strong band to the upper end of the +valley, had still left a supposably overwhelming force to fight its way +up and over the barrier. Ab away from the scene of struggle, old Hilltop +assumed command. He was a fit man for such death-facing steadfastness as +was here required. + +Never had Ab been able to persuade Lightfoot's father to use or even try +the new weapon, the bow and arrow. He had no tender feeling toward modern +innovations. He had a clear eye and strong arm, and the ax and spear were +good enough for him! He recognized Ab's great qualities, but there were +some things that even a well-regarded son-in-law could not impose upon +any elder family male. Among these was this twanging bow with its light +shaft, better fitted for a child's plaything than for real work among +men. As for him, give him a heavy spear, with the blade well set in +thongs, or a heavy ax, with the head well clinched in the sinew-bound +wooden haft. There was rarely miss or failure to the spear-thrust or the +ax-stroke. And now, in proof of the soundness of his old-fashioned +belief, he staked ruggedly his life. There were few spears left. There +were only axes on either side. And there stood old Hilltop upon the +barrier, while beside him and all across stood men as brave if not quite +as sturdy or as famous. + +In the rear of the line, noisy, sometimes fierce and sometimes weeping, +were the women, whose skill was only a little less than that of the males +and who were even more ruthless in all feeling toward the enemy. And +still easily chief among these, conspicuous by her noisy and uncaring +demeanor of mingled alarm and vengefulness, was the raging Moonface. She +rushed up close beside her husband's defending group and still hurled +stones and hurled them most effectively. They went as if from a catapult, +and more than one bone or head was broken that day by those missiles from +the arm of this squat savage wife and mother. But the men below were +outnumbering and brave, and now, maddened by different emotions, the lust +of conquest, the murderous anger over slain companions and, underlying +all, the thought of ownership of this fair and warm and safe place of +home, were resolute in their attack. They had faith in their leader, +Boarface, and expected confidently every moment an onslaught to aid +them from above. And so they came up the watery slope, one pressing +blood-thirstily behind the other with an earnestness none but men as +strong and well equipped and as brave or braver could hope to withstand. +The closing struggle was desperate. + +Hilltop stood to the front, between two rocks some few yards apart, over +which bubbled the shallow creek, and between which was the main upward +entrance to the valley. He stood upon a rock almost as flat as if some +expert engineer of ages later had planed its surface and then adjusted it +to a level, leaving the shallow waters tumbling all about it. The rock +out-jutted somewhat on the slope and there must necessarily be some +little climb to face the aged defender. On either side was a stretch of +down-running, gradually-sloping waterfall, full of great boulders, +embarrassing any straight rush of a group together, but, between and +upward, sprang swart men, and facing them on either side of old Hilltop +beyond the rocks were the remainder of the mass of cave men upon whom he +depended for making good the defense of the whole barrier. Beside him, in +the center of the battle, were the two creatures in the world upon whom +he could most depend, his stalwart and splendid sons, Strong-Arm and +Branch. With them, as gallant if not as strong as his great brother, +stood braced the eager Bark. They were ready, these young men, but, as it +chanced, there could be, at the beginning of the strong clamber of the +foe, only one man to first meet them. All were behind this man at the +front, for the flat rock came to something like a point. He stood there, +hairy and bare except for the skin about his hips, and with only an ax in +his hand, but this did not matter so much as it might have done, for only +axes were borne by the up-clambering assailants. The throwing of an ax +was a little matter to the sharp-eyed and flexile-muscled cave men. Who +could not dodge an ax was better out of the way and out of the world. A +meeting such as this impending must be a matter only of close personal +encounter and fencing with arm and wooden handle and flint-head of edge +and weight. + +There was a clash of stone together, and, one after another, strong +creatures with cloven skulls toppled backward, to fall into the babbling +creek, their blood helping to change its coloring. Leaping from side to +side across his rock, along each edge of which the water rushed, old +Hilltop met the mass of enemies, while those who passed were brained by +his great sons or by those behind. But the forces were unequal and the +plane in front was not steep enough nor the water deep enough to prevent +something like an organized onslaught. With fearful regularity, uplifted +and thrown aside occasionally in defense to avoid a stroke, the ax of +Hilltop fell and there was more and more fine fighting and fine dying. On +either side were men doing scarcely less stark work. Hilltop's two sons, +on either side of him now, as the assailants, crowded by those behind, +pressed closer, fully justified their parentage by what they did, and +Bark was like a young tiger. But the onslaught was too strong. There were +too many against too few. There were loud cries, a sudden impulse and, +though axes rose and fell and more men tumbled backward into the water, +the rock was swept upon and won and the old man stood alone amid his +foes, his sons having been carried backward by the pressure of the mass. +There was sullen battling on the upper level, but there was no fray so +red as that where Hilltop, old as he was, swung his awful ax among the +close crowding throng of enemies about him. Four fell with skulls cleanly +split before a giant of the invaders got behind the gray defender of the +pass. Then an ax came crashing down and old Hilltop pitched forward, dead +before he fell into the cool waters of the pool below. + +There was a yell of exultation from the upward-climbing Eastern cave men +as they saw the most dangerous of their immediate enemies go down, but, +before the echoes had come back, the sound was lost in that which came +from the height above them. It was loud and threatening, but not the yell +of their own kind. + +There had come sweeping down the valley the victors in the fight at the +Eastern end. Ab, with the lust of battle fully upon him as he heard the +wild shriek of Moonface, who had seen her husband fall, was a creature as +hungry for blood as any beast of all the forest, and his followers were +scarce less terrible. Swift and dreadful was the encounter which +followed, but the issue was not doubtful for a moment. The barrier's +living defenders became as wild themselves as were these conquering +allies. The fight became a massacre. Flying hopelessly up the valley, the +remnant, only some twenty, of the Eastern cave men ran into the vacant +big cave for refuge and there, barricaded, could keep their pursuers at +bay for the time at least. + +There was no immediate attack made upon the remnant of the assailants who +had thus sought refuge. They were safely imprisoned, and about the cave's +entrance there lay down to eat and rest a body of vengeful men of twice +their number. The struggle was over, and won, but there was little +happiness in the Fire Valley which had been so well defended. + +Moonface, wildly fighting, had seen her husband's death. With the rush of +Ab's returning force which changed the tide of battle she had been swept +away, shrieking and seeking to force herself toward the rock whereon old +Hilltop had so well demeaned himself. Now there emerged from one side a +woman who spoke to none but who clambered down the rough waterway and +waded into the little pool below the rock and stooped and lifted +something from the water. It was the body of the brave old hunter of the +hills. With her arms clutched about it the woman began the clamber upward +again, shaking her head dumbly, when rude warriors, touched somehow, +despite the coarse texture of their being, came wading in to assist her +with the ghastly burden. She emerged with it upon the level and laid it +gently down upon the grass, but still uttered no word until her children +gathered and the weeping Lightfoot came to her and put her arms about +her, and then from the uncouth creature's eyes came a flood of tears and +a gasp which broke the tension, and the death wail sounded through the +valley. The poor, affectionate animal was a little nearer herself again. + +There were dead men lying beside the flames at the Eastern end of the +valley, and these were brought by the men and tossed carelessly into the +pools below where lay so many others of the slain. There were storm +clouds gathering and all the valley people knew what must happen soon. +The storm clouds burst; the little creek, transformed suddenly into a +torrent by the fall of water from the heights above, swept the dead men +away together to the river and so toward the sea. Of all the invading +force there remained alive only the three who had re-leaped the flames +and those imprisoned in the cave. + +There was council that night between Ab and his friends and, as the +easiest way of disposing of the prisoners in the cave, it was proposed to +block the entrance and allow the miserable losers in battle to there +starve at their leisure. But the thoughtful Old Mok took Ab aside and +said: + +"Why not let them live and work for us? They will do as you say. This was +the place they wanted. They can stay and make us stronger." + +And Ab saw the reason of all this and the hungry, imprisoned men were +given the alternative of death or obedient companionship. They did not +hesitate long. The warmth of the valley and its other advantages were +what they had come for and they had no narrow views outside the food and +fuel question. The valley was good. They accepted Ab's authority and came +out and fed and, with their wives and children, who were sent for, became +of the valley people. + +This place of refuge and home and fortress was acquiring an importance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +OUR VERY GREAT GRANDFATHER. + +And the years passed. One still afternoon in autumn a gray, hairy man, a +man approaching old age, but without weakness of arm or stiffness of +joint, as yet, sat on the height overlooking the village. He looked in +tranquil comfort, now down into the little valley, and now across it into +the wood beyond, where the sun was approaching the treetops. He had come +to the hill with the mere instinct of the old hunter seeking to be +completely out of doors, but he had brought work with him and was +engaged, when not looking thoughtfully far away, in finishing a huge bow, +the spring of which he occasionally tested. Every motion showed the +retained possession of tremendous strength as well as the knowledge of +its use to most advantage. A very hale old man was Ab, the great hunter +and head of the people of the Fire Valley. + +A few yards away from Ab, leaning against the trunk of a beech, stood +Lightfoot, her quick glance roving from place to place and as keen, +seemingly, as ever. These two were still most content when together, and +it was well for each that they had in the same degree withstood what the +years bring. The woman had, perhaps, changed less than the man. Her hair +was still dark and her step had not grown heavy. She had changed in face +and expression rather than in form. There had grown in her eyes and about +her mouth the indefinable lines and tokens, pathetic and sweet, of care, +of sorrow, of suffering and of quiet gladness, in short, of motherhood. + +As twilight came on the woods rang with the shouts and laughter of a +party of young men who were coming home from some forest trip. Ab, +looking down the valley, over the flashing flame, into the forest hills, +in whose deep shade lay Little Mok, old Hilltop and Ab's mother, could +see the lusty youths in the village, running, leaping, wrestling and +throwing spears, axes and stones in competition. A strange oppression +came upon him and he thought of Oak lying in the ground alone on the +hillside, miles away. Ab felt, even now, the strong, helpful arm of his +friend around him, just as it was in the evening journey from the Feast +of the Mammoth homeward, when he had been rescued from almost certain +death by Oak. A lump rose in the throat of the man of many battles and +many trials. He shook himself, as if to shake off the memory that plagued +him. Oak came not often to trouble Ab's peace now, and when he came it +was always at night. Morning never found him near the Fire Village. + +The young hunters, rioting like the young men in the valley, were passing +now. Ab looked upon them thoughtfully. He felt dimly a desire to speak to +them, to tell them something about the hurts they might avoid, and how +hard it was to have a great, heavy load on one's chest at times--all +one's life--but the cave man was, as to the emotions, inarticulate. Ab +could no more have spoken his half defined feelings than the tree could +cry out at the blow of the ax. + +The woman left the beech tree and approached the man and touched his arm. +His eyes turned upon her kindly and after she had seated herself beside +him, there was laughing talk, for Lightfoot was declaring her desperate +condition of hunger and demanding that he return to the valley with her. +She examined his bow critically and had an opinion to express, for so +fine a shot as she might surely talk a little about so manful a thing as +the making of the weapon. And as the sun sank lower and the valley fell +into shadow, the two descended together, a pair who, after all, had +reason to be glad that they had lived. + +And the children these two left were bold and strong and dominant by +nature, and maintained the family leadership as the village grew. With +later generations came trouble vast and dire to the people of the land, +but it was not the part of this proud and seasoned and well-weaponed +group to flee like wild beasts when came drifting to the Westward the +first feeble vanguard of the Aryan overflow. The vanguard was overthrown; +its men made serfs and its women mothers. Other cave men in other regions +might escape to the Northward as the wave increased, there to become +frost-bitten Lapps or the "Skrallings" of the Norsemen, the Eskimo of +to-day, but not so the people of the great Fire Valley or their stern and +sturdy vassals for half a hundred miles about. No child's play was it for +those of another and still rude civilization to meet them in their +fastnesses, and the end of the struggle--for this region at least--was, +not a conquest, but a blending, a blending good for each of the two +forces. + +And as the face of Nature changed with the ages, as the later glacial +cold wavered and fluctuated and forced back and forth migrations of man +and beast, still the first-formed group retained coherence, retained it +beyond great natural cataclysms, retained it to historic ages, to wield +long the smoothed stone weapons, and, afterward, the bronze axes, and to +diverge in many branches of contentious defenders and invaders, to become +Iberian and Gaul and Celt and Saxon, to fight family against family, and +to commingle again in these later times. + +Upon the beach the other day, watching the waves lap toward her, sat a +woman, cultured, very beautiful and wise in woman's way and among the +fairest and the best of all earth can produce. There are many such as +she. Barely longer ago than the other day, as time is counted, a rugged +man, gentle as resolute and noble, became the enshrined hero of a vast +republic, when he struck from slave limbs the shackles of four million +people. In an insular home across the sea, interested still in the +world's affairs, is an old man vigorous in his octogenarianism, a power, +though out of power, a figure to be a monument in personal history, a +great man. But a few years ago the whole world stood with bowed head +while into the soil he loved was lowered the coffin of one who has bound +the nations together in sympathy for _Les Misérables_ of the earth. In a +home on the continent broods watchfully a bald-headed giant in cavalry +boots, one who has dictated arbitrarily, as premier, the policy of the +empire he has largely made. The woman upon the sands, the great +liberator, the man wonderful even in old age, the heart-stirring writer, +the man of giant personality physical and mental, have had reason to +boast alike a strain of the blood of Ab and Lightfoot. In the veins of +each has danced the transmitted product of the identical corpuscles which +coursed in the veins of those two who first found a home in the Fire +Valley. Strong was primitive man; adroit, patient and faithful was +primitive woman; he, the strongest, she, the fairest and cleverest of the +time, could protect their offspring, breed and care for great children of +similar powers and so insure a lasting race. Thus has the good blue blood +come down. This is not romance, this is not fancy; this is but faithful +history. + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Ab, by Stanley Waterloo + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF AB *** + +***** This file should be named 8644-8.txt or 8644-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/6/4/8644/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, Andy Schmitt, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +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. 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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: + + 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. diff --git a/8644-8.zip b/8644-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f8a388f --- /dev/null +++ b/8644-8.zip diff --git a/8644-h.zip b/8644-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..284be63 --- /dev/null +++ b/8644-h.zip diff --git a/8644-h/8644-h.htm b/8644-h/8644-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d8d511a --- /dev/null +++ b/8644-h/8644-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7811 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Story of Ab: A Tale of the Time of the Cave Man, by Stanley Waterloo</title> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +body {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; background-color: white} +img {border: 0;} +h1,h2,h3 {text-align: center;} +.ind {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} +hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} +.ctr {text-align: center;} +--> +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Ab, by Stanley Waterloo + +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: The Story of Ab + A Tale of the Time of the Cave Man + +Author: Stanley Waterloo + +Posting Date: April 5, 2014 [EBook #8644] +Release Date: August, 2005 +First Posted: July 29, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF AB *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, Andy Schmitt, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/frontis.jpg"><img src="images/frontis_th.jpg" alt="GREAT TRUNK SHOT DOWNWARD AND BACKWARD PICKED UP THE MAN AND HURLED HIM YARDS AWAY"></a> +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h1>THE STORY OF AB</h1> + +<h2>A TALE OF THE TIME OF THE CAVE MAN</h2> + +<br><br> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<br><br> + +<h2>STANLEY WATERLOO</h2> + +<br><br> + +<h3>1905</h3> + +<br><br> +<br><br> + +<h3>Author of "A Man and a Woman," "An Odd Situation," etc.</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +<p> +This is the story of Ab, a man of the Age of Stone, who lived so long ago +that we cannot closely fix the date, and who loved and fought well. +</p> + +<p> +In his work the author has been cordially assisted by some of the ablest +searchers of two continents into the life history of prehistoric times. +With characteristic helpfulness and interest, these already burdened +students have aided and encouraged him, and to them he desires to express +his sense of profound obligation and his earnest thanks. +</p> + +<p> +Once only does the writer depart from accepted theories of scientific +research. After an at least long-continued study of existing evidence and +information relating to the Stone Ages, the conviction grew upon him that +the mysterious gap supposed by scientific teachers to divide Paleolithic +from Neolithic man never really existed. No convulsion of nature, no new +race of human beings is needed to explain the difference between the +relics of Paleolithic and Neolithic strugglers. Growth, experiment, +adaptation, discovery, inevitable in man, sufficiently account for all +the relatively swift changes from one form of primitive life to another +more advanced, from the time of chipped to that of polished implements. +Man has been, from the beginning, under the never resting, never +hastening, forces of evolution. The earth from which he sprang holds the +record of his transformations in her peat-beds, her buried caverns and +her rocky fastnesses. The eternal laws change man, but they themselves do +not change. +</p> + +<p> +Ab and Lightfoot and others of the cave people whose story is told in the +tale which follows the author cannot disown. He has shown them as they +were. Hungry and cold, they slew the fierce beasts which were scarcely +more savage than they, and were fed and clothed by their flesh and fur. +In the caves of the earth the cave men and their families were safely +sheltered. Theirs were the elemental wants and passions. They were +swayed by love, in some form at least, by jealousy, fear, revenge, and by +the memory of benefits and wrongs. They cherished their young; they +fought desperately with the beasts of their time, and with each other, +and, when their brief, turbulent lives were ended, they passed into +silence, but not into oblivion. The old Earth carefully preserved their +story, so that we, their children, may read it now. +</p> + +<p> +S. W. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<p class="ctr"> +CHAPTER. +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#i">I. THE BABE IN THE WOODS.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#ii">II. MAN AND HYENA.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#iii">III. A FAMILY DINNER.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#iv">IV. AB AND OAK.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#v">V. A GREAT ENTERPRISE.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#vi">VI. A DANGEROUS VISITOR.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#vii">VII. THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#viii">VIII. SABRE-TOOTH AND RHINOCEROS.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#ix">IX. DOMESTIC MATTERS.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#x">X. OLD MOK, THE MENTOR.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xi">XI. DOINGS AT HOME.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xii">XII. OLD MOK'S TALES.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xiii">XIII. AB'S GREAT DISCOVERY.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xiv">XIV. A LESSON IN SWIMMING.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xv">XV. A MAMMOTH AT BAY.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xvi">XVI. THE FEAST OF THE MAMMOTH.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xvii">XVII. THE COMRADES.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xviii">XVIII. LOVE AND DEATH.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xix">XIX. A RACE WITH DREAD.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xx">XX. THE FIRE COUNTRY.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xxi">XXI. THE WOOING OF LIGHTFOOT.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xxii">XXII. THE HONEYMOON.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xxiii">XXIII. MORE OF THE HONEYMOON.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xxiv">XXIV. THE FIRE COUNTRY AGAIN.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xxv">XXV. A GREAT STEP FORWARD.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xxvi">XXVI. FACING THE RAIDER.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xxvii">XXVII. LITTLE MOK.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xxviii">XXVIII. THE BATTLE OF THE BARRIERS.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xxix">XXIX. OLD HILLTOP'S LAST STRUGGLE.</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="#xxx">XXX. OUR VERY GREAT GRANDFATHER.</a> +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + +<p class="ctr"> +BY SIMON HARMON VEDDER +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/frontis.jpg">"HIS GREAT TRUNK SHOT DOWNWARD AND BACKWARD, PICKED UP THE MAN, AND HURLED HIM YARDS AWAY"</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/map.gif">MAP</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/illp096.jpg">"AB SEIZED UPON TWO OF THE SNARLING CUBS, AND OAK DID THE SAME"</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/illp138.jpg">"AB SPRANG TO HIS FEET, AND DREW HIS ARROW TO THE HEAD"</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/illp144.jpg">"THE YOUNG MEN CALLED TO HER, BUT SHE MADE NO ANSWER. SHE BUT FISHED AWAY +DEMURELY"</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/illp202.jpg">"AB STOOD THERE WEAPONLESS, A CREATURE WANDERING OF MIND"</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/illp212.jpg">"WITH A GREAT LEAP HE WENT AT AND THROUGH THE CURLING CREST OF THE YELLOW FLAME!"</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/illp238.jpg">"THE GIRL COWERED BEHIND A REFUGE OF LEAVES AND BRANCHES"</a> +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/illp304.jpg">"UPON THE STRONG SHAFT OF ASH THE MONSTER WAS IMPALED"</a> +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + + +<h2>THE STORY OF AB.</h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/map.gif"><img src="images/map_th.gif" alt="MAP"></a> +</p> + + +<h2><a name="i">CHAPTER I.</a></h2> + +<h3>THE BABE IN THE WOODS.</h3> + +<p> +Drifted beech leaves had made a soft, clean bed in a little hollow in a +wood. The wood was beside a river, the trend of which was toward the +east. There was an almost precipitous slope, perhaps a hundred and fifty +feet from the wood, downward to the river. The wood itself, a sort of +peninsula, was mall in extent and partly isolated from the greater forest +back of it by a slight clearing. Just below the wood, or, in fact, almost +in it and near the crest of the rugged bank, the mouth of a small cave +was visible. It was so blocked with stones as to leave barely room for +the entrance of a human being. The little couch of beech leaves already +referred to was not many yards from the cave. +</p> + +<p> +On the leafy bed rolled about and kicked up his short legs in glee a +little brown babe. It was evident that he could not walk yet and his lack +of length and width and thickness indicated what might be a babe not more +than a year of age, but, despite his apparent youth, this man-child +seemed content thus left alone, while his grip on the twigs which had +fallen into his bed was strong, as he was strong, and he was breaking +them delightedly. Not only was the hair upon his head at least twice as +long as that of the average year-old child of today, but there were downy +indications upon his arms and legs, and his general aspect was a swart +and rugged one. He was about as far from a weakly child in appearance as +could be well imagined and he was about as jolly a looking baby, too, as +one could wish to see. He was laughing and cooing as he kicked about +among the beech leaves and looked upward at the blue sky. His dress has +not yet been alluded to and an apology for the negligence may be found in +the fact that he had no dress. He wore nothing. He was a baby of the time +of the cave men; of the closing period of the age of chipped stone +instruments; the epoch of mild climate; the ending of one great animal +group and the beginning of another; the time when the mammoth, the +rhinoceros, the great cave tiger and cave bear, the huge elk, reindeer +and aurochs and urus and hosts of little horses, fed or gamboled in the +same forests and plains, with much discretion as to relative distances +from each other. +</p> + +<p> +It was some time ago, no matter how many thousands of years, when the +child--they called him Ab--lay there, naked, upon his bed of beech +leaves. It may be said, too, that there existed for him every chance for +a lively and interesting existence. There was prospect that he would be +engaged in running away from something or running after something during +most of his life. Times were not dull for humanity in the age of stone. +The children had no lack of things to interest, if not always to amuse, +them, and neither had the men and women. And this is the truthful story +of the boy Ab and his playmates and of what happened when he grew to be a +man. +</p> + +<p> +It is well to speak here of the river. The stream has been already +mentioned as flowing to the eastward. It did not flow in that direction +regularly; its course was twisted and diverted, and there were bays and +inlets and rapids between precipices, and islands and wooded peninsulas, +and then the river merged into a lake of miles in extent, the waters +converging into the river again. So it was that the banks in one place +might form a height and in another merge evenly into a densely wooded +forest or a wide plain. It was so, too, that these conditions might exist +opposite each other. Thus the woodland might face the plain, or the +precipice some vast extending marsh. +</p> + +<p> +To speak further of this river it may be mentioned, incidentally, that +to-day its upper reaches still exist and that the relatively small stream +remaining is called the Thames. Beside and across it lies the greatest +city in the world and its mouth is upon what is called the English +Channel. At the time when the baby, Ab, slept that afternoon in his nest +in the beech leaves this river was not called the Thames, it was only +called the Running Water, to distinguish it from the waters of the coast. +It did not empty into the British Channel, for the simple and sufficient +reason that there was no such channel at the time. Where now exists that +famous passage which makes islands of Great Britain, where, tossed upon +the choppy waves, the travelers of the world are seasick, where Drake and +Howard chased the Great Armada to the Northern seas and where, to-day, +the ships of the nations are steered toward a social and commercial +center, was then good, solid earth crowned with great forests, and the +present little tail end of a river was part of a great affluent of the +Rhine, the German river famous still, but then with a size and sweep +worth talking of. Then the Thames and the Elbe and Weser, into which +tumbled a thousand smaller streams, all went to feed what is now the +Rhine, and that then tremendous river held its course through dense +forests and deep gorges until it reached broad plains, where the North +Sea is to-day, and blended finally with the Northern Ocean. +</p> + +<p> +The trees which stood upon the bank of the great river, or which could be +seen in the far distance beyond the marsh or plain, were not all the same +as now exist. There was still a distinctive presence of the towering +conifers, something such as are represented in the redwood forests of +California to-day, or, in other forms, in some Australian woods. There +was a suggestion of the fernlike but gigantic age of growth of the +distant past, the past when the earth's surface was yet warm and its air +misty, and there was an exuberance of all plant and forest growth, +something compared with which the growth in the same latitude, just now, +would make, it may be, but a stunted showing. It is wonderful, though, +the close resemblance between most of the trees of the cave man's age, so +many tens of thousands of years ago, and the trees most common to the +temperate zone to-day. The peat bogs and the caverns and the strata of +deposits in a host of places tell truthfully what trees grew in this +distant time. Already the oak and beech and walnut and butternut and +hazel reared their graceful forms aloft, and the ground beneath their +spreading branches was strewn with the store of nuts which gave a portion +of food for many of the beasts and for man as well. The ash and the yew +were there, tough and springy of fiber and destined in the far future to +become famous in song and story, because they would furnish the wood from +which was made the weapon of the bowman. The maple was there with all its +symmetry. There was the elm, the dogged and beautiful tree-thing of +to-day, which so clings to life and nourishes in the midst of unwholesome +city surroundings and makes the human hive so much the better. There were +the pines, the sycamore, the foxwood and dogwood, and lime and laurel and +poplar and elder and willow, and the cherry and crab apple and others of +the fruit-bearing kind, since so developed that they are great factors in +man's subsistence now. It was a time of plenty which was riotous. There +remained, too, a vestige of the animal as well as of the vegetable life +of the remoter ages. There were strange and dangerous creatures which +came sometimes up the river from its inlet into the ocean. Such events +had been matters of interest, not to say of anxiety, to Ab's ancestors. +</p> + +<p> +The baby lying there among the beech leaves tired, finally, of its cooing +and twig-snapping and slept the sleep of dreamless early childhood. He +slept happily and noiselessly, but when he at last awoke his demeanor +showed a change. He had nothing to distract him, unless it might be the +breaking of twigs again. He had no toys, and, being hungry, he began to +yell. So far as can be learned from early data, babies, when hungry, have +always yelled. And, of old, as to-day, when a baby yelled, the woman who +had borne it was likely to appear at once upon the scene. Ab's mother +came running lightly from the river bank toward where the youngster lay. +She was worthy of attention as she ran, and this is but a bungling +attempt at a description of her and of her dress. +</p> + +<p> +It should be explained here, with much care and caution, that the mother +of Ab moved in the best and most exclusive circles of the time. She +belonged to the aristocracy and, it may be added, regarding this fine +lady personally, that she had the weakness of paying much attention to +her dress. She was what might properly be called a leader of society, +though society was at the time somewhat attenuated, families living, +generally, some miles apart, and various obstacles, chiefly in the form +of large, man-eating animals, complicating the matter of paying calls. As +for the calls themselves, they were nearly as often aggressive as social, +and there is a certain degree of difference between the vicious use of a +flint ax and the leaving of a card with a bending lackey. But all this +doesn't matter. The mother of Ab belonged to the very cream of the cream, +and was dressed accordingly. Her garb was elegant but simple; it had, +first, the one great merit, that it could easily be put on or taken off. +It was sustained with but a single knot, a bow-knot--they had learned to +make a bow-knot and other knots in the stone age, for, because of the +manual requirements for living, they were cleverer fumblers with their +fingers than we are now--and the lady here described had tied her knot in +a manner not to be excelled by any other woman in all the fiercely +beast-ranged countryside. +</p> + +<p> +The gown itself was of a quality to please the eye of the most carping. +It was made from the skins of wolverines, and was drawn in loosely about +the waist by a tied band, but was really sustained by a strip of the skin +which encircled the left shoulder and back and breast. This left the +right arm free from all encumbrance, a matter of some importance, for to +be right-handed was a quality of the cave man as of the man today. We +should have a grudge against them for this carelessness, and should, may +be, form an ambidextrous league, improving upon the past and teaching and +forcing young children to use each hand alike. +</p> + +<p> +The garment of wolverine skins, sewed neatly together with thread of +sinews, was all the young mother wore. Thus hanging from the shoulder and +fully encircling her, it reached from the waist to about half way down +between the hips and the knees. It was as delightful a gown as ever was +contrived by ambitious modiste or mincing male designer in these modern +times. It fitted with a free and easy looseness and its colors were such +as blended smoothly and kindly with the complexion of its wearer. The fur +of the wolverine was a mixed black and white, but neither black nor white +is the word to use. The black was not black; it was only a swart sort of +color, and the white was not white; it was but a dingy, lighter contrast +to the darker surface beside it. Yet the combination was rather good. +There was enough of difference to catch the eye and not enough of +glaringness to offend it. The mother of Ab would be counted by a wise +observer as the possessor of good taste. Still, dress is a small matter. +There is something to say about the cave mother aside from the mere +description of her gown. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="ii">CHAPTER II.</a></h2> + +<h3>MAN AND HYENA.</h3> + +<p> +It is but an act of simple gallantry and justice to assert that the cave +woman had a certain unhampered swing of movement which the modern woman +often lacks. Without any reflection upon the blessed woman of to-day, it +must be said truthfully that she can neither leap a creek nor surmount +some such obstacle as a monster tree trunk with a close approach to the +ease and grace of this mother who came bounding through the forest. There +was nothing unknowing or hesitant about her movements. She ran swiftly +and leaped lightly when occasion came. She was lithe as the panther and +as careless of where her brown feet touched the ground. +</p> + +<p> +The woman had physical charms. She was of about the average size of +womanhood as we see it embodied now, but her waist was not compressed at +an unseemly angle, and much resembled in its contour that of the Venus of +Milo which has become such a stock example of the healthfully +symmetrical. Her hair was brown and long. It was innocent of knot or coil +or braid, and was transfixed by no abatis of dangerous pins. It was not +parted but was thrown straight backward over the head and hung down +fairly and far between brown shoulders. It was a fine head of hair; there +could be no question about that. It had gloss and color. Captious +critics, reasoning from the standpoint of another age, might think it +needed combing, but that is only a matter of opinion. It was tangled +together in a compact and fluffy mass, and so did not wander into the +woman's eyes, which was a good thing and a great convenience, for bright +eyes and unobstructed vision were required in those lively days. +</p> + +<p> +The face of this lady showed, at a glance, that no cosmetic had ever been +relied upon to give it an artificial charm. As a matter of fact it would +have been difficult to use cosmetics upon that face in the modern way, +for there was a suggestion of something more than down upon the +countenance, and there were certain irregularities of facial outline so +prominent that such details as the little matter of complexion must be +trifling. The eyes were deep set and small, the nose was short and thick +and possessed a certain vagueness of outline not easy of description. The +upper lip was excessively long and the under lip protruding. The chin was +well defined and firm. The mouth was rather wide, and the teeth were +strong and even, and as white as any ivory ever seen. Such was the face, +and there may be added some details of interest about the figure. The +arms of this fascinating woman were perfectly proportioned. They were +adapted to the times and were very beautiful. Down each of them from +shoulder to elbow ran a strip of short dark hair. From either hand ran +upward to the elbow another strip of hair, and the two, meeting at the +elbow, formed a delightful little tuft reminding one of what is known as +a "widow's peak," or that little point which grows down so charmingly on +an occasional woman's forehead. Her biceps were tremendous, as must +necessarily be the case with a lady accustomed to swing from limb to limb +along the treetops. Her thumb was nearly as long as her fingers, and the +palms of her hands were hard. Her legs were like her arms in their degree +of muscular development and hairy adornment. She had beautiful feet. It +is to be admitted that her heels projected a trifle more than is counted +the ideal thing at the present day, and that her big toe and all the +other toes were very much in evidence, but there is not one woman in +ten thousand now who could as handily pick up objects with her toes as +could the mother of the baby Ab. She was as brown as a nut, with the tan +of a half tropical summer, and as healthy a creature, from tawny head to +backward sloping heel, as ever trod a path in the world's history. This +was the quality of the lady who came so swiftly to learn the nature of +her offspring's trouble. Ladies of that day attended, as a rule, to the +wants of their own children. A wet nurse was a thing unknown and a dry +one as unthought of. This was good for the children. +</p> + +<p> +The woman made a dive into the little hollow and picked the babe from its +nest of leaves and tossed him up lightly, and at once his crying ceased, +and his little brown arms went around her neck, and he cooed and prattled +in very much the same fashion as does a babe of the present time. He was +content, all in a moment, yet some noise must have aroused him, for, as +it chanced, there was great need that this particular babe at this +particular moment should have awakened and cried aloud for his mother. +This was made evident immediately. As the woman tossed him aloft in her +arms and cuddled him again there came a sound to her ears which made her +leap like some wilder creature of the forest up to a little vantage +ground. She turned her head, and then--you should have seen the woman! +</p> + +<p> +Very nearly above them swung down one of the branches of a great beech +tree. The mother threw the child into the hollow of her left arm, and +leaped upward a yard to catch the branch with her right hand. So she hung +dangling. Then, instantly, holding him firmly by one arm in her left +hand, she lowered the child between her legs and clasped them about him +closely. And then, had it been your fortune to be born in those times, +you might have seen good climbing. With both her strong arms free, this +vigorous matron ran up the stout beech limb which depended downward from +the great bole of the tree until she was twenty feet above the ground, +and then, lifting herself into a comfortable place, in a moment was +sitting there at ease, her legs and one arm coiled about the big branch +and a smaller upstanding one, while the other arm held the brown babe +close to her bosom. +</p> + +<p> +This charming lady of the period had reached her perch in the beech tree +top none too soon. Even as she swung herself into place upon the huge +bough, there came rushing across the space beneath, snarling, smelling +and seeking, a brute as foul and dangerous as could be imagined for +mother and son upon the ground. It was of a dirty dun color, mottled and +striped with a lighter but still dingy hue. It had a black, hoggish nose, +but there were fangs in its great jaws. It resembled a huge wolf, save as +to its massiveness and club countenance, It was one of the monster hyenas +of the time, a beast which must have been as dangerous to the men then +living as any animal except the cave tiger and the cave bear. Its +degenerate posterity, as they shuffle uneasily back and forth when caged +to-day, are perhaps not less foul of aspect, but are relatively pygmies. +Doubtless the brute had scented the sleeping babe, and, snarling aloud in +its search, had waked it, inducing the cry which proved the child's +salvation. +</p> + +<p> +The beast scented immediately the prey above him and leaped upward +ferociously and vainly. Was the woman thus beset thus holding herself +aloft and with her child upon one arm in a state of sickening anxiety? +Hardly! She but encircled the supporting branch the closer, and laughed +aloud. She even poked one bare foot down at the leaping beast, and waved +her leg in provocation. At the same time there was no doubt that she was +beset. Furthermore she was hungry, and so she raised her voice, and sent +out through the forest a strange call, a quavering minor wail, but +something to be heard at a great distance. There was no delay in the +response, for delays were dangerous when cave men lived. The call was +answered instantly and the answering cry was repeated as she called +again, the sound of the reply approaching near and nearer all the time. +All at once the manner of her calling changed; it was an appeal no +longer; it was a conversation, an odd, clucking, penetrating speech in +the shortest of sentences. She was telling of the situation. There was +prompt reply; the voice seemed suddenly higher in the air and then came, +swinging easily from branch to branch along the treetops, the father of +Ab, a person who felt a natural and aggressive interest in what was going +on. +</p> + +<p> +To describe the cave man it is, it may be, best of all to say that he was +the woman over again, only stronger, longer limbed and deeper chested, +firmer of jaw and more grim of countenance. He was dressed almost as she +was. From his broad shoulder hung a cloak of the skin of some wild beast +but the cord which tied it was a stout one, and in the belt thus formed +was stuck a weapon of such quality as men have rarely carried since. It +was a stone ax; an ax heavier than any battle-ax of mediaeval times, its +haft a scant three feet in length, inclosing the ax through a split in +the tough wood, all being held in place by a taut and hardened mass of +knotted sinews. It was a fearful weapon, but one only to be wielded by +such a man as this, one with arms almost as mighty as those of the +gorilla. +</p> + +<p> +The man sat himself upon the limb beside his wife and child. The two +talked together in their clucking language for a moment or two, but few +words were wasted. Words had not their present abundance in those days; +action was everything. The man was hungry, too, and wanted to get home as +soon as possible. He had secured food, which was awaiting them, and this +slight, annoying episode of the day must be ended promptly. He clambered +easily up the tree and wrenched off a deadened limb at least two yards in +length, then tumbling back again and passing his wife and child along the +main branch, he swung down to where the leaping beast could almost reach +him. The heavy club he carried gave him an advantage. With a whistling +sweep, as the hyena leaped upward in its ravenous folly, came this huge +club crashing against the thick skull, a blow so fair and stark and +strong that the stunned beast fell backward upon the ground, and then, +down, lightly as any monkey, dropped the cave man. The huge stone ax went +crashing into the brain of the quivering brute, and that was the end of +the incident. Mother and child leaped down together, and the man and +woman went chattering toward their cave. This was not a particularly +eventful day with them; they were accustomed to such things. +</p> + +<p> +They went strolling off through the beech glades, the strong, hairy, +heavy-jawed man, the muscular but more lightly built woman and the child, +perched firmly and chattering blithely upon her shoulder as they walked, +or, rather, half trotted along the river side and toward the cave. They +were light of foot and light of thought, but there was ever that almost +unconscious alertness appertaining to their time. Their flexible ears +twitched, and turned, now forward now backward, to catch the slightest +sound. Their nostrils were open for dangerous scents, or for the scent of +that which might give them food, either animal or vegetable, and as for +the eyes, well, they were the sharpest existent within the history of the +human race. They were keen of vision at long distance and close at hand, +and ever were they in motion, swiftly turned sidewise this way and that, +peering far ahead or looking backward to note what enemies of the wood +might be upon the trail. So, swiftly along the glade and ever alert, went +the father and mother of Ab, carrying the strong child with them. +</p> + +<p> +There came no new alarm, and soon the cave was reached, though on the way +there was a momentary deviation from the path, to gather up the nuts and +berries the woman had found in the afternoon while the babe was lying +sleeping. The fruitage was held in a great leaf, a pliant thing pulled +together at the edges, tied stoutly with a strand of tough grass, and +making a handy pouch containing a quart or two of the food, which was the +woman's contribution to the evening meal. As for the father, he had more +to offer, as was evident when the cave was reached. +</p> + +<p> +The man and woman crept through the narrow entrance and stood erect in a +recess in the rocks twenty feet square, at least, and perhaps fifteen +feet in height. Looking upward one could see a gleam of light from the +outer world. The orifice through which the light came was the chimney, +dug downward with much travail from the level of the land above. Directly +underneath the opening was the fireplace, for men had learned thoroughly +the use of fire, and had even some fancies as to getting rid of smoke. +There were smoldering embers upon the hearth, embers of the hardest of +wood, the wood which would preserve a fire for the greatest length of +time, for the cave man had neither flint and steel nor matches, and when +a fire expired it was a matter of some difficulty to secure a flame +again. On this occasion there was no trouble. The embers were beaten up +easily into glowing coals and twigs and dry dead limbs cast upon them +made soon a roaring flame. As the cave was lighted the proprietor pointed +laughingly to the abundance of meat he had secured. It was food of the +finest sort and in such quantity that even this stalwart being's strength +must have been exceptionally tested in bringing the burden to the cave. +It was something in quality for an epicure of the day and there was +enough of it to make the cave man's family easy for a week, at least. It +was a hind quarter of a wild horse. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="iii">CHAPTER III.</a></h2> + +<h3>A FAMILY DINNER.</h3> + +<p> +Despite the hyena and baby incident, the day had been a satisfactory one +for this cave family. Of course, had the woman failed to reach just when +she did the hollow in which her babe was left there would have come a +tragedy in the extinction of a young and promising cave child, and the +two would have been mourning, as even wild beasts mourn for their lost +young. But there was little reversion to past possibilities in the minds +of the cave people. The couple were not worrying over what might have +been. The mother had found food of one sort in abundance, and the +father's fortune had been royal. He had tossed a rock from a precipice a +hundred feet in height down into a passing herd of the little wild +horses, and great luck had followed, for one of them had been killed, and +so this was a holiday in the cave. The man and wife were at ease and had +each an appetite. +</p> + +<p> +The nuts gathered by the woman were tossed in a heap among the ashes and +live coals were raked upon them, and the popping which followed showed +how well they were being roasted. A sturdy twig, two yards in length and +sharpened at the end, was utilized by the man in cooking the strips of +meat cut from the haunch of the wild horse and very savory were the odors +that filled the cave. There was the faint perfume of the crackling nuts +and there was the fragrant beneficence of the broiling meat. There are no +definite records upon the subject; the chef of to-day can give you no +information on the point, but there is reason to believe that a steak +from the wild horse of the time was something admirable. There is a sort +of maxim current in this age, in civilized rural communities, to the +effect that those quadrupeds are good to eat which "chew the cud or part +the hoof." The horse of to-day is a creature with but one toe to each +leg--we all know that--but the horse of the cave man's time had only +lately parted with the split hoof, and so was fairly edible, even +according to the modern standard. +</p> + +<p> +The father and mother of Ab were not more than two years past their +honeymoon. They, in their way, were glad that their union had been so +blest and that a lusty man-child was rolling about and crowing and cooing +upon the earthen floor of the cave. They lived from hand to mouth, and +from day to day, and this day had been a good one. They were there +together, man, woman and child. They had warmth and food. The entrance to +the cave was barred so that no monster of the period might enter. They +could eat and sleep with a certainty of the perfect digestion which +followed such a life as theirs and with a certainty of all peace for the +moment. Even the child mumbled heartily, though not yet very strongly, at +the delicious meat of the little horse, and, the meal ended, the two lay +down upon a mass of leaves which made their bed, and the child lay +snuggled and warm within reach of them. The aristocracy of the time had +gone to sleep. +</p> + +<p> +There was silence in the cave, but, outside, the world was not so still. +The night was not always one of silence in the cave man's time. The hours +of darkness were those when the creature which walked upon two legs was +no longer gliding through the forest with ready club or spear, and when +those creatures which used four legs instead of two, especially the +defenseless, felt more at ease than in the daytime. The grass-eating +animals emerged from the forest into the plateaus and upon the low plains +along the river side and the flesh-eaters began again their hunting. It +was a time of wild life, and of wild death, for out of the abundance much +was taken; there were nightly tragedies, and the beasts of prey were as +glutted as the urus or the elk which fed on the sweet grasses. It was but +a matter of difference in diet and in the manner of doing away with one +life which must be sacrificed to support another. There was liveliness at +night with the queer thing, man, out of the way, and brutes and beasts of +many sorts, taking their chances together, were happier with him absent. +They could not understand him, and liked him not, though the great-clawed +and sharp-toothed ones had a vast desire to eat him. He was a disturbing +element in the community of the plain and forest. +</p> + +<p> +And, while all this play of life and death went on outside, the three +people, the man, woman and child, in the cave slept as soundly as sleep +the drunken or the just. They were full-fed and warm and safe. No beast +of a size greater than that of a lank wolf or sinewy wildcat could enter +the cave through the narrow entrance between the heaped-up rocks, and of +these, as of any other dangerous beast, there was none which would face +what barred even the narrow passage, for it was fire. Just at the +entrance the all-night fire of knots and hardest wood smoked, flamed and +smoldered and flickered, and then flamed again, and held the passageway +securely. No animal that ever lived, save man, has ever dared the touch +of fire. It was the cave man's guardian. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="iv">CHAPTER IV.</a></h2> + +<h3>AB AND OAK.</h3> + +<p> +Such were the father and mother of Ab, and such was the boy himself. His +surroundings have not been indicated with all the definiteness desirable, +because of the lack of certain data, but, in a general way, the degree of +his birth, the manner of his rearing and the natural aspects of his +estate have been described. That the young man had a promising future +could not admit of doubt. He was the first-born of an important family of +a great race and his inheritance had no boundaries. Just where the +possessions of the Ab family began or where they terminated no bird nor +beast nor human being could tell. The estates of the family extended from +the Mediterranean to the Arctic Ocean and there were no dividing lines. +Of course, something depended upon the existence or non-existence of a +stronger cave family somewhere else, but that mattered not. And the babe +grew into a sturdy youth, just as grow the boys of today, and had his +friendships and adventures. He did not attend the public schools--the +school system was what might reasonably be termed inefficient in his +time--nor did he attend a private school, for the private schools were +weak, as well, but he did attend the great school of Nature from the +moment he opened his eyes in the morning until he closed them at night. +Of his schoolboy days and his friendships and his various affairs, this +is the immediate story. +</p> + +<p> +The father and mother of Ab as has, it is hoped, been made apparent, were +strong people, intelligent up to the grade of the time and worthy of +regard in many ways. The two could fairly hold their own, not only +against the wild beasts, but against any other cave pair, should the +emergency arise. They had names, of course. The name of Ab's father was +One-Ear, the sequence of an incident occurring when he was very young, an +accidental and too intimate acquaintance with a species of wildcat which +infested the region and from which the babe had been rescued none too +soon. The name of Ab's mother was Red-Spot, and she had been so called +because of a not unsightly but conspicuous birthmark appearing on her +left shoulder. As to ancestry, Ab's father could distinctly remember his +own grandfather as the old gentleman had appeared just previous to his +consumption by a monstrous bear, and Red-Spot had some vague remembrance +of her own grandmother. +</p> + +<p> +As for Ab's own name, it came from no personal mark or peculiarity or as +the result of any particular incident of his babyhood. It was merely a +convenient adaptation by his parents of a childish expression of his own, +a labial attempt to say something. His mother had mimicked his babyish +prattlings, the father had laughed over the mimicry, and, almost +unconsciously, they referred to their baby afterward as "Ab," until it +grew into a name which should be his for life. There was no formal early +naming of a child in those days; the name eventually made itself, and +that was all there was to it. There was, for instance, a child living not +many miles away, destined to be a future playmate and ally of Ab, who, +though of nearly the same age, had not yet been named at all. His title, +when he finally attained it, was merely Oak. This was not because he was +straight as an oak, or because he had an acorn birthmark, but because +adjoining the cave where he was born stood a great oak with spreading +limbs, from one of which was dangled a rude cradle, into which the babe +was tied, and where he would be safe from all attacks during the absence +of his parents on such occasions as they did not wish the burden of +carrying him about. "Rock-a-by-baby upon the tree-top" was often a +reality in the time of the cave men. +</p> + +<p> +Ab was fortunate in being born at a reasonably comfortable stage of the +world's history. He had a decent prospect as to clothing and shelter, and +there was abundance of food for those brave enough or ingenious enough to +win it. The climate was not enervating. There were cold times for the +people of the epoch and, in their seasons, harsh and chilling winds swept +over bare and chilling glaciers, though a semi-tropical landscape was all +about. So suddenly had come the change from frigid cold to moderate +warmth, that the vast fields of ice once moving southward were not thawed +to their utmost depths even when rank vegetation and a teeming life had +sprung up in the now European area, and so it came that, in some places, +cold, white monuments and glittering plateaus still showed themselves +amid the forest and fed the tumbling streams which made the rivers +rushing to the ocean. There were days of bitter cold in winter and sultry +heat in summer. +</p> + +<p> +It may fairly be borne in mind of this child Ab that he was somewhat +different from the child of to-day, and nearer the quadruped in his +manner of swift development. The puppy though delinquent in the matter of +opening it's eyes, waddles clumsily upon its legs very early in its +career. Ab, of course, had his eyes open from the beginning, and if the +babe of to-day were to stand upright as soon as Ab did, his mother would +be the proudest creature going and his father, at the club, would be +acting intolerable. It must be admitted, though, that neither One-Ear nor +Red-Spot manifested an extraordinary degree of enthusiasm over the +precociousness of their first-born. He was not, for the time, remarkable, +and parents of the day were less prone than now to spoiling children. +Ab's layette had been of beech leaves, his bed had been of beech leaves, +and a beech twig, supple and stinging, had already been applied to him +when he misbehaved himself. As he grew older his acquaintance with it +would be more familiar. Strict disciplinarians in their way, though +affectionate enough after their own fashion, were the parents of +the time. +</p> + +<p> +The existence of this good family of the day continued without dire +misadventure. Ab at nine years of age was a fine boy. There could be no +question about that. He was as strong as a young gibbon, and, it must be +admitted, in certain characteristics would have conveyed to the learned +observer of to-day a suggestion of that same animal. His eyes were bright +and keen and his mouth and nose were worth looking at. His nose was +broad, with nostrils aggressively prominent, and as for his mouth, it was +what would be called to-day excessively generous in its proportions for a +boy of his size. But it did not lack expression. His lips could quiver at +times, or become firmly set, and there was very much of what might, even +then, be called "manliness" in the general bearing of the sturdy little +cave child. He had never cried much when a babe--cave children were not +much addicted to crying, save when very hungry--and he had grown to his +present stature, which was not very great, with a healthfulness and +general manner of buoyancy all the time. He was as rugged a child of his +age as could be found between the shore that lay long leagues westward of +what is now the western point of Ireland and anywhere into middle Europe. +He had begun to have feelings and hopes and ambitions, too. He had found +what his surroundings meant. He had at least done one thing well. He had +made well-received advances toward a friend; and a friend is a great +thing for a boy, when he is another boy of about the same age. This +friendship was not quite commonplace. +</p> + +<p> +Ab, who could climb like a young monkey, laid most casually the +foundation for this companionship which was to affect his future life. He +had scrambled, one day, up a tree standing near the cave, and, climbing +out along a limb near its top, had found a comfortable resting-place, and +there upon the swaying bough was "teetering" comfortably, when something +in another tree, further up the river, caught his sharp eye. It was a +dark mass,--it might have been anything caught in a treetop,--but the odd +part of it was that it was "teetering" just as he was. Ab watched the +object for a long time curiously, and finally decided that it must be +another boy, or perhaps a girl, who was swaying in the distant tree. +There came to him a vigorous thought. He resolved to become better +acquainted; he resolved dimly, for this was the first time that any idea +of further affiliation with anyone had come into his youthful mind. Of +course, it must not be understood that he had been in absolute retirement +throughout his young but not uneventful life. Other cave men and women, +sometimes accompanied by their children, had visited the cave of One-Ear +and Red-Spot and Ab had become somewhat acquainted with other human +beings and with what were then the usages of the best hungry society. He +had never, though, become really familiar with anyone save his father and +mother and the children which his mother had borne after him, a boy and a +girl. This particular afternoon a sudden boyish yearning came upon him. +He wanted to know who the youth might be who was swinging in the distant +tree. He was a resolute young cub, and to determine was to act. +</p> + +<p> +It was rare, particularly in the wooded districts of the country of the +cave men, for a boy of nine to go a mile from home alone. There was +danger lurking in every rod and rood, and, naturally, such a boy would +not be versed in all woodcraft, nor have the necessary strength of arm +for a long arboreal journey, swinging himself along beneath the +intermingling branches of close-standing trees. So this departure was, +for Ab, a venture something out of the common. But he was strong for his +age, and traversed rapidly a considerable distance through the treetops +in the direction of what he saw. Once or twice, though, there came +exigencies of leaping and grasping aloft to which he felt himself +unequal, and then, plucky boy as he was, he slid down the bole of the +tree and, looking about cautiously, made a dash across some little glade +and climbed again. He had traversed little more than half the distance +toward the object he sought when his sharp ears caught the sound of +rustling leaves ahead of him. He slipped behind the trunk of the tree +into whose top he was clambering and then, reaching out his head, peered +forward warily. As he thus ensconced himself, the sound he had heard +ceased suddenly. It was odd. The boy was perplexed and somewhat anxious. +He could but peer and peer and remain absolutely quiet. At last his +searching watchfulness was rewarded. He saw a brown protuberance on the +side of a great tree, above where the branches began, not twoscore yards +distant from him, and that brown protuberance moved slightly. It was +evident that the protuberance was watching him as he was watching it. He +realized what it meant. There was another boy there! He was not +particularly afraid of another boy and at once came out of hiding. The +other boy came calmly into view as well. They sat there, looking at each +other, each at ease upon a great branch, each with an arm sustaining +himself, each with his little brown legs dangling carelessly, and each +gazing upon the other with bright eyes evincing alike watchfulness and +curiosity and some suspicion. So they sat, perched easily, these +excellent young, monkeyish boys of the time, each waiting for the other +to begin the conversation, just as two boys wait when they thus meet +today. Their talk would not perhaps be intelligible to any professor of +languages in all the present world, but it was a language, however +limited its vocabulary, which sufficed for the needs of the men and women +and children of the cave time. It was Ab who first broke the silence: +</p> + +<p> +"Who are you?" he said. +</p> + +<p> +"I am Oak," responded the other boy. "Who are you?" +</p> + +<p> +"Me? Oh, I am Ab." +</p> + +<p> +"Where do you come from?" +</p> + +<p> +"From the cave by the beeches; and where do you come from?" +</p> + +<p> +"I come from the cave where the river turns, and I am not afraid of you." +</p> + +<p> +"I am not afraid of you, either," said Ab. +</p> + +<p> +"Let us climb down and get upon that big rock and throw stones at things +in the water," said Oak. +</p> + +<p> +"All right," said Ab. +</p> + +<p> +And the two slid, one after the other, down the great tree trunks and ran +rapidly to the base of a huge rock overtopping the river, and with sides +almost perpendicular, but with crevices and projections which enabled the +expert youngsters to ascend it with ease. There was a little plateau upon +its top a few yards in area and, once established there, the boys were +safe from prowling beasts. And this was the manner of the first meeting +of two who were destined to grow to manhood together, to be good +companions and have full young lives, howbeit somewhat exciting at times, +and to affect each other for joy and sorrow, and good and bad, and all +that makes the quality of being. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="v">CHAPTER V.</a></h2> + +<h3>A GREAT ENTERPRISE.</h3> + +<p> +What always happens when two boys not yet fairly in their 'teens meet, at +first aggressively, and then, each gradually overcoming this apprehension +of the other, decide upon a close acquaintance and long comradeship? +Their talk is firmly optimistic and they constitute much of the world. As +for Ab and Oak, when there had come to them an ease in conversation, +there dawned gradually upon each the idea that, next to himself, the +other was probably the most important personage in the world, fitting +companion and confederate of a boy who in an incredibly short space of +time was going to become a man and do things on a tremendous scale. +Seated upon the rock, a point of ease and vantage, they talked long of +what two boys might do, and so earnest did they become in considering +their possible great exploits that Ab demanded of Oak that he go with him +to his home. This was a serious matter. It was a no slight thing for a +boy of that day, allowed a playground within certain limits adjacent to +his cave home, to venture far away; but this in Oak's life was a great +occasion. It was the first time he had ever met and talked with a boy of +his age, and he became suddenly reckless, assenting promptly to Ab's +proposal. They ran along the forest paths together toward Ab's cave, +clucking in their queer language and utilizing in that short journey most +of the brief vocabulary of the day in anticipatory account of what they +were going to do. +</p> + +<p> +Ab's father and mother rather approved of Oak. They even went so far as +to consent that Ab might pay a return visit upon the succeeding day, +though it was stipulated that the father--and this was a demand the +mother made--should accompany the boy upon most of the journey. One-Ear +knew Oak's father very well. Oak's father, Stripe-Face, was a man of +standing in the widely-scattered community. Stripe-Face was so called +because in a casual, and, on his part, altogether uninvited encounter +with a cave bear when he was a young man, a sweep of the claws of his +adversary had plowed furrows down one cheek, leaving scars thereafter +which were livid streaks. One-Ear and Stripe-Face were good friends. +Sometimes they hunted together; they had fought together, and it was +nothing out of the way, and but natural, that Ab and Oak should become +companions. So it came that One-Ear went across the forest with his boy +the next day and visited the cave of Stripe-Face, and that the two young +cubs went out together buoyant and in conquering mood, while the grown +men planned something for their own advantage. Certainly the boys matched +well. A finer pair of youngsters of eight or nine years of age could +hardly be imagined than these two who sallied forth that afternoon. They +send very fine boys nowadays to our great high schools in the United +States, and to Rugby and Eaton and Harrow in England, but never went +forth a finer pair to learn things. No smattering of letters or lore of +any printed sort had these rugged youths, but their eyes were piercing as +those of the eagle, the grip of their hands was strong, their pace was +swift when they ran upon the ground and their course almost as rapid when +they swung along the treetops. They were self-possessed and ready and +alert and prepared to pass an examination for admission to any university +of the time; that is, to any of Nature's universities, where +matriculation depended upon prompt conception of existing dangers and the +ways of avoiding them, and of all adroitness in attainments which gave +food and shelter and safety. Eh! but they were a gallant pair, these two +young gentlemen who burst forth, owning the world entirely and feeling a +serene confidence in their ability, united, to maintain their rights. And +their ambitions soon took a definite turn. They decided that they must +kill a horse! +</p> + +<p> +The wild horse of the time, already referred to as esteemed for his +edible qualities, was, in the opinion of the cave people, but of moderate +value otherwise. He was abundant, ranging in herds of hundreds along the +pampas of the great Thames valley, and furnished forth abundant food for +man as well as the wild beasts, when they could capture him. His skin, +though, was not counted of much worth. Its short hair afforded little +warmth in cloak or breech-clout, and the tanned pelt became hard and +uncomfortable when it dried after a wetting. Still, there were various +uses for this horse's hide. It made fine strings and thongs, and the +beast's flesh, as has been said, was a staple of the larder. The first +great resolve of Ab and Oak, these two gallant soldiers of fortune, was +that, alone and unaided, they would circumvent and slay one of these wild +horses, thereby astonishing their respective families, at the same time +gaining the means for filling the stomachs of those families to +repletion, and altogether covering themselves with glory. +</p> + +<p> +Not in a day nor in a week were the plans of these youthful warriors and +statesmen matured. The wild horse had long since learned that the +creature man was as dangerous to it as were any of the fierce four-footed +animals which hunted it, and its scent was good and its pace was swift +and it went in herds and avoided doubtful places. Not so easy a task as +it might seem was that which Ab and Oak had resolved upon. There must be +some elaborate device to attain their end, but they were confident. They +had noted often what older hunters did, and they felt themselves as good +as anybody. They plotted long and earnestly and even made a mental +distribution of their quarry, deciding what should be done with its skin +and with its meat, far in advance of any determination upon a plan for +its capture and destruction. They were boys. +</p> + +<p> +There was no objection from the parents. They knew that the boys must +learn to become hunters, and if the two were not now capable of taking +care of themselves in the wood, then they were but disappointing +offspring. Consent secured, the boys acted entirely upon their own +responsibility, and, to make their subsequent plans clearer, it may be +well to explain a little more of the geography of the region. The cave of +Ab was on the north side of the stream, where the rocky banks came close +together with a little beach at either side, and the cave of Oak was +perhaps a mile to the westward, on the same side of the stream and with +very similar surroundings. On the south side of the river, opposite the +high banks between the two caves, the land was a prairie valley reaching +far away. On the north side as well there was at one place a little +valley, but it reached back only a few hundred yards from the river and +was surrounded by the forest-crowned hills. The close standing oaks and +beeches afforded, in emergency, a highway among their ranches, and along +this pathway the boys were comparatively safe. Either could climb a tree +at any time, and of the animals that were dangerous in the treetops there +were but few; in fact, there was only one of note, a tawny, cat-like +creature, not numerous, and resembling the lynx of the present day. +Almost in the midst of the little plain or valley, on the north side of +the river, rose a clump of trees, and in this the two boys saw means +afforded them for a realization of their hopes. The wild horses fed +daily in the valley to the north, as in the greater one to the south of +the river. But there also, in the high grass, as upon the south, +sometimes lurked the great beasts of prey, and to be far away from a tree +upon the plain was an unsafe thing for a cave man. From the forest edge +to the clump of trees was not more than two minutes' rush for a vigorous +boy and it was this fact which suggested to the youths their plan of +capture of the horse. +</p> + +<p> +The homes of the cave men were located, when possible, where the refuge +of safety overhung closely the river's bank, and where the non-climbing +animals must pass along beneath them, but, even at that period of few men +and abundant animal life, there had developed an acuteness among the +weaker beasts, and they had learned to avoid certain paths that had +proved fatal to their brethren. They were numerous in the plains and +comparatively careless there, relying upon their speed to escape more +dangerous wild beasts, but they passed rarely beneath the ledges, where a +weighty rock dropped suddenly meant certain death. It was not a task +entirely easy for the cave men to have meat with regularity, flush as was +the life about them. New devices must be resorted to, and Ab and Oak were +about to employ one not infrequently successful. +</p> + +<p> +The clam of the period, particularly the clam along this reach of the +upper Thames, was a marvel in his make-up. He was as large as he was +luscious, as abundant as he was both and was a great feature in the food +supply of the time. Not merely was he a feature in the food supply, but +in a mechanical way, and the first object sought by the boys, after their +plan had been agreed upon, was the shell of the great clam. They had no +difficulty in securing what they wanted, for strewn all about each cave +were the big shells in abundance. Sharp-edged, firm-backed, one of these +shells made an admirable little shovel, something with which to cut the +turf and throw up the soil, a most useful implement in the hands of the +river haunting people. The idea of the youngsters was simply this: Their +rendezvous should be at that point in the forest nearest the clump of +trees standing solitary in the valley below. They would select the safest +hours and then from the high ground make a sudden dash to the tree clump. +They would be watchful, of course, and seek to avoid the class of animals +for whom boys made admirable luncheon. Once at the clump of trees and +safely ensconced among the branches, they could determine wisely upon the +next step in their adventure. They were very knowing, these young men, +for they had observed their elders. What they wanted to do, what was the +end and aim of all this recklessness, was to dig a pit in this rich +valley land close to the clump of trees, a pit say some ten feet in +length by six feet in breadth and seven or eight feet in depth. That +meant a gigantic labor. Gillian, of "The Toilers of the Sea," assigned to +himself hardly a greater task. These were boys of the cave kind and must, +perforce, conduct themselves originally. As to the details of the plan, +well, they were only vague, as yet, but rapidly assuming a form more +definite. +</p> + +<p> +The first thing essential for the boys was to reach the clump of trees. +It was just before noon one day when they swung together on a tree branch +sweeping nearly to the ground, and at a point upon the hill directly +opposite the clump. This was the time selected for their first dash. They +studied every square yard of the long grass of the little valley with +anxious eyes. In the distance was feeding a small drove of wild horses +and, farther away, close by the river side, upreared occasionally what +might be the antlers of the great elk of the period. Between the boys and +the clump of trees there was no movement of the grass, nor any sign of +life. They could discern no trace of any lurking beast. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you afraid?" asked Ab. +</p> + +<p> +"Not if we run together." +</p> + +<p> +"All right," said Ab; "let's go it with a rush." +</p> + +<p> +The slim brown bodies dropped lightly to the ground together, each of the +boys clasping one of the clamshells. Side by side they darted down the +slope and across through the deep grass until the clump of trees was +reached, when, like two young apes, they scrambled into the safety of the +branches. +</p> + +<p> +The tree up which they had clambered was the largest of the group and of +dense foliage. It was one of the huge conifers of the age, but its +branches extended to within perhaps thirty feet of the ground, and from +the greatest of these side branches reached out, growing so close +together as to make almost a platform. It was but the work of a half hour +for these boys, with their arboreal gifts, to twine additional limbs +together and to construct for themselves a solid nest and lookout where +they might rest at ease, at a distance above the greatest leap of any +beast existing. In this nest they curled themselves down and, after much +clucking debate, formulated their plan of operation. Only one boy should +dig at a time, the other must remain in the nest as a lookout. +</p> + +<p> +Swift to act in those days were men, because necessity had made it a +habit to them, and swifter still, as a matter of course, were impulsive +boys. Their tree nest fairly made, work, they decided, must begin at +once. The only point to be determined upon was regarding the location of +the pit. There was a tempting spread of green herbage some hundred feet +to the north and east of the tree, a place where the grass was high but +not so high as it was elsewhere. It had been grazed already by the +wandering horses and it was likely that they would visit the tempting +area again. There, it was finally settled, should the pit be dug. It was +quite a distance from the tree, but the increased chances of securing a +wild horse by making the pit in that particular place more than offset, +in the estimation of the boys, the added danger of a longer run for +safety in an emergency. The only question remaining was as to who should +do the first digging and who be the first lookout? There was a violent +debate upon this subject. +</p> + +<p> +"I will go and dig and you shall keep watch," said Oak. +</p> + +<p> +"No, I'll dig and you shall watch," was Ab's response. "I can run faster +than you." +</p> + +<p> +Oak hesitated and was reluctant. He was sturdy, this young gentleman, but +Ab possessed, somehow, the mastering spirit. It was settled finally that +Ab should dig and Oak should watch. And so Ab slid down the tree, +clamshell in hand, and began laboring vigorously at the spot agreed upon. +</p> + +<p> +It was not a difficult task for a strong boy to cut through tough grass +roots with the keen edge of the clamshell. He outlined roughly and +rapidly the boundaries of the pit to be dug and then began chopping out +sods just as the workman preparing to garnish some park or lawn begins +his work to-day. Meanwhile, Oak, all eyes, was peering in every +direction. His place was one of great responsibility, and he recognized +the fact. It was a tremendous moment for the youngsters. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="vi">CHAPTER VI.</a></h2> + +<h3>A DANGEROUS VISITOR.</h3> + +<p> +It was not alone necessary for the plans of Ab and Oak that there should +be made a deep hole in the ground. It was quite as essential for their +purposes that the earth removed should not be visible upon the adjacent +surface. The location of the pit, as has been explained, was some yards +to the northeast of the tree in which the lookout had been made. A few +yards southwest of the tree was a slight declivity and damp hollow, for +from that point the land sloped, in a reed-grown marsh toward the river. +It was decided to throw into this marsh all the excavated soil, and so, +when Ab had outlined the pit and cut up its surface into sods, he carried +them one by one to the bank and cast them down among the reeds where the +water still made little puddles. In time of flood the river spread out +into a lake, reaching even as far as here. The sod removed, there was +exposed a rectangle of black soil, for the earth was of alluvial deposit +and easy of digging. Shellful after shellful of the dirt did Ab carry +from where the pit was to be, trotting patiently back and forth, but the +work was wearisome and there was a great waste of energy. It was Oak who +gave an inspiration. +</p> + +<p> +"We must carry more at a time," he called out. And then he tossed down to +Ab a wolfskin which had been given him by his father as a protection on +cold nights and which he had brought along, tied about his waist, quite +incidentally, for, ordinarily, these boys wore no clothing in warm +weather. Clothing, in the cave time, appertained only to manhood and +womanhood, save in winter. But Oak had brought the skin along because he +had noticed a vast acorn crop upon his way to and from the rendezvous and +had in mind to carry back to his own home cave some of the nuts. The pelt +was now to serve an immediately useful purpose. +</p> + +<p> +Spreading the skin upon the grass beside him, Ab heaped it with the dirt +until there had accumulated as much as he could carry, when, gathering +the corners together, he struggled with the enclosed load manfully to the +bank and spilled it down into the morass. The digging went on rapidly +until Ab, out of breath and tired, threw down the skin and climbed into +the treetop and became the watchman, while Oak assumed his labor. So they +worked alternately in treetop and upon the ground until the sun's rays +shot red and slanting from the west. Wiser than to linger until dusk had +too far deepened were these youngsters of the period. The clamshells were +left in the pit. The lookout above declared nothing in sight, then slid +to the ground and joined his friend, and another dash was made to the +hill and the safety of its treetops. It was in great spirits that the +boys separated to seek their respective homes. They felt that they were +personages of consequence. They had no doubt of the success of the +enterprise in which they had embarked, and the next day found them +together again at an early hour, when the digging was enthusiastically +resumed. + +Many a load of dirt was carried on the second day from the pit to the +marsh's edge, and only once did the lookout have occasion to suggest to +his working companion that he had better climb the tree. A movement in +the high grass some hundred yards away had aroused suspicion; some wild +animal had passed, but, whatever it was, it did not approach the clump of +trees and work was resumed at once. When dusk came the moist black soil +found in the pit had all been carried away and the boys had reached, to +their intense disgust, a stratum of hard packed gravel. That meant +infinitely more difficult work for them and the use of some new utensil. +</p> + +<p> +There was nothing daunting in the new problem. When it came to the mere +matter of securing a tool for digging the hard gravel, both Ab and Oak +were easily at home. The cave dwellers, haunting the river side for +centuries, had learned how to deal with gravel, and when Ab returned to +the scene the next day he brought with him a sturdy oaken stave some six +feet in length, sharpened to a point and hardened in the fire until it +was almost iron-like in its quality. Plunged into the gravel as far as +the force of a blow could drive it, and pulled backward with the leverage +obtained, the gravel was loosened and pried upward either in masses which +could be lifted out entire, or so crumbled that it could be easily dished +out with the clamshell. The work went on more slowly, but not less +steadily nor hopefully than on the days preceding, and, for some time, +was uninterrupted by any striking incident. The boys were becoming +buoyant. They decided that the grassy valley was almost uninfested by +things dangerous. They became reckless sometimes, and would work in the +pit together. As a rule, though, they were cautious--this was an inherent +and necessary quality of a cave being--and it was well for them that it +was so, for when an emergency came only one of them was in the pit, while +the other was aloft in the lookout and alert. +</p> + +<p> +It was about three o'clock one afternoon when Ab, whose turn it chanced +to be, was working valiantly in the pit, while Oak, all eyes, was perched +aloft. Suddenly there came from the treetop a yell which was no boyish +expression of exuberance of spirits. It was something which made Ab leap +from the excavation as he heard it and reach the side of Oak as the +latter came literally tumbling down the bole of the tree of watching. +</p> + +<p> +"Run!" Oak said, and the two darted across the valley and reached the +forest and clambered into safe hiding among the clustering branches. +Then, in the intervals between his gasping breath, Oak managed to again +articulate a word: +</p> + +<p> +"Look!" he said. +</p> + +<p> +Ab looked and, in an instant, realized how wise had been Oak's alarming +cry and how well it was for them that they were so distant from the clump +of trees so near the river. What he saw was that which would have made +the boys' fathers flee as swiftly had they been in their children's +place. Yet what Ab looked upon was only a waving, in sinuous regularity, +of the rushes between the tree clump and the river and the lifting of a +head some ten or fifteen feet above the reed-tops. What had so alarmed +the boys was what would have disturbed a whole tribe of their kinsmen, +even though they had chanced to be assembled, armed to the teeth with +such weapons as they then possessed. What they saw was not of the common. +Very rarely indeed, along the Thames, had occurred such an invasion. The +father of Oak had never seen the thing at all, and the father of Ab had +seen it but once, and that many years before. It was the great serpent of +the seas! +</p> + +<p> +Safely concealed in the branches of a tree overlooking the little valley, +the boys soon recovered their normal breathing capacity and were able to +converse again. Not more than a couple of minutes, at the utmost, had +passed between their departure from their place of labor and their +establishment in this same tree. The creature which had so alarmed them +was still gliding swiftly across the morass between the lowland and the +river. It came forward through the marsh undeviatingly toward the tree +clump, the tall reeds quivering as it passed, but its approach indicated +by no sound or other token of disturbance. The slight bank reached, there +was uplifted a great serpent head, and then, without hesitation, the +monster swept forward to the trees and soon hung dangling from the +branches of the largest one, its great coils twined loosely about trunk +and limb, its head swinging gently back and forth just below the lower +branch. It was a serpent at least sixty feet in length, and two feet or +more in breadth at its huge middle. It was queerly but not brilliantly +spotted, and its head was very nearly that of the anaconda of to-day. +Already the sea-serpent had become amphibious. It had already acquired +the knowledge it has transmitted to the anaconda, that it might leave the +stream, and, from some vantage point upon the shore, find more surely a +victim than in the waters of the sea or river. This monster serpent was +but waiting for the advent of any land animal, save perhaps those so +great as the mammoth or the great elk, or, possibly, even the cave +bear or the cave tiger. The mammoth was, of course, an impossibility, +even to the sea-serpent. The elk, with its size and vast antlers, was, to +put it at the mildest, a perplexing thing to swallow. The rhinoceros was +dangerous, and as for the cave bear and the cave tiger, they were +uncomfortable customers for anything alive. But there were the cattle, +the aurochs and the urus, and the little horses and deer, and wild hog +and a score of other creatures which, in the estimation of the +sea-serpent, were extremely edible. A tidbit to the serpent was a man, but +he did not get one in half a century. +</p> + +<p> +Not long did the boys remain even in a harborage so distant. Each fled +homeward with his story. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="vii">CHAPTER VII.</a></h2> + +<h3>THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS.</h3> + +<p> +It was with scant breath, when they reached their respective caves, that +the boys told the story of the dread which had invaded the marsh-land. +What they reported was no light event and, the next morning, their +fathers were with them in the treetop at the safe distance which the +wooded crest afforded and watching with apprehensive eyes the movements +of the monster settled in the rugged valley tree. There was slight +movement to note. Coiled easily around the bole, just above where the +branches began, and resting a portion of its body upon a thick, extending +limb, its head and perhaps ten or fifteen feet of its length swinging +downward, the great serpent still hung awaiting its prey, ready to launch +itself upon any hapless victim which might come within its reach. That +its appetite would soon be gratified admitted of little doubt. Profiting +by the absence of the boys, who while at work made no effort to conceal +themselves, groups of wild horses were already feeding in the lowlands, +and the elk and wild ox were visible here and there. The group in the +treetop on the crest realized that it had business on hand. The +sea-serpent was a terror to the cave people, and when one appeared to +haunt the river the word was swiftly spread, and they gathered to +accomplish its end if possible. With warnings to the boys they left +behind them, the fathers sped away in different directions, one up, the +other down, the river's bank, Stripe-Face to seek the help of some of the +cave people and One-Ear to arouse the Shell people, as they were called, +whose home was beside a creek some miles below. Into the home of the +little colony One-Ear went swinging a little later, demanding to see the +head man of the fishing village, and there ensued an earnest conversation +of short sentences, but one which caused immediate commotion. To the hill +dwellers the rare advent of a sea-serpent was comparatively a small +matter, but it was a serious thing to the Shell folk. The sea-serpent +might come up the creek and be among them at any moment, ravaging their +community. The Shell people were grateful for the warning, but there were +few of them at home, and less than a dozen could be mustered to go with +One-Ear to the rendezvous. +</p> + +<p> +They were too late, the hardy people who came up to assail the serpent, +because the serpent had not waited for them. The two boys roosting in the +treetop on the height had beheld what was not pleasant to look upon, for +they had seen a yearling of the aurochs enveloped by the thing, which +whipped down suddenly from the branches, and the crushed quadruped had +been swallowed in the serpent's way. But the dinner which might suffice +it for weeks had not, in all entirety, the effect upon it which would +follow the swallowing of a wild deer by its degenerate descendants of the +Amazonian or Indian forests. +</p> + +<p> +The serpent did not lie a listless mass, helplessly digesting the product +of the tragedy upon the spot of its occurrence, but crawled away slowly +through the reeds, and instinctively to the water, into which it slid +with scarce a splash, and then went drifting lazily away upon the current +toward the sea. It had been years since one of these big water serpents +had invaded the river at such a distance from its mouth and never came +another up so far. There were causes promoting rapidly the extinction of +their dreadful kind. +</p> + +<p> +Three or four days were required before Ab and Oak realized, after what +had taken place, that there were in the community any more important +personages than they, and that they had work before them, if they were to +continue in their glorious career. When everyday matters finally asserted +themselves, there was their pit not yet completed. Because of their +absence, a greater aggregation of beasts was feeding in the little +valley. Not only the aurochs, the ancient bison, the urus, the progenitor +of the horned cattle of to-day, wild horse and great elk and reindeer +were seen within short distances from each other, but the big, hairy +rhinoceros of the time was crossing the valley again and rioting in its +herbage or wallowing in the pools where the valley dipped downward to the +marsh. The mammoth with its young had swung clumsily across the area of +rich feed, and, lurking in its train, eyeing hungrily and bloodthirstily +the mammoth's calf, had crept the great cave tiger. The monster cave bear +had shambled through the high grass, seeking some small food in default +of that which might follow the conquest of a beast of size. The uncomely +hyenas had gone slinking here and there and had found something worthy +their foul appetite. All this change had come because the two boys, being +boys and full of importance, had neglected their undertaking for about a +week and had talked each in his own home with an air intended to be +imposing, and had met each other with much dignity of bearing, at their +favorite perching-place in the treetop on the hillside. When there came +to them finally a consciousness that, to remain people of magnitude in +the world, they must continue to do something, they went to work bravely. +The change which had come upon the valley in their brief absence tended +to increase their confidence, for, as thus exhibited, early as was the +age, the advent of the human being, young or old, somehow affected all +animate nature and terrified it, and the boys saw this. Not that the +great beasts did not prey upon man, but then, as now, the man to the +great beast was something of a terror, and man, weak as he was, knew +himself and recognized himself as the head of all creation. The mammoth, +the huge, thick-coated rhinoceros, sabre-tooth, the monstrous tiger, or +the bear, or the hyena, or the loping wolf, or short-bodied and vicious +wolverine were to him, even then, but lower creatures. Man felt himself +the master of the world, and his children inherited the perception. +</p> + +<p> +Work in the pit progressed now rapidly and not a great number of days +passed before it had attained the depth required. The boy at work was +compelled, when emerging, to climb a dried branch which rested against +the pit's edge, and the lookout in the tree exercised an extra caution, +since his comrade below could no longer attain safety in a moment. But +the work was done at last, that is, the work of digging, and there +remained but the completion of the pitfall, a delicate though not a +difficult matter. Across the pit, and very close together, were laid +criss-crosses of slender branches, brought in armfuls from the forest; +over these dry grass was spread, thinly but evenly, and over this again +dust and dirt and more grass and twigs, all precautions being observed to +give the place a natural appearance. In this the boys succeeded very +well. Shrewd must have been the animal of any sort which could detect the +trap. Their chief work done, the boys must now wait wisely. The place was +deserted again and no nearer approach was made to the pitfall than the +treetops of the hillside. There the boys were to be found every day, +eager and anxious and hopeful as boys are generally. There was not +occasion for getting closer to the trap, for, from their distant perch, +its surface was distinctly visible and they could distinguish if it had +been broken in. Those were days of suppressed excitement for the two; +they could see the buffalo and wild horses moving here and there, but +fortune was still perverse and the trap was not approached. Before its +occupation by them, the place where they had dug had appeared the +favorite feeding-place; now, with all perversity, the wild horses and +other animals grazed elsewhere, and the boys began to fear that they had +left some traces of their work which revealed it to the wily beasts. On +one day, for an hour or two, their hearts were in their mouths. There +issued from the forest to the westward the stately Irish elk. It moved +forward across the valley to the waters on the other side, and, after +drinking its fill, began feeding directly toward the tree clump. It +reached the immediate vicinity of the pitfall and stood beneath the +trees, fairly outlined against the opening beyond, and affording +to the almost breathless couple a splendid spectacle. A magnificent +creature was the great elk of the time of the cave men, the Irish elk, as +those who study the past have named it, because its bones have been found +so frequently in what are now the preserving peat bogs of Ireland. But +the elk passed beyond the sight of the watchers, and so their bright +hopes fell. +</p> + +<p> +The crispness of full autumn had come, one morning, when Ab and Oak met +as usual and looked out across the valley to learn if anything had +happened in the vicinity of the pitfall. The hoar frost, lying heavily on +the herbage, made the valley resemble a sea of silver, checkered and +spotted all over darkly. These dark spots and lines were the traces of +such animals as had been in the valley during the night or toward early +morning. Leading everywhere were heavy trails and light ones, telling the +story of the night. But very little heed to these things was paid by the +ardent boys. They were too full of their own affairs. As they swung into +place together upon their favorite limb and looked across the valley, +they uttered a simultaneous and joyous shout. Something had taken place +at the pitfall! +</p> + +<p> +All about the trap the surface of the ground was dark and the area of +darkness extended even to the little bank of the swamp on the riverside. +Careless of danger, the boys dropped to the ground and, spears in hand, +ran like deer toward the scene of their weeks of labor. Side by side they +bounded to the edge of the excavation, which now yawned open to the sky. +They had triumphed at last! As they saw what the pitfall held, they +yelled in unison, and danced wildly around the opening, in the very +height of boyish triumph. The exultation was fully justified, for the +pitfall held a young rhinoceros, a creature only a few months old, but so +huge already that it nearly filled the excavation. It was utterly +helpless in the position it occupied. It was wedged in, incapable of +moving more than slightly in any direction. Its long snout, with its +sprouting pair of horns, was almost level with the surface of the ground +and its small bright eyes leered wickedly at its noisy enemies. It +struggled clumsily upon their approach, but nothing could relieve the +hopelessness of its plight. +</p> + +<p> +All about the pitfall the earth was plowed in furrows and beaten down by +the feet of some monstrous animal. Evidently the calf was in the company +of its mother when it fell a victim to the art of the pitfall diggers. It +was plain that the mother had spent most of the night about her young in +a vain effort to release it. Well did the cave boys understand the signs, +and, after their first wild outburst of joy over the capture, a sense of +the delicacy, not to say danger, of their situation came upon them. It +was not well to interfere with the family affairs of the rhinoceros. +Where had the mother gone? They looked about, but could see nothing to +justify their fears. Only for a moment, though, did their sense of safety +last; hardly had the echo of their shouting come back from the hillside +than there was a splashing and rasping of bushes in the swamp and the +rush of some huge animal toward the little ascent leading to the valley +proper. There needed no word from either boy; the frightened couple +bounded to the tree of refuge and had barely begun clambering up its +trunk than there rose to view, mad with rage and charging viciously, the +mother of the calf rhinoceros. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="viii">CHAPTER VIII.</a></h2> + +<h3>SABRE-TOOTH AND RHINOCEROS.</h3> + +<p> +The rhinoceros of the Stone Age was a monstrous creature, an animal +varying in many respects from either species of the animal of the present +day, though perhaps somewhat closely allied to the huge double-horned and +now nearly extinct white rhinoceros of southern Africa. But the brute of +the prehistoric age was a beast of greater size, and its skin, instead of +being bare, was densely covered with a dingy colored, crinkly hair, +almost a wool. It was something to be dreaded by most creatures even in +this time of great, fierce animals. It turned aside for nothing; it was +the personification of courage and senseless ferocity when aroused. +Rarely seeking a conflict, it avoided none. The huge mammoth, a more +peaceful pachyderm, would ordinarily hesitate before barring its path, +while even the cave tiger, fiercest and most dreaded of the carnivora of +the time, though it might prey upon the young rhinoceros when opportunity +occurred, never voluntarily attacked the full-grown animal. From that +almost impervious shield of leather hide, an inch or more in thickness, +protected further by the woolly covering, even the terrible strokes of +the tiger's claws glanced off with but a trifling rending, while one +single lucky upward heave of the twin horns upon the great snout would +pierce and rend, as if it were a trifling obstacle, the body of any +animal existing. The lifting power of that prodigious neck was something +almost beyond conception. It was an awful engine of death when its +opportunity chanced to come. On the other hand, the rhinoceros of this +ancient world had but a limited range of vision, and was as dull-witted +and dangerously impulsive as its African prototype of today. +</p> + +<p> +But short-sighted as it was, the boys clambering up the tree were near +enough for the perception of the great beast which burst over the +hummock, and it charged directly at them, the tree quivering when the +shoulder of the monster struck it as it passed, though the boys, already +in the branches, were in safety. Checking herself a little distance +beyond, the rhinoceros mother returned, snorting fiercely, and began +walking round and round the calf imprisoned in the pitfall. The boys +comprehended perfectly the story of the night. The calf once ensnared, +the mother had sought in vain to rescue it, and, finally, wearied with +her exertion, had retired just over the little descent, there to wallow +and rest while still keeping guard over her imprisoned young. The +spectacle now, as she walked around the trap, was something which would +have been pitiful to a later race of man. The beast would get down upon +her knees and plow the dirt about the calf with her long horns. She would +seek to get her snout beneath its body sidewise, and so lift it, though +each effort was necessarily futile. There was no room for any leverage, +the calf fitted the cavity. The boys clung to their perches in safety, +but in perplexity. Hours passed, but the mother rhinoceros showed no +inclination to depart. It was three o'clock in the afternoon when she +went away to the wallow, returning once or twice to her young before +descending the bank, and, even when she had reached the marsh, snorting +querulously for some time before settling down to rest. +</p> + +<p> +The boys waited until all was quiet in the marsh, and, as a matter of +prudence, for some time longer. They wanted to feel assured that the +monster was asleep, then, quietly, they slid down the tree trunk and, +with noiseless step, stole by the pitfall and toward the hillside. A few +yards further on their pace changed to a run, which did not cease until +they reached the forest and its refuge, nor, even there, did they linger +for any length of time. Each started for his home; for their adventure +had again assumed a quality which demanded the consideration of older +heads and the assistance of older hands. It was agreed that they should +again bring their fathers with them--by a fortunate coincidence each knew +where to find his parent on this particular day--and that they should +meet as soon as possible. It was more than an hour later when the two +fathers and two sons, the men armed with the best weapons they possessed, +appeared upon the scene. So far as the watchers from the hillside could +determine, all was quiet about the clump of trees and the vicinity of the +pitfall. It was late in the afternoon now and the men decided that the +best course to pursue would be to steal down across the valley, kill the +imprisoned calf and then escape as soon as possible, leaving the mother +to find her offspring dead; reasoning that she would then abandon it. +Afterward the calf could be taken out and there would be a feast of cave +men upon the tender food and much benefit derived in utilization of +the tough yet not, at its age, too thick hide of the uncommon quarry. +There was but one difficulty in the way of carrying out this enterprise: +the wind was from the north and blew from the hunters toward the river, +and the rhinoceros, though lacking much range of vision, was as acute of +scent as the gray wolves which sometimes strayed like shadows through the +forest or the hyenas which scented from afar the living or the dead. +Still, the venture was determined upon. +</p> + +<p> +The four descended the hill, the two boys in the rear, treading with the +lightness of the tiger cat, and went cautiously across the valley and +toward the tree trunk. Certainly no sound they made could have reached +the ear of the monster wallowing below the bank, but the wind carried to +its nostrils the message of their coming. They were not half way across +the valley when the rhinoceros floundered up to the level and charged +wildly along the course of the wafted scent. There was a flight for the +hillside, made none too soon, but yet in time for safety. Walking around +in circles, snorting viciously, the great beast lingered in the vicinity +for a time, then went back to its imprisoned calf, where it repeated the +performance of earlier in the day and finally retired again to its hidden +resting-place near by. It was dusk now and the shadows were deepening +about the valley. +</p> + +<p> +The men, well up in the tree with the boys, were undetermined what to do. +They might steal along to the eastward and approach the calf from another +direction without disturbing the great brute by their scent. But it was +becoming darker every moment and the region was a dangerous one. In the +valley and away from the trees they were at a disadvantage and at night +there were fearful things abroad. Still, they decided to take the risk, +and the four, following the crest of the slight hill, moved along its +circle southeastward toward the river bank, each on the alert and each +with watchful eyes scanning the forest depths to the left or the valley +to the right. Suddenly One-Ear leaped back into the shadow, waved his +hand to check the advance of those behind him, then pointed silently +across the valley and toward the clump of trees. +</p> + +<p> +Not a hundred yards from the pitfall the high grass was swaying gently; +some creature was passing along toward the pitfall and a thing of no +slight size. Every eye of the quartet was strained now to learn what +might be the interloper upon the scene. It was nearly dark, but the eyes +of the cave men, almost nocturnal in their adaptation as they were, +distinguished a long, dark body emerging from the reeds and circling +curiously and cautiously around the pitfall; nearer and nearer it +approached the helpless prisoner until perhaps twenty feet distant from +it. Here the thing seemed to crouch and remain quiescent, but only for a +little time. Then resounded across the valley a screaming roar, so fierce +and raucous and death-telling and terrifying that even the hardened +hunters leaped with affright. At the same moment a dark object shot +through the air and landed on the back of the creature in the shallow +pit. The tiger was abroad! There was a wild bleat of terror and agony, a +growl fiercer and shorter than the first hoarse cry of the tiger, and, +then, for a moment silence, but only for a moment. Snorts, almost as +terrible in their significance as the tiger's roar, came from the +marsh's edge. A vast form loomed above the slight embankment and there +came the thunder of ponderous feet. The rhinoceros mother was charging +the great tiger! +</p> + +<p> +There was a repetition of the fierce snorts, with the wild rush of the +rhinoceros, another roar, the sound of which reechoed through the valley, +and then could be dimly seen a black something flying through the air and +alighting, apparently, upon the back of the charging monster. There was a +confusion of forms and a confusion of terrifying sounds, the snarling +roar of the great tiger and half whistling bellow of the great pachyderm, +but nothing could be seen distinctly. That a gigantic duel was in +progress the cave men knew, and knew, as well, that its scene was one +upon which they could not venture. The clamor had not ended when the +darkness became complete and then each father, with his son, fled swiftly +homeward. +</p> + +<p> +Early the next morning, the four were together again at the same point of +safety and advantage, and again the frost-covered valley was a sea of +silver, this time unmarred by the criss-crosses of feeding or hunting +animals. There was no sign of life; no creature of the forest or the +plain was so daring as to venture soon upon the battlefield of the +rhinoceros and the cave tiger. Cautiously the cave men and their sons +made their way across the valley and approached the pitfall. What was +revealed to them told in a moment the whole story. The half-devoured body +of the rhinoceros calf was in the pit. It had been killed, no doubt, by +the tiger's first fierce assault, its back broken by the first blow of +the great forearm, or its vertebrae torn apart by the first grasp of the +great jaws. There were signs of the conflict all about, but that it had +not come to a deadly issue was apparent. Only by some accident could the +rhinoceros have caught upon its horns the agile monster cat, and only by +an accident even more remote could the tiger have reached a vital part of +its huge enemy. There had been a long and weary battle--a mother creature +fighting for her young and the great flesh-eater fighting for his prey. +But the combatants had assuredly separated without the death of either, +and the bereaved rhinoceros, knowing her young one to be dead, had +finally left the valley, while the tiger had returned to its prey and fed +its fill. But there was much meat left. There were, in the estimation of +the cave people, few more acceptable feasts than that obtainable from the +flesh of a young rhinoceros. The first instinct of the two men was to +work fiercely with their flint knives and cut out great lumps of meat +from the body in the pit. Hardly had they begun their work, when, as +by common impulse, each clambered out from the depression suddenly, and +there was a brief and earnest discussion. The cave tiger, monarch of the +time, was not a creature to abandon what he had slain until he had +devoured it utterly. Gorged though he might be, he was undoubtedly in +hiding within a comparatively short distance. He would return again +inevitably. He might be lying sleeping in the nearest clump of bushes! It +was possible that his appetite might come upon him soon again and that he +might appear at any moment. What chance then for the human beings who had +ventured into his dining-room? There was but one sensible course to +follow, and that was instant retreat. The four fled again to the hillside +and the forest, carrying with them, however, the masses of flesh already +severed from the body of the calf. There was food for a day or two for +each family. +</p> + +<p> +And so ended the first woodland venture of these daring boys. For days +the vicinity of the little valley was not sought by either man or youth, +since the tiger might still be lurking near. When, later, the youths +dared to visit the scene of their bold exploit, there were only bones in +the pitfall they had made. The tiger had eaten its prey and had gone to +other fields. In later autumn came a great flood down the valley, rising +so high that the father of Oak and all his family were driven temporarily +from their cave by the water's influx and compelled to seek another +habitation many miles away. Some time passed before the comrades met +again. +</p> + +<p> +As for Ab, this exploit might be counted almost as the beginning of his +manhood. His father--and fathers had even then a certain paternal +pride--had come to recognize in a degree the vigor and daring of his son. +The mother, of course, was even more appreciative, though to her firstborn +she could give scant attention, as Ab had the small brother in the cave +now and the little sister who was still smaller, but from this time the +youth became a person of some importance. He grew rapidly, and the sinewy +stripling developed, not increasing strength and stature and rounding +brawn alone, for he had both ingenuity and persistency of purpose, +qualities which made him rather an exception among the cave boys of his +age. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="ix">CHAPTER IX.</a></h2> + +<h3>DOMESTIC MATTERS.</h3> + +<p> +Attention has already been called to the fact that the family of Ab were +of the aristocracy of the region, and it should be added that the +interior of One-Ear's mansion corresponded with his standing in the +community. It was a fine cave, there was no doubt about that, and Red-Spot +was a notable housekeeper. As a rule, the bones remaining about the +fire after a meal were soon thrown outside--at least they were never +allowed to accumulate for more than a month or two. The beds were +excellent, for, in addition to the mass of leaves heaped upon the earth +which formed a resting-place for the family, there were spread the skins +of various animals. The water privileges of the establishment were +extensive, for there was the river in front, much utilized for drinking +purposes. There were ledges and shelves of rock projecting here and there +from the sides of the cave, and upon these were laid the weapons and +implements of the household, so that, excepting an occasional bone upon +the earthen floor, or, perhaps, a spattering of red, where some animal +had been cut up for roasting, the place was very neat indeed. The fact +that the smoke from the fire could, when the wind was right, ascend +easily through the roof made the residence one of the finest within a +large district of the country. As to light, it cannot be said that the +house was well provided. The fire at night illuminated a small area and, +in the daytime, light entered through the doorway, and, to an extent, +through the hole in the cave's top, as did also the rains, but the light +was by no means perfect. The doorway, for obvious reasons, was narrow and +there was a huge rock, long ago rolled inside with much travail, which +could on occasion be utilized in blocking the narrow passage. Barely room +to squeeze by this obstruction existed at the doorway. The sneaking but +dangerous hyena had a keen scent and was full of curiosity. The monster +bear of the time was ever hungry and the great cave tiger, though rarer, +was, as has been shown, a haunting dread. Great attention was paid to +doorways in those days, not from an artistic point of view exactly, but +from reasons cogent enough in the estimation of the cave men. But the +cave was warm and safe and the sharp eyes of its inhabitants, accustomed +to the semi-darkness, found slight difficulty in discerning objects in +the gloom. Very content with their habitation were all the family and +Red-Spot particularly, as a chatelaine should, felt much pride in her +surroundings. +</p> + +<p> +It may be added that the family of One-Ear was a happy one. His life with +Red-Spot was the sequence of what might be termed a fortunate marriage. +It is true that standards vary with times, and that the demeanor of the +couple toward each other was occasionally not what would be counted the +index of domestic felicity in this more artificial and deceptive age. It +was never fully determined whether One-Ear or Red-Spot could throw a +stone ax with the greater accuracy, although certainly he could hurl one +with greater force than could his wife. But the deftness of each in +eluding such dangerous missiles was about the same, and no great harm had +at any time resulted from the effects of momentary ebullitions of anger, +followed by action on the part of either. There had not been at any time +a scandal in the family. The pair were faithful to each other. Society +was somewhat scattered in those days, and the cave twain, anywhere, were +generally as steadfast as the lion and the lioness. It was centuries +later, too, before the cave men's posterity became degenerate enough or +prosperous enough, or safe enough, to be polygamous, and, so far as the +area of the Thames valley or even the entire "Paris basin," as it is +called, was concerned, monogamy held its own very fairly, from the +shell-beds of the earliest kitchen-middens to the time of the bronze ax +and the dawn of what we now call civilization. +</p> + +<p> +There were now five members in this family of the period, One-Ear, +Red-Spot, Ab, Bark and Beech-Leaf, the two last named being Ab's younger +brother and little more than baby sister. The names given them had come +in the same accidental way as had the name of Ab. The brother, when very +small, had imitated in babyish way the barking of some wolfish creature +outside which had haunted the cave's vicinity at night time, and so the +name of Bark, bestowed accidentally by Ab himself, had become the +youngster's title for life. As to Beech-Leaf, she had gained her name in +another way. She was a fat and joyous little specimen of a cave baby and +not much addicted to lying as dormant as babies sometimes do. The +bearskin upon which her mother laid her had not infrequently proven too +limited an area for her exploits and she would roll from it into the +great bed of beech leaves upon which it was placed, and become fairly +lost in the brown mass. So often had this hilarious young lady to be +disinterred from the beech leaf bed, that the name given her came +naturally, through association of ideas. Between the birth of Ab and that +of his younger brother an interval of five years had taken place, the +birth of the sister occurring three or four years later. So it came that +Ab, in the absence of his father and mother, was distinctly the head of +the family, admonitory to his brother, with ideas as to the physical +discipline requisite on occasion, and, in a rude way, fond of and +protective toward the baby sister. +</p> + +<p> +There was a certain regularity in the daily program of the household, +although, with reference to what was liable to occur outside, it can +hardly be said to have partaken of the element of monotony. The work of +the day consisted merely in getting something to eat, and in this work +father and mother alike took an active part, their individual duties +being somewhat varied. In a general way One-Ear relied upon himself for +the provision of flesh, but there were roots and nuts and fruits, in +their season, and in the gathering of these Red-Spot was an admitted +expert. Not that all her efforts were confined to the fruits of the soil +and forest, for she could, if need be, assist her husband in the pursuit +or capture of any animal. She was not less clever than he in that +animal's subsequent dissection, and was far more expert in its cooking. +In the tanning of skins she was an adept. So it chanced that at this time +the father and mother frequently left the cave together in the morning, +their elder son remaining as protector of the younger inmates. When +occasionally he went with his parents, or was allowed to venture forth +alone, extra precautions were taken as to the cave's approaches. Just +outside the entrance was a stone similar to the one on the inside, and +when the two young children were left unguarded this outside barricade +was rolled against what remained of the entrance, so that the small +people, though prisoners, were at least secure from dangerous animals. +Of course there were variations in the program. There was that degree of +fellowship among the cave men, even at this early age, to allow of an +occasional banding together for hunting purposes, a battle of some sort +or the surrounding and destruction of some of the greater animals. At +such times One-Ear would be absent from the cave for days and Ab and his +mother would remain sole guardians. The boy enjoyed these occasions +immensely; they gave him a fine sense of responsibility and importance, +and did much toward the development of the manhood that was in him, +increasing his self-reliance and perfecting him in the art of winning his +daily bread, or what was daily bread's equivalent at the time in which he +lived. It was not in outdoor and physical life alone that he grew. There +was something more to him, a combination of traits somewhere which made +him a little beyond and above the mere seeker after food. He was never +entirely dormant, a sleeper on the skins and beech leaves, even when in +the shelter of the cave, after the day's adventures. He reasoned +according to such gifts as circumstances had afforded him and he had the +instinct of devising. An instinct toward devising was a great thing to +its possessor in the time of the cave people. +</p> + +<p> +We know very well to-day, or think we know, that the influence of the +mother, in most cases, dominates that of the father in making the future +of the man-child. It may be that this comes because in early life the +boy, throughout the time when all he sees or learns will be most clear in +his memory until he dies, is more with the woman parent than with the +man, who is afield; or, it may be, there is some criss-cross law of +nature which makes the man ordinarily transmit his qualities to the +daughter and the woman transmit hers to the son. About that we do not +know yet. But it is certain that Ab was more like his mother than his +father, and that in these young days of his he was more immediately under +her influence. And Red-Spot was superior in many ways to the ordinary +woman of the cave time. +</p> + +<p> +It was good for the boy that he was so under the maternal dominion, and +that, as he lingered about the cave, he aided in the making of threads of +sinew or intestine, or looked on interestedly as his mother, using the +bone needle, which he often sharpened for her with his flint scraper, +sewed together the skins which made the garments of the family. The +needle was one without an eye, a mere awl, which made holes through which +the thread was pushed. As the growing boy lounged or labored near his +mother, alternately helpful or annoying, as the case might be, he learned +many things which were of value to him in the future, and resolved upon +brave actions which should be greatly to his credit. He was but a cub, a +young being almost as unreasoning in some ways as the beasts of the wood, +but he had his hopes and vanities, as has even the working beaver or the +dancing crane, and from the long mother-talks came a degree of +definiteness of outline to his ambitions. He would be the greatest hunter +and warrior in all the region! +</p> + +<p> +The cave mother easily understood her child's increasing daringness and +vigor, and though swift to anger and strong of hand, she could not but +feel a pride in and tell her tales to the boy beside her. After a time, +when the family of Oak returned to the cave above and the boys were much +together again, the mother began to see less of her son. The influence of +the days spent by her side remained with the boy, however, and much that +he learned there was of value in his later active life. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="x">CHAPTER X.</a></h2> + +<h3>OLD MOK, THE MENTOR.</h3> + +<p> +It was at about this time, the time when Ab had begun to develop from +boyhood into strong and aspiring youth, that his family was increased +from five to six by the addition of a singular character, Old Mok. This +personage was bent and seemingly old, but he was younger than he looked, +though he was not extremely fair to look upon. He had a shock of grizzled +hair, a short, stiff, unpleasant beard, and the condition of one of his +legs made him a cripple of an exaggerated type. He could hobble about and +on great occasions make a journey of some length, but he was practically +debarred from hunting. The extraordinary curvature of his twisted leg +was, as usual in his time, the result of an encounter with some wild +beast. The limb curved like a corkscrew and was so much shorter than the +other leg that the man was really safe only when the walls of a cave +enclosed him. But if his legs were weak his brain and arms were not. In +that grizzled head was much intelligence and the arms were those of a +great climber. His toes were clasping things and he was at home in a +treetop. But he did not travel much. There was no need. Old Mok had +special gifts, and they were such as made him a desirable friend among +the cave men. He had, in his youth, been a mighty hunter and had so +learned that he could tell wonderfully the ways of beasts and swimming +things and the ways of slaying or eluding them. Best of all, he was such +a fashioner of weapons as the valley had rarely known, and, because of +this, was in great request as a cared-for inmate of almost any cave which +hit his fancy. After his crippling he had drifted from one haven to +another, never quite satisfied with what he found, and now he had come to +live, as he supposed, with his old friend, One-Ear, until life should +end. Despite his harshness of appearance--and neither of the two could +ever afterward explain it--there was something about the grim old man +which commended him to Ab from the very first. There was an occasional +twinkle in the fierce old fellow's eye and sometimes a certain cackle in +his clucking talk, which betokened not unkindliness toward a healthy +youngster, and the two soon grew together, as often the young and old may +do. +</p> + +<p> +Though but what might be called in one sense a dependent, the crippled +hunter had a dignity and was arbitrary in the expression of his views. +Never once, through all the thousands of years which have passed since he +hobbled here and there, has lived an armorer more famous among those who +knew him best. No fashioner of sword, or lance, or coat of mail or plate, +in the far later centuries, had better reputation than had Mok with his +friends and patrons for the making of good weapons, though it may be that +his clientele was less numerous by hundreds to one than that of some +later manufacturer of a Toledo blade. He might be living partly as a +dependent, but he could do almost as he willed. Who should have standing +if it were not accorded to the most gifted chipper of flint and carver of +mammoth tooth in all the region from where the little waters came down to +make a river, to where the blue, broad stream, blending with friendly +currents, was lost in what is now the great North Sea? +</p> + +<p> +A boy and an old man can come together closely, and that has, through all +the ages, been a good thing for each. The boy learns that which enables +him to do things and the man is happy in watching the development of one +of his own kind. Helping and advising Ab, and sometimes Oak as well, Old +Mok did not discourage sometimes reckless undertakings. In those days +chances were accepted. So when any magnificent scheme suggested itself to +the two youths, Ab at once sought his adviser and was not discountenanced. +</p> + +<p> +It was a great night in the cave when Ab brought home two fluffy gray +bundles not much larger than kittens and tied them in a corner with +thongs of sinew, sinew so tough and stringy that it could not easily be +severed by the sharp teeth which were at once applied to it. The fluffy +gray bundles were two young wolves, and were, for Ab, a great possession. +They were not even brother and sister, these cubs, and had been gallantly +captured by the two courageous rangers, Ab and Oak. For some time the +boys had noted lurking shadows about a rugged height close by the river, +some distance below the cave of Ab, and had resolved upon a closer +investigation. A particularly ugly brute was the wolf of the cave man's +time, but one which, when not in pack, was unlikely to assail two +well-armed and sturdy youths in daylight; and the result of much cautious +spying was that they found two dens, each with young in them, and at a +time when the old wolves were away. In one den Ab seized upon two of the +snarling cubs and Oak did the same in the other, and then the raiders +fled with such speed as was in them, until they were at a safe distance +from the place where things would not go well with them should the robbed +parents return. Once in safe territory, each exchanged a cub for one +seized by the other and then each went home in triumph. Ab was especially +delighted. He was determined to feed his cubs with the utmost care and to +keep them alive and growing. He was full of the fancy and delighted in +it, but he had assumed a great responsibility. +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/illp096.jpg"><img src="images/illp096_th.jpg" alt="AB SEIZED UPON TWO OF THE SNARLING CUBS AND OAK DID THE SAME"></a> +</p> + +<p> +The cubs were tied in a corner of the cave and at once commanded the +attention and unbounded admiration of Bark and Beech-Leaf. The young lady +especially delighted in the little beasts and could usually be found +lying in the corner with them, the baby wolves learning in time to play +with her as if she were a wolf-suckled cub herself. Bark had almost the +same relations with the little brutes and Ab looked after them most +carefully. Even the father and mother became interested in the antics of +the young children and young wolves and the cubs became acknowledged, if +not particularly respected, members of the family. But Ab's dream was too +much for sudden realization. Not all at once could the wild thing become +a tame one. As the cubs grew and their teeth became longer and sharper, +there was an occasional conflict and the arms of Bark and Beech-Leaf were +scarred in consequence, until at last Ab, though he protested hardly, was +compelled to give up his pets. Somehow, he was not in the mood for +killing the half grown beasts, and so he simply turned them loose, but +they did not, as he had thought they would, flee to the forest. They had +known almost no life except that of the cave, they had got their meat +there and, at night, the twain were at the doorway whining for food. To +them were tossed some half-gnawed bones and they received them with +joyous yelps and snarls. Thenceforth they hung about the cave and +retained, practically, their place in the family, oddly enough showing +particular animosity to those of their own kind who ventured near the +place. One day, the female was found in the cave's rear with four little +whelps lying beside her, and that settled it! The family petted the young +animals and they grew up tamer and more obedient than had been their +father and mother. Protected by man, they were unlikely to revert to +wildness. Members of the pack which grew from them were, in time, +bestowed as valued gifts among the cave men of the region and much came +of it. The two boys did a greater day's work than they could comprehend +when they raided the dens by the river's side. +</p> + +<p> +But there was much beside the capture of wolf cubs to occupy the +attention of the boys. They counted themselves the finest bird hunters in +the community and, to a certain extent, justified the proud claim made. +No youths could set a snare more deftly or hurl a stone more surely, and +there was much bird life for them to seek. The bustard fed in the vast +nut forests, the capercailzie was proud upon the moors, where the +heath-cock was as jaunty, and the willow grouse and partridge were wise in +covert to avoid the hungry snowy owl. Upon the river and lagoons and +creeks the swan and wild goose and countless duck made constant clamor, +and there were water-rail and snipe along the shallows. There were eggs +to be found, and an egg baked in the ashes was a thing most excellent. It +was with the waterfowl that the boys were most successful. The ducks +would in their feeding approach close to the shores of the river banks or +the little islands and would gather in bunches so near to where the boys +were hidden that the young hunters, leaping suddenly to their feet and +hurling their stones together, rarely failed to secure at least a single +victim. There were muskrats along the banks and there was a great beaver, +which was not abundant, and which was a mighty creature of his kind. Of +muskrats the boys speared many--and roasted muskrat is so good that it is +eaten by the Indians and some of the white hunters in Canada to-day--but +the big beaver they did not succeed in capturing at this stage of their +career. Once they saw a seal, which had come up the river from the sea, +and pursued it, running along the banks for miles, but it proved as +elusive as the great beaver. +</p> + +<p> +But, as a matter of course, it was upon land that the greatest sport was +had. There were the wild hogs, but the hogs were wary and the big boars +dangerous, and it was only when a litter of the young could be pounced +upon somewhere that flint-headed spears were fully up to the emergency. +On such occasions there was fine pigsticking, and then the atmosphere in +the caves would be made fascinating with the odor of roasting suckling. +There is a story by a great and gentle writer telling how a Chinaman +first discovered the beauties of roast pig. It is an admirable tale and +it is well that it was written, but the cave man, many tens of thousands +of years before there was a China, yielded to the allurements of young +pig, and sought him accordingly. +</p> + +<p> +The musk-ox, which still mingled with the animals of the river basin, was +almost as difficult of approach as in arctic wilds to-day, as was a small +animal, half goat, half antelope, which fed upon the rocky hillsides or +wherever the high reaches were. There were squirrels in the trees, but +they were seldom caught, and the tailless hare which fed in the river +meadows was not easily approached and was swift as the sea wind in its +flight, swifter than a sort of fox which sought it constantly. But the +burrowing things were surer game. There were martens and zerboas, and +marmots and hedgehogs and badgers, all good to eat and attainable to +those who could dig as could these brawny youths. The game once driven to +its hole, the clamshell and the sharpened fire-hardened spade-stick were +brought into use and the fate of the animal sought was rarely long in +doubt. It is true that the scene lacked one element very noticeable when +boys dig out any animal to-day. There was not the inevitable and +important dog, but the youths were swift of sight and quick of hand, and +the hidden creature, once unearthed, seldom escaped. One of the prizes of +those feats of excavation was the badger, for not only was it edible, but +its snow-white teeth, perforated and strung on sinew, made necklaces +which were highly valued. +</p> + +<p> +The youths did not think of attacking many of the dangerous brutes. They +might have risked the issue with a small leopard which existed then, or +faced the wildcat, but what they sought most was the wolverine, because +it had fur so long and oddly marked, and because it was braver than other +animals of its size and came more boldly to some bait of meat, affording +opportunity for fine spear-throwing. And, apropos of the wolverine, the +glutton, as it is called in Europe, it is something still admired. It is +a vicious, bloodthirsty, unchanging and, to the widely-informed and +scientifically sentimental, lovable animal. It is vicious and +bloodthirsty because that is its nature. It is lovable because, through +all the generations, it has come down just the same. The cave man knew it +just as it is now; the early Teuton knew it when "hides" of land were the +rewards of warriors. The Roman knew it when he made forays to the far +north for a few centuries and learned how sharp were the blades of the +Rhine-folk and the Briton. The Druid and the Angle and Jute and Saxon +knew it, and it is known to-day in all northern Europe and Asia and +America, in fact, in nearly all the northern temperate zone. The +wolverine is something wonderful; it laughs at the ages; its bones, found +side by side with those of the cave hyena, are the same as those found in +its body as it exists to-day. It is an anomaly, an animal which does not +advance nor retrograde. +</p> + +<p> +The two big boys grew daily in the science of gaining food and grew more +and more of importance in their respective households. Sometimes either +one of them might hunt alone, but this was not the rule. It was safer for +two than one, when the forest was invaded deeply. But not all their time +was spent in evading or seeking the life of such living things as they +might discover. They had a home life sometimes as entertaining as the +life found anywhere outside. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xi">CHAPTER XI.</a></h2> + +<h3>DOINGS AT HOME.</h3> + +<p> +Those were happy times in the cave, where Ab, developing now into an +exceedingly stalwart youth, found the long evenings about the fire far +from monotonous. There was Mok, the mentor, who had grown so fond of him, +and there was most interesting work to do in making from the dark flint +nodules or obsidian fragments--always eagerly seized upon when discovered +by the cave people in their wanderings--the spearheads and rude knives +and skin scrapers so essential to their needs. The flint nodule was but a +small mass of the stone, often somewhat pear-shaped. Though apparently a +solid mass, composed of the hardest substance then known, it lay in what +might be called a series of flakes about a center, and, in wise hands, +these flakes could be chipped or pried away unbroken. The flake, once +won, was often slightly concave on the outside and convex on the other, +but the core of the stone was something more equally balanced in +formation and, when properly finished, made a mighty spearhead. For the +heavy axes and mallets, other stones, such as we now call granite, +redstone or quartose grit, were often used, but in the making of all the +weapons was required the exercise of infinite skill and patience. To make +the flakes symmetrical demanded the nicest perception and judgment of +power of stroke, for, with each flake gained, there resulted a new form +to the surface of the stone. The object was always to secure a flake with +a point, a strong middle ridge and sides as nearly edged as possible. And +in the striking off of these flakes and their finishing others of the +cave men were to old Mok as the child is to the man. +</p> + +<p> +Ab hung about the old man at his work and was finally allowed to help +him. If, at first, the boy could do nothing else, he could, with his +flint scraper, work industriously at the smoothing of the long spear +shafts, and when he had learned to do well at this he was at last allowed +to venture upon the stone chipping, especially when into old Mok's +possession had come a piece of flint the quality of which he did not +quite approve and for the ruining of which in the splitting he cared but +little. +</p> + +<p> +There were disasters innumerable when the boy began and much bad stone +was spoiled, but he had a will and a good eye and hand, and it came, in +time, that he could strike off a flake with only a little less of +deftness than his teacher and that, even in the more delicate work of the +finer chipping to complete the weapon, he was a workman not to be +despised. He had an ambition in it all and old Mok was satisfied with +what he did. +</p> + +<p> +The boy was always experimenting, ever trying a new flint chipper or +using a third stone to tap delicately the one held in the hand to make +the fracture, or wondering aloud why it would not be well to make this +flint knife a little thinner, or that spearhead a trifle heavier. He was +questioning as he worked and something of a nuisance with it all, but old +Mok endured with what was, for him, an astonishing degree of patience, +and would sometimes comment grumblingly to the effect that the boy could +at least chip stone far better than some men. And then the veteran would +look at One-Ear, who was, notoriously, a bad flint worker,--though, a +weapon once in his grasp, there were few could use it with surer eye or +heavier hand--and would chuckle as he made the comment. As for One-Ear, +he listened placidly enough. He was glad a son of his could make good +weapons. So much the better for the family! +</p> + +<p> +As times went, Ab was a tolerably good boy to his mother. Nearly all +young cave males were good boys until the time came when their thews and +sinews outmatched the strength of those who had borne them, and this, be +it said, was at no early age, for the woman, hunting and working with the +man, was no maternal weakling whose buffet was unworthy of notice. A blow +from the cave mother's hand was something to be respected and avoided. +The use of strength was the general law, and the cave woman, though she +would die for her young, yet demanded that her young should obey her +until the time came when the maternal instinct of first direction blended +with and was finally lost in pride over the force of the being to whom +she had given birth. So Ab had vigorous duties about the household. +</p> + +<p> +As has been told already, Red-Spot was a notable housekeeper and there +was such product of the cave cooking as would make happy any gourmand of +to-day who could appreciate the quality of what had a most natural +flavor. Regarding her kitchen appliances Red-Spot had a matron's +justifiable pride. Not only was there the wood fire, into which, held on +long, pointed sticks, could be thrust all sorts of meat for the somewhat +smoky broiling, and the hot coals and ashes in which could be roasted the +clams and the clay-covered fish, but there was the place for boiling, +which only the more fortunate of the cave people owned. Her growing son +had aided much in the attainment of this good housewife's fond desire. +</p> + +<p> +With much travail, involving all the force the cave family could muster +and including the assistance of Oak's father and of Oak himself, who +rejoiced with Ab in the proceedings, there had been rolled into the cave +a huge sandstone rock with a top which was nearly flat. Here was to be +the great pot, sometimes used as a roasting place, as well, which only +the more pretentious of the caves could boast. On the middle of the big +stone's uppermost surface old Mok chipped with an ax the outline of a +rude circle some two feet in diameter. This defined roughly the size of +the kettle to be made. Inside the circle, the sandstone must be dug out +to a big kettle's proper depth, and upon the boy, Ab, must devolve most +of this healthful but not over-attractive labor. +</p> + +<p> +The boy went at the task gallantly, in the beginning, and pecked away +with a stone chisel and gained a most respectable hollow within a day or +two, but his enthusiasm subsided with the continuity of much effort with +small result. He wanted more weight to his chisel of flint set firmly in +reindeer's horn, and a greater impact to the blows into which could not +be put the force resulting from a swing of arm. He thought much. Then he +secured a long stick and bound his chisel strongly to it at one end, the +top of the chisel resting against a projecting stub of limb, so that it +could not be driven upward. To the other end of the stick he bound a +stone of some pounds in weight and then, holding the shaft with both +hands, lifted it and let the whole drop into the depression he had +already made. The flint chisel bit deeply under the heavy impact and the +days were few before Ab had dug in the sandstone rock a cavity which +would hold much meat and water. There was an unconscious celebration when +the big kettle was completed. It was nearly filled with water, and into +the water were flung great chunks of the meat of a reindeer killed that +day. Meanwhile, the cave fire had been replenished with dry wood and +there had been formed a wide bed of coals, upon which were cast numerous +stones of moderate size, which soon attained a shining heat. A sort of +tongs made of green withes served to remove the stones, one after +another, from the mass of coal, and drop them in with the meat and water. +Within a little time the water was fairly boiling and soon there was a +monster stew giving forth rich odors and ready to be eaten. And it was +not allowed to get over-cool after that summoning fragrance had once +extended throughout the cave. There was a rush for the clam shells which +served for soup dishes or cups, there was spearing with sharpened sticks +for pieces of the boiled meat, and all were satisfied, though there was +shrill complaint from Bark, whose turn at the kettle came late, and much +clamor from chubby Beech-Leaf, who was not yet tall enough to help +herself, but who was cared for by the mother. It may be that, to some +people of to-day, the stew would be counted lacking in quality of +seasoning, but an opinion upon seasoning depends largely upon the stomach +and the time, and, besides, it may be that the dirt clinging to the +stones cast into the water gave a certain flavor as fine in its way as +could be imparted by salt and pepper. +</p> + +<p> +Old Mok, observing silently, had decidedly approved of Ab's device for +easier digging into sandstone than was the old manner of pecking away +with a chisel held in the hand. He was almost disposed now to admit the +big lad to something like a plane of equality in the work they did +together. He became more affable in their converse, and the youth was, in +the same degree, delighted and ambitious. They experimented with the +stick and weight and chisel in accomplishing the difficult work of +splitting from boulders the larger fragments of stone from which weapons +were to be made, and learned that by heavy, steady pressure of the +breast, thus augmented by heavy weight, they could fracture more evenly +than by blow of stone, ax or hammer. They learned that two could work +together in stone chipping and do better work than one. Old Mok would +hold the forming weapon-head in one hand and the horn-hafted chisel in +another, pressing the blade close against the stone and at just such +angle as would secure the result he sought, while Ab, advised as to the +force of each succeeding stroke, tapped lightly upon the chisel's head. +Woe was it for the boy if once he missed his stroke and caught the old +man's fingers! Very delicate became the chipping done by these two +artists, and excellent beyond any before made were the axes and +spearheads produced by what, in modern times, would have been known under +the title of "Old Mok & Co." +</p> + +<p> +At this time, too, Ab took lessons in making all the varied articles of +elk or reindeer horn and the drinking cups from the horns of urus and +aurochs. Old Mok even went so far as to attempt teaching the youth +something of carving figures upon tusks and shoulder blades, but in this +art Ab never greatly excelled. He was too much a creature of action. The +bone needles used by Red-Spot in making skin garments he could form +readily enough and he made whistles for Bark and Beech-Leaf, but his +inclinations were all toward larger things. To become a fighter and a +hunter remained his chief ambition. +</p> + +<p> +Rather keen, with light snows but nipping airs, were the winters of this +country of the cave men, and there were articles of food essential to +variety which were, necessarily, stored before the cold season came. +There were roots which were edible and which could be dried, and there +were nuts in abundance, beyond all need. Beechnuts and acorns were +gathered in the autumn, the children at this time earning fully the right +of home and food, and the stores were heaped in granaries dug into the +cave's sides. Should the snow at any time fall too deeply for +hunting--though such an occurrence was very rare--or should any other +cause, such, for instance, as the appearance of the great cave tiger in +the region, make the game scarce and hunting perilous, there was the +recourse of nuts and roots and no danger of starvation. There was no fear +of suffering from thirst. Man early learned to carry water in a pouch of +skin and there were sometimes made rock cavities, after the manner of the +cave kettle, where water could be stored for an emergency. Besieging wild +beasts could embarrass but could not greatly alarm the family, for, with +store of wood and food and water, the besieged could wait, and it was not +well for the flesh-seeking quadruped to approach within a long +spear-thrust's length of the cavern's narrow entrance. +</p> + +<p> +The winter following the establishment of Ab's real companionship with +Old Mok, as it chanced, was not a hard one. There fell snow enough for +tracking, but not so deeply as to incommode the hunter. There had been a +wonderful nut-fall in the autumn and the cave was stored with such +quantity of this food that there was no chance of real privation. The ice +was clean upon the river and through the holes hacked with stone axes +fish were dragged forth in abundance upon the rude bone and stone hooks, +which served their purpose far better than when, in summer time, the line +was longer and the fish escaped so often from the barbless implements. It +was a great season in all that made a cave family's life something easy +and complacent and vastly promotive of the social amenities and the +advancement of art and literature--that is, they were not compelled to +make any sudden raid on others to assure the means of subsistence, and +there was time for the carving of bones and the telling of strange +stories of the past. The elders declared it one of the finest winters +they had ever known. +</p> + +<p> +And so Old Mok and Ab worked well that winter and the youth acquired such +wisdom that his casual advice to Oak when the two were out together was +something worth listening to because of its confidence and ponderosity. +Concerning flint scraper, drill, spearhead, ax or bone or wooden haft, +there was, his talk would indicate, practically nothing for the boy to +learn. That was his own opinion, though, as he grew older, he learned to +modify it greatly. With his adviser he had made good weapons and some +improvements; yet all this was nothing. It was destined that an +accidental discovery should be his, the effect of which would be to +change the cave man's rank among living things. But the youth, just now, +was greatly content with himself. He was older and more modest when he +made his great discovery. +</p> + +<p> +It was when the fire blazed out at night, when all had fed, when the +tired people lay about resting, but not ready yet for sleep, and the +story of the day's events was given, that Old Mok's ordinarily still +tongue would sometimes loosen and he would tell of what happened when he +was a boy, or of the strange tales which had been told him of the time +long past, the times when the Shell and Cave people were one, times when +there were monstrous things abroad and life was hard to keep. To all +these legends the hearers listened wonderingly, and upon them afterward +Ab and Oak would sometimes speculate together and question as to their +truth. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xii">CHAPTER XII.</a></h2> + +<h3>OLD MOK'S TALES.</h3> + +<p> +It was worth while listening to Old Mok when he forgot himself and talked +and became earnestly reminiscent in telling of what he had seen or had +heard when he was young. One day there had been trouble in the cave, for +Bark, left in charge, had neglected the fire and it had "gone out," and +upon the return of his parents there had been blows and harsh language, +and then much pivotal grinding together of dry sticks before a new flame +was gained, and it was only after the odor of cooked flesh filled the +place and strong jaws were busy that the anger of One-Ear had abated and +the group became a comfortable one. Ab had come in hungry and the value of +fire, after what had happened, was brought to his mind forcibly. He laid +himself down upon the cave's floor near Old Mok, who was fashioning a +shaft of some sort, and, as he lay, poked his toes at Beechleaf, who +chuckled and gurgled as she rolled about, never for a moment relinquishing +a portion of the slender shin bone of a deer, upon the flesh of which the +family had fed. It was a short piece but full of marrow, and the child +sucked and mumbled away at it in utmost bliss. Ab thought, somehow, of how +poor would have been the eating with the meat uncooked, and looked at his +hands, still reddened--for it was he who had twisted the stick which made +the fire again. "Fire is good!" he said to Mok. +</p> + +<p> +The old man kept his flint scraper going for a moment or two before he +answered; then he grunted: +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, it's good if you don't get burned. I've been burned," and he thrust +out an arm upon which appeared a cicatrice. +</p> + +<p> +Ab was interested. "Where did you get that?" he queried. +</p> + +<p> +"Far from here, far beyond the black swamp and the red hills that are +farther still. It was when I was strong." +</p> + +<p> +"Tell me about it," said the youth. +</p> + +<p> +"There is a fire country," answered Old Mok, "away beyond the swamp and +woods and the place of the big rocks. It is a wonderful place. The fire +comes out of the ground in long sheets and it is always the same. The rain +and the snow do not stop it. Do I not know? Have I not seen it? Did I not +get this scar going too near the flame and stumbling and falling against a +hot rock almost within it? There is too much fire sometimes!" +</p> + +<p> +The old man continued: "There are many places of fire. They are to the +east and south. Some of the Shell People who have gone far down the river +have seen them. But the one where I was burned is not so far away as they; +it is up the river to the northwest." +</p> + +<p> +And Ab was interested and questioned Old Mok further about the strange +region where flames came from the ground as bushes grow, and where snow or +water did not make them disappear. He was destined, at a later day, to be +very glad that he had learned the little that was told him. But to-night +he was intent only on getting all the tales he could from the veteran +while he was in the mood. "Tell about the Shell People," he cried, "and +who they are and where they came from. They are different from us." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, they are different from us," said Old Mok, "but there was a time, I +have heard it told, when we were like them. The very old men say that +their grandfathers told them that once there were only Shell People +anywhere in this country, the people who lived along the shores and who +never hunted nor went far away from the little islands, because they were +afraid of the beasts in the forests. Sometimes they would venture into the +wood to gather nuts and roots, but they lived mostly on the fish and +clams. But there came a time when brave men were born among them who said +they would have more of the forest things, and that they would no longer +stay fearfully upon the little islands. So they came into the forest and +the Cave Men began. And I think this story true." +</p> + +<p> +"I think it is true," Old Mok continued, "because the Shell People, you +can see, must have lived very long where they are now. Up and down the +creek where they live and along other creeks there lie banks of earth +which are very long and reach far back. And this is not really earth, but +is all made up of shells and bones and stone spearheads and the things +which lie about a Shell Man's place. I know, for I have dug into these +long banks myself and have seen that of which I tell. Long, very long, +must the Shell People have lived along the creeks and shores to have made +the banks of bones and shells so high." +</p> + +<p> +And Old Mok was right. They talk of us as the descendants of an Aryan +race. Never from Aryan alone came the drifting, changing Western being of +to-day. But a part of him was born where bald plains were or where were +olive trees and roses. All modern science, and modern thoughtfulness, and +all later broadened intelligence are yielding to an admission of the fact +that he, though of course commingling with his visitors of the ages, was +born and changed where he now exists. The kitchen-midden--the name given +by scientists to refuse from his dwelling places--the kitchen-middens of +Denmark, as Denmark is to-day, alone, regardless of other fields, suffice +to tell a wondrous story. Imagine a kitchen-midden, that is to say the +detritus of ordinary living in different ages, accumulated along the side +of some ancient water course, having for its dimensions miles in length, +extending hundreds of yards back from the margin of this creek, of tens +and tens of thousands of years ago, and having a depth of often many feet +along this water course. Imagine this vast deposit telling the history of +a thousand centuries or more, beginning first with the deposit of clams +and mussel shells and of the shells of such other creatures as might +inhabit this river seeking its way to the North Sea. Imagine this deposit +increasing year after year and century by century, but changing its +character and quality as it rose, and the base is laid for reasoning. +</p> + +<p> +At first these creatures who ranged up and down the ancient Danish creek +and devoured the clams and periwinkles must have been, as one might say, +but little more than surely anthropoid. Could such as these have migrated +from the Asiatic plateaus? +</p> + +<p> +The kitchen-middens tell the early story with greater accuracy than could +any writer who ever lifted pen. Here the creek-loving, ape-like creatures +ranged up and down and quelled their appetites. They died after they had +begotten sons and daughters; and to these sons and daughters came an added +intelligence, brought from experience and shifting surroundings. The +kitchen-middens give graphic details. The bottom layer, as has been said, +is but of shells. Above it, in another layer, counting thousands of years +in growth, appear the cracked bones of then existing animals and appear +also traces of charred wood, showing that primitive man had learned what +fire was. And later come the rudely carved bones of the mammoth and woolly +rhinoceros and the Irish elk; then come rude flint instruments, and later +the age of smoothed stone, with all its accompanying fossils, bones and +indications; and so on upward, with a steady sweep, until close to the +surface of this kitchen-midden appear the bronze spear, the axhead and the +rude dagger of the being who became the Druid and who is an ancestor whom +we recognize. From the kitchen-midden to the pinnacle of all that is great +to-day extends a chain not a link of which is weak. +</p> + +<p> +"They tell strange stories, too, the Shell People," Old Mok continued, +"for they are greater story-tellers than the Cave Men are, more of them +being together in one place, and the old men always tell the tales to the +children so that they are never forgotten by any of the people. They say +that once huge things came out of the great waters and up the creeks, such +as even the big cave tiger dare not face. And the old men say that their +grandfathers once saw with their own eyes a monster serpent many times as +large as the one you two saw, which came swimming up the creek and seized +upon the river horses there and devoured them as easily as the cave bear +would a little deer. And the serpent seized upon some of the Cave People +who were upon the water and devoured them as well, though such as they +were but a mouthful to him. And this tale, too, I believe, for the old +Shell Men who told me what their grandfathers had seen were not of the +foolish sort." +</p> + +<p> +"But of another sort of story they have told me," Mok continued, "I think +little. The old men tell of a time when those who went down the river to +the greater river and followed it down to the sea, which seems to have no +end, saw what no man can see to-day. But they do not say that their +grandfathers saw these things. They only say that their grandfathers told +of what had been told them by their grandfathers farther back, of a story +which had come down to them, so old that it was older than the great trees +were, of monstrous things which swam along the shores and which were not +serpents, though they had long necks and serpent heads, because they had +great bodies which were driven by flippers through the water as the beaver +goes with his broad feet. And at the same time, the old story goes, were +great birds, far taller than a man, who fed where now the bustards and the +capercailzie are. And these tales I do not believe, though I have seen +bones washed from the riversides and hillsides by the rains which must +have come from creatures different from those we meet now in the forests +or the waters. They are wonderful story-tellers, the old men of the Shell +People." +</p> + +<p> +"And they tell other strange stories," continued the old man. "They say +that very long ago the cold and ice came down, and all the people and +animals fled before it, and that the summer was cold as now the winter is, +and that the men and beasts fled together to the south, and were there for +a long time, but came back again as the cold and ice went back. They say, +too, that in still later times, the fireplaces where the flames came out +of great cracks in the earth were in tens of places where they are in one +now, and that, even in the ice time, the flames came up, and that the ice +was melted and then ran in rivers to the sea. And these things I do not +believe, for how can men tell of what there was so long ago? They are but +the gabblings of the old, who talk so much." +</p> + +<p> +Many other stories the veteran told, but what most affected Ab was his +account of the vale of fire. He hoped to see it sometime. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xiii">CHAPTER XIII.</a></h2> + +<h3>AB'S GREAT DISCOVERY.</h3> + +<p> +It may be that never in what was destined to be a life of many changes was +Ab happier than in this period of his lusty boyhood and early manhood, +when there was so much that was new, when he was full of hope and +confidence and of ambition regarding what a mighty hunter and great man he +would become in time. As the years passed he was not less indefatigable in +his experiments, and the day came when a marvelous success followed one of +them, although, like most inventions, it was suggested in the most trivial +and accidental manner. +</p> + +<p> +It chanced one afternoon that Ab, a young man of twenty now, had returned +early from the wood and was lying lazily upon the sward near the cave's +entrance, while, not far away, Bark and the still chubby Beechleaf were +rolling about. The boy was teasing the girl at times and then doing +something to amuse or awe her. He had found a stiff length of twig and was +engaged in idly bending the ends together and then letting them fly apart +with a snap, meanwhile advancing toward and threatening with the impact +the half-alarmed but wholly delighted Beechleaf. Tired of this, at last, +Bark, with no particular intent, drew forth from the pouch in his skin +cloak a string of sinew, and drawing the ends of the strong twig somewhat +nearly together, attached the cord to each, thus producing accidentally a +petty bow of most rotund proportions. He found that the string twanged +joyously, and, to the delight of Beechleaf, kept twanging it for such time +as his boyish temperament would allow a single occupation. Then he picked +from the ground a long, slender pencil of white wood, a sliver, perhaps, +from the making of a spear shaft, and began strumming with it upon the +taut sinew string. This made a twang of a new sort, and again the boy and +girl were interested temporarily. But, at last, even this variation of +amusement with the new toy became monotonous, and Bark ceased strumming +and began a series of boyish experiments with his plaything. He put one +end of the stick against the string and pushed it back until the other end +would press against the inside of the twig, and the result would be a +taut, new figure in wood and string which would keep its form even when +laid upon the ground. Bark made and unmade the thing a time or two, and +then came great disaster. He had drawn the little stick, so held in the +way we now call arrowwise, back nearly to the point where its head would +come inside the bent twig and there fix itself, when the slight thing +escaped his hands and flew away. +</p> + +<p> +The quiet of the afternoon was broken by a piercing childish yell which +lacked no element of earnestness. Ab leaped to his feet and was by the +youngsters in a moment. He saw the terrified Beechleaf standing, screaming +still, with a fat arm outheld, from which dangled a little shaft of wood +which had pierced the flesh just deeply enough to give it hold. Bark stood +looking at her, astonished and alarmed. Understanding nothing of the +circumstances, and supposing the girl's hurt came from Bark's careless +flinging of sticks toward her, Ab started toward his brother to administer +one of those buffets which were so easy to give or get among cave +children. But Bark darted behind a convenient tree and there shrieked out +his innocence of dire intent, just as the boy of to-day so fluently +defends himself in any strait where castigation looms in sight. He told of +the queer plaything he had made, and offered to show how all had happened. +</p> + +<p> +Ab was doubtful but laughing now, for the little shaft, which had scarcely +pierced the skin of Beechleaf's arm had fallen to the ground and that +young person's fright had given way to vengeful indignation and she was +demanding that Bark be hit with something. He allowed the sinner to give +his proof. Bark, taking his toy, essayed to show how Beechleaf had been +injured. He was the most unfortunate of youths. He succeeded but too well. +The mimic arrow flew again and the sound that rang out now was not the cry +of a child. It was the yell of a great youth, who felt a sudden and +poignant hurt, and who was not maintaining any dignity. Had Bark been as +sure of hand and certain of aim as any archer who lived in later centuries +he could not have sent an arrow more fairly to its mark than he sent that +admirable sliver into the chest of his big brother. For a second the +culprit stood with staring eyes, then dropped his toy and flew into the +forest with a howl which betokened his fear of something little less than +sudden death. +</p> + +<p> +Ab's first impulse was to pursue his sinful younger brother, but, after +the first leap, he checked himself and paused to pluck away the thing +which, so light the force that had impelled it, had not gone deeply in. He +knew now that Bark was really blameless, and, picking up the abandoned +plaything, began its examination thoughtfully and curiously. +</p> + +<p> +The young man's instinct toward experiment exhibited itself as usual and +he put the splinter against the string and drew it back and let it fly as +he had seen Bark do--that promising sprig, by the way, being now engaged +in peering from the wood and trying to form an estimate as to whether or +not his return was yet advisable. Ab learned that the force of the bent +twig would throw the sliver farther than he could toss it with his hand, +and he wondered what would follow were something like this plaything, the +device of which Bark had so stumbled upon, to be made and tried on a +greater scale. "I'll make one like it, only larger," he said to himself. +</p> + +<p> +The venturesome but more or less diplomatic Bark had, by this time, +emerged from the wood and was apprehensively edging up toward the place +where Ab was standing. The older brother saw him and called to him to come +and try the thing again and the youngster knew that he was safe. Then the +two toyed with the plaything for an hour or two and Ab became more and +more interested in its qualities. He had no definite idea as to its +possibilities. He thought only of it as a curious thing which should be +larger. +</p> + +<p> +The next day Ab hacked from a low-limbed tree a branch as thick as his +finger and about a yard in length, and, first trimming it, bent it as Bark +had bent the twig and tied a strong sinew cord across. It was a not +discreditable bow, considering the fact that it was the first ever made, +though one end was smaller than the other and it was rough of outline. +Then Ab cut a straight willow twig, as long nearly as the bow, and began +repeating the experiments of the day before. Never was man more astonished +than this youth after he had drawn the twig back nearly to its head and +let it go! +</p> + +<p> +So drawn by a strong arm, the shaft when released flew faster and farther +than the maker of what he thought of chiefly as a thing of sport had +imagined could be possible. He had long to search for the headless arrow +and when he found it he went away to where were bare open stretches, that +he might see always where it fell. Once as he sent it from the string it +struck fairly against an oak and, pointless as it was, forced itself +deeply into the hard brown bark and hung there quivering. Then came to the +youth a flash of thought which had its effect upon the ages: "What if +there had been a point to the flying thing and it had struck a reindeer or +any of the hunted animals?" +</p> + +<p> +He pulled the shaft from the tree and stood there pondering for a moment +or two, then suddenly started running toward the cave. He must see Old +Mok! +</p> + +<p> +The old man was at work and alone and the young man told him, somewhat +excitedly, why he had thus come running to him. The elder listened with +some patience but with a commiserating grin upon his face. He had heard +young men tell of great ideas before, of a new and better way of digging +pits, or of fishing, or making deadfalls for wild beasts. But he listened +and yielded finally to Ab's earnest demand that he should hobble out into +the open and see with his own eyes how the strung bow would send the +shaft. They went together to an open space, and again and again Ab showed +to his old friend what the new thing would do. With the second shot there +came a new light into the eyes of the veteran hunter and he bade Ab run to +the cave and bring back with him his favorite spear. The young man was +back as soon as strong legs could bring him, and when he burst into the +open he found Mok standing a long spear's cast from the greatest of the +trees which stood about the opening. +</p> + +<p> +"Throw your spear at the tree," said Mok. "Throw strongly as you can." +</p> + +<p> +Ab hurled the spear as the Zulu of later times might hurl his assagai, as +strongly and as well, but the distance was overmuch for spear throwing +with good effect, and the flint point pierced the wood so lightly that the +weight of the long shaft was too great for the holding force and it sank +slowly to the ground and pulled away the head. A wild beast struck by the +spear at such distance would have been sorely pricked, but not hurt +seriously. +</p> + +<p> +"Now take the plaything," said Old Mok, "and throw the little shaft at the +tree with that." +</p> + +<p> +Ab did as he was told, and, poor marksman with his new device, of course +missed the big tree repeatedly, broad as the mark was, but when, at last, +the bolt struck the hard trunk fairly there was a sound which told of the +sharpness of the blow and the headless shaft rebounded back for yards. Old +Mok looked upon it all delightedly. +</p> + +<p> +"It may be there is something to your plaything," he said to the young +man. "We will make a better one. But your shaft is good for nothing. We +will make a straighter and stronger one and upon the end of it will put a +little spearhead, and then we can tell how deeply it will go into the +wood. We will work." +</p> + +<p> +For days the two labored earnestly together, and when they came again into +the open they bore a stronger bow, one tapered at the end opposite the +natural tapering of the branch, so that it was far more flexible and +symmetrical than the one they had tried before. They had abundance of ash +and yew and these remained the good bow wood of all the time of archery. +And the shaft was straight and bore a miniature spearhead at its end. The +thought of notching the shaft to fit the string came naturally and +inevitably. The bow had its first arrow. +</p> + +<p> +An old man is not so easily affected as a young one, nor so hopeful, but +when the second test was done the veteran Mok was the wilder and more +delighted of the two who shot at the tree in the forest glade. He saw it +all! No longer could the spear be counted as the thing with which to do +most grievous hurt at a safe distance from whatever might be dangerous. +With the better bow and straighter shaft the marksmanship improved; even +for these two callow archers it was not difficult to hit at a distance of +a double spear's cast the bole of the huge tree, two yards in width at +least. And the arrow whistled as if it were a living thing, a hawk seeking +its prey, and the flint head was buried so deeply in the wood that both +Mok and Ab knew that they had found something better than any weapon the +cave men had ever known! +</p> + +<p> +There followed many days more of the eager working of the old man and the +young one in the cave, and there was much testing of the new device, and +finally, one morning, Ab issued forth armed with his ax and knife, but +without his spear. He bore, instead, a bow which was the best and +strongest the two had yet learned to fashion, and a sheaf of arrows slung +behind his back in a quiver made of a hollow section of a mammoth's leg +bone which had long been kicked about the cave. The two workers had +drilled holes in the bone and passed thongs through and made a wooden +bottom to the thing and now it had found its purpose. The bow was rude, as +were the arrows, and the archer was not yet a certain marksman, though he +had practiced diligently, but the bow was stiff, at least, and the arrows +had keen heads of flint and the arms of the hunter were strong as was the +bow. +</p> + +<p> +There was a weary and fruitless search for game, but late in the afternoon +the youth came upon a slight, sheer descent, along the foot of which ran a +shallow but broad creek, beyond which was a little grass-grown valley, +where were feeding a fine herd of the little deer. They were feeding in +the direction of the creek and the wind blew from them to the hunter, so +that no rumor of their danger was carried to them on the breeze. Ab +concealed himself among the bushes on the little height and awaited what +might happen. The herd fed slowly toward him. +</p> + +<p> +As the deer neared the creek they grouped themselves together about where +were the greenest and richest feeding-places, and when they reached the +very border of the stream they were gathered in a bunch of half a hundred, +close together. They were just beyond a spear's cast from the watcher, but +this was a test, not of the spear, but of the bow, and the most +inexperienced of archers, shooting from where Ab was hidden, must strike +some one of the beasts in that broad herd. Ab sprang to his feet and drew +his arrow to the head. The deer gathered for a second in affright, +crowding each other before the wild bursting away together, and then the +bow-string twanged, and the arrow sang hungrily, and there was the swift +thud of hundreds of light feet, and the little glade was almost silent. It +was not quite silent, for, floundering in its death struggles, was a +single deer, through which had passed an arrow so fiercely driven that its +flint head projected from the side opposite that which it had entered. +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/illp138.jpg"><img src="images/illp138_th.jpg" alt="AB SPRANG TO HIS FEET, AND DREW HIS ARROW TO THE HEAD"></a> +</p> + +<p> +Half wild with triumph was the youth who bore home the arrow-stricken +quarry, and not much more elated was he than the old man, who heard the +story of the hunt, and who recognized, at once far more clearly than the +younger one, the quality of the new weapon which had been discovered; the +thing destined to become the greatest implement both of chase and warfare +for thousands of years to come, and which was to be gradually improved, +even by these two, until it became more to them than they could yet +understand. +</p> + +<p> +But the lips of each of the two makers of the bow were sealed for the +time. Ab and Old Mok cherished together their mighty secret. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xiv">CHAPTER XIV.</a></h2> + +<h3>A LESSON IN SWIMMING.</h3> + +<p> +Ab and Oak, ranging far in their hunting expeditions, had, long since, +formed the acquaintance of the Shell People, and had even partaken of +their hospitality, though there was not much to attract a guest in the +abodes of the creek-haunters. Their homes were but small caves, not much +more than deep burrows, dug here and there in the banks, above high water +mark, and protected from wild beasts by the usual heaped rocks, leaving +only a narrow passage. This insured warmth and comparative safety, but the +homes lacked the spaciousness of the caves and caverns of the hills, and +the food of fish and clams and periwinkles, with flesh and fruit but +seldom gained, had little attraction for the occasional cave visitor. Ab +and Oak would sometimes traffic with the Shell People, exchanging some +creature of the land for a product of the water, but they made brief stay +in a locality where the food and odors were not quite to their accustomed +taste. Yet the settlement had a slight degree of interest to them. They +had noted the buxom quality of some of the Shell maidens, and the two had +now attained an age when a bright-eyed young person of the other sex was +agreeable to look upon. But there had been no love passages. Neither of +the youths was yet so badly stricken. +</p> + +<p> +There came an autumn morning when Ab and Oak, who had met at daybreak, +determined to visit the Shell People and go with them upon a fishing +expedition. The Shell People often fished from boats, and the boats were +excellent. Each consisted of four or five short logs of the most buoyant +wood, bound firmly together with tough withes, but the contrivance was +more than a simple raft, because, at the bow, it had been hewed to a +point, and the logs had been so chosen that each curved upward there. It +had been learned that the waves sometimes encountered could so more easily +be cleft or overridden. None of these boats could sink, and the man of the +time was quite at home in the water. It was fun for the young men whose +tale is told here to go with the Shell People and assist in spearing fish +or drawing them from the river's depths upon rude hooks, and the Shell +People did not object, but were rather proud of the attendance of +representatives of the hillside aristocracy. +</p> + +<p> +The morning was one to make men far older than these two most confident +and full of life. The season was late, though the river's waters were not +yet cold. The mast had already begun to fall and the nuts lay thickly +among the leaves. Every morning, and more regularly than it comes now, +there was a spread of glistening hoar frost upon the lowlands and the +little open lands in the forest and upon every spot not tree-protected. At +such times there appeared to the eyes of the cave people the splendor of +nature such as we now can hardly comprehend. It came most strikingly in +spring and autumn, and was something wonderful. The cave men, probably, +did not appreciate it. They were accustomed to it, for it was part of the +record of every year. Doubtless there came a greater vigor to them in the +keen air of the hoar frost time, doubtless the step of each was made more +springy and each man's valor more defined in this choice atmosphere. +Temperate, with a wonderful keenness to it, was the climate of the cave +region in the valley of the present Thames. Even in the days of the cave +men, the Gulf Stream, swinging from the equator in the great warm current +already formed, laved the then peninsula as it now laves the British +Isles. The climate, as has been told, was almost as equable then as now, +but with a certain crispness which was a heritage from the glacial epoch. +It was a time to live in, and the two were merry on their journey in the +glittering morning. +</p> + +<p> +The young men idled on their way and wasted an hour or two in vain +attempts to approach a feeding deer nearly enough for effective +spear-throwing. They were late when, after swimming the creek, they +reached the Shell village and there learned that the party had already +gone. They decided that they might, perhaps, overtake the fishermen, and +so, with the hunter's easy lope, started briskly down the river bank. They +were not destined to fish that day. +</p> + +<p> +Three or four miles had been passed and a straight stretch of the river +had been attained, at the end of which, a mile away, could be seen the +boats of the Shell People, to be lost to sight a moment later as they +swept around a bend. But there was something else in sight. Perched +comfortably upon a rock, the sides of which were so precipitous that they +afforded a foothold only for human beings, was a young woman of the Shell +People who had before attracted Ab's attention and something of his +admiration. She was fishing diligently. She had been left by the fishing +party, to be taken up on their return, because, in the rush of waters +about the base of the rock, was a haunt of a small fish esteemed +particularly, and because the girl was one of the little tribe's adepts +with hook and line She raised her eyes as she heard the patter of +footsteps upon the shore, but did not exhibit any alarm when she saw the +two young men. The ordinary young woman of the Shell People did not worry +when away from land. She could swim like an otter and dive like a loon, +and of wild beasts she had no fear when she was thus safely bestowed away +from the death-harboring forest. The maiden on the rock was most serene. +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/illp144.jpg"><img src="images/illp144_th.jpg" alt="THE YOUNG MEN CALLED TO HER BUT SHE MADE NO ANSWER. SHE BUT FISHED AWAY DEMURELY"></a> +</p> + +<p> +The young men called to her, but she made no answer. She but fished away +demurely, from time to time hauling up a flashing finny thing, which she +calmly bumped on the rock and then tossed upon the silvery heap, which had +already assumed fair dimensions, close behind her. As Ab looked upon the +young fisherwoman his interest in her grew rapidly and he was silent, +though Oak called out taunting words and asked her if she could not talk. +It was not this young woman, but another, who had most pleased Oak among +the girls of the Shell People. +</p> + +<p> +It was not love yet with Ab, but the maiden interested him. He held no +defined wish to carry her away to a new home with him, but there arose a +feeling that he wanted to know her better. There might,--he didn't +know--be as good wives among the Shell maidens as among the well-running +girls of the hills. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll swim to the rock!" he said to his companion, and Oak laughed loudly. +</p> + +<p> +Short time elapsed between decision and action in those days, and hardly +had Ab spoken when he flung his fur covering into the hands of Oak, and, +clad only in the clout about his hips, dropped, with a splash, into the +water. All this time the girl had been eyeing every motion closely. As the +little waves rose laughingly about the man, she descended lightly from her +perch and slid into the stream as easily and silently as a beaver might +have done. And then began a chase. The girl, finding mid-current swiftly, +was a full hundred yards ahead as Ab came fairly in her wake. +</p> + +<p> +A splendid swimmer was the stalwart young man of the hills. He had been in +and out of water almost daily since early childhood, and, though there had +never been a test, was confident that, among all the Shell People, there +was none he could not overtake, despite what he had heard and knew of +their wonderful cleverness in the water. Were not his arms and legs longer +and stronger than theirs and his chest deeper? He felt that he could +outswim easily any bold fisherman among them, and as for this girl, he +would overtake her very quickly and draw her to the bank, and then there +would be an interview of much enjoyment, at least to him. His strong arm +swept the water back, and his strong legs, working with them, drove his +body forward swiftly toward the brown object not very far ahead. Along the +bank ran the laughing and shouting Oak. +</p> + +<p> +Yard by yard, Ab's mighty strokes brought him nearer the object of his +pursuit. She was swimming breast forward, as was he--for that was his only +way--she with a dog-like paddling stroke, and often she turned her head to +look backward at the man. She did not, even yet, appear affrighted, and +this Ab wondered at, for it was seldom that a girl of the time, thus +hunted, was not, and with reason, terrified. She, possibly, understood +that the chase did not involve a real abduction, for she and her pursuer +had often met, but there was, at least, reason enough for avoiding too +close contact on this day. She swam on steadily, and, as steadily, Ab +gained upon her. +</p> + +<p> +Down the long stretch of tumbling river, sweeping eastward between hill +and slope and plain and woodland, went the chase, while the panting and +cheering Oak, strong-legged and enduring as he was, barely kept pace with +the two heads he could see bobbing, not far apart now, in the tossing +waters. Ab had long since forgotten Oak. He had forgotten how it was that +he came to be thus swimming in the river. His thought was only what now +made up an overmastering aim. He must reach and seize upon the girl before +him! +</p> + +<p> +Closer and closer, though she as much as he was aided by the swift +current, the young man approached the girl. The hundred yards had lessened +into tens and he could plainly see now the wake about her and the +occasional up-flip of her brown heels as she went high in her stroke. He +now felt easily assured of her and laughed to himself as he swept his arms +backward in a fiercer stroke and came so close that he could discern her +outline through the water. It was but a matter of endurance, he chuckled +to himself. How could a woman outswim a man like him? +</p> + +<p> +It was just at the time when this thought came that Ab saw the Shell girl +lift her head and turn it toward him and laugh--laugh recklessly, almost +in his very face, so close together were they now. And then she taught him +something! There was a dip such as the otter makes when he seeks the +depths and there was no longer a girl in sight! But this was only a +demonstration, made in sheer audacity and blithesome insolence, for the +brown head soon appeared again some yards ahead and there was another +twist of it and another merry laugh. Then the neat body turned upon its +side, and with quick outdriving legstrokes and the overhand and underhand +pulling-forward which modern swimmers partly know, the girl shot ahead +through the tiny white-capped waves and away from the swimmer so close +behind her, as to-day the cutter leaves the scow. From the river bank came +a wild yelp, the significance of which, if analyzed, might have included +astonishment and great delight and brotherly derision. Oak was having a +great day of it! He was the sole witness of a swimming-match the like of +which was rare, and he was getting even with his friend for various +assumptions of superiority in various doings. +</p> + +<p> +Unexhausted and sturdy and stubborn, Ab was not the one to abandon his +long chase because of this new phase of things. He inhaled a great breath +and made the water foam with his swift strokes, but as well might a wild +goose chase a swallow on the wing as he seek to overtake that brown streak +on the water. It was wonderful, the manner in which that Shell girl swam! +She was like the birds which swim and dive and dip, and know of nothing +which they fear if only they are in the water far enough away from where +there is the need of stalking over soil and stone. It was not that the +Shell girl was other than at home on land. She was quite at home there and +reasonably fleet, but the creek and river had so been her element from +babyhood that the chase of the hill man had been, from the start, a sheer +absurdity. +</p> + +<p> +Ab lifted himself in the waters and gazed upon the dark spot far away, +and, piqued and maddened, put forth all the swimming strength there was +left in his brawny body. It seemed for a brief time that he was almost +equal to the task of gaining upon what was little more than a dot upon the +surface far ahead. But his scant prospect of success was only momentary. +The trifling spot in the distant drifts of the river seemed to have +certain ideas of its own. The speed of its course in the water did not +abate and, in a moment, it was carried around the bend, and lost to sight. +Ab drifted to the turn and saw, below, a girl clambering into safety among +the rafts of the fishing Shell People. What she would tell them he did not +know. That was not a matter to be much considered. +</p> + +<p> +There was but one thing to be done and that was to reach the land and +return to a life more strictly earthly and more comfortable. There is +nothing like water for overcoming a young man's fancy for many things. Ab +swam now with a somewhat tired and languid stroke to the shore, where Oak +awaited him hilariously. They almost came to blows that afternoon, and +blows between such as they might have easily meant sudden death. But they +were not rivals yet and there was much to talk of good-naturedly, after +some slight outflamings of passion on the part of Ab, and the two men were +good friends again. +</p> + +<p> +The sum of all the day was that there had been much exercise and fun, for +Oak at least. Ab had not caught the Shell girl, manfully as he had +striven. Had he caught her and talked with her upon the river bank it +might have changed the current of his life. With a man so young and sturdy +and so full of life the laughing fancy of a moment might have changed into +a stronger feeling and the swimming girl might have become a woman of the +cave people, one not quite so equal by heritage to the task of breeding +good climbing and running and fighting and progressive beings as some girl +of the hills. +</p> + +<p> +It matters little what might have happened had the outcome of the day's +effort been the reverse of what it was. This is but the account of the +race and what the sequel was when Ab swam so far and furiously and well. +It was his first flirtation. It was yet to come to him that he should be +really in love in the cave man's way. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xv">CHAPTER XV.</a></h2> + +<h3>THE MAMMOTH AT BAY.</h3> + +<p> +It was late autumn, and a light snow covered the ground, when one day a +cave man, panting for breath, came running down the river bank and paused +at the cave of One-Ear. He had news, great news! He told his story +hurriedly, and then was taken into the cave and given meat, while Ab, +seizing his weapons, fled downward further still toward the great +kitchen-midden of the Shell People. Just as ages and ages later, not far +from the same region, some Scottish runner carried the fiery cross, Ab ran +exultingly with the news it was his to bring. There must be an immediate +gathering, not only of the cave men, but of the Shell People as well, and +great mutual effort for great gain. The mammoths were near the point of +the upland! +</p> + +<p> +The runner to the cave of One-Ear was a hunter living some miles to the +north, upon a ledge of a broad forest-covered plateau terminating on the +west in a slope which ended in a precipice with more than a hundred feet +of sheer descent to the valley below. On rare occasions a herd of mammoths +invaded the forest and worked itself toward the apex of the plateau, and +then word went all over the region, for it was an event in the history of +the cave men. If but a sufficient force could be suddenly assembled, food +in abundance for all was almost certainly assured. The prize was something +stupendous, but prompt action was required, and there might be tragedies. +As bees hum and gather when their hive is disturbed, so did the Shell +People when Ab burst in upon them and delivered his message. There was +rushing about and a gathering of weapons and a sorting out of men who +should go upon the expedition. But little time was wasted. Within half an +hour Ab was straining back again up the river toward his own abode, while +behind him trailed half a hundred of the Shell People, armed in a way +effective enough, but which, in the estimation of the cave men, was +preposterous. The spears of the Shell People had shafts of different wood +and heads of different material from those of the cave men, and they used +their weapons in a different manner. Accustomed to the spearing of fish or +of an occasional water beast, like a small hippopotamus, which still +existed in the rivers of the peninsula, they always threw their +spears--though the cave people were experts with this as well--and, as a +last resource in close conflict, they used no stone ax or mace, but simply +ran away, to throw again from a distance, or to fly again, as conditions +made advisable. But they were brave in a way--it was necessary that all +who would live must have a certain animal bravery in those days--and +their numbers made them essential in the rare hunting of the mammoth. +</p> + +<p> +When the company reached the home of Ab they found already assembled there +a score of the hill men, and, as the word had gone out in every direction, +it was found, when the rendezvous was reached, which was the cave of +Hilltop, the man living near the crest of the plateau, and the one who had +made the first run down the river, that there were more than a hundred, +counting all together, to advance against the herd and, if possible, drive +the great beasts toward the precipice. Among this hundred there was none +more delighted than Ab and Oak, for, of course, these two had found each +other in the group, and were almost like a brace of dogs whining for the +danger and the hunt. +</p> + +<p> +Not lightly was an expedition against a herd of mammoths to be begun, even +by a hundred well-armed people of the time of the cave men. The mammoth +was a monster beast, with perhaps somewhat less of sagaciousness than the +modern elephant, but with a temper which was demoniacal when aroused, and +with a strength which nothing could resist. He could be slain only by +strategy. Hence the everlasting watch over the triangular plateau and the +gathering of the cave and river people to catch him at a disadvantage. +But, even with a drove feeding near the slope which led to the precipice, +the cave men would have been helpless without the introduction of other +elements than their weapons and their clamor. The mammoth paid no more +attention to the cave man with a spear than to one of the little wild +horses which fed near him at times. The pygmy did not alarm him, but did +the pygmy ever venture upon an attack, then it was likely to be seized by +the huge trunk and flung against rock or tree, to fall crushed and +mangled, or else it was trodden viciously under foot. From one thing, +though, the mammoth, huge as he was, would flee in terror. He could not +face the element of fire, and this the cave men had learned to their +advantage. They could drive the mammoth when they dare not venture to +attack him, and herein lay their advantage. +</p> + +<p> +Under direction of the veteran hunter, Hilltop, who had discovered the +whereabouts of the drove, preparations were made for the dangerous +advance, and the first thing done was the breaking off of dry roots of the +overturned pitch pines, and gathering of knots of the same trees, with +limbs attached, to serve as handles. These roots and knots, once lighted, +would blaze for hours and made the most perfect of natural torches. +Lengths of bark of certain other trees when bound together and lighted at +one end burned almost as long and brightly as the roots and knots. Each +man carried an unlighted torch of one kind or another, in addition to his +weapons, and when this provision was made the band was stretched out in a +long line and a silent advance began through the forest. The herd of +mammoths was composed of nineteen, led by a monster even of his kind, and +men who had been watching them all night and during the forenoon said that +the herd was feeding very near the edge of the wood, where it ended on the +slope leading to the precipice. There was ice upon the slope and there +were chances of a great day's hunting. To cut off the mammoths, that is, +to extend a line across the uprising peninsula where they were feeding, +would require a line of not more than about five hundred yards in length, +and as there were more than a hundred of the hunters, the line which could +be formed would be most effective. Lighted punk, which preserved fire and +gave forth no odor to speak of, was carried by a number of the men, and +the advance began. +</p> + +<p> +It had been an exhilarating scene when the cave men and Shell People first +assembled and when the work of gathering material for the torches was in +progress. So far was the gathering from the present haunt of the game that +caution had been unnecessary, and there was talk and laughter and all the +open enjoyment of an anticipated conquest. The light snow, barely covering +the ground, flashed in the sun, and the hunters, practically impervious to +the slight cold, were almost prankish in their demeanor. Ab and Oak +especially were buoyant. This was the first hunt upon the rocky peninsula +of either of them, and they were delighted with the new surroundings and +eager for the fray to come. All about was talk and laughter, which became +general with any slight physical disaster which came to one among the +hunters in the climbing of some tree for a promising dead branch or +finding a treacherous hollow when assailing the roots of some upturned +pine. It was a brisk scene and a lively one, that which occurred that +crisp morning in late autumn when the wild men gathered to hunt the +mammoth. All was brightness and jollity and noise. +</p> + +<p> +Very different, in a moment, was the condition when the hunters entered +the forest and, extended in line, began their advance toward the huge +objects of their search. The cave man, almost a wild beast himself in some +of his ways, had, on occasion, a footfall as light as that of any animal +of the time. The twig scarcely crackled and the leaf scarcely rustled +beneath his tread, and when the long line entered the wood the silence of +death fell there, for the hunters made no sound, and what slight sound the +woodland had before--the clatter of the woodpeckers and jays--was hushed +by their advance. So through the forest, which was tolerably close, the +dark line swept quietly forward until there came from somewhere a sudden +signal, and with a still more cautious advance and contraction of the line +as the peninsula narrowed the quarry was brought in sight of all. +</p> + +<p> +Close to the edge of the slope, and separated by a slight open space from +the forest proper, was an evergreen grove, in which the herd of monster +beasts was feeding. A great bull, with long up-curling tusks, loomed above +them all, and was farthest away in the grove. The hunters, hidden in the +forest, lay voiceless and motionless until the elders decided upon a plan +of attack, and then the word was passed along that each man must fire his +torch. +</p> + +<p> +All along the edge of the wood arose the flashing of little flames. These +grew in magnitude until a line of fire ran clear across the wood, and the +mammoths nearest raised their trunks and showed signs of uneasiness. Then +came a signal, a wild shout, and at once, with a yell, the long line burst +into the open, each man waving his flaming torch and rushing toward the +grove. +</p> + +<p> +There was a chance--a slight one--that the whole herd might be stampeded, +but this had rarely happened within the memory of the oldest hunter. The +mammoth, though subject to panic, did not lack intelligence and when in a +group was conscious of its strength. As that yell ascended, the startled +beasts first rushed deeper into the grove and then, as the slope beyond +was revealed to them, turned and charged blindly, all save one, the great +tusker, who was feeding at the grove's outer verge. They came on, great +mountains of flesh, but swerved as they met the advancing line of fire and +weaved aimlessly up and down for a moment or two. Then a huge bull, stung +by a spear hurled by one of the hunters and frantic with fear, plunged +forward across the line and the others followed blindly. Three men were +crushed to death in their passage and all the mammoths were gone save the +big bull, who had started to rejoin his herd but had not reached it in +time. He was now raging up and down in the grove, bewildered and +trumpeting angrily. Immediately the hunters gathered closer together and +made their line of fire continuous. +</p> + +<p> +The mammoth rushed out clear of the trees and stood looming up, a +magnificent creature of unrivaled size and majesty. His huge tusks shone +out whitely against the mountain of dark shaggy hair. His small eyes +blazed viciously as he raised his trunk and trumpeted out what seemed +either a hoarse call to his herd or a roar of agony over his strait. He +seemed for a moment as if about to rush upon the dense line of his +tormentors, but the flaming faggots dashed almost in his face by the +reckless and excited hunters daunted him, and, as a spear lodged in his +trunk, he turned with almost a shriek of pain and dashed into the grove +again. Close at his heels bounded the hundred men, yelling like demons and +forgetting all danger in the madness of the chase. Right through the grove +the great beast crashed and then half turned as he came to the open slope +beyond. Running beside him was a daring youth trying in vain to pierce him +in the belly with his flint-headed spear, and, as the mammoth came for the +moment to a half halt, his keen eyes noted the pygmy, his great trunk shot +downward and backward, picked up the man and hurled him yards away against +the base of a great tree, the body as it struck being crushed out of all +semblance to man and dropping to the earth a shapeless lump. But the fire +behind and about the desperate mammoth seemed all one flame now, countless +spears thrown with all the force of strong arms were piercing his tough +hide, and out upon the slope toward the precipice the great beast plunged. +Upon his very flanks was the fire and about him all the stinging danger +from the half-crazed hunters. He lunged forward, slipped upon the smooth +glacial floor beneath him, tried to turn again to meet his thronging foes +and face the ring of flame, and then, wavering, floundering, moving +wonderfully for a creature of his vast size, but uncertain as to foothold, +he was driven to the very crest of the ledge, and, scrambling vainly, +carrying away an avalanche of ice, snow and shrubs, went crashing to his +death, a hundred feet below! +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xvi">CHAPTER XVI.</a></h2> + +<h3>THE FEAST OF THE MAMMOTH.</h3> + +<p> +To the right and left of the precipice the fall to the plain below was +more gradual, and with exultant yells, the cave and Shell men rushed in +either direction, those venturing nearest the sheer descent going down +like monkeys, clinging as they went to shrubs and vines, while those who +ran to where the drop was a degree more passable fairly tumbled downward +to the plain. In an incredibly short space of time absolute silence +prevailed in and about the grove where the scene had lately been so +fiercely stirring. In the valley below there was wildest clamor. +</p> + +<p> +It was a great occasion for the human beings of the region. There was no +question as to the value of the prize the hunters had secured. Never +before in any joint hunting expedition, within the memory of the oldest +present, had followed more satisfactory result. The spoil was well worth +the great effort that had been made; in the estimation of the time, +perhaps worth the death of the hunters who had been killed. The huge beast +lay dead, close to the base of the cliff. One great, yellow-white, curved +tusk had been snapped off and showed itself distinct upon the grass some +feet away from the mountain of flesh so lately animated. The sight was one +worth looking upon in any age, for, in point of grandeur of appearance, +the mammoth, while not as huge as some of the monsters of reptilian times, +had a looming impressiveness never surpassed by any beast on the earth's +surface. Though prone and dead he was impressive. +</p> + +<p> +But the cave and Shell men were not so much impressed as they were +delighted. They had come into possession of food in abundance and there +would be a feast of all the people of the region, and, after that, +abundant meat in many a hut and cave for many a day. The hunters were +noisy and excited. A group pounced upon the broken tusk--for a mammoth +tusk, or a piece of one, was a prize in a cave dwelling--and there was +prospect of a struggle, but grim voices checked the wrangle of those who +had seized upon this portion of the spoil and it was laid aside, to be +apportioned later. The feast was the thing to be considered now. +</p> + +<p> +Again swift-footed messengers ran along forest paths and swam streams and +thridded wood and thicket, this time to assemble, not the hunters alone, +but with them all members of households who could conveniently and safely +come to the gathering of the morrow, when the feast of the mammoth would +be on. The messengers dispatched, the great carcass was assailed, and keen +flint knives, wielded by strong and skillful hands, were soon separating +from the body the thick skin, which was divided as seemed best to the +leaders of the gathering, Hilltop, the old hunter, for his special +services, getting the chief award in the division. Then long slices of the +meat were cut away, fires were built, the hunters ate to repletion and +afterward, with a few remaining awake as guards, slept the sleep of the +healthy and fully fed. Not in these modern days would such preliminary +consumption of food be counted wisest preparation for a feast on the +morrow, but the cave and Shell men were alike independent of affections of +the stomach or the liver, and could, for days in sequence, gorge +themselves most buoyantly. +</p> + +<p> +The morning came crisp and clear, and, with the morning, came from all +directions swiftly moving men and women, elated and hungry and expectant. +The first families and all other families of the region were gathering for +the greatest social function of the time. The men of various households +had already exerted themselves and a score or two of fires were burning, +while the odor of broiling meat was fragrant all about. Hunter husbands +met their broods, and there was banqueting, which increased as, hour after +hour, new groups came in. The families of both Ab and Oak were among those +early in the valley, Beechleaf and Bark, wide-eyed and curious, coming +upon the scene as a sort of advance guard and proudly greeting Ab. All +about was heard clucking talk and laughter, an occasional shout, and ever +the cracking of stone upon the more fragile thing, as the monster's +roasted bones were broken to secure the marrow in them. +</p> + +<p> +There was hilarity and universal enjoyment, though the assemblage, almost +by instinct, divided itself into two groups. The cave men and the Shell +men, while at this time friendly, were, as has been indicated, unlike in +many tastes and customs and to an extent unlike in appearance. The cave +man, accustomed to run like the deer along the forest ways, or to avoid +sudden danger by swift upward clambering and swinging along among +treetops, was leaner and more muscular than the Shell man, and had in his +countenance a more daring and confident expression. The Shell man was +shorter and, though brawny of build, less active of movement. He had spent +more hours of each day of his life in his rude raft-boat, or in walking +slowly with poised spear along creek banks, or, with bent back, digging +for the great luscious shell-fish which made a portion of his food, than +he had spent afoot and on land, with the smell of growing things in his +nostrils. The flavor of the water was his, the flavor of the wood the cave +man's. So it was that at the feast of the mammoth the allies naturally and +good-naturedly became somewhat grouped, each person according to his kind. +When hunger was satisfied and the talking-time came on, those with objects +and impulses the same could compare notes most interestedly. Constantly +the number of the feasters increased, and by mid-day there was a company +of magnitude. Much meat was required to feed such a number, but there were +tons of meat in a mammoth, enough to defy the immediate assaults of a much +greater assemblage than this of exceedingly healthy people. And the smoke +from the fires ascended and these rugged ones ate and were happy. +</p> + +<p> +But there came a time in the afternoon when even such feasters as were +assembled on this occasion became, in a measure, content, when this one +and that one began to look about, and when what might be called the social +amenities of the period began. Veterans flocked together, reminiscent of +former days when another mammoth had been driven over this same cliff; the +young grouped about different firesides, and there was talk of feats of +strength and daring and an occasional friendly grapple. Slender, sinewy +girls, who had girls' ways then as now, ate together and looked about +coquettishly and safely, for none had come without their natural +guardians. Rarely in the history of the cave men had there been a +gathering more generally and thoroughly festive, one where good eating had +made more good fellowship. Possibly--for all things are relative--there +has never occurred an affair of more social importance within the +centuries since. Human beings, dangerous ones, were merry and trusting +together, and the young looked at each other. +</p> + +<p> +Of course Ab and Oak had been eating in company. They had risked +themselves dangerously in the battle on the cliff, had escaped injury and +were here now, young men of importance, each endowed with an appetite +corresponding with the physical exertion of which he was capable and which +he never hesitated to make. The amount either of those young men had eaten +was sufficient to make a gourmand, though of grossest Roman times, fairly +sick with envy, and they were still eating, though, it must be confessed, +with modified enthusiasm. Each held in his hand a smoking lump of flesh +from some favored portion of the mammoth and each rent away an occasional +mouthful with much content. Suddenly Ab ceased mastication and stood +silent, gazing intently at a not unpleasing object a few yards distant. +</p> + +<p> +Two girls stood together near a fire about which were grouped perhaps a +dozen people. The two were eating, not voraciously, but with an apparent +degree of interest in what they were doing, for they had not been among +the early arrivals. It was upon these two that Ab's wandering glance had +fallen and had been held, and it was not surprising that he had become so +interested. Either of the couple was fitted to attract attention, though a +pair more utterly unlike it would be difficult to imagine. One was slight +and the other the very reverse, but each had striking characteristics. +</p> + +<p> +They stood there, the two, just as two girls so often stand to-day, the +hand of one laid half-caressingly upon the hip of the other. The beaming, +broad one was chattering volubly and the slender one listening carelessly. +The talking of the heavier girl was interrupted evenly by her mumbling at +a juicy strip of meat. Her hunger, it was clear, had not yet been +satisfied, and it was as clear, too, that her companion had yet an +appetite. The slender one was, seemingly, not much interested in the +conversation, but the other chattered on. It was plain that she was a most +contented being. She was symmetrical only from the point of view of +admirers of the heavily built. She had very broad hips and muscular arms +and was somewhat squat of structure. It is hesitatingly to be admitted of +this young lady that, sturdy and prepossessing, from a practical point of +view, as she might be to the average food-winning cave man, she lacked a +certain something which would, to the observant, place her at once in good +society. She was an exceedingly hairy young woman. She wore the usual +covering of skins, but she would have been well-draped, in moderately +temperate weather, had the covering been absent. Either for fashion's sake +or comfort, not much weight of foreign texture in addition to her own +hirsute and, to a certain extent, graceful, natural garb, was needed. She +was a female Esau of the time, just a great, good-hearted, strong and +honest cave girl, of the subordinate and obedient class which began +thousands of years before did history, one who recognized in the girl who +stood beside her a stronger and dominating spirit, and who had been +received as a trusted friend and willing assistant. It is so to-day, even +among the creatures which are said to have no souls, the dogs especially. +But the girl had strength and a certain quick, animal intelligence. She +was the daughter of a cave man living not far from the home of old +Hilltop, and her name was Moonface. Her countenance was so broad and +beaming that the appellation had suggested itself in her jolly childhood. + +Very different from Moonface was the slender being who, having eaten a +strip of meat, was now seeking diligently with a splinter for the marrow +in the fragment of bone her father had tossed toward her. Her father was +Hilltop, the veteran of the immediate region and the hero of the day, and +she was called Lightfoot, a name she had gained early, for not in all the +country round about was another who could pass over the surface of the +earth with greater swiftness than could she. And it was upon Lightfoot +that Ab was looking. +</p> + +<p> +The young woman would have been fair to look upon, or at least +fascinating, to the most world-wearied and listless man of the present +day. She stood there, easily and gracefully, her arms and part of her +breast, above, and her legs from about the knees, below, showing clearly +from beneath her covering of skins. Her deep brown hair, knotted back with +a string of the tough inner bark of some tree, hung upon the middle of her +flat, in-setting back. She was not quite like any of the other girls about +her. Her eyes were larger and softer and there was more reflection and +variety of expression in them. Her limbs were quite as long as those of +any of her companions and the fingers and toes, though slenderer, were +quite as suggestive of quick and strong grasping capabilities, but there +was, with all the proof of springiness and litheness, a certain rounding +out. The strip of hair upon her legs below the knees was slight and +silken, as was also that upon her arms. Yet, undoubted leader in society +as her appearance indicated, quite aside from her father's standing, there +was in her face, with all its loftiness of air, a certain blithesomeness +which was almost at variance with conditions. She was a most lovable young +woman--there could be no question about that--and Ab had, as he looked +upon her for the first time, felt the fact from head to heel. He thought +of her as like the leopard tree-cat, most graceful creature of the wood, +so trim was she and full of elasticity, and thought of her, too, as he +looked in her intelligent face, as higher in another way. He was somewhat +awed, but he was courageous. He had, so far in life, but sought to get +what he wanted whenever it was in sight. Now he was nonplussed. +</p> + +<p> +Presently Lightfoot raised her eyes and they met those of Ab. The young +people looked at each other steadily for a moment and then the glance of +the girl was turned away. But, meanwhile, the man had recovered himself. +He had been eating, absent-mindedly, a well-cooked portion of a great +steak of the mammoth's choicest part. He now tore it in twain and watched +the girl intently. She raised her eyes again and he tossed her a half of +the smoking flesh. She saw the movement, caught the food deftly in one +hand as it reached her, and looked at Ab and laughed. There was no mock +modesty. She began eating the choice morsel contentedly; the two were, in +a manner, now made formally acquainted. +</p> + +<p> +The young man did not, on the instant, pursue his seeming advantage, the +result of an impulsive bravery requiring a greater effort on his part than +the courage he had shown in conflict with many a beast of the forest. He +did not talk to the young woman. But he thought to himself, while his +blood bubbled in his veins, that he would find her again; that he would +find her in the wood! She did not look at him more, for her people were +clustering about her and this was a great occasion. +</p> + +<p> +Ab was recalled to himself by a hoarse exclamation. Oak was looking at him +fiercely. There was no other sound, but the young man stood gazing fixedly +at the place where the girl had just been lost amid the group about her. +And Ab knew instinctively, as men have learned to know so well in all the +years, from the feeling which comes to them at such a time, that he had a +rival, that Oak also had seen and loved this slender creature of the +hillside. +</p> + +<p> +There was a division of the mammoth flesh and hide and tusks. Ab struggled +manfully for a portion of one of the tusks, which he wanted for Old Mok's +carving, and won it at last, the elders deciding that he and Oak had +fought well enough upon the cliff to entitle them to a part of the honor +of the spoil, and Oak opposing nothing done by Ab, though his looks were +glowering. Then, as the sun passed toward the west, all the people +separated to take the dangerous paths toward their homes. Ab and Oak +journeyed away together. Ab was jubilant, though doubtful, while the face +of Oak was dark. The heart of neither was light within him. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xvii">CHAPTER XVII.</a></h2> + +<h3>THE COMRADES.</h3> + +<p> +Drifting away in various directions toward their homes the Cave and Shell +People still kept in groups, by instinct. Social functions terminated +before dark and guests going and coming kept together for mutual +protection in those days of the cave bear and other beasts. But on the day +of the Feast of the Mammoth there was somewhat less than the usual +precaution shown. There were vigorous and well-armed hunters at hand by +scores, and under such escort women and children might travel after dusk +with a degree of safety, unless, indeed, the great cave tiger, +Sabre-Tooth, chanced to be abroad, but he was more rarely to be met than +others of the wild beasts of the time. When he came it was as a +thunderbolt and there were death and mourning in his trail. The march +through the forest as the shadows deepened was most watchful. There was a +keen lookout on the part of the men, and the women kept their children +well in hand. From time to time, one family after another detached itself +from the main body and melted into the forest on the path to its own cave +near at hand. Thus Hilltop and his family left the group in which were Ab +and Oak, and glances of fire followed them as they went. The two girls, +Lightfoot and Moonface, had walked together, chattering like crows. They +had strung red berries upon grasses and had hung them in their hair and +around their necks, and were fine creatures. Lightfoot, as was her wont, +laughed freakishly at whatever pleased her, and in her merry mood had an +able second in her sturdy companion. There were moments, though, when even +the irrepressible Lightfoot was thoughtful and so quiet that the girl who +was with her wondered. The greater girl had been lightly touched with that +unnamable force which has changed men and women throughout all the ages. +The picture of Ab's earnest face was in her mind and would not depart. She +could not, of course, define her own mood, nor did she attempt it. She +felt within herself a certain quaking, as of fear, at the thought of him, +and yet, so she told herself again and again, she was not afraid. All the +time she could see Ab's face, with its look of longing and possession, but +with something else in it, when his eyes met hers, which she could not +name nor understand. She could not speak of him, but Moonface had upon her +no such stilling influence. +</p> + +<p> +"They look alike," she said. +</p> + +<p> +Lightfoot assented, knowing the girl meant Ab and Oak. "But Ab is taller +and stronger," Moonface continued, and Lightfoot assented as +indifferently, for, somehow, of the two she had remembered definitely one +only. She became daring in her reflections: "What if he should want to +carry me to his cave?" and then she tried to run away from the thought and +from anything and everybody else, leaping forward, outracing and leaving +all the company. She reached her father's cave far ahead of the others and +stood, laughing, at the entrance, as the family and Moonface, a guest for +the night, came trotting up. +</p> + +<p> +And Ab, the buoyant and strong, was not himself as he journeyed with the +homeward-pressing company. His mood changed and he dropped away from Oak +and lagged in the rear of the little band as it wound its way through the +forest. Slight time was needed for others to recognize his mood, and he +was strong of arm and quick of temper, as all knew well, and, so, he was +soon left to stalk behind in independent sulkiness. He felt a weight in +his breast; a fiery spot burned there. He was fierce with Oak because Oak +had looked at Lightfoot with a warm light in his eyes. He! when he should +have known that Ab was looking at her! This made rage in his heart; and +sadness came, too, because he was perplexed over the girl. "How can I get +her?" he mumbled to himself, as he stalked along. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, at the van of the company there was noise and frolic. Assembled +in force, they were for the hour free from dread of the haunting terror of +wild beasts, and, satisfied with eating, the Cave and Shell People were in +one of the merriest moods of their lives, collectively speaking. The young +men were especially jubilant and exuberant of demeanor. Their sport was +rough and dangerous. There were scuffling and wrestling and the more +reckless threw their stone axes, sometimes at each other, always, it is +true, with warning cries, but with such wild, unconscious strength put in +the throwing that the finding of a living target might mean death. Ab, +engrossed in thoughts of something far apart from the rude sport about +him, became nervously impatient. Like the girl, he wanted to escape from +his thoughts, and bounding ahead to mingle with the darting and swinging +group in front, he was soon the swift and stalwart leader in their +foolishly risky sport, the center of the whole commotion. One muscled man +would hurl his stone hatchet or strong flint-headed spear at a green tree +and another would imitate him until a space in advance was covered and the +word given for a rush, when all would race for the target, each striving +to reach it first and detach his own weapon before others came. It was a +merry but too careless contest, with a chance of some serious happening. +There followed a series of these mad games and the oldsters smiled as they +heard the sound of vigorous contest and themselves raced as they could, to +keep in close company with the stronger force. +</p> + +<p> +Ab had shown his speed in all his playing. Now he ran to the front and +plucked out his spear, a winner, then doubled and ran back beside the +pathway to mingle with the central body of travelers, having in mind only +to keep in the heart and forefront of as many contests as possible. There +was more shouting and another rush from the main body and, bounding aside +from all, he ran to get the chance of again hurling his spear as well. A +great oak stood in the middle of the pathway and toward it already a spear +or two had been sent, all aimed, as the first thrower had indicated, at a +white fungus growth which protruded from the tree. It was a matter of +accuracy this time. Ab leaped ahead some yards in advance of all and +hurled his spear. He saw the white chips fly from the side of the fungus +target, saw the quivering of the spear shaft with the head deep sunken in +the wood, and then felt a sudden shock and pain in one of his legs. He +fell sideways off the path and beneath the brushwood, as the wild band, +young and old, swept by. He was crippled and could not walk. He called +aloud, but none heard him amid the shouting of that careless race. He +tried to struggle to his feet, but one leg failed him and he fell back, +lying prone, just aside from the forest path, nearly weaponless and the +easy prey of the wild beasts. What had hurt him so grievously was a spear +thrown wildly from behind him. It had, hurled with great strength, struck +a smooth tree trunk and glanced aside, the point of the spear striking the +young man fairly in the calf of the leg, entering somewhat the bone +itself, and shocking, for the moment, every nerve. The flint sides had cut +a vein or two and these were bleeding, but that was nothing. The real +danger lay in his helplessness. Ab was alone, and would afford good eating +for those of the forest who, before long, would be seeking him. The scent +of the wild beast was a wonderful thing. The man tried to rise, then lay +back sullenly. Far in the distance, and growing fainter and fainter, he +could hear the shouts of the laughing spear-throwers. +</p> + +<p> +The strong young man, thus left alone to death almost inevitable, did not +altogether despair. He had still with him his good stone ax and his long +and keen stone knife. He would, at least, hurt something sorely before he +was eaten, he thought grimly to himself. And then he pressed leaves +together on the cut upon his leg, and laid himself back upon the leaves +and waited. +</p> + +<p> +He did not have to wait long. He had not thought to do so. How full the +woods were of blood-scenting and man-eating things none knew better than +he. His ear, keen and trained, caught the patter of a distant approach. +"Wolves," he said to himself at first, and then "Hyenas," for the step was +puzzling. He was perplexed. The step was regular, and it was not in the +forest on either side, but was coming up the path. A terror came upon him +and he had crawled deeper into the shades, when he noted that the steps +first ceased, and then that they wandered searchingly and uncertainly. +Then, loud and strong, rang out a voice, calling his name, and it was the +voice of Oak! He could not answer for a moment, and then he cried out +gladly. +</p> + +<p> +Oak had, in the forward-rushing group, seen Ab's hurt and fall, but had +thought it a trifling matter, since no outcry came from those behind, and +so had kept his course away and ahead with the rest. But finally he had +noted the absence of Ab and had questioned, and then--first telling some +of his immediate companions that they were to lag and wait for him--had +started back upon a run to reach the place where he had last seen his +friend. It was easy now to arrange wet leaves about Ab's crippling, but +little more than temporary, wound. The two, one leaning upon the other and +hobbling painfully, and each with weapons in hand, contrived, at last, to +reach Oak's lingering and grumbling contingent. Ab was helped along by two +instead of one then, and the rest was easy. When the pathway leading to +home was reached, Oak accompanied his friend, and the two passed the night +together. +</p> + +<p> +Ab, once on his own bed, with Oak couched beside him, was surprised to +find, not merely that his physical pain was going, but that the greater +one was gone. The weight and burning had left his breast and he was no +longer angry at Oak. He thought blindly but directly toward conclusions. +He had almost wanted to kill Oak, all because each saw the charm of and +wanted the possession of a slender, beautiful creature of their kind. Then +something dangerous had happened to him, and this same Oak, his friend, +the man he had wished to kill, had come back and saved his life. The sense +which we call gratitude, and which is not unmingled with what we call +honor, came to this young cave man then. He thought of many things, +worried and wakeful as he was, and perhaps made more acute of perception +by the slight, exciting fever of his wound. +</p> + +<p> +He thought of how the two, he and Oak, had planned and risked together, of +their boyish follies and failures and successes, and of how, in later +years, Oak had often helped him, of how he had saved Oak's life once in +the river swamp, where quicksands were, of how Oak had now offset even +that debt by carrying him away from certain ending amid wild beasts. No +one--and of the cave men he knew many--no one in all the careless, merry +party had missed him save Oak. He doubtless could not have told himself +why it was, but he was glad that he could repay it all and have the +balance still upon his side. He was glad that he had the secret of the bow +and arrow to reveal. That should be Oak's! So it came that, late that +night, when the fire in the cave had burned low and when one could not +wisely speak above a whisper, Ab told Oak the story of the new weapon, of +how it had been discovered, of how it was to be used and of all it was for +hunters and fighters. Furthermore, he brought his best bow and best arrows +forth, and told Oak they were his and that they would practice together in +the morning. His astonished and delighted companion had little to say over +the revelation. He was eager for the morning, but he straightened out his +limbs upon the leafy mattress and slept well. So, somewhat later, did the +half-feverish Ab. +</p> + +<p> +Morning came and the cave people were astir. There was brief though hearty +feeding and then Ab and Oak and Old Mok, to whom Ab had said much aside, +went away from the cave and into the forest. There Oak was taught the +potency of the new weapon, its deadly quality and the safety of distance +it afforded its user. It was a great morning for all three, not excepting +the stern and critical old teacher, when they thus met together in the +wood and the secret of what two had found was so transmitted to another. +As for Oak, he was fairly aflame with excitement. He was far from slow of +mind and he recognized in a moment the enormous advantage of the new way +of killing either the things they ate, or the things they dreaded most. He +could scarcely restrain his eagerness to experiment for himself. Before +noon had come he was gone, carrying away the bow and the good arrows. As +he disappeared in the wood Ab said nothing, but to himself he thought: +</p> + +<p> +"He may have all the bows and arrows he can make, but I will have +Lightfoot myself!" +</p> + +<p> +Ab and Mok started for the cave again, Ab, bow in hand and with ready +arrow. There was a patter of feet upon leaves in the wood beside them and +then the arrow was fitted to the string, while Old Mok, strong-armed if +weak-legged, raised aloft his spear. The two were seeking no conflict with +wild beasts today and were but defensive and alert. They were puzzled by +the sound their quick ears caught. "Patter, patter," ever beside them, but +deep in the forest shade, came the sound of menacing followers of some +sort. +</p> + +<p> +There was tension of nerves. Old Mok, sturdy and unconsciously fatalistic, +was more self-contained than the youth at his side, bow-armed and with +flint ax and knife ready for instant use. At last an open space was +reached across which ran the well-worn path. Now the danger must reveal +itself. The two men emerged into the glade, and, a moment later, there +bounded into it gamboling and full of welcome, the wolf cubs, which had +played about the cave so long, who were now detached from their own kind +and preferred the companionship of man. There was laughter then, and a +more careless demeanor with the weapon borne. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xviii">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></h2> + +<h3>LOVE AND DEATH.</h3> + +<p> +Different from his former self became this young forester, Ab. He was +thinking of something other than wild beasts and their pursuit. +Instinctively, the course of his hunting expeditions tended toward the +northwest and soon the impulse changed to a design. He must look upon +Lightfoot again! Henceforth he haunted the hill region, and never keener +for quarry or more alert for the approach of some dangerous animal was the +eye of this woodsman than it was for the appearance somewhere of a slender +figure of a cave girl. Neither game nor things to dread were numerous in +the vicinity of the home of Hilltop, for there one of the hardiest and +wisest among hunters had occupied his cave for many years, and wild beasts +learn things. So it chanced that Lightfoot could wander farther afield +than could most girls of the time. Ab knew all this well, for the quality +of expert and venturesome old Hilltop was familiar to all the cave men +throughout a wide stretch of country. So Ab, somewhat shamefaced to his +own consciousness, hunted in a region not the best for spoil, and looked +for a girl who might appear on some forest path, moderately safe from the +rush of any of the hungry man-eaters of the wood. +</p> + +<p> +But not all the time of this wild lover was wasted in haunting the +possible idling-places of the girl he wanted so. With love there had come +to him such sense and thoughtfulness as has come with earnest love to +millions since. What could he do with Lightfoot should he gain her? He was +but a big, young fighting man and hunter, still sleeping, almost nightly, +on one of the leaf beds in his father's cave. With a wife of his own he +must have a cave of his own. Compared with his first impulses toward the +girl, this was a new train of thought, and, as we recognize it to-day, a +nobler one. He wanted to care for his own. He wanted a cave fit for the +reception of such a woman as this, to him, the sweetest and proudest of +all beings, Lightfoot, daughter of old Hilltop, of the wooded highlands. +</p> + +<p> +Far up the river, far beyond the home of Oak's father and beyond the +shining marshlands and the purple heather reaches which made the foothills +pleasant, extended to the river's bank a promontory, bold and picturesque +and clad heavily with the best of trees. It was a great stretch of land, +where, in some of nature's grim work, the earth had been up-heaved and +there had been raised good soil for giant forests, and at the same time +been made broad caverns to become future habitations of the creature known +as man. But the trees bore nuts and fruits, and such creatures as found +food in nuts and fruits, and, later, such as loved rich herbage, came to +the forest in great numbers, and then followed such as fed upon these +again, all the flesh eaters, to whom man was, as any other living thing, +to be seized upon and devoured. The promontory, so rich in game and nuts +and fruits, was, at the same time, the most dangerous in all the region +for human habitation. There were deep, dry caves within its limits, but in +none of them had a cave man yet ventured to make his home. It was toward +this promontory that the young man in love turned his eyes. Because others +had feared to make a home in this lone, high region should he also fear? +There was food there in plenty and if there were chance of fighting in +plenty, so much the better! Was he not strong and fleet; had he not the +best of spears and axes? Above all, had he not the new weapon which made +man far above the beasts? Here was the place for a home which should be +the best in all this region of the cave men. Here game and food of all +kinds would be most abundant. The situation would demand a brave man and a +woman scarcely less courageous, but would not he and the girl he was +determined to bring there meet all occasion? His mind was fixed. +</p> + +<p> +Ab found a cave, one clean and dry and opening out upon a slight treeless +area, and this he, lover-like, improved for the woman he had resolved to +bring there, arranging carefully the interior of which must be a home. He +had fancies such as lovers have exhibited from since the time when the +plesiosaurus swashed away in the strand of a warm sea a hollow nursery for +the birth and first tending of the young of his odd kind, up to the later +time when men have squandered fortunes on the sleeping rooms of women they +have loved. He toiled for many days. With his ax he chipped away the +cavern's sharp protuberances at each side, and with the stone chips from +the walls and with what he brought from outside, he made the floor white +and clean and nearly level. He built a fireplace and chipped into a huge +stone, which, fortunately, lay inside the cave, a hollow for holding +drinking water, or for the boiling of meat. He built up a passage-way at +the entrance, allowing something but not too much more than his own width, +as the gauge for measurement of its breadth. He brought into the cave a +deep carpet of leaves and made a wide bed in one corner and this he +covered with furred skins, for many skins Ab owned in his own right. Then, +with a thick fragment of tough branch as a lever, he rolled a big stone +near the cave's entrance and left it ready to be occupied as a home. The +woman was still lacking. +</p> + +<p> +There came a day when Ab, impatient after his searching and waiting, but +yet resolute, had killed a capercailzie--the great grouse-like bird of the +time, the descendants of which live to-day in northern forests--and had +built a fire and feasted, and then, instinctively careful, had climbed to +the first broad, low branch of an enormous tree and there adjusted himself +to sleep the sleep of one who has eaten heartily. He lay with the big +branch for a bed, supported on either side by green, upspringing twigs, +and slept well for an hour or two and then awoke, lazy and listless, but +with much good to him from the repast and rest. It was not yet very late +in the afternoon and the sun still shone kindly upon him, as upon a whole +world of rejoicing things. Something like a reflection of the life of the +morning was beginning to manifest itself, as is ever the way where forests +and wild things are. The wonderful noise of wood life was renewed. As the +young man awakened, he felt in every pulse the thrilling powers of +existence. Everything was fair to look upon. His ears took in the sound of +the voices of birds, already beginning vesper songs, though the afternoon +was yet so early as scarcely to hint of evening, and the scent from a +thousand plants and flowers, permeating and intoxicating, reached his +senses as he lounged sprawlingly upon his safe bed aloft. +</p> + +<p> +It was attractive, the scene which Ab looked upon. The forest was in all +the glory of summer and nesting and breeding things were happy. There was +the fullness of the being of trees and plants and of all birds and beasts. +There was a soft commingling of sounds which told of the life about, the +effect of which was, somehow, almost drowsy in the blending of all +together. The great ferns waved gently along the hollows as the slight +breeze touched them. They were queer, those ferns. They were not quite so +slender and tapering and gothic as the ferns we see to-day. They were a +trifle more lush and ragged, and their tips were sometimes almost rounded. +But Ab noted little of fern or bird. It was only the general sensuousness +that was upon him. The smell of the pines was a partial tonic to the +healthy, half-awakened man, and, though he lay back upon the rugged wooden +bed and half dozed again, nature had aroused him a trifle beyond the point +of relapse into absolute, unknowing slumber. There was coming to him a +sharpness of perception which affected the quiescence of his enjoyment. He +rose to a sitting posture and looked about him. At once his eyes flashed, +every nerve and muscle became tense and the blood leaped turbulently in +his veins. He had seen that for which he had come into this region, the +girl who had so reached his rude, careless heart. Lightfoot was very near +him! +</p> + +<p> +The girl, all unconscious, was sitting upon the trunk of a fallen tree +which lay close beside a creek. There was an abundance of small pebbles +upon the little strand and the young lady was absent-mindedly engaged in +an occupation in which, to the observer, she took some interest, while +she, no doubt, was really thinking of something else. She sat there, +slender, beautiful and excelling, in her way, the belle of the period, +merely amusing herself. Her toes were charming toes. There could be no +debate on that point, for, while long and strong and flexible, they had a +certain evenness and symmetry. They were being idly employed just now. At +the creek's edge, half imbedded in the ground, uprose the crest of a +granite stone. Picking up pebble after pebble in her admirable toes, +Lightfoot was engaged in throwing them, one after another, at the +outstanding point of granite, utilizing in the performance only those toes +and the brown leg below the knee. She did exceedingly well and hit the +red-brown target often. Ab, hot-headed and fierce lover in the tree top, +looked on admiringly. How perfect of form was she; how bright the face! +and then, forgetting himself, he cried aloud and slid from the branch as +easily and swiftly as any serpent and started running toward the girl. He +must have her! +</p> + +<p> +With his cry, the girl leaped to her feet, and as he reached the ground, +recognized him on the instant. She knew in the same instant that they had +felt together and that it was not by accident that he was near her. She +had felt as he; so far as a woman may feel with a man; but maidens are +maidens, and sweet lightness dreads force, and a modified terror came upon +her. She paused for a moment, then turned and ran toward the upland +forest. +</p> + +<p> +Not a moment hesitating or faltering as affected by the girl's action was +the young man who had tumbled from the tree bed. The blood dancing within +him and the great natural impulse of gaining what was greatest to him in +life controlled him now. He was hot with fierce lovingness. He ran well, +but he did not run better than the graceful thing before him. +</p> + +<p> +Even for the critical being of the great cities of to-day, the one who +"manages" races of all sorts, it would have been worth while to see this +race in the forest. As the doe leaps, scarcely touching the ground, ran +Lightfoot. As the wolf or hound runs, less swift for the moment, but +tireless, ran the man behind her. Yet of all the men in the cave region, +this flying girl wanted most this man to take her! It was the maidenly +force-dreading instinct alone which made her run. +</p> + +<p> +Ab, dogged and enduring, lost no space as the race led away toward the +hill and home of the fleet thing ahead of him. There were miles to be +covered, and therein he had hope. They were on the straight path to +Hilltop's cave, though there were divergent, curving side paths almost as +available; but to avoid her pursuer, the fugitive could take none of +these. There were cross-cuts everywhere. In leaving the direct path she +would but lose ground. To reach soon enough by straight, clean running the +towering wooded hill in which was her father's cave seemed the only hope +of the half-unwilling fugitive. +</p> + +<p> +There were descents and ascents in the long chase and plateaus where the +running was on level ground. Straining forward, gaining little, but +confident of overtaking the girl, Ab, deep-chested and physically +untroubled, pressed onward, when he noted that the girl made a sudden +spurt and bounded forward with a speed not shown before, while, at the +same time, she swerved from the right of the path. +</p> + +<p> +It was not Ab who had made her swerve. Some new alarm had come to her. She +was about to reach and, as Ab supposed, pass one of the inletting paths +entering almost at right angles from the left. She did not pass it. She +leaped into it in evident terror and then, breaking out from the wood on +the right, came another form and one surely in swift following. Ab knew +the figure well. Oak was the new pursuer! +</p> + +<p> +The awful rage which rose in the heart of Ab as he saw what was happening +is what can no more be described than one can tell what a tiger in the +jungle thinks. He saw another--the other his friend--pursuing and +intending to take what he wanted to be his and what had become to him more +than all else in the world; more than much eating and the skins of things +to keep him warm, more than a mammoth's tooth to carve, more than the +glorious skin of the great cave tiger, the possession of which made a rude +nobility, more than anything and all else! He leaped aside from the path. +He knew well the other path upon which were running Oak and Lightfoot. He +knew that he could intercept them, because, though the running was not so +good, the distance to be covered was much less, for to him path running +was a light matter. In the wood he ran as easily and leaped as well and +attained a point almost as quickly as the beasts. There was a stress of +effort and, as the shadows deepened, he burst in upon the cross path where +he knew were the fleeing Lightfoot and following Oak. He had thought to +head them off, but Ab was not the only man who was swift of foot in the +cave country. They passed, almost as he bounded from the forest. He saw +them close together not many yards ahead of him and, with a shout of rage, +bent himself in swift and terrible pursuit again. +</p> + +<p> +It was all plain to Ab now as he flew along, unnoted by the two ahead of +him. He knew that Oak had, like him, determined to own Lightfoot, and had +like him, been seeking her. Only chance had made the chase thus cross +Oak's path; but that made no difference. There must be a grim meeting +soon. Ab could see that the endurance of the wonderfully fleet-footed +woman was not equal to that of the man so near her. She would soon be +overtaken. Before her rose the hill, not a mile in its slope, where were +her father's cave, and safety. He knew that she had not the strength to +breast it fleetly enough for covert. And, as he looked, he saw the girl +turn a frightened face toward her close pursuer and knew that she saw him +as well. Her pace slackened for a moment as this revelation came to her, +and he felt, somehow, that in him she recognized comparative protection. +Then she recovered herself and bent all the power she had toward the +ascent. But Oak had been gaining steadily, and now, with a sudden rush, he +reached her and grasped her, the woman shrieking wildly. A moment later Ab +rushed in upon them with a shout. Instinctively Oak released the girl, for +in the cry he heard that which meant menace and immediate danger. As +Lightfoot felt herself free she stood for a moment or two without a +movement, with wide-open eyes, looking upon what was happening before her. +Then she bounded away, not looking backward as she ran. +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/illp202.jpg"><img src="images/illp202_th.jpg" alt="AB STOOD THERE WEAPONLESS, A CREATURE WANDERING OF MIND"></a> +</p> + +<p> +The two men stood there glaring at each other, Oak perched, and yet not +perched, so broad and perfect was his foothold, on the crest of a slight +shelf of the downward slope. There stood the two men, poised, the one +above, the other below, two who had been as close together from childhood +as all the attributes of mind and body might allow, and yet now as far +apart as human beings may be. They were beautiful in a way, each in his +murderous, unconscious posing for the leap. The sun hit the blue ax of Oak +and made it look a gray. The raised ax of Ab, which was of a lighter +colored stone, was in the shade and its yellowness was darkened into +brown. The spectacle lasted for but a second. As Oak leaped Ab bounded +aside and they stood upon a level, a tiny plateau, and there was fierce, +strong fencing. One could not note its methods; even the keen-eyed +wolverine, crouching low upon an adjacent monster limb, could never have +followed the swift movements of these stone axes. The dreadful play was +brief. The clash of stone together ceased as there came a duller sound, +which told that stone had bitten bone. Oak, slightly the higher of the +two, as they stood thus in the fray, leaned forward suddenly, his arms +aloft, while from his hand dropped the blue ax. He floundered down +uncouthly and grasped the beech leaves with his hands, and then lay still. +Ab stood there weaponless, a creature wandering of mind. His yellow ax had +parted from his hand, sunk deeply into the skull of Oak, and he looked +upon it curiously and vacantly. He was not sane. He stepped forward and +pulled the ax away and lifted it to a level with his eyes and went to +where the sunlight shone. The ax was not yellow any more. Meanwhile a girl +was flitting toward her home and the shadows of the waning day were +deepening. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xix">CHAPTER XIX.</a></h2> + +<h3>A RACE WITH DREAD.</h3> + +<p> +Ab looked toward the forest wherein Lightfoot had fled and then looked +upon that which lay at his feet. It was Oak--there were the form and +features of his friend--but, somehow, it was not Oak. There was too much +silence and the blood upon the leaves seemed far too bright. His rage +departed, and he wanted Oak to answer and called to him, but Oak did not +answer. Then came slowly to him the idea that Oak was dead and that the +wild beasts would that night devour the dead man where he lay. The thought +nerved him to desperate, sudden action. He leaped forward, he put his arms +about the body and carried it away to a hollow in the wooded slope. He +worked madly, doing some things as he had seen the cave people do at other +buryings. He placed the weapons of Oak beside him. He took from his belt +his own knife, because it was better than that of Oak, and laid it close +to the dead man's hand, and then, first covering the body with beech +leaves, he worked frantically upon the overhanging soil, prying it down +with a sharp-pointed fragment of limb, and tossing in upon all as heavy +stones as he could lift, until a great cairn rose above the hunter who +would hunt no more. +</p> + +<p> +Panting with his efforts, Ab sat himself down upon a rock and looked upon +the monument he had raised. Again he called to Oak, but there was still no +answer. The sun had set, evening shadows thickened around him. Then there +came upon the live man a feeling as dreadful as it was new, and, with a +yell, which was almost a shriek, he leaped to his feet and bounded away in +fearful flight. +</p> + +<p> +He only knew this, that there was something hurt his inside of body and +soul, but not the inside of him as it had been when once he had eaten +poisonous berries or when he had eaten too much of the little deer. It was +something different. It was an awful oppression, which seemed to leave his +body, in a manner, unfeeling but which had a great dread about it and +which made him think and think of the dead man, and made him want to run +away and keep running. He had always run far that day, but he was not +tired now. His legs seemed to have the hard sinews of the stag in them but +up toward the top of him was something for them to carry away as fast and +far as possible from somewhere. He raced from the dense woodland down into +the broad morass to the west--beyond which was the rock country--and into +which he had rarely ventured, so treacherous its ways. What cared he now! +He made great leaps and his muscles and sinews responded to the thought of +him. To cross that morass safely required a touch on tussocks and an +upbounding aside, a zig-zag exhibition of great strength and knowingness +and recklessness. But it was unreasoning; it was the instinct begotten of +long training and, now, of the absence of all nervousness. Each taut toe +touched each point of bearing just as was required above the quagmire, +and, all unperceiving and uncaring, he fled over dirty death as easily as +he might have run upon some hardened woodland pathway. He did not think +nor know nor care about what he was doing. He was only running away from +the something he had never known before! Why should he be running now? He +had killed things before and not cared and had forgotten. Why should he +care now? But there was the something which made him run. And where was +Oak? Would Oak meet him again and would they hunt together? No, Oak would +not come, and he, this Ab, had made it so! He must run. No one was +following him--he knew that--but he must run! +</p> + +<p> +The marsh was passed, night had fallen, but he ran on, pressing into the +bear and tiger haunted forest beyond. Anything, anything, to make him +forget the strange feeling and the thing which made him run! He plunged +into a forest path, utterly reckless, wanting relief, a seeker for +whatever might come. +</p> + +<p> +In that age and under such conditions as to locality it was inevitable +that the creature, man, running through such a forest path at night, must +face some fierce creature of the carnivora seeking his body for food. Ab, +blinded of mood, cared not for and avoided not a fight, though it might be +with the monster bear or even the great tiger. There was no reason in his +madness. He was, though he knew it not, a practical suicide, yet one who +would die fighting. What to him were weight and strength to-night? What to +him were such encounters as might come with hungry four-footed things? It +would but relieve him were some of the beasts to try to gain his life and +eat his body. His being seemed valueless, and as for the wild beasts--and +here came out the splendid death-facing quality of the cave man--well, it +would be odd if there were not more deaths than one! But all this was +vague and only a minor part of thought. +</p> + +<p> +Sometimes, as if to invite death, he yelled as he ran. He yelled whenever +in his fleeting visions he saw Oak lying dead again. So ran the man who +had killed another. +</p> + +<p> +There was a growl ahead of him, a sudden breaking away of the bushes, and +then he was thrown back, stunned and bleeding, because a great paw had +smitten him. Whatever the beast might be, it was hungry and had found what +seemed easy prey. There was a difference, though, which the animal,--it +was doubtless a bear--unfortunately for him, did not comprehend, between +the quality of the being he proposed to eat just now and of other animals +included in his ordinary menu. But the bear did not reason; he but plunged +forward to crush out the remaining life of the runner his great paw had +driven back and down and then to enjoy his meal. +</p> + +<p> +The man was little hurt. His skin coat had somewhat protected him and his +sinewy body had such toughness that the hurling of it backward for a few +feet was not anything involving a fatality. Very surely and suddenly had +been thrust upon him now the practical lesson of being or dying, and it +was good for the half-crazed runner, for it cleared his mind. But it made +him no less desperate or careless. With strength almost maniacal he leaped +at what he would have fled from at any other time, and, swinging his ax +with the quickness of light, struck tremendously at the great lowering +head. He yelled again as he felt stone cut and crash into bone, though +himself swept aside once more as a great paw, sidestruck, hurled him into +the bushes. He bounded to his feet and saw something huge and dark and +gasping floundering in the pathway. He thought not but ran on panting. By +some strange freak of forest fortune abetting might the man wandering of +mind had driven his ax nearly to the haft into the skull of his huge +assailant. It may be that never before had a cave man, thus armed, done so +well. The slayer ran on wildly, and now weaponless. +</p> + +<p> +Soon to the runner the scene changed. The trees crowded each other less +closely and there was less of denned pathway. There came something of an +ascent and he breasted it, though less swiftly, for, despite the impelling +force, nature had claims, and muscles were wearying of their work. Fewer +and fewer grew the trees. He knew that he was where there was now a sweep +of rocky highlands and that he was not far from the Fire Country, of which +Old Mok had so often told him. He burst into the open, and as he came out +under the stars, which he could see again, he heard an ominous whine, too +near, and a distant howl behind him. A wolf pack wanted him. +</p> + +<p> +He shuddered as he ran. The life instinct was fully awakened in him now, +as the dread from which he had run became more distant. Had he heard that +close whine and distant howl before he fairly reached the open he would +have sought a treetop for refuge. Now it was too late. He must run ahead +blindly across the treeless space for such harborage as might come. Far +ahead of him he could see light, the light of fire, reaching out toward +him through the darkness. He was panting and wearied, but the sounds +behind him were spur enough to bring the nearly dead to life. He bowed his +head and ran with such effort as he had never made before in all his wild +and daring existence. +</p> + +<p> +The wolves of the time, greater, swifter and fiercer than the gaunt gray +wolves of northern latitudes and historic times, ran well, but so did +contemporaneous man run well, and the chase was hard. With his life to +save, Ab swept panting over the rocky ground with a swiftness begotten of +the grand last effort of remaining strength, running straight toward the +light, while the wolf pack, now gathered, hurled itself from the wood +behind and followed swiftly and relentlessly. Ever before the man shone +the light more brightly; ever behind him became more distinct the sound +made by the following pack. It was a dire strait for the running man. He +was no longer thinking of what he had lately done. He ran. +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/illp212.jpg"><img src="images/illp212_th.jpg" alt="WITH A GREAT LEAP HE WENT AT AND THROUGH THE CURLING CREST OF THE YELLOW FLAME"></a> +</p> + +<p> +The light he had seen extended as he neared it into what looked like a +great fence of flame lying across his way. There were gaps in the fence +where the flame, still continuous, was not so high as elsewhere. He did +not hesitate. He ran straight ahead. Closer and closer behind him crowded +the pursuing wolves, and straight at the flame he ran. There was one +chance in many, he thought, and he took it without hesitation. Close +before him now loomed the wall of flame. Close behind him slavering jaws +were working in anticipation, and there was a strain for the last rush. +There was no alternative. Straight at the fire wall where it was lowest +rushed Ab, and with a great leap he went at and through the curling crest +of the yellow flame! +</p> + +<p> +The man had found safety! There was a moment of heat and then he knew +himself to be sprawling upon green turf. A little of the strength of +desperation was still with him and he bounded to his feet and looked +about. There were no wolves. Beside him was a great flat rock, and he +clambered upon this, and then, over the crest of the flames could see +easily enough the glaring eyes of his late pursuers. They were running up +and down, raging for their prey, but kept from him beyond all peradventure +by the fire they could not face. Ab started upright on the rock panting +and defiant, a splendid creature erect there in the firelight. +</p> + +<p> +Soon there came to the man a more perfect sense of his safety. He shouted +aloud to the flitting, snarling creatures, which could not harm him now; +he stooped and found jagged stones, which he sent whirling among them. +There was a savage satisfaction in it. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly the man fell to the ground, fairly groaning with exhaustion. +Nature had become indignant and the time for recuperation had been +reached. The wearied runner lay breathing heavily and was soon asleep. The +flames which had afforded safety gave also a grateful warmth in the chill +night, and so it was that scarcely had his body touched the ground when he +became oblivious to all about him, only the heaving of the broad chest +showing that the man lying fairly exposed in the light was a living thing. +The varying wind sometimes carried the sheet of flame to its utmost extent +toward him, so that the heat must have been intense, and again would carry +it in an opposite direction while the cold air swept down upon the +sleeping man. Nothing disturbed him. Inured alike to heat and cold, Ab +slept on, slept for hours the sleep which follows vast strain and +endurance in a healthy human being. Then the form lying on the ground +moved restlessly and muttered exclamations came from the lips. The man was +dreaming. +</p> + +<p> +For as the sleeper lay there--he remembered it when he awoke and wondered +over it many times in after years--Oak sprang through the flames, as he +himself had done, and soon lay panting by his side. The lapping of the +fire, the snapping and snarling of the wolves beyond and the familiar +sound of Oak's voice all mingled confusedly in his ears, and then he and +Oak raced together over the rough ground, and wrestled and fought and +played as they had wrestled and fought and played together for years. And +the hours passed and the wind changed and the flames almost scorched him +and Ab started up, looking about him into the wild aspect of the Fire +Country; for the night had passed and the sun had risen and set again +since the exhausted man had fallen upon the ground and become unconscious. +</p> + +<p> +Ab rolled instinctively a little away from the smoky sheets of flame and, +sitting up, looked for Oak. He could not see him. He ran wildly around +among the rocks looking for him and despairingly called aloud his name. +The moment his voice had been hoarsely lifted, "Oak!" the memory of all +that had happened rushed upon him. He stood there in the red firelight a +statue of despair. Oak was dead; he had killed Oak, and buried him with +his own hands, and yet he had seen Oak but a minute ago! He had bounded +through the flames and had wrestled and run races with Ab, and they had +talked together, and yet Oak must be lying in the ground back there in the +forest by the little hill. Oak was dead. How could he get out of the +ground? Fear clutched at Ab's heart, his limbs trembled under him. He +whimpered like a lost and friendless hound and crouched close to the +hospitable fire. His brain wavered under the stress of strange new +impressions. He recalled some mutterings of Old Mok about the dead, that +they had been seen after it was known that they were deep in the ground, +but he knew it was not good to speak or think of such things. Again Ab +sprang to his feet. It would not do to shut his eyes, for then he saw +plainly Oak in his shallow hole in the dark earth and the face Ab had +hurried to cover first when he was burying his friend, there under the +trees. And so the night wore away, sleep coming fitfully from time to +time. Ab could not explore his retreat in the strange firelight nor run +the risks of another night journey across the wild beasts' chosen country. +He began to be hungry, with the fierce hunger of brute strength, sharpened +by terrific labors, but he must wait for the morning. The night seemed +endless. There was no relief from the thoughts which tortured him, but, at +last, morning broke, and in action Ab found the escape he had longed for. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xx">CHAPTER XX.</a></h2> + +<h3>THE FIRE COUNTRY.</h3> + +<p> +It was light now and the sun shone fairly on Ab's place of refuge. As his +senses brought to him full appreciation he wondered at the scene about +him. He was in a glade so depressed as to be a valley. About it, to the +east and north and west, in a wavering, tossing wall, rose the uplifting +line of fire through which he had leaped, though there were spaces where +the height was insignificant. On the south, and extending till it circled +a trifle to east, rose a wall of rock, evidently the end of a +forest-covered promontory, for trees grew thickly to its very edge and +their green branches overhung its sheer descent. Coming from some crevice +of the rocks on the east, and tumbling downward through the valley, was a +riotous brook, which disappeared through some opening at the west. Within +this area, thus hemmed in by fire and rock, appeared no living thing save +the birds which sang upon the bushes beside the small stream's banks and +the butterflies which hung above the flowers and all the insect world +which joined in the soft, humming chorus of the morning. It was something +that Ab looked upon with delighted wonder, but without understanding. What +he saw was not a marvel. It was but the result of one of many upheavals at +a time when the earth's cooled shell was somewhat thinner than now and +when earthquakes, though there were no cities to overthrow, at least made +havoc sometimes by changing the face of nature. There had come a great +semi-circular crack in the earth, near and extending to the line of the +sheer rock range. The natural gas, the product of the vegetation of +thousands of centuries before, had found a chance to escape and had poured +forth into the outer world. Something, perhaps a lightning stroke and a +flaming tree, perhaps some cave man making fire and consumed on the +instant when he succeeded, had ignited the sheet of rising gas, and the +result was the wall of flame. It was all natural and commonplace, for the +time. There were other upleaping flame sheets in the surrounding region +forever burning--as there are in northern Asia to-day--but Ab knew of +these fires only from Old Mok's tales. He stood wonderstruck at what he +saw about him. +</p> + +<p> +But this man in the valley was young and very strong, with tissues to be +renewed, and the physical man within him clamored and demanded. He must +eat. He ran forward and around, anxiously observant, and soon learned that +at the western end of the valley, where the little creek tumbled through a +rocky cut into a lower level, there was easy exit from the +fire-encompassed and protected area. He clambered along the creek's rough, +descending side. He emerged upon an easier slope and then found it +possible to climb the hillside to the plane of the great wood. There must, +he thought, be food of some sort, even for a man with only Oak's knife in +his possession! There was the forest and there were nuts. He was in the +forest soon, among the gray-trunked, black-mottled beeches and the rough +brown oaks. He found something of what he sought, the nuts lying under +shed leaves, though the supply was scant. But nuts, to the cave man, made +moderately good food, supplying a part of the sustenance he required, and +Ab ate of what he could find and arose from the devouring search and +looked about him. +</p> + +<p> +He was weaponless, save for the knife, and a flint knife was but a thing +for closest struggle. He longed now for his ax and spear and the strong +bow which could hurt so at a distance. But there was one sort of weapon to +be had. There was the club. He wandered about among the tops of fallen +trees and wrenched at their dried limbs, and finally tore one away and +broke off, later, with a prying leverage, what made a rough but available +club for a cave man's purposes. It was much better than nothing. Then +began a steady trot toward what should be fair life again. There were +vague paths through the forest made by wild beasts. As he moved the man +thought deeply. +</p> + +<p> +He thought of the fire-wall, and could not with all his reasoning +determine upon the cause of its existence, and so abandoned the subject as +a thing, the nub of which was unreachable. That was the freshest object in +his mind and the first to be mentally disposed of. But there were other +subjects which came in swift succession. As he went along with a dog's +gait he was not in much terror, practically weaponless as he was. His eye +was good and he was going through the forest in the daylight. He was +strong enough, club in hand, to meet the minor beasts. As for the others, +if any of them appeared, there were the trees, and he could climb. So, as +he trotted he could afford to think. +</p> + +<p> +And he thought much that day, this perplexed man, our grandfather with so +many "greats" before the word. He had nothing to divert him even in the +selection of the course toward his cave. He noted not where the sun stood, +nor in what direction the tiny head-waters of the rivulets took their +course, nor how the moss grew on the trees. He traveled in the wood by +instinct, by some almost unexplainable gift which comes to the thing of +the woods. The wolf has it; the Indian has it; sometimes the white man of +to-day has it. +</p> + +<p> +As he went Ab engaged in deeper and more sustained thought than ever +before in all his life. He was alone; new and strange scenes had enlarged +his knowledge and swift happenings had made keener his perceptions. For +days his entire being had been powerfully affected by his meeting with +Lightfoot at the Feast of the Mammoth and the events which had followed +that meeting in such swift succession. The tragedy of Oak's death had +quickened his sensibilities. Besides, what had ensued latest had been what +was required to make him in a condition for the divination of things. The +wise agree that much stimulant or much deprivation enables the brain +convolutions to do their work well, though deprivation gets the cleaner +end. The asceticism of Marcus Aurelius was productive of greater results +than the deep drinking of any gallant young Roman man of letters of whom +he was a patron. The literature of fasting thinkers is something fine. Ab, +after exerting his strength to the utmost for days, had not eaten of +flesh, and the strong influences to which he was subjected were exerted +upon a man still, practically, fasting. For a time, the rude and +earth-born child of the cave was lifted into a region of comparative +sentiment and imagination. It was an experience which affected materially +all his later life. +</p> + +<p> +Ever to the trotting man came the feelings which must follow fierce love +and deadly action and vague remorse and fear of something indefinable. He +saw the face and form of Lightfoot; he saw again the struggle, +death-ending, with the friend of youth and of mutual growing into manhood. +He remembered dimly the half insane flight, the leaps across the dreaded +morass and, more distinctly, the chase by the wolves. The aspect of the +Fire Country and of all that followed his awakening was, of course, yet +fresh in his mind. He was burdened. +</p> + +<p> +Ever uprising and oppressing above all else was the memory of the man he +had killed and buried, covering the face first, so that it might not look +at him. Was Oak really dead? he asked himself again! Had not he, Ab, as +soon as he slept again, seen, alive and well, the close friend of his? He +clung to the vision. He reasoned as deeply as it was in him to reason. +</p> + +<p> +As he struggled in his mind to obtain light there came to him the fancy of +other things dimly related to the death mystery which had perplexed him +and all his kind. There must be some one who made the river rise and fall +or the nut-bearing forest be either fruitful or the hard reverse. Who and +what could it be? What should he do, what should all his friends do in the +matter of relation to this unknown thing? +</p> + +<p> +With this day and hour did not come really the beginning of Ab's thought +upon the subject of what was, to him and those he knew, the supernatural. +He had thought in the past--he could not help it--of the shadow and the +echo. He remembered how he and Oak had talked about the echo, and how they +had tried to get rid of the thing which had more than once called back to +them insolently across the valley. Every word they shouted this hidden +creature would mockingly repeat and there was no recourse for them. They +had once fully armed themselves and, in a burst of desperate bravery, had +resolved to find who and what the owner of this voice was and have, at +least, a fight. They had crossed the valley and ranged about the woodland +whence the voice seemed to have come, but they never found what they +sought! +</p> + +<p> +The shadow which pursued them on sunny afternoons had puzzled them in +another way. Very persistent had been the flat, black, earth-clinging and +distorted thing which followed them so everywhere. What was this black, +following thing, anyhow, this thing which swung its unsubstantial body +around as one moved but which ever kept its own feet at the feet of the +pursued, wherever there was no shade, and which lay there beside one so +persistently? +</p> + +<p> +But the echoes and the shadows were nothing as compared with the things +which came to one at night. What were those creatures which came when a +man was sleeping? Why did they escape with the dawn and appear again only +when he was asleep and helpless, at least until he awoke fairly and seized +his ax? +</p> + +<p> +The sun rose high and dropped slowly down toward the west, where the far +ocean was, and the shadows somewhat lengthened, but it was still light +along the forest pathways and the untiring man still hurried on. He was +now close to his country and becoming careless and at ease. But his +imagination was still busy; he could not free himself of memory. There +came to him still the vision of the friend he had buried, hiding his face +first of all. The frenzy of his wish for knowing rushed again upon him. +Where was Oak now? he demanded of himself and of all nature. "Where is +Oak?" he yelled to the familiar trees beside his path. But the trees, even +to the cave man, so close to them in the economy of wild life, so like +them in his naturalness, could give no answer. +</p> + +<p> +So the cave man struggled in his dim, uncertain way with the eternal +question: "If a man die shall he live again?" So the human mind still +struggles, after thousands of centuries have contributed to its +development. A wall more impassable than the wall of flame Ab had so +lately looked upon still rises between us and those who no longer live. We +reach out for some knowledge of those who have died, and go almost into +madness because we can grasp nothing. Silence unbroken, darkness +impenetrable ever guard the mystery of death. In the long ages since the +cave man ran that day, love and hope have in faith erected, beyond the +grim barriers of blackness and despair, fair pavilions of promise and +consolation, but to the stern examiners of physical fact and reality there +has come no news from beyond the walls of silence since. We clamor +tearfully for some word from those who are dead, but no answer comes. So +Ab groped and strove alone in the forest, in his youth and ignorance, and +in the youth and ignorance of our race. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the pathway along the river's bank Ab emerged at last. All was +familiar to him now. There, by the clump of trees in the flat below, was +the place where he and Oak had dug the pit when they were but mere boys +and had learned their first important lessons in sterner woodcraft. Soon +came in sight, as he ran, the entrance to the cave of his own family. He +was home again. But he was not the one who had left that rude habitation +three days before. He had gone away a youth. He had come back one who had +suffered and thought. He came back a man. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xxi">CHAPTER XXI.</a></h2> + +<h3>THE WOOING OF LIGHTFOOT.</h3> + +<p> +Lightfoot, when Ab seized Oak, had fled away from the two infuriated men, +as the hare runs, and had sped into the forest. She had the impetus of new +fear now and ran swiftly as became her name, never looking behind her, nor +did she slacken her pace, though panting and exhausted, until she found +herself approaching the cave where lived her playmate, Moonface, not more +than an hour's run from her own home. +</p> + +<p> +The fleeing girl was fortunate in stumbling upon her friend as soon as she +came into the open space about the cave. Moonface was enjoying herself +lazily that afternoon. She was leaning back idly in a swing of vines to +which she had braided a flexible back, and was blinking somnolently in the +sunshine as the visitor leaped from the wood. Moonface recognized her +friend, gave a quavering cry of delight and came slipping and rolling +recklessly to the ground to meet her. Lightfoot uttered no word. She stood +breathless, and was rather carried than led by Moonface to an easy seat, +moss-padded, upon twisted tree roots, which was that young lady's ordinary +resting-place. Upon this seat the two sank, one overcome with past fear +and present fatigue, and the other with an all-absorbing and demanding +curiosity. It was beyond the ordinary scope of the self-restraining forces +in Moonface to await with calm the recovery of Lightfoot's breath and +powers of conversation. She pinched and shook her friend and demanded, +half-crying but impatiently, some explanation. It was a great hour for +Moonface, the greatest in her life. Here was her friend and dictator +panting and terrified like some weak, hunted-down thing of the wood. It +was a marvel. At last Lightfoot spoke: +</p> + +<p> +"They are fighting at the foot of the hill!" she said, and Moonface at +once guessed the whole story, for she was not blind, this wide-mouthed +creature. +</p> + +<p> +"Why did you run away?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"I ran because I was scared. One of them must be dead before this time. I +am glad I am alive myself," Lightfoot gasped. Then the girl covered her +face with her hands as she recalled Ab's face, distorted by passion and +murderous hate, and Oak's equally maddened look as, before the onrush, he +had grasped her so firmly that the marks of his fingers remained blue upon +her arms and slender waist and neck. +</p> + +<p> +Then Lightfoot, slow to regain her composure, told tremblingly the story +of all that had occurred, finding comfort in the unaffrighted look upon +the face, as well as in the reassuring talk, of her easy-going, +unimaginative and cheerful and faithful companion. She remained as a guest +at the cave overnight and the next forenoon, when she took her way for +home, she was accompanied by Moonface. Gradually, as the hours passed, +Lightfoot regained something of her usual frame of mind and a little of +her ordinary manner of careless light-heartedness, but when home had been +reached and the girls had rested and eaten and she heard Moonface telling +anew for her the story of the flight in the wood, while her father, +Hilltop, and her two strapping brothers listened with interest, but with +no degree of excitement, she felt again the wild alarm and horror and +uncertainty which had affected her when first she fled from what was to +her so dreadful. She crept away from the cave door near which the others +sat enjoying the balmy midsummer afternoon, beckoning to one of her +brothers to follow her, as the big fellow did unquestioningly, for +Lightfoot had been, almost from young girlhood, the dominant force in the +family, even the strong father, though it was contrary to the spirit of +the time, admiring and yielding to his one daughter without much comment. +The great, hulking youth, well armed and ready for any adventure, joined +her, nothing both, and the two disappeared, like shadows, in the depths of +the forest. +</p> + +<p> +Lightfoot had been the housekeeper in the cave of Hilltop, the cave of the +greatest hunter of the region, young despite the years which had +encompassed him, and father of two boys who were fine specimens of the +better men of the time. They were splendid whelps, and this slim thing, +whom they had cared for as she grew, dominated them easily, though the age +was not one of vast family affection, while chivalry, of course, did not +exist. Hilltop's wife had died two years before, and Lightfoot, with +unconscious force, had taken her mother's place. There was none other with +woman's ways to help the men in the rock-guarded home on the windy hill. +Hilltop had not been altogether unthinking all this time. He had often +looked upon his daughter's friend, the jolly, swart and well-fed Moonface, +and had much approved of her, but, today, as he listened to her story, he +did not pay such attention as was demanded by the interest of the theme. +An occasional death, though it were the killing of one cave man by +another, was not a matter of huge importance. He was not inflamed in any +way by what he heard, but as he looked and listened to the comfortable +young person who was speaking, the idea, hastened it may be by some loving +and domestic instinct, grew slowly in his brain that she might make for +him as excellent a mate as any other of the "good matches" to be found in +the immediately surrounding country. He was a most directly reasoning +person, this Hilltop, best of hunters and generally respected on the +forest ridges. After the thought once dawned upon him, it grew and grew, +and an idea fairly developed in Hilltop's mind meant action. His +fifty-five years of age had hardly cooled and had certainly not nearly +approached to freezing the blood in his outstanding veins. He had a suit +to make, and make at once. That he might have no interruption he bade +Stone-Arm, his remaining son, who sat on a rock near by, and who had +listened, open-mouthed, to the recital of Moonface, to seek his brother +and Lightfoot in the forest path. There might be beasts abroad and two men +were better than one, said this crafty father-hunter-lover. +</p> + +<p> +The boy, clever tracker as a red Indian or Australian trailer, soon found +the path his brother and Lightfoot had taken and joined them. As he +listened to what they were saying he was glad he had been sent to follow +them. They were hastening toward the valley. The trees were beginning to +cast long shadows when the three came to where the more abrupt hillside +reached the slope and where the torn ground, broken limbs and twigs and +deep-indented footprints in the soil gave glaring evidence to the eye of +yesterday's struggle. But, aside from all this, there was something else. +There was a carpet of yellowish-brown leaves, at the edge of the circle of +fray, where a man had fallen. On the clean stretch of evenly rain-packed +leaves there were spots from which the scarlet had but lately faded into +crimson. There was a place where the surface was disturbed and sunken a +little. All three knew that a man had died there. +</p> + +<p> +The two young men and their sister stood together uttering no word. The +men were amazed. The woman half comprehended all. She did not hesitate a +moment. Guided by a sure instinct, Lightfoot reached, without thought or +conscious search, the spot of unnatural earth which reared itself so near +to them, the spot where was fresh stone-covered soil and where a man was +buried. The pile of stones, newly heaped upon the moist earth, told their +story. +</p> + +<p> +Someone was buried there, but whom? Was it Oak or Ab? +</p> + +<p> +"Shall I dig?" said Stone-Arm, making ready for the task, while Branch, +his elder brother, prepared for work as well. +</p> + +<p> +"No! No!" cried Lightfoot. "He is buried deep and the stones are over him. +It will be night soon and the wolves and hyenas would be here before we +could get away. Let it be. Someone is there, but the one who killed him +has buried him. He will come back!" The two boys were silent, and +Lightfoot led the way toward home. When the three reached the cave of +Hilltop the sun was setting. Something had happened at the cave, but there +arises at this point no stern demand for going into details. Hilltop, +brave man, was no laggard in wooing, and Moonface was not a nervous young +person. When the other members of the household reached the cave Moonface +was already installed as mistress. There would be no reprisals from an +injured family. The girl had lived with her ancient father, whom she had +half-supported and who would, possibly, be transplanted to Hilltop's cave +for such pottering life as he was still capable of during the rest of his +existence. The new régime was fairly established. +</p> + +<p> +The arrangement suited Lightfoot well enough. This astounding stepmother +had been her humble but faithful friend. Lightfoot was a ruling woman +spirit wherever she was, and she knew it, though she bowed at all times to +the rule of strength as the only law. Nevertheless she knew how to get her +own way. With Moonface, everything was easy for her and she found it +rather pleasant than otherwise to find the other young woman made suddenly +a permanent resident of the cave in which she had been born and had lived +all her life. As the two girls met, and the situation was curtly announced +by Hilltop, their faces were worth the seeing. There was alarm and +hopefulness upon the countenance of Moonface, sudden astonishment and +indignation, and then reflection, upon the face of Lightfoot. After a few +moments of thought both girls laughed cheerfully. +</p> + +<p> +The story of the newly found grave made but little impression upon the +group and Lightfoot, the only one of the household who thought much about +it, thought silently. To her the single question was: "Who lay there?" +There was nothing strange to the others of the family in the thought that +one man should have killed another, and no one attached blame to or +proposed punishment of the slayer. Sometimes after such a happening, the +cave man who had slain another might have a rock rolled suddenly upon him +from a height, or in passing a thicket have the flint head of a spear +driven through him, but this was only the deed, perhaps, of an enraged +father or brother, not in any sense a matter of course in the way of +justice, and even such attempt at reprisal was not the rule. +</p> + +<p> +But in the bosom of Lightfoot was a weight like a stone. It was as heavy, +she thought, as one of the stones on the bare ground over the body of the +man who lay there in the dark earth, because he had run after her. Who was +it? It might be Ab! And all through the night the girl tossed uneasily on +her bed of leaves, as she did for nights to come. +</p> + +<p> +As for Moonface, who shall say what that rotund and hairy young person +thought when the family had settled down to the changed order of things +and she had adjusted herself to the duties of a matron in her new home? +She was not less broadly buoyant and beaming, but who can tell that, when +she noted Lightfoot's burning look and thoughtful mien, Moonface did not +sometimes think of the two young men who, but yesterday, had rejoiced in +such strength and vigor and charm of power and who were so good to look +upon? She was a wife now, but to another sort of man. Even the feminine +among writers of erotic novels have not yet revealed what the young moon +thinks when she "holds the old moon in her arms." Anyhow, Hilltop was a +defense and a great provider of food. He was a fine figure of a man, too. +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/illp238.jpg"><img src="images/illp238_th.jpg" alt="THE GIRL COWERED BEHIND A REFUGE OF LEAVES AND BRANCHES"></a> +</p> + +<p> +Lightfoot was not much in the cave now. She lingered about the open space +or wandered in the near wood. A woman's instinct told her to be out-doors +all the time she could. A man would seek her, but with the thought came an +awful dread. Which man? One afternoon she saw something. +</p> + +<p> +Two gray forms flitted across an open space in the forest near the cave, +and in a moment the girl was in a treetop. What followed was the +unexpected. Close behind the gray things came a man, fully armed, +straight, eager and alert and silent in his wood surroundings, with eyes +roving over and searching all the open space about the cave of Hilltop. +The man was Ab. +</p> + +<p> +The girl gave a shriek of delight, then, alarmed at the sound she had +made, cowered behind a refuge of leaves and branches. She was happy beyond +all her experience before. The question which had been in all her thoughts +was answered! It was Oak, not Ab, who lay in the ground on the hillside. +And, even as she realized this fully, there was a swift upward scramble +and the young cave man was beside her on the limb. There was no running +away this time. The girl's face told its story well enough, so well that +Ab, still lately doubting, though resolved, knew that his fitting mate +belonged to him. There came to them the happiness which ever comes to +lovers, be they man or bird or beast, and then came swift conclusion. He +told her she must go with him at once, told her of the new cave and of all +he had done, but the girl, well aware of the dangers of the beast-haunted +region where the new home had been selected, was thoroughly alarmed. Then +Ab told her of the little flying spears which Old Mok had made for him, +and about the wonderful bow which sent them to their mark, and the girl +was reassured and soon began to feel exceedingly brave and proud of her +lover and his prowess. +</p> + +<p> +No need of carrying off a girl by force or craft on this occasion, for +Hilltop had fully recognized Ab's strength and quality. The two went to +the cave together and there was eating and then, later, two skin-clad +human beings, a man and a woman, went away together through the forest. +Their journey was a long one and a careful lookout was necessary as they +hurried along a pathway of the strange country. But the cave was reached +at last, just as the sun burned red and gave a rosy glow to everything. +</p> + +<p> +Silently the two came into the open space in front of what was to be their +fortress and abode. Solid was the rock about the entrance and narrow the +blocked opening. Smoke curled in a pretty spiral upward from where +smoldered the fire Ab had made the day before. Lightfoot looked upon it +all and laughed joyously, though tremblingly, for she had now given +herself to a man and he had brought her to his place of living. +</p> + +<p> +As for the man, he looked down upon the girl delightedly. His pulse beat +fast. He put his arm about her and together they entered the cave. There +was a marriage but no ceremony. Just as robins mate when they have met or +as the buck and doe, so faithful man and wife became these two. +</p> + +<p> +Darkness fell, the fire at the cave entrance flashed up fiercely and Ab +and Lightfoot were "at home." +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xxii">CHAPTER XXII.</a></h2> + +<h3>THE HONEYMOON.</h3> + +<p> +The sun shone brilliantly, birds were singing and the balsam firs gave +forth their morning incense as Ab and Lightfoot issued from their cave. +They had eaten heartily, and came out buoyant and delighted with the +world which was theirs. The chattering of the waterfowl along the river +reached their ears faintly, the leaves were moved by a gentle breeze, +there was a hum of insects in the air and the very pulse of living could +be felt. Ab carried his new weapon proudly, hungering for the love and +admiration of this girl of his, and eager to show her its powers and to +exhibit his own skill. At his back hung his quiver of mammoth bone. His +bow, unstrung, was in his hand. In front of the cave was a bare area of +many yards in extent, then came a few scattering trees and, at a distance +of perhaps two hundred yards, the forest began. Across the open space of +ground, with its great mass of branches crushed together not far from the +cave's mouth, had fallen one of the gigantic conifers' of the time, and +was there gradually decaying, its huge limbs and bole, disintegrating, +and dry as punk, affording, close at hand, a vast fuel supply, the +exceptional value of which Ab had recognized when making his selection of +a home. Near the edge of the little clearing made by nature, Ab seated +himself upon a log, and drawing Lightfoot down to a seat beside him, +began enthusiastically to make clear the marvels of the weapon he had +devised and which he and Old Mok had developed into something startling +in its possibilities. +</p> + +<p> +All details of the explanation made by the earnest young hunter, it is +probable, Lightfoot did not comprehend. She looked proudly at him, +fingering the flint pointed arrows curiously, yet seemed rather intent +upon the man than the wood and stone. But when he pointed at a great knot +in a tree near them and bent his bow and sent an arrow fairly into the +target, and when, even with her strength, Lightfoot could not pull the +arrow out, she was wild with admiration and excitement. She begged to be +taught how to use, herself, this wonderful new weapon, for she recognized +as readily as could anyone its adaptation to the use of one of inferior +strength. The delighted lover was certainly as desirous as she that she +should some day become an expert. He handed her the bow, retaining, slung +over his shoulder, fortunately, as it developed, the bone quiver full of +Old Mok's best arrows. He taught her, first, how to bend and string the +bow. There were failures and successes, and there was much laughter from +the merry-hearted Lightfoot. Finally, it happened that Ab was not just +content with the quality of the particular arrow which he had selected +for Lightfoot's use. He had taken a slender one with a clean flint head, +but something about the notch had not quite suited him. With a thin, hard +stone scraper, carried in a pouch of his furry garb, he began rasping and +filing at this notch to make it better fit the string of tendons, while +Lightfoot, with the bow still strung, stood beside him. At last, tired of +holding the thing in her hands, she passed it over her head and one +shoulder and stood there jauntily, with both hands free, while the man +scraped away with the one little flake of flint in his possession, and, +as he worked, paused from time to time note how well he was rounding the +notch in the end of the slight hardwood shaft. It was just as he was +holding up to her eyes the arrow, now made almost an ideal one, according +to his fancy, when there came to the ears of the two a sound, distinct, +ominous and implying to them deadly peril, a sound such that, though +nerves spoke and muscles acted, they were very near the momentary +paralysis which sometimes come from sudden fearful shock. From close +beside them came the half grunt and half growl of the great cave bear! +</p> + +<p> +With the instinct born of generations, each leaped independently toward +the nearest tree, and, with the unconscious strength and celerity which +comes to even wild animals with the dread of death at hand, each +clambered to a treetop before a word was spoken. Scarcely had either left +the ground before there was a rush into the open glade of a huge brown +hairy form, and this was instantly followed by another. As Ab and +Lightfoot climbed far amid the branches and looked down, they saw +upreared at the base of each tree the figure of one of the monsters whose +hungry exclamations they knew so well. They had been careless, these two +lovers, especially the man. He had known well, but for the moment had +forgotten how beast-infested was the immediate area about his new home, +and now had come the consequence of his thoughtlessness. He and his wife +had been driven to the treetops within a few yards of their own +hearthstone, leaving their weapons inside their cave! +</p> + +<p> +Alarmed and panting, after settling down to a firm seat far aloft, each +looked about to see what had become of the other. Each was at once +reassured as to the present, and each became much perplexed as to the +future. The cave bear, like his weaker and degenerate descendant, the +grizzly of to-day, had the quality of persistence well developed, and +both Ab and Lightfoot knew that the siege of their enemies would be +something more than for the moment. The trees in which they perched were +very close to the wood, but not so close that the forest could be reached +by passing from branch to branch. Their two trees were not far from each +other, but their branches did not intermingle. There was a distinct +opening between them. The tree up which Lightfoot had scrambled was a +great fir towering high above the strong beech in which Ab had found his +safety. Branches of the fir hung down until between their ends and Ab's +less lofty covert there were but a few yards of space. Still, one trying +to reach the beech from the lofty fir would find an unpleasantly wide +gap. +</p> + +<p> +Each of the creatures in the tree was unarmed. Ab still bore the quiver +full of admirable arrows, and across the breast of Lightfoot still hung +the strong bow which she had slung about her in such blithesome mood. +Soon began an exceedingly earnest conversation. Ab, eager to reach again +the fair creature who now belonged to him, was half frantic with rage, +and Lightfoot was far from her usual mood of careless gaiety. The two +talked and considered, though but to little purpose, and, finally, after +weary hours, the night came on. It was a trying situation. Man and woman +were in equal danger. The bears were hungry--and the cave bear knew his +quarry. The beasts beneath were not disposed to leave the prey they had +imprisoned aloft. The night grew, but either Ab or Lightfoot, looking +down, could see the glare of small, hungry eyes. There was gentle talk +between the two, for this was a great strait and, in straits, souls, be +they prehistoric, historic or of to-day, always come closer together. +Very much more loving lovers, even, than they were before, became the two +perched aloft that night. It was a comfort for the wedded pair to call to +each other through the darkness. After a time, however, muscles grew lax +with the continued strain. Weariness clouded the spirits of the couple +and almost overcame them and only the thing which has always, in great +stress, given the greatest strength in this world--the love of male and +female--sustained them. They stood the test pretty well. To sleep in a +tree top was an easy thing for them, with the precautions, simple and +natural, of the time. Each plaited a withe of twigs with which to be tied +to the tree or limb, and resting in the hollow nest where some great limb +joined the bole, slept as sleep tired children, until the awakening of +nature awoke these who were nature's own. When Ab awoke, he had more on +his mind than Lightfoot, for he was the one who must care for the two. He +blinked and wondered where he was. Then he remembered all, suddenly. He +looked across anxiously at a slender brown thing lying asleep, coiled so +close to the bole of the tree to which she was bound that she seemed +almost a part of it. Then he looked down, and, after what he saw, thought +very seriously. The bears were there! He looked up at the bright sky and +all about him, and inhaled all the fragrance of the forest, and felt +strong, and that he knew what he should do. He called aloud. +</p> + +<p> +The girl awoke, frightened. She would have fallen had she not been bound +to the tree. Gradually, the full meaning of the situation dawned upon her +and she began to cry. She was hungry, her limbs were stiffened by her +bands, and there was death below. But there, close to her, was the Man. +His voice gradually reassured her. He was becoming angry now, almost +raging. Here he was, the lord of a cave, independent and master as much +as any other man whom he knew, perched in one tree while his bride of a +day was in the top of another, yet kept apart from her by the brutes +below! +</p> + +<p> +He had decided what to do, and now he talked to Lightfoot with all the +frankness of the strong male who felt that he had another to care for, +and who realized his responsibility and authority together. As the +strength and decided personality of the young man came to her through his +voice, the young woman drew her scanty fur robe about her and checked her +tears. She became comparatively calm and reasonable. +</p> + +<p> +The tree in which Lightfoot had found refuge had many long slender +branches lowering toward the giant beech into which the man had made his +retreat. Ab argued that it was possible--barely possible--for Lightfoot's +compact, agile, slender body to be launched in just the right way from +one of the branches of the taller tree, and, swinging in its descent +across the space between the two, lodge among the branches of the beech +with him. Strong arms ready to clasp her as she came and to withstand the +shock and to hold her safely he promised and, to enforce his plea, he +pointed out that, unless they thus took their fate in hand, there was +starvation awaiting them as they were, while carrying out his plan, if +any accident befell, there was only swift though dreadful death to reckon +with. There was one chance for their lives and that chance must be taken. +Ab called to his young wife: +</p> + +<p> +"Crawl out upon a branch above me, swing down from it, swing hard and +throw yourself to me. I will catch you and hold you. I am strong." +</p> + +<p> +The woman, with all faith in the man, still demurred. It was a great +test, even for the times and the occasion. But hunger was upon her and +she was cold and was, naturally, very brave. She lowered herself and +climbed down and reached an out-extending limb, and there, across the +gap, she saw Ab with his strong legs twined about the uprearing branch +along which he laid, with giant brown arms stretched out confidently and +with eyes steadily regarding her, eyes which had love and longing and a +lot of fight in them. She walked out along the limb, holding herself +safely by a firm hand-hold on the limb above, until the one her bare feet +rested upon swayed and tipped uncertainly. Then came her time of trial of +nerve and trust. Suddenly she stooped, caught the lower limb with her +hands and then swung beneath it, hanging by her hands alone, and, hand +over hand, passed herself along until she reached almost its end. Then +she began swaying back and forth. She was but a few yards above Ab now, +dangling in mid-air, while, below her, the two hungry bears had rushed +together and were looking upward with red, anticipating eyes, the ooze +coming from their mouths. The moment was awful. Soon she must be a +mangled thing devoured by frightful beasts, or else a woman with a life +renewed. She looked at Ab, and, with courage regained, prepared for the +great effort which must end all or gain a better lease of life. +</p> + +<p> +She swung back and forth, each drawing up and outreach and flexible +motion of her arms giving more momentum to the sway and conserving force +for the launch of herself she was about to make. The desperation and +strength of a wood-wise creature, so bravely combined, alone enabled her +to obey Ab's hoarse command. +</p> + +<p> +Ab, with his arms outreaching in their strength, feeling the fierce eyes +of the hungry bears below boring into his very heart, leaned forward and +upward as the swing of the woman reached its climax. With a cry of +warning, the woman launched herself and shot downward and forward, like a +bolt to its mark, a very desirable lump of femininity as appearing in +mid-air, but one somewhat forcible in its alighting. +</p> + +<p> +Ab was strong, but when that girl landed fairly in his brawny arms, as +she did beautifully, it was touch and go, for a fraction of a second, +whether both should fall to the ground together or both be saved. He +caught her deftly, but there was a great shock and swing and then, with a +vast effort, there came recovery and the man drew himself, shaking, back +to the support of the branch from which he had been almost wrenched away, +at the same time placing beside him the object he had just caught. +</p> + +<p> +There was absolute silence for a moment or two between these +unconventional lovers to whom had come escape from a hard situation. They +were drawing deep breaths and recovering an equilibrium. There they sat +together on the strong branch, each of them as secure and, for the +moment, as perfectly at home as if lying on a couch in the cave. Each of +them was panting and each of them rejoicing. It was unlikely that upon +their trained, robust nerves the life-endangering episode of a moment +could have a more than passing effect. They sat so together for some +minutes with arms entwined, still drawing deep breaths, and, a little +later, began to laugh chucklingly, as breath came to be spared for such +exhibition if human feeling. Gradually, the indrawing and expelling of +the glorious air shortened. The two had regained their normal condition +and Ab's face lengthened and the lines upon it became more distinct. He +was all himself again, but in no dallying mood. He gave a triumphant +whoop which echoed through the forest, shook his clenched hand savagely +at the brutes below and reached toward Lightfoot for the bow which hung +about her shoulders. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xxiii">CHAPTER XXIII.</a></h2> + +<h3>MORE OF THE HONEYMOON.</h3> + +<p> +The brown, downy woman knew, on the instant, what was her husband's mood +and immediate intent when he thus shouted and took into his own keeping +again the stiff bow which hung about her shoulders. She knew that her +lord was not merely in a glad, but that he was also in a vengeful frame +of mind, that he wanted from her what would enable him to kill things, +and that, equipped again, he was full of the spirit of fight. She knew +that, of the four animals grouped together, two huge creatures of the +ground and two slighter ones perched in a tree top, the chances were that +the condition of those below had suddenly become the less preferable. +</p> + +<p> +The bow was about Ab's shoulders instantly, and then this preposterous +young gentleman of the period turned to the woman and laughed, and caught +her in one of his arms a little closer, and drew her up against him and +laid his cheek against her own for a moment and drew it away and laughed +again. The kiss, it is believed, had not fully developed itself in the +cave man's time, but there were substitutes. Then, releasing her, he said +gleefully and chucklingly, "follow me;" and they clambered down the bole +of the beech together until they reached the biggest and very lowest limb +of all. It was perhaps twenty feet above the ground. A little below their +dangling feet the hungry bears, hitherto more patient, now, with their +expected prey so close at hand, becoming desperately excited, ran about, +frothing and foaming and red-eyed, uprearing themselves in awful +nearness, at times, in their eagerness to reach the prey which they had +so awaited and which, to their intelligence, seemed about falling into +their jaws. They had so driven into trees before, and finally consumed +exhausted cave men and women. As bears went, they were doubtless logical +animals. They could not know that there had come into possession of this +particular pair of creatures of the sort they had occasionally eaten, a +trifling thing of wood and sinew string and flint point, which was +destined henceforth to make a decided change in the relative condition of +the biped and quadruped hunters of the time. How could they know that +something small and sharp would fly down and sting them more deeply than +they had ever been stung before, that it would sting so deeply that their +arteries might be cut, or their hearts pierced and that then they must +lie down and die? The well-thrown spear had been, in other ages, a vast +surprise to the carnivora of the period, but there was something yet to +learn. +</p> + +<p> +When they had reached the huge branch so near the ground both Ab and +Lightfoot were for a moment startled and lifted their feet instinctively, +but it was only for a moment in the case of the man. He knew that he was +perfectly safe and that he had with him an engine of death. He selected +his best and strongest arrow, he fitted it carefully to the string and +then, as his mother had done years before above the hyena which sought +her child, he reached one foot down as far as he could, and swung it back +and forth tantalizingly, just above the larger of the hungry beasts +below. The monster, fierce with hunger and the desire for prey, roared +aloud and upreared himself by the tree trunk and tore the bark with his +strong claws, throwing back his great head as he looked upward at the +quarry so near him and yet just beyond his reach. This was the man's +opportunity. Ab drew back the arrow till the flint head rested close by +his out-straining hand and the tough wood of the bow creaked under the +thrust of his muscled arm. Then he released the shaft. So close together +were man and bear that archer's skill of aim was not required. The brown +target could not be missed. The arrow struck with a tear and the flint +head drove through skin and tissue till its point protruded at the back +of the great brute's neck. The bear fell suddenly backward, then rose +again and reached blindly at its neck with its huge fore-paws, while from +where the arrow had entered the blood came out in spurts. Suddenly the +bear ceased its appalling roars and started for the cave. There had come +to it the instinct which makes such great beasts seek to die alone. It +rushed at the narrow entrance but its course was scarcely noted by the +couple in the tree. The other bear, the female, was seeking to reach them +in no less savage mood than had animated her stricken mate. +</p> + +<p> +Not often, when the cave man first learned the use of the bow, came to +him such fortune with a first strong shot as that which had so come to +Ab. Again he selected a good arrow, again shot his strongest and best, +but the shaft only buried itself in the shoulder and served but to drive +to absolute madness the raging creature thus sorely hurt. The forest +echoed with the roaring of the infuriated animal, and as she reared +herself clambering against the tree the tough fiber was rended away in +great slivers, and the man and woman were glad that the trunk was thick +and that they owned a natural citadel. Again and again did Ab discharge +his arrows and still fail to reach a vital part of the terror below. She +fairly bristled with the shafts. It was inevitable that she must die, but +when the last shot had sped she was still infuriate and, apparently, as +strong as ever. The archer looked down upon her with some measure of +despondency in his face, but by no means with despair. He and his bride +must wait. That was all, and this he told to Lightfoot. That intelligent +and reliable young helpmate of a few hours, who had looked upon what had +occurred with an awed admiration, did not exhibit any depression. Her +husband, fortunate Benedict, had produced a great effect upon her by his +feat. She felt herself something like a queen. Had she known enough and +had the fancies of the Ruth of some thousands of decades later she would +have told him how completely thenceforth his people were her people and +his gods her gods. +</p> + +<p> +The she bear became finally somewhat quieted; she tore less angrily at +the tree and made less of the terrible clamor which had for the moment +driven from the immediate region all the inmates of the wood, for none +save the cave tiger cared to be in the immediate neighborhood of the cave +bear. Her roars changed into roaring growls, and she wandered +staggeringly about. At last she started blindly and weakly toward the +forest, and just as she had passed beneath its shadow, paused, weaved +back and forth for a moment, and then fell over heavily. She was dead. +</p> + +<p> +Not an action of the beast had escaped the eyes of Ab. Well he knew the +ways of wounded things. As the bear toppled over he gave utterance to a +whoop and, with a word to the girl beside him, slid lightly to the +ground, she following him at once. It was very good to be upon the earth +again. Ab stamped with his feet and stretched his arms, and the woman +danced upon the grass and laughed gleefully. But this was only for a +moment or so. Ab started toward the cave, and as he reached the entrance, +gave a great cry of rage and dismay. Lightfoot ran to his side and even +her ready laugh failed her when she looked upon his perplexed and stormy +countenance and saw what had happened. The rump of the monster he bear +was what she looked upon. The beast, in his instinctive effort to crawl +into some dark place to die, had fairly driven himself into the cave's +entrance, dislodging some of the stones Ab had placed there, had wedged +himself in firmly, and had died before he could extricate his great +carcass. The two human beings were homeless and, with all the arrows +gone, weaponless, in the midst of a region so dangerously infested that +any movement afoot was but inviting death. They were hungry, too, for +many hours had passed since they had tasted food. It was not matter of +surprise that even the stout-hearted cave man stood aghast. +</p> + +<p> +The occasion for Ab's alarm was fully verified. From the spot where the +cave bear lay at the forest's edge came a sharp, snapping growl. The +lurking hyenas had found the food, and a long, inquiring howl from +another direction told that the wolves had scented it and were gathering. +For the instant Ab was himself almost helpless with fear. The woman was +simply nerveless. Then the man, so accustomed to physical danger, +recovered himself. He sprang forward, seized a stout fragment of limb +which might serve as a sort of weapon, and, turning to the woman, said +only the one word "fire." +</p> + +<p> +Lightfoot understood and life came to her again. None in all the region +could make a fire more swiftly than she. Her quick eye detected just the +base she wanted in a punkish fragment of wood and the harder and pointed +bit of limb to be used in making the friction. In a time scarcely worth +the noting the point was whirling about and burning into the wooden base, +twirling with a skill and velocity not comprehensible by us to-day, for +the cave people had perfected wonderfully this greatest manual art of the +time, and Lightfoot, muscular and enduring, was, as already said, in this +thing the cleverest among the clever. Ab, with ready club in hand, +advanced cautiously toward the point at the wood's edge where lay the +body of the bear. He paused as he came near enough to see what was +happening. Four great hyenas were tearing eagerly at the flesh of the +dead brute, and behind them, deeper in the wood, were shining eyes, and +Ab knew that the wolf pack was gathering. The bear consumed, the man and +woman, without defense, would surely be devoured. It was a desperate +strait, but, though he was weaponless, there was the cave man's great +resort, the fire, and there might be a chance for life. To seek the tree +tops would be dangerous even now, and once ensconced in such harborage, +only starvation was awaiting. He moved back noiselessly, with as little +apparent motion as possible, for he did not want to attract the attention +of the gleaming eyes in the distance, until he came near Lightfoot again, +and then he abandoned caution of movement and began tearing frantically +at the limbs and débris of the great dead conifer, and to build a +semicircular fence in front of the cave entrance. He did the swift work +of half a score of men in his desperation and anxiety, his great strength +serving him well in his compelling strait. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the stick twirled and rasped in the hands of the brown woman +seated on the ground, and at last a tiny thread of smoke arose. The +continued friction had done its work. Deft himself at fire-making, Ab +knew just what was wanted at this moment and ran to his wife's side with +punk from the dead tree, rubbed to a powder in his hard hands. The +powder, poured gently down upon the point where the increasing heat had +brought the gleam of fire, burst, almost at once, into a little flame. +What followed was simple and easy. Dry twigs made the slight flame a +greater one and then, at a dozen different points, the wall which Ab had +built was fired. They were safe, for the time at least. Behind them was +the uprearing rock in which was the cave and before them, almost +encircling them completely, was the ring of fire which no wild beast +would cross. At one end, close to the rock, a space had been left by Ab, +that he and Lightfoot might, through it, reach the vast store of fuel +which lay there ready to the hand and so close that there was no danger +in visiting it. Hardly had the flame extended itself along the slight +wooden barrier than the whole wood and clearing resounded with terrifying +sounds. The wolf pack had increased until strong enough to battle with +the hyenas for the remainder of the feast in the wood, and their fight +was on. +</p> + +<p> +The feeling of terror had passed away from this young bride and groom, +with the assurance of present safety, and Ab felt the need of eating. +"There is meat," he said, as he pointed toward the haunches of the bear, +half-protruding from the rock, "and there is fire. The fire will cook the +meat, and, besides, we are safe. We will eat!" +</p> + +<p> +The bridegroom of but a day or two said this somewhat grandiloquently, +but he was not disposed to be vain or grandiloquent a little later. He +put his hand to the belt of his furry garb and found no sharp flint knife +there! It had been lost in his late tree clambering. He put his hand into +the pouch of his cloak and found only the flint skin scraper, the scraper +with which he had improved the arrow's notch, though it was not +originally intended for such use. It was all that remained to him of +weapon or utensil. But it would cut or tear, though with infinite effort, +and the man, to reassure the woman, laughed, and assailed the brown +haunch before him. Even with his strength, it was difficult for Ab to +penetrate the tough skin of the bear with an implement intended for +scraping, not for cutting, and it was only after he had finally cut, or +rather dug, away enough to enable him to get his fingers under the skin +and tear away an area of it by sheer main strength that the flesh was +made available. That end once attained, there followed a hard transverse +digging with the scraper, a grasp about tissue of strong, impressed +fingers, and a shred of flesh came away. It was tossed at once to a young +person who, long twig in hand, stood eagerly waiting. She caught the +shred as she had caught the fine bit of mammoth when first she and Ab had +met, and it was at once impaled and thrust into the flames. It was +withdrawn, it is to be feared, a trifle underdone, and then it +disappeared, as did other shreds of excellent bear's meat which came +following. It was a sight for a dyspeptic to note the eating of this +belle-matron of the region on this somewhat exceptional occasion. +</p> + +<p> +Strip after strip did Ab tear away and toss to his wife until the +expression on her face became a shade more peaceful and then it dawned +upon him that she was eating and that he was not. There was clamor in his +stomach. He sprang away from the bear, gave Lightfoot the scraper and +commanded her to get food for him as he had done for her. The girl +complied and did as well as had done the man in digging away the meat. He +ate as she had done, and, at last, partly gorged and content, allowed her +to take her place at the fire and again eat to his serving. He had shown +what, from the standard of the time, must be counted as most gallant and +generous and courteous demeanor. He had thought a little of the woman. +</p> + +<p> +A tiny rill of cold water trickled down on one side of the outer door of +their cave. With this their thirst was slaked, and they ate and ate. The +shadows lengthened and Ab replenished again and again the fire. From the +semicircle of forest all about came the sound of footsteps rustling in +the leaves. But the two people inside the fire fence, hungry no longer, +were content. Ab talked to his wife: +</p> + +<p> +"The fire will keep the man-eating things away," he said. "I ran not long +ago with things behind me, and I would have been eaten had I not come +upon a ring of fire like the one we have made. I leaped it and the eaters +could not reach me. But, for the fire I leaped there was no wood. It came +out of a crack in the ground. Some day we will go there and I will show +you that thing which is so strange." +</p> + +<p> +The woman listened, delighted, but, at last, there was a nodding of the +head. She lay back upon the grass a sleepy being. Ab looked at her and +thought deeply. Where was safety? As they were, one of them must be awake +all the time to keep the fire replenished. Until he could enter the cave +again he must be weaponless. Only the fire could protect the two. They +had heat and food and nothing to fear for the moment, but they must +fairly eat their way into a safety which would be permanent! +</p> + +<p> +He kept the fire alight far into the darkness, and then, piling the fuel +high all along the line of defense, he aroused the sleeping woman and +told her she must keep the flames bright while he slept in his turn. She +was just the wife for such an emergency as this, and rose uncomplainingly +to do her part of the guarding work. From the forest all about came +snarling sounds or threatening growls, and eyes blazed in the somber +depths beneath the trees. There were hungry things out there and they +wanted to eat a man and woman, but fire they feared. The woman was not +afraid. +</p> + +<p> +After hours had passed the man awoke and took the woman's place and she +slept in his stead. Morning came and the sounds from the forest died away +partly, but the man and woman knew of the fierce creatures still lurking +there. They knew what was before them. They must delve and eat their way +into the cave as soon as possible. +</p> + +<p> +Ab scraped at the bear's huge body with his inefficient bit of flint and +dug away food in abundance, which he heaped up in a little red mound +inside the fire, but the bear was a monstrous beast and it was a long way +from tail to head. The days of the honeymoon passed with a degree of +travail, for there was no moment when one of the two must not be awake +feeding the guarding fire or digging at the bear. They ate still heartily +on the second day but it is simple, truthful history to admit that on the +sixth day bear's meat palled somewhat on the happy couple. To have eaten +thirty quails in thirty days or, at a pinch, thirty quails in two days +would have been nothing to either of them, but bear's meat eaten as part +of what might be called a tunneling exploit ceased, finally, to possess +an attractive flavor. There was a degree of shade cast by all these +obtrusive circumstances across this honeymoon, but there came a day and +hour when the bear was largely eaten, and fairly dug away as to much of +the rest of him, and then, quite suddenly, his head and fore-quarters +toppled forward into the cave, leaving the passage free, and when Ab and +Lightfoot followed, one shouting and the other laughing, one coming again +to his fortress and his weapons and his power, and the other to her +hearth and duties. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xxiv">CHAPTER XXIV.</a></h2> + +<h3>THE FIRE COUNTRY AGAIN.</h3> + +<p> +The sun rose brightly the next morning and when Ab, armed and watchful, +rolled the big stone away and passed the smoldering fire and issued from +the cave into the open, the scene he looked upon was fair in every way. +Of what had been left of the great bear not a trace remained. Even the +bones had been dragged into the forest by the ravening creatures who had +fed there during the night. There were birds singing and there were no +enemies in sight. Ab called to Lightfoot and the two went forth together, +loving and brave, but no longer careless in that too interesting region. +</p> + +<p> +And so began the home life of these two people. It was, in its way and +relatively, as sweet and delicious as the first home life of any loving +and appreciating man and woman of to-day. The two were very close, as the +conditions under which they lived demanded. They were the only human +beings within a radius of miles. The family of the cave man of the time +was serenely independent, each having its own territory, and depending +upon itself for its existence. And the two troubled themselves about +nothing. Who better than they could daily win the means of animal +subsistence? +</p> + +<p> +Ab taught Lightfoot the art of cracking away the flakes of the flint +nodules and of the finer chipping and rasping which made perfect the +spear and arrowheads, and never was pupil swifter in the learning. He +taught her, too, the use of his new weapon, and in all his life he did no +wiser thing! It was not long before she became easily his superior with +the bow, so far as her strength would allow, and her strength was far +from insignificant. Her arrows flew with greater accuracy than his, +though the buzzing shaft had not as yet, and did not have for many +centuries later, the "gray goose" feather which made the doing of its +mission far more certain. Lightfoot brought to the cave the capercailzie +and willow grouse and other birds which were good things for the larder, +and Ab looked on admiringly. Even in their joint hunting, when there was +a half rivalry, he was happy in her. Somehow, the arrow sang more merrily +when it flew from Lightfoot's bow. +</p> + +<p> +Better than Ab, too, could the young wife do rare climbing when in a nest +far out upon some branch were eggs good for roasting and which could be +reached only by a light-weight. And she learned the woods about them +well, and, though ever dreading when alone, found where were the trees +from which fell the greatest store of nuts and where, in the mud along +the river's side, her long and highly educated toes could reach the clams +which were excellent to feed upon. +</p> + +<p> +But never did the hunter leave the cave without a fear. Ever, even in the +daytime, was there too much rustling among the leaves of the near forest. +Ever when day had gone was there the sound of padded feet on the sward +about the cave's blocked entrance. Ever, at night, looking out through +the narrow space between the heaped rocks, could the two inside the cave +see fierce and blazing eyes and there would come to them the sound of +snarls and growls as the beasts of different quality met one another. Yet +the two cared little for these fearful surroundings of the darkness. They +were safe enough. In the morning there were no signs of the lurking +beasts of prey. They were somewhere near, though, and waiting, and so Ab +and Lightfoot had the strain of constant watchfulness upon them. +</p> + +<p> +It may be that because of this ever present peril the two grew closer +together. It could not well be otherwise with human beings thus bound and +isolated and facing and living upon the rest of nature, part of it +seeking always their own lives. They became a wonderfully loving couple, +as love went in that rude time. Despite the too wearing outlook imposed +upon them, because they were in so dangerous a locality, they were very +happy. Yet, one day, came a difference and a hurt. +</p> + +<p> +Oak, apparently forgotten by others, was remembered by Ab, though never +spoken of. Sometimes the man had tossed upon his bed of leaves and had +muttered in his sleep, and the one word he had most often spoken in this +troubled dreaming was the name of Oak. Early in their married life +Lightfoot, to whom the memory of the dead man, so little had she known +him, was a far less haunting thing than to her husband, had suddenly +broken a silence, saying "Where is Oak?" There was no answer, but the +look of the man of whom she had asked the question was such that she was +glad to creep from his sight unharmed. Yet once again, months later, she +forgot herself and mocked Ab when he had been boastful over some exploit +of strength and courage and when he had seemed to say that he knew no +fear. She, but to tease him, sprang up with a face convulsed and +agonized, and with staring eyes and hands opening and shutting, had cried +out "Oak! Oak!" as she had seen Ab do at night. Her mimic terror was +changed on the moment into reality. With a shudder and then with a glare +in his eyes the man leaped toward her, snatching his great ax from his +belt and swinging it above her head. The woman shrieked and shrank to the +ground. The man whirled the weapon aloft and then, his face twitching +convulsively, checked its descent. He may, in that moment, have thought +of what followed the slaying of the other who had been close to him. +There was no death done, but, thenceforth, Lightfoot never uttered aloud +the name of Oak. She became more sedate and grave of bearing. +</p> + +<p> +The episode was but a passing, though not a forgotten one in the lives of +the two. The months went by and there were tranquil hours in the cave as, +at night, the weapons were shaped, and Lightfoot boasted of the +arrowheads she had learned to make so well. Sometimes Old Mok would be +rowed up the river to them by the sturdy and venturesome Bark, who had +grown into a particularly fine youth and who now cared for nothing more +than his big brother's admiration. Between Old Mok and Lightfoot, to Ab's +great delight, grew up the warmest friendship. The old man taught the +woman more of the details of good arrow-making and all he knew of +woodcraft in all ways, and the lord of the place soon found his wife +giving opinions with an air of the utmost knowledge and authority. +Whatever came to him from her and Old Mok pleased him, and when she told +him of some of the finer points of arrow-making he stretched out his +brawny arms and laughed. +</p> + +<p> +But there came, in time, a shade upon the face of the man. The incident +of the talk of Oak may have brought to his mind again more freshly and +keenly the memory of the Fire Country. There he had found safety and +great comfort. Why should not he and Lightfoot seize upon this home and +live there? It was a wonderful place and warm, and there were forests at +hand. He became so absorbed in his own thoughts on this great theme that +the woman who was his could not understand his mood, but, one day, he +told her of what he had been thinking and of what he had resolved upon. +"I am going to the Fire Country," he said. +</p> + +<p> +Armed, this time with spear and ax and bow and arrow, and with food +abundant in the pouch of his skin garb, Ab left the cave in which +Lightfoot was now to stay most of the time, well barricaded, for that she +was to hunt afar alone in such a region was not even to be thought of. +What thoughts came to the man as he traversed again the forest paths +where he had so pondered as he once ran before can be but guessed at. +Certainly he had learned no more of Oak. +</p> + +<p> +Lightfoot, left alone in the cave, became at once a most discreet and +careful personage, for one of her buoyant and daring temperament. She had +often taken risks since her marriage, but there was always the chance of +finding within the sound of her voice her big mate, Ab, should danger +overtake her. She remained close to the cave, and when early dusk came +she lugged the stone barriers into place and built a night-fire within +the entrance. The fierce and hungry beasts of the wood came, as usual, +lurking and sniffing harshly about the entrance, and when she ventured +there and peered outside she saw the wicked and leering eyes. Alone and a +little alarmed, she became more vengeful than she would have been with +the big, careless Ab beside her. She would have sport with her bow. The +advantage of the bow is that it requires no swing of space for its work +as is demanded of the flung spear. An arrow may be sent through a mere +loophole with no probable demerit as to what it will accomplish. So the +woman brought her strongest bow--and far beyond the rough bow of Ab's +first make was the bow they now possessed--and gathered together many of +the arrows she could make so well and use so well, and, thus equipped, +went again to the cave's entrance, and through the space between the +heaped rocks of the doorway sent toward the eyes of wolf, or cave hyena, +shafts to which they were unaccustomed, but which, somehow, pierced and +could find mid-body quite as well as the cave man's spear. There was a +certain comfort in the work, though it could not affect her condition in +one way or another. It was only something of a gain to drive the eyes +away. +</p> + +<p> +And Ab reached the Fire Valley again. He found it as comfortable and +untenanted as when the leap through the ring of flame had saved his life. +He clambered up the creek and wandered along its banks, where the grass +was green because of the warmth about, and studied all the qualities of +the naturally defended valley. "I will make my home here," he said. +"Lightfoot shall come with me." +</p> + +<p> +The man returned to his cave and his lonely mate again and told her of +the Fire Country. He said that in the Fire Valley they would be safer and +happier, and told her how he had found an opening underneath the cliff +which they could soon enlarge into a cave to meet all wants. Not that a +cave was really needed in a fire valley, but they might have one if they +cared. And Lightfoot was glad of the departure. +</p> + +<p> +The pair gathered their belongings together and there was the long +journey over again which Ab had just accomplished. But it was far +different from either journey that he had made. There with him was his +wife, and he was all equipped and was to begin a new sort of life which +would, he felt, be good. Lightfoot, bearing her load gallantly, was not +less jubilant. As a matter of plain fact, though Lightfoot had been happy +in the cave in the forest, she had always recognized certain of its +disadvantages, as had, in the end, her fearless husband. It is, in a +general way, vexatious to live in a locality where, as soon as you leave +your hearthstone, you incur, at least, a chance of an exciting and +uncomfortable episode and then lodgment in the maw of some imposing +creature of the carnivora. Lightfoot was quite ready to seek with Ab the +Fire Valley of which he had so often told her. She was a plucky young +matron, but there were extremes. +</p> + +<p> +There were no adventures on the journey worth relating. The Fire Valley +was reached at nightfall and the two struggled weariedly up the rugged +path beside the creek which issued from the valley's western end. As they +reached the level Ab threw down his burden, as did Lightfoot, and as the +woman's eyes roved over the bright scene, she gave a great gasp of +delight. "It is our home!" she cried. +</p> + +<p> +They ate and slept in the light and warmth of surrounding flames, and +when the day came they began the work of enlarging what was to be their +cave. But, though they worked earnestly, they did not care so much for +the prospective shelter as they might have done. What a cave had given +was warmth and safety. Here they had both, out of doors and under the +clear sky. It was a new and glorious life. Sometimes, though happy, the +woman worked a little wearily, and, not long after the settlement of the +two in their new home, a child was born to them, a son, robust and +sturdy, who came afterward to be known as Little Mok. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xxv">CHAPTER XXV.</a></h2> + +<h3>A GREAT STEP FORWARD.</h3> + +<p> +There came to Ab and Lightfoot that comfort which comes with laboring for +something desired. In all that the two did amid their pleasant +surroundings life became a greater thing because its dangers were so +lessened and its burdens lightened. But they were not long the sole human +beings in the Fire Valley. There was room for many and soon Old Mok took +up his permanent abode with them, for he was most contented when with Ab, +who seemed so like a son to him. A cave of his own was dug for Mok, +where, with his carving and his making of arrows and spearheads, he was +happy in his old age. Soon followed a hegira which made, for the first +time, a community. The whole family of Ab, One-Ear, Red-Spot and Bark and +Beech-leaf and the later ones, all came, and another cave was made, and +then old Hilltop was persuaded to follow the example and come with +Moonface and Branch and Stone Arm, his big sons, and the group, thus +established and naturally protected, feared nothing which might happen. +The effect of daily counsel together soon made itself distinctly felt, +and, under circumstances so different, many of the old ways were departed +from. Half a mile to the south the creek, which made a bend adown its +course, tumbled into the river and upon the river were wild fowl in +abundance and in its depths were fish. The forest abounded in game and +there were great nut-bearing trees and the wild fruits in their season. +Wild bees hovered over the flowers in the open places and there were +hoards of wild honey to be found in the hollows of deadened trunks or in +the high rock crevices. A great honey-gatherer, by the way, was +Lightfoot, who could climb so well, and who, furthermore, had her own +fancy for sweet things. It was either Bark or Moonface who usually +accompanied her on her expeditions, and they brought back great store of +this attractive spoil. The years passed and the community grew, not +merely in numbers, but intelligence. Though always an adviser with Old +Mok, Ab's chief male companion in adventure was the stanch Hilltop, who +was a man worth hunting with. Having two such men to lead and with a +force so strong behind them the valley people were able to cope with the +more dangerous animals venturesomely, and soon the number of these was so +decreased that even the children might venture a little way beyond the +steep barriers which had been raised where the flame circle had its gaps. +The opening to the north was closed by a high stone wall and that along +the creek defended as effectively, in a different way. They were having +good times in the valley. +</p> + +<p> +At first, the home of all was in the caves dug in the soft rock of the +ledge, for of those who came to the novel refuge there was, for a season, +none who could sleep in the bright light from the never-waning flames. +There came a time, though, when, in midsummer, Ab grumbled at the heat +within his cave and he and Lightfoot built for themselves an outside +refuge, made of a bark-covered "lean-to" of long branches propped against +the rock. Thus was the first house made. The habitation proved so +comfortable that others in the valley imitated it and soon there was a +hive of similar huts along the foot of the overhanging precipice. When +the short, sharp winter came, all did not seek their caves again, but the +huts were made warmer by the addition to their walls of bark and skins, +and cave dwelling in the valley was finally abandoned. There was one +exception. Old Mok would not leave his warm retreat, and, as long as he +lived, his rock burrow was his home. +</p> + +<p> +There came also, as recruits, young men, friends of the young men of the +valley, and the band waxed and waned, for nothing could at once change +the roving and independent habits of the cave men. But there came +children to the mothers, the broad Moonface being especially to the fore +in this regard, and a fine group of youngsters played and straggled up +and down the creek and fought valiantly together, as cave children +should. The heads of families were friendly, though independent. Usually +they lived each without any reference to anyone else, but when a great +hunt was on, or any emergency called, the band came together and fought, +for the time, under Ab's tacitly admitted leadership. And the young men +brought wives from the country round. +</p> + +<p> +The area of improvement widened. Around the Fire Village the zone of +safety spread. The roar of the great cave tiger was less often heard +within miles of the flaming torches of the valley so inhabited. There +grew into existence something almost like a system of traffic, for, from +distant parts, hitherto unknown, came other cave men, bringing skins, or +flints, or tusks for carving, which they were eager to exchange for the +new weapon and for instruction in its uses. Ab was the first chieftain, +the first to draw about him a clan of followers. The cave men were taking +their first lesson in a slight, half unconfessed obedience, that first +essential of community life where there is yet no law, not even the +unwritten law of custom. +</p> + +<p> +Running in and out among the children, sometimes pummeled by them, were a +score or two of gray, four-footed, bone-awaiting creatures, who, though +as yet uncounted in such relation, were destined to furnish a factor in +man's advancement. They were wolves and yet no longer wolves. They had +learned to cling to man, but were not yet intelligent enough or taught +enough to aid him in his hunting. They were the dogs of the future, the +four-footed things destined to become the closest friends of men of +future ages, the descendants of the four cubs Ab and Oak had taken from +the dens so many years before. +</p> + +<p> +It was humanizing for the children, this association of such a number +together, though they ran only a little less wildly than those who had +heretofore been born in the isolated caves. There came more of an average +of intelligence among them, thus associated, though but little more +attention was paid them than the cave men had afforded offspring in the +past. There had come to Ab after Little Mok two strong sons, Reindeer and +Sure-Aim, very much like him in his youth, but of them, until they +reached the age of help and hunting, he saw little. Lightfoot regarded +them far more closely, for, despite the many duties which had come upon +her, there never disappeared the mother's tenderness and watchfulness. +And so it was with Moonface, whose brood was so great, and who was like a +noisy hen with chickens. So existed the hovering mother instinct with all +the women of the valley, though then the mothers fished and hunted and +had stirring events to distract them from domesticity and close affection +almost as much as had the men. +</p> + +<p> +From this oddly formed community came a difference in certain ways of +doing certain things, which changed man's status, which made a revolution +second only to that made by the bow and for which even men of thought +have not accounted as they should have done, with the illustration before +them in our own times of what has followed so swiftly the use of steam +and, later, of electricity. Men write of and wonder at the strange gap +between what are called the Paleolithic and the Neolithic ages, that is, +between the ages when the spearheads and ax and arrowheads were of stone +chipped roughly into shape, and the age of stone even-edged and smoothly +polished. There was really no gap worth speaking of. The Paleolithic age +changed as suddenly into the Neolithic as the age of horse power changed +into that of steam and electricity, allowance being always made for the +slower transmission of a new intelligence in the days when men lived +alone and when a hundred years in the diffusion of knowledge was as a +year to-day. +</p> + +<p> +One day Ab went into Old Mok's cave grumbling. "I shot an arrow into a +great deer," he said, "and I was close and shot it with all my force, but +the beast ran before it fell and we had far to carry the meat. I tore the +arrow from him and the blood upon the shaft showed that it had not gone +half way in. I looked at the arrow and there was a jagged point uprising +from its side. How can a man drive deeply an arrow which is so rough? Are +you getting too old to make good spears and arrows, Mok?" And the man +fumed a little. Old Mok made no reply, but he thought long and deeply +after Ab had left the cave. Certainly Ab must have good arrows! Was there +any way of bettering them? And, the next day, the crippled old man might +have been seen looking for something beside the creek where it found its +exit from the valley. There were stones ground into smoothness tossed up +along the shore and the old man studied them most carefully. Many times +he had bent over a stream, watching, thinking, but this time he acted. He +noted a small sandstone block against which were rasping stones of harder +texture, and he picked this from the tumbling current and carried it to +his cave. Then, pouring a little water upon a depression in the stone's +face, he selected his best big arrowhead and began rubbing it upon the +wet sandstone. It was a weary work, for flint and sandstone are different +things and flint is much the harder, but there came a slow result. +Smoother and smoother became the chipped arrowhead, and two days +later--for all the waking hours of two days were required in the weary +grinding--Old Mok gave to Ab an arrow as smooth of surface and keen of +edge as ever flew from bow while stone was used. And not many years +passed--as years are counted in old history--before the smoothed stone +weaponhead became the common property of cave men. The time of chipped +stone had ended and that of smoothed stone had begun. There was no space +between them to be counted now. One swiftly became the other. It was a +matter of necessity, this exhibition of enterprise and sense by the early +man in the prompt general utilization of a new discovery. And not alone +in the improvements in means which came when men of the hunting type were +so gathered in a community were the bow and the smoothed implements, +though these were the greatest of the discoveries of the epoch. The +fishermen who went to the river were not content with the raft-like +devices of the aquatic Shell People and learned, in time, that hollowed +logs would float and that, with the aid of fire and flint axes, a great +log could be hollowed. And never a Phoenician ship-builder, never a +Fulton of the steamer, never a modern designer of great yachts, stood +higher in the estimation of his fellows than stood the expert in the +making of the rude boats, as uncouth in appearance as the river-horse +which sometimes upset them, but from which men could, at least, let down +their lines or dart their spears to secure the fish in the teeming +waters. And the fishermen had better spears and hooks now, for comparison +was necessarily always made among devices, and bone barbs and hooks were +whittled out from which the fish no longer often floundered. There came, +in time, the making of rude nets, plaited simply from the tough marsh +grasses, but they served the purpose and lessened somewhat the gravity of +the great food question. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xxvi">CHAPTER XXVI.</a></h2> + +<h3>FACING THE RAIDER.</h3> + +<p> +One day, at noon, a man burst, panting, through the wide open entrance to +the Fire Valley. His coat of skin was rent and hung awry and, as all +could see when he staggered down the pathway, the flesh was torn from one +cheek and arm, and down his leg on one side was the stain of dried blood. +He was exhausted from his hurt and his run and his talk was, at first, +almost unmeaning. He was met by some of the older and wiser among those +who saw him coming and to their questions answered only by demanding Ab, +who came at once. The hard-breathing and wounded man could only utter the +words "Big tiger," when he pitched forward and became unconscious. But +his words had been enough. Well understood was it by all who listened +what a raid of the cave tiger meant, and there was a running to the +gateway and soon was raised the wall of ready stone, upbuilt so high that +even the leaping monster could not hope to reach its summit. Later the +story of the wounded, but now conscious and refreshed runner, was told +with more of detail and coherence. +</p> + +<p> +The messenger brought out what he had to tell gaspingly. He had lost much +blood and was faint, but he told how there had taken place something +awful in the village of the Shell Men. It was but little after dusk the +night before when the Shell Men were gathered together in merrymaking +after good fishing and lucky gathering of what there was to eat along the +shores of the shell fish and the egg-laying turtles and the capture of a +huge river-horse. It had been, up to midnight, one of the greatest and +most joyous meetings the Shell People had joined in for many years. They +were close-gathered and prosperous and content, and though there was +daily turmoil and risk of death upon the water and sometimes as great +risk upon the land, yet the village fringing the waters had grown, and +the midden--the "kitchen-midden" of future ages--had raised itself +steadily and now stretched far up and down the creek which was a river +branch and far backward from the creek toward the forest which ended with +the uplands. They had learned to dread the forest little, the water +people, but from the forest now came what made for each in all the +village a dread and horror. The cave tiger had been among them! +</p> + +<p> +The Shell People had gathered together upon the sward fronting their line +of shallow caves and one of them, the story-teller and singer, was +chanting aloud of the river-horse and the great spoil which was theirs, +when there was a hungry roar and the yell or shriek of all, men or women +not too stricken by fear to be unable to utter sound, and then the leap +into their midst of the cave tiger! Perhaps the story-teller's chant had +called the monster's attention to him, perhaps his attitude attracted it; +whatever may have been the influence, the tiger seized the singer and +leaped lightly into the open beyond the caves and, as lightly, with long +bounds, into the blackness of the forest beyond. +</p> + +<p> +There was a moment of awe and horror and then the spirit of the brave +Shell Men asserted itself. There was grasping of weapons and an +outpouring in pursuit of the devourer. Easy to follow was the trail, for +a monster beast carrying a man cannot drop lightly in his leaps. There +was a brief mile or two traversed, though hours were consumed in the +search, and then, as morn was breaking, the seekers came upon what was +left of the singer. It was not much and it lay across the forest pathway, +for the cave tiger did not deign to hide his prey. There came a half +moaning growl from the forest. That growl meant lurking death. Then the +seekers fled. There was consultation and a resolve to ask for help. So +the runner, the man stricken down by a casual stroke in the tiger's rush, +but bravest among his tribe, had come to the Fire Valley. +</p> + +<p> +To the panting stranger Ab had not much to say. He saw to it that the man +was refreshed and cared for and that the deep scars along his side were +dressed after the cave man's fashion. But through the night which +followed the great cave leader pondered deeply. Why should men thus live +and dread the cave tiger? Surely men were wiser than any beast! This one +monster must, anyhow, be slain! +</p> + +<p> +But little it mattered to all surrounding nature that the strong man in +the Fire Valley had resolved upon the death of the cave tiger. The tiger +was yet alive! There was a difference in the pulse of all the woodland. +There was a hush throughout the forest. The word, somehow, went to every +nerve of all the world of beasts, "Sabre-Tooth is here!" Even the huge +cave bear shuffled aside as there came to him the scent of the invader. +The aurochs and the urus, the towering elk, the reindeer and the lesser +horned and antlered things fled wildly as the tainted air brought to them +the tale of impending murder. Only the huge rhinoceros and mammoth stood +their ground, and even these were terror-stricken with regard for their +guarded young whenever the tiger neared them. The rhinoceros stood then, +fierce-fronted and dangerous, its offspring hovering by its flanks, and +the mammoths gathered in a ring encircling their calves and presenting an +outward range of tusks to meet the hovering devourer. The dread was all +about. The forest became seemingly nearly lifeless. There was less +barking and yelping, less reckless playfulness of wild creatures, less +rustling of the leaves and pattering along the forest paths. There was +fear and quiet, for Sabre-Tooth had come! +</p> + +<p> +The runner, refreshed and strengthened by food and sleep, appeared before +Ab in the morning and told his story more in detail and got in return the +short answer: "We will go with you and help you and your people. Tigers +must be killed!" +</p> + +<p> +Rarely before had man gone out voluntarily to hunt the great cave tiger. +He had, sometimes in awful strait, defended himself against the monster +as best he could, but to seek the encounter where the odds were so great +against him was an ugly task. Now the man-slayer was to be the pursued +instead of the pursuer. It required courage. The vengeful wounded man +looked upon Ab with a grim, admiring regard. "You fear not?" he said. +</p> + +<p> +There was bustling in the valley and soon a stalwart dozen men were armed +with bow and spear and the journey was taken up toward the Shell Men's +home. The village was reached at mid-day and as the little troop emerged +from the forest the death wail fell upon their ears. "The tiger has come +again!" exclaimed the runner. +</p> + +<p> +It was true. The tiger had come again! Once more with his stunning roar +he had swept through the village and had taken another victim, a woman, +the wife of one of the head men. Too benumbed by fear, this time, to act +at once, the Shell Men had not pursued the great brute into the darkness. +They had but ventured out in the morning and followed the trail and found +that the tiger had carried the woman in very nearly the same direction as +he had borne the man and that what remained from his gorging of the night +lay where his earlier feast had been. It was the first tragedy almost +repeated. +</p> + +<p> +The little group of Fire Valley folk entered the village and were +received with shouts from the men, while from the throats of the women +still rose the death wail. There were more people about the huts than Ab +had ever seen there and he recognized at once among the group many of the +cave men from the East, strong people of his own kind. As the wounded +runner had gone to the Fire Valley, so another had been sent to the East, +to call upon another group for aid, and the Eastern cave people, under +the leadership of a huge, swarthy man called Boarface, had come to learn +what the strait was and to decide upon what degree of help they could +afford to give. Between these Eastern and the Western cave men there was +a certain coldness. There was no open enmity, though at some time in the +past there had been family battles and memories of feuds were still +existent. But Ab and Boarface met genially and there was not a trace of +difference now. Boarface joined readily in the council which was held and +decided that he would aid in the desperate hunt, and certainly his aid +was not to be despised when his followers were looked upon. They were a +stalwart lot. +</p> + +<p> +The way was taken by the gathered fighting men toward where, across the +forest path, lay part of a woman. As the place was neared the band +gathered close together and there were outpointing spears, just as the +mammoths' tusks outpointed when the beasts guarded their young from the +thing now hunted. But there came no attack and no sound from the forest. +The tiger must be sleeping. Beneath a huge tree bordering the pathway lay +what remained of the woman's body. Fifty feet above, and almost directly +over this dreadful remnant of humanity, shot out a branch as thick as a +man's body. There was consultation among the hunters and in this Ab took +the lead, while Boarface and the Shell Men who had come to help assented +readily. No need existed for the risk of an open fight with this great +beast. Craft must be used and Ab gave forth his swift commands. +</p> + +<p> +The Fire Valley leader had seen to it that his company had brought what +he needed in his effort to kill the tiger. There were two great tanned, +tough urus hides. There were lengths of rhinoceros hide, cut thickly, +which would endure a strain of more than the weight of ten brawny men. +There was one spear, with a shaft of ash wood at least fifteen feet in +length and as thick as a man's wrist. Its head was a blade of hardest +flint, but the spear was too heavy for a man's hurling. It had been made +for another use. +</p> + +<p> +There was little hesitation in what was done, for Ab knew well the +quality of the work he had in hand. He unfolded his plan briefly and then +he himself climbed to the treetop and out upon the limb, carrying with +him the knotted strip of rhinoceros hide. In the pouch of his skin +garment were pebbles. He reached a place on the big limb overhanging the +path and dropped a pebble. It struck the earth a yard or two away from +what remained of the woman's body and he shouted to those below to drag +the mangled body to the spot where the pebble had hit the earth. They +were about to do so when from the forest on one side of the path came a +roar, so appalling in every way that there was no thought of anything +among most of the workers save of sudden flight. The tiger was in the +wood and very near and a scent had reached him. There was a flight which +left upon the ground beneath the tree branches only old Hilltop and the +rough Boarface and some dozen sturdy followers, these about equally +divided between the East and the West men of the hills. There was swift +and sharp work then. +</p> + +<p> +The tiger might come at any moment, and that meant death to one at least. +But those who remained were brave men and they had come far to encompass +this tiger's ending. They dragged what remained of the tiger's prey to +where the pebble had hit the earth. Ab, clinging and raging aloft, afar +out upon the limb, shouted to Hilltop to bring him the spear and the urus +skins, and soon the sturdy old man was beside him. Then, about two deep +notches in the huge shaft, thongs were soon tied strongly, and just below +its middle were attached the bag-shaped urus skins. Near its end the +rhinoceros thong was knotted and then it was left hanging from the limb +supported by this strong rope, while, three-fourths of the way down its +length, dangled on each side the two empty bags of hide. Short orders +were given, and, directed by Boarface, one man after another climbed the +tree, each with a weight of stones carried in his pouch, and each +delivering his load to old Hilltop, who, lying well out upon the limb, +passed the stones to Ab, who placed them in the skin pouches on either +side the suspended and threatening spear. The big skin pouches on either +side were filling rapidly, when there came from the forest another roar, +nearer and more appalling than before, and some of the workers below fled +panic-stricken. Ab shouted and frothed and foamed as the men ran. Old +Hilltop slid down the tree, ax in hand, followed by the dark Boarface, +and one or two of the men below were captured and made to work again. +Soon all the work which Ab had in mind was done. Above the path, just +over what remained of the woman, hung the great spear, weighted with half +a thousand pounds of stone and sure to reach its mark should the tiger +seek its prey again. The branch was broad and the line of rhinoceros skin +taut, and Ab's flint knife was keen of edge. Only courage and calmness +were needed in the dread presence of the monster of the time. Neither the +swarthy Boarface nor the gaunt Hilltop wanted to leave him, but Ab forced +them away. +</p> + +<p> +Not long to wait had the cave man, but the men who had been with him were +already distant. The shadows were growing long now, but the light was +still from the sunshine of the early afternoon. The man lying along the +limb, knife in hand, could hear no sound save the soft swish of leaves +against each other as the breeze of later day pushed its way through the +forest, or the alarmed cries of knowing birds who saw on the ground +beneath them a huge thing slip along with scarce a sound from the impact +of his fearfully clawed but padded feet as he sought the meal he had +prepared for himself. The great beast was approaching. The great man +aloft was waiting. +</p> + +<p> +Into the open along the path came the tiger, and Ab, gripping the limb +more firmly, looked down upon the thing so closely and in daylight for +the first time in his life. Ab was certainly brave, and he was calm and +wise and thinking beyond his time, but when he saw plainly this beast +which had slipped so easily and silently from the forest, safe though he +was upon his perch, he was more than startled. The thing was so huge and +with an aspect so terrible to look upon! +</p> + +<p> +The great cat's head moved slowly from side to side; the baleful eyes +blazed up and down the pathway and the tawny muzzle was lifted to catch +what burden there might be on the air. The beast seemed satisfied, +emerging fairly into the sunlight. Immense of size but with the graceful +lankness of the tigers of to-day, Sabre-Tooth somewhat resembled them, +though, beside him, the largest inmate of the Indian jungle would appear +but puny. The creature Ab looked upon that day so long ago was beautiful, +in his way. He was beautiful as is the peacock or the banded rattlesnake. +There were color contrasts and fine blendings. The stripes upon him were +wonderfully rich, and as he came creeping toward the body, he was as +splendid as he was dreadful. +</p> + +<p> +With every nerve strained, but with his first impulse of something like +terror gone, Ab watched the devourer beneath him while his sharp flint +knife, hard gripped, bore lightly against the taut rhinoceros-hide rope. +The tiger began his ghastly meal but was not quite beneath the suspended +spear. Then came some distant sound in the forest and he raised his head +and shifted his position. +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +<a href="images/illp304.jpg"><img src="images/illp304_th.jpg" alt="UPON THE STRONG SHAFT OF ASH THE MONSTER WAS IMPALED"></a> +</p> + +<p> +He was fairly under the spear now. The knife pressed firmly against the +rawhide was drawn back and forth noiselessly but with effectiveness. +Suddenly the last tissue parted and the enormously weighted spear fell +like a lightning-stroke. The broad flint head struck the tiger fairly +between the shoulders, and, impelled by such a weight, passed through his +huge body as if it had met no obstacle. Upon the strong shaft of ash the +monster was impaled. There echoed and reechoed through the forest a roar +so fearful that even the hunters whom Ab had sent far away from the scene +of the tragedy clambered to the trees for refuge. The struggles of the +pierced brute were tremendous beyond description, but no strength could +avail it now; it had received its death wound and soon the great tiger +lay still, as harmless as the squirrel, frightened and hidden in his +nest. In wild triumph Ab slid to the ground and then the long cry to +summon his party went echoing through the wood. When the others found him +he had withdrawn the spear and was already engaged, flint knife in hand, +in stripping from the huge body the glorious robe it wore. +</p> + +<p> +There was excitement and rejoicing. The terror had been slain! The Shell +People were frantic in their exultation. Meanwhile Ab had called upon his +own people to assist him and the wonderful skin of the tiger was soon +stretched out upon the ground, a glorious possession for a cave man. +</p> + +<p> +"I will have half of it," declared Boarface, and he and Ab faced each +other menacingly. "It shall not be cut," was the fierce retort. "It is +mine. I killed the tiger!" +</p> + +<p> +Strong hands gripped stone axes and there was chance of deadly fray then +and there, but the Shell People interfered and the Shell People excelled +in number, and were a potent influence for peace. Ab carried away the +splendid trophy, but as Boarface and his men departed, there were black +faces and threatening words. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xxvii">CHAPTER XXVII.</a></h2> + +<h3>LITTLE MOK.</h3> + +<p> +Among all the children of Ab--and remarkable it was for the age--the best +loved was Little Mok, the eldest son. When the child, strong and joyous, +was scarcely two years old, he fell from a ledge off the cliff where he +had climbed to play, and both his legs were broken. Strange to say he +survived the accident in that time when the law of the survival of the +fittest was almost invariable in its sternest and most purely physical +demonstration. The mother love of Lightfoot warded off the last pitiless +blow of nature, although the child, a hopeless cripple, never after +walked. The name Little Mok was naturally given him, and before long the +child had won the heart, as well as the name, of the limping old maker of +axes, spearheads and arrows. +</p> + +<p> +The closer ties of family life, as we know them now, existed but in their +outlines to the cave man. The man and woman were faithful to each other +with the fidelity of the higher animals and their children were cared for +with rough tenderness in their infancy. The time of absolute dependence +was made very short, though, and children very early were required to +find some of their own food, and taught by necessity to protect +themselves. But Little Mok, unable to take up for himself the burden of +an independent existence, was not slain nor left to die of neglect as +might have been another child thus crippled in the time in which he +lived. He, once spared, grew into the wild hearts of those closest to him +and became the guarded and cherished one of the rude home of Ab and +Lightfoot, and to him was thus given the continuous love and care which +the strong-limbed boys and girls of the family lost and never missed. +</p> + +<p> +It was a strange thing for the time. The child had qualities other than +the negative ones of helplessness and weakness with which to bind to him +the hearts of those around him, but the primary fact of his entire +dependence upon them was what made him the center of the little circle of +untaught, untamed cave people who lived in the Fire Valley. He may have +been the first child ever so cherished from such impulse. +</p> + +<p> +From his mother the child inherited a joyous disposition which nothing +could subdue. Often on the return home from some little expedition on +which it had been practicable to take him, sitting on Lightfoot's +shoulder, or on the still stronger arm of old One-Ear, his silent, +somewhat brooding grandfather, the little brown boy made the woods ring +with shrill bird calls, or the mimicry of animals, and ever his laughter +filled the spaces in between these sounds. Other children flocked around +the merry youngster, seeking to emulate his play of voice and the +oldsters smiled as they saw and heard the joyous confusion about the tiny +reveler. The excursions to the river were Little Mok's chief delight from +his early childhood. He entered into the preparations for them with a +zest and keen enjoyment born of the presence of an adventurous spirit in +a maimed body, and when the fishing party left the Fire Camp it was +incomplete if Little Mok was not carried lightly at the van, the life and +joy of the occasion. +</p> + +<p> +No one ever forgot the day when Little Mok, then about six years old, +caught his first fish. His joy and pride infected all as he exhibited his +prize and boasted of what he would catch in the river next, and when, on +the return, Old Mok saluted him as the "Great Fisherman," the elf's +elation became too great for any expression. His little chest heaved, his +eyes flashed, and then he wriggled from Lightfoot's arms into the lap of +Old Mok, snuggled down into the old man's furs and hid his face there; +and the two understood each other. +</p> + +<p> +It was soon after this great event of the first fish-catching that +Red-Spot, Ab's mother, died. She had never quite adapted herself to the +new life in the Fire Valley, and after a time she began to grow old very +fast. At last a fever attacked her and the end of her patient, busy life +came. After her death One-Ear was much in Old Mok's cave, the two had so +long been friends. There with them the crippled boy was often to be +found. He was not always gay and joyous. Sometimes he lay for days on his +bed of leaves at home, in weakness and pain, silent and unlike himself. +Then when Lightfoot's care had given him back a little strength, he would +beg to be taken to Old Mok's cave. There he could sleep, he said, away +from the noise and the lights of the outside world, and finally he +claimed and was allowed a nest of his own in the warmest and darkest nook +of Old Mok's den, where he slept every night, and sometimes a good part +of the day, when one of his times of pain and weakness was upon him. Here +during many a long hour of work, experiment and argument, the wide eyes +and quick ears of Little Mok saw and heard, while Ab, Mok and One-Ear +bent over their work at arrowhead or spear point, and talked of what +might be done to improve the weapons upon which so much depended. Here, +when no one else remained in the weary darkness of night and the half +light of stormy days Old Mok beguiled the time with stories, and +sometimes in a hoarse voice even attempted to chant to his little hearer +snatches of the wild singing tales of the Shell People, for the Shell +People had a sort of story song. +</p> + +<p> +Once, when Lightfoot sat by Old Mok's fire, she told them of the time +when she and Ab found themselves outside their cave, unarmed, with a bear +to be eaten through before they could get into their door, and Little Mok +surprised his mother and Old Mok by an outburst of laughter at the tale. +He had a glimmering of humor, and saw the droll side of the adventure, a +view which had not occurred to Lightfoot, nor to Ab. The little lad, of +the world, yet not in it, saw vaguely the surprises, lights and shades +and contrasts of existence, and sometimes they made him laugh. The laugh +of the cave man was not a common event, and when it came was likely to be +sober and sardonic, at least it was so when not simply an evidence of +rude health and high animal spirits. Humor is one of the latest, as it is +one of the most precious, grains shaken out of Time's hour-glass, but +Little Mok somehow caught a tiny bit of the rainbow gift, long before its +time in the world, and soon, with him, it was to disappear for centuries +to come. +</p> + +<p> +One day when Little Mok was brought back from an expedition to the river, +he told Old Mok how he had sat long on the bank, too tired to fish, and +had just rested and feasted his eyes on the wood, the stream, the small +darting creatures in it, the birds, and the animals which came to drink. +Describing a herd of reindeer which had passed near him, Little Mok took +up a piece of Old Mok's red chalkstone and on the wall of the cave drew a +picture of the animal. The veteran stared in surprise. The picture was +wonderfully life-like in grasp and detail. The child owned that great +gift, the memory of sight, and his hand was cunning. Encouraged by his +success, the boy drew on, delighting Old Mok with his singular fidelity +and skill. Then came hours and days of sketching and etching in the old +man's cave. The master was delighted. He brought out from their hiding +places his choicest pieces of mammoth tusk or teeth of the river-horse +for Little Mok's etchings and carvings. And, as time passed, the young +artist excelled the old one, and became the pride and boast of his friend +and teacher. Sometimes the little lad would work far into the night, for +he could not pause when he had begun a thing until it was complete--but +then he would sleep in his warm nest until noon the next day, crawling +out to cook a bit of meat for himself at the nearest fire, or sharing Old +Mok's meal, as was more convenient. +</p> + +<p> +While everything else in the Fire Valley was growing, developing and +flourishing, Little Mok's frail body had ever grown but slowly, and about +the beginning of his twelfth year there appeared a change in him. He +became permanently weak and grew more and more helpless day by day. His +cherished excursions to the river, even his little journeys on old +One-Ear's strong arm to the cliff top, from whence he could see the whole +world at once, had all to be abandoned. +</p> + +<p> +When the winter snows began to whirl in the air Little Mok was lying +quietly on his bed, his great eyes looking wistfully up at Lightfoot, who +in vain taxed her limited skill and resources to tempt him to eat and +become more sturdy. She hovered over him like a distressed mother bird +over its youngling fallen from the nest, but, with all her efforts, she +could not bring back even his usual slight measure of health and strength +to the poor Little Mok. Ab came sometimes and looked sadly at the two and +then walked moodily away, a great weight on his breast. Old Mok was +always at work, and yet always ready to give Little Mok water or turn his +weary little frame on its rude bed, or spread the furs over the wasted +body, and always Lightfoot waited and hoped and feared. + +And at last Little Mok died, and was buried under the stones, and the +snow fell over the lonely cairn under the fir trees outside the Fire +Valley where his grave was made. +</p> + +<p> +Lightfoot was silent and sad, and could not smile nor laugh any more. She +longed for Little Mok, and did not eat or sleep. One night Ab, trying to +comfort her, said, "You will see him again." +</p> + +<p> +"What do you mean?" cried Lightfoot. And Ab only answered, "You will see +him; he will come at night. Go to sleep, and you will see him." +</p> + +<p> +But Lightfoot could not sleep yet and for many a night her eyes closed +only when extreme fatigue compelled sleep toward the morning. +</p> + +<p> +And at last, after many days and nights, Lightfoot, when asleep, saw +Little Mok. Just as in life, she saw him, with all his familiar looks and +motions. But he did not stay long. And again and again she saw him, and +it comforted her somewhat because he smiled. There had come to her such a +heartache about him, lying out there under the snow and stones, with no +one to care for him, that the smile warmed her heavy heart and she told +Ab that she had seen Little Mok, only whispering it to him--for it was +not well, she knew, to talk about such things--and she whispered to Ab, +too, her anguish that Little Mok only came at night, and never when it +was day, but she did not complain. She only said: "I want to see him in +the daytime." +</p> + +<p> +And Ab could think of nothing to say. But that made him think more and +more. He felt drawn closer to Lightfoot, his wife, no longer a young +girl, but the mother of Little Mok, who was dead, and of all his +children. +</p> + +<p> +In his mind arose, vaguely obscure, yet persistent, the idea that brute +strength and vigor, keen senses and reckless bravery were not, after all, +the sole qualities that make and influence men. Old Mok, crippled and +disabled for the hunt and defense, was nevertheless a power not to be +despised, and Little Mok, the helpless child, had been still strong +enough to win and keep the love of all the stalwart and rough cave +people. Ab was sorry for Lightfoot. When in the spring the forlorn mother +held in her arms a baby girl a little brightness came into her eyes +again, and Ab, seeing this, was glad, but neither Ab nor Lightfoot ever +forgot their eldest and dearest, Little Mok. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xxviii">CHAPTER XXVIII.</a></h2> + +<h3>THE BATTLE OF THE BARRIERS.</h3> + +<p> +While Ab had been occupied by home affairs trouble for him and his people +had been brewing. By no means unknown to each other before the tiger hunt +were Ab and Boarface. They had hunted together and once Boarface, with +half a dozen companions, had visited the Fire Valley and had noted its +many attractions and advantages. Now Boarface had gone away angry and +muttering, and he was not a man to be thought of lightly. His rage over +the memory of Ab's trophy did not decrease with the return to his own +region. Why should this cave man of the West have sole possession of that +valley, which was warm and green throughout the winter and where the wild +beasts could not enter? Why had he, this Ab, been allowed to go away with +all the tiger's skin? Brooding enlarged into resolve and Boarface +gathered together his relations and adherents. "Let us go and take the +Fire Valley of Ab," he said to them, and, gradually, though objections +were made to the undertaking of an enterprise so fraught with danger, the +listeners were persuaded. +</p> + +<p> +"There are other fires far down the river," said one old man. "Let us go +there, if it is fire we most need, and so we will not disturb nor anger +Ab, who has lived in his valley for many years. Why battle with Ab and +all his people?" +</p> + +<p> +But Boarface laughed aloud: "There are many other earth fires," he said. +"I know them well, but there is no other fire which chances to make a +flaming fence about a valley close to the great rocks, and which has +water within the space it surrounds and which makes a wall against all +the wild beasts. We will fight and win the valley of Ab." +</p> + +<p> +And so they were led into the venture. They sought, too, the aid of the +Shell People in this raid, but were not successful. The Shell People were +not unfriendly to those of the Fire Valley, and had not Ab been really +the one to kill the tiger? Besides, it was not wise for the waterside +dwellers to engage in any controversy between the forest factions, for +the hill people had memories and heavy axes. A few of the younger and +more adventurous joined the force of Boarface, but the alliance had no +tribal sanction. Still, the force of the swarthy leader of the Eastern +cave men was by no means insignificant. It contained good fighting men, +and, when runners had gone far and wide in the Eastern country, there +were gathered nearly ten score of hunters who could throw the spear or +wield the ax and who were not fearful of their lives. The band led by +Boarface started for the Fire Country, intending to surprise the people +in the valley. They moved swiftly, but not so swiftly as a fleet young +man from the Shell People who preceded them. He was sent by the elders a +day before the time fixed for the assault, and so Ab learned all about +the intended raid. Then went forth runners from the valley; then the +matron Lightfoot's eyes became fiery, since Ab was threatened; then old +Hilltop looked carefully over his spears, and poised thoughtfully his +great stone ax; then Moonface smote her children and gathered together +certain weapons, and then Old Mok went into his cave and stayed there, +working at none knew what. +</p> + +<p> +They came from all about, the Western cave men, for never in the valley +had food or shelter been refused to any and the Eastern cave men were not +loved. Many a quarrel over game had taken place between the raging +hunters of the different tribes, and many a bloody single-handed +encounter had come in the depths of the forest. The band was not a large +one, the Eastern men being far more numerous, but the outlook was not as +fine as it might be for the advancing Boarface. The force assembled +inside the valley was, in point of numbers, but little more than half his +own, but it was entrenched and well-armed, and there were those among the +defenders whom it was not well to meet in fight. But Boarface was +confident and was not dismayed when his force crept into the open only to +find the ordinary valley entrance barred and all preparations made for +giving him a welcome of the warmer sort. There was what could not be +thoroughly barricaded in so brief a time, the entrance where the brook +issued at the west. This pass must be forced, for the straight, uprising +wall between the flames and across the opening to the north was something +relatively unassailable. It was too narrow and too high and sheer and +there were too many holes in the wall through which could be sent those +piercing arrows which the Western cave men knew how to use so well. The +battle must be up along the bed of the little creek. The water was low at +this season, so low that a man might wade easily anywhere, and there had +been erected only a slight barrier, enough to keep wild beasts away, for +Ab had never thought of invasion by human beings. The creek tumbled +downward, through passages, between straight-sided, ruggedly built stone +heaps, with spaces between wide enough to admit a man, but not any great +beast of prey. There was no place where, by a man, the wall could not +easily be mounted and, above, there was no really good place of vantage +for the defenders. +</p> + +<p> +So the invading force, concealment of action being no longer necessary, +ranged themselves along the banks of the creek to the west of the valley +and prepared for a rush. They had certain chances in their favor. They +were strong men, who knew how to use their weapons well, and they were in +numbers almost as two to one. Meanwhile, inside the valley, where the +approach and plans of the enemy had been seen and understood, there had +gone on swiftly, under Ab's stern direction, such preparation for the +fray as seemed most adequate with the means at hand. +</p> + +<p> +The great advantage possessed was that the defenders, on firm footing +themselves, could meet men climbing, and so, a little further up the +creek than the beast-opposing wall, had been thrown up what was little +more than a rude platform of rock, wide and with a broad expanse of top, +on which all the valley's force might cluster in an emergency. Upon this +the people were to gather, defending the first pass, if they could, by +flights of spears and arrows and here, at the end, to win or lose. This +was the general preparation for the onslaught, but there had been +precautions taken more personal and more involving the course of the most +important of the people of the valley. +</p> + +<p> +At the left of the gorge, where must come the invaders, the rock rose +sheerly and at one place extended outward a shelf, high up, but reached +easily from the Fire Valley side. There were consultations between Ab and +the angry and anxious and almost tearful Lightfoot. That charming lady, +now easily the best archer of the tribe, had developed at once into a +fighting creature and now demanded that her place be assigned to her. +With her own bow, and with arrows in quantity, it was decided that she +should occupy the ledge and do all she could. Upon the ledge was +comparative safety in the fray, and Ab directed that she should go there. +Old Hilltop said but little. It was understood, almost as a matter of +course, that he would be upon the barrier and there face, with Ab, the +greatest issue. The old man was by no means unsatisfactory to look upon +as he moved silently about and got ready the weapons he might have to +use. Gaunt, strong-muscled and resolute, he was worthy of admiration. +Ever following him with her eyes, when not engaged in the chastisement of +one of her swart brood, was Moonface, for Moonface had long since learned +to regard her grizzled lord with love as well as much respect. +</p> + +<p> +There were other good fighting men and other women beside these mentioned +who would do their best, but these few were the dominant figures. +Meanwhile, Boarface and his strong band had decided upon their plan of +attack and would soon rush up the bed of the shallow stream with all the +bravery and ferocity of those who were accustomed to face death lightly +and to seize that which they wanted. +</p> + +<p> +The invaders came clambering up the creek's course, openly and with +menacing and defiant shouts, for any concealment was now out of the +question. They had but few bows and could, under the conditions, send no +arrow flight which would be of avail, but they had thews and sinews and +spears and axes. As they came with such rush as men might make up a +tumbling waterway with slipping pebbles beneath the feet and forced +themselves one by one between the heaped stone piles and fairly in front +of the barrier there was a discharge of arrows and more than one man, +impaled by a stone-headed shaft, fell, to dabble feebly in the water, and +did not rise again. But there came a time in the fight when the bow must +be abandoned. +</p> + +<p> +The assault was good and the demeanor of the men behind the barrier was +good as well. Not more gallant was one group than the other for there +were splendid fighters in both ranks. The boasted short sword of the +Romans, in times effeminate, as compared with these, afforded not in its +wielding a greater test of personal courage than the handling of the +flint-headed spear or the stone knife or chipped ax. There, all along the +barrier, was the real grappling of man and man, with further existence as +the issue. +</p> + +<p> +The invaders, losing many of their number, for arrows flew steadily and a +mass so large could not easily be missed even by the most bungling of +those strong archers, swept upward to the barrier and then was a +muscular, deadly tumult worth the seeing. To the south and nearest the +side where Lightfoot was perched with her bow and great bunch of arrows +Ab stood in front, while to his right and near the other end of the rude +stone rampart was stationed old Hilltop, and he hurled his spears and +slew men as they came. The fight became simply a death struggle, with the +advantage of position upon one side and of numbers on the other. And Ab +and Boarface were each seeking the other. +</p> + +<p> +So the struggle lasted for a long half hour, and when it ended there were +dead and dying men upon the barrier, while the waters of the creek were +reddened by the blood of the slain assailants. The assault now ebbed a +little. Neither Ab nor Hilltop had been injured in the struggle. As the +invaders pressed close Ab had noted the whish of an arrow now and then +and the hurt to one pressing him closely, and old Hilltop had heard the +wild cries of a woman who hovered in his rear and hurled stones in the +faces of those who strove to reach him. And now there came a lull. +</p> + +<p> +Boarface had recognized the futility of scaling, under such conditions, a +steep so well defended and had thought of a better way to gain his end +and crush Ab and his people. He had heard the story of Ab's first advent +into the valley when, chased by the wolves, he leaped through the flame, +and there came an inspiration to him! What one man had done others could +do, and, with picked warriors of his band, he made a swift detour, while, +at the same time, the main body rushed desperately upon the barrier +again. +</p> + +<p> +What had been good fighting before was better now. Lives were lost, and +soon all arrows were spent and all spears thrown, and then came but the +dull clashing of stone axes. Ab raged up and down, and, ever in the +front, faced the oncoming foe and slew as could slay the strong and +utterly desperate. More than once his life was but a toy of chance as men +sprang toward him, two or three together, but ever at such moment there +sang an arrow by his head and one of his assailants, pierced in throat or +body, fell back blindly, hampering his companions, whose heads Ab's great +ax was seeking fiercely. And, all the time, nearer the northern end of +the barrier, old Hilltop fought serenely and dreadfully. There were many +dead men in the pools of the creek between the barrier and the entrance +to the valley. And about Ab ever sang the arrows from the rocky shelf. +</p> + +<p> +There was wild clamor, the clash of weapons and the shouting of +battle-crazed men but there was not enough to drown the sound of a scream +which rose piercingly above the din. Ab recognized the voice of Lightfoot +and raised his eyes to see the woman, regardless of her own safety, +standing upright and pointing up the valley. He knew that something +meaning life and death was happening and that he must go. He leaped +backward and a huge Western cave man sprang to his place, to serve as +best he could. +</p> + +<p> +Not a moment too soon had that shrill cry reached the ears of the +fighting man. He ran backward, shouting to a score of his people to +follow him as he ran, and in an instant recognized that he had been +outwitted, at least for the moment, by the vengeful Boarface. As he +rushed to the east toward the wall of flame he saw a dark form pass +through its crest in a flying leap. There were others he knew would +follow. His own feat of long ago was being repeated by Boarface and his +chosen group of best men! +</p> + +<p> +It was not Boarface who leaped and it was hard for a gallant youth of the +Eastern cave men that he had strength and daring and had dashed ahead in +the assault, for he had scarcely touched the ground when there sank +deeply into his head a stone ax, impelled by the strongest arm of all +that region, and he was no more among things alive. Ab had reached the +fire wall with the speed of a great runner while, close behind him, came +his eager following. +</p> + +<p> +The forces could see each other clearly enough now, and those on the +outside outnumbered those on the inside again by two to one. But those +leaping the flames could not alight poised ready for a blow, and there +were adroit and vengeful axmen awaiting them. There was a momentary pause +for planning among the assailants, and then it was that Ab fumed over his +own lack of foresight. His chosen band who were with him now were all +bowmen, and about the shoulder and chest of each was still slung his +weapon, but there were no more arrows. Each quiverful had been shot away +early in the fight and then had come the spear and ax play. But what a +chance for arrows now, with that threatening band preparing for the rush +and leap together, and, while out of reach of spear or ax, within easy +reach of the singing little shafts! Oh, for the shafts now, those slender +barbed things which were hurled in his new way! And, even as he thus +raged, there came a feeble shout from down the valley behind him and he +saw something very good! +</p> + +<p> +Limping, with effort, but resolutely forward, was a bent old man, bearing +encircled within his long arms a burden which Ab himself could not have +carried for any distance without stress and labored breathing. The lean +old Mok's arms were locked about a monster sheaf of straight flint-headed +arrows, a sheaf greater in size than ever man had looked upon before. The +crippled veteran had not been idle in his cave. He had worked upon the +store of shafts and flintheads he had accumulated, and here was the +result in a great emergency! +</p> + +<p> +The old man cast his sheaf upon the ground and then sank down, somewhat +totteringly, beside it. There needed no shout of command from Ab to tell +those about him what to do. There was one combined yell of sudden +exultation, a rush together for the shafts and a swift filling of empty +quivers. It was but the work of a moment or two. Then something promptly +happened. The great fellows, though acting without orders, shot almost +"all together," as the later English archers did, and so close just +across the flame wall was the opposing group that the meanest archer in +all the lot could scarcely fail to reach a living target, and stronger +arms drew back those arrows than were the arms of those who drew +bowstring in the battles of mediæval history. With the first deadly +flight came a scattering outside and men lay tossing upon the ground in +their death agony. There was no cessation to the shot, though Boarface +sought fiercely to rally his followers, until all had fled beyond the +range of the bowmen. Upon the ground were so many dead that the numbers +of the two forces were now more nearly equal. But Boarface had brave +followers. They ranged themselves together at a safe distance and then +started for the flame wall with a rush, to leap it all together. +</p> + +<p> +There was another arrow-flight as the onslaught came, and more men went +down, but the charge could not be stopped. Over the low flame-crests shot +a great mass of bodies, there to meet that which was not good for them. +The struggle was swift and deadly, but the forces were almost evenly +matched now and the insiders had the advantage. Boarface and Ab met face +to face in the melée and each leaped toward the other with a yell. There +was to be a fight which must be excellent, for two strong leaders were +meeting and there were many lives at stake. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xxix">CHAPTER XXIX.</a></h2> + +<h3>OLD HILLTOP'S LAST STRUGGLE.</h3> + +<p> +Even as he leaped the flames, the desperate Boarface hurled at Ab a +fragment of stone, which was a thing to be wisely dodged, and the invader +was fairly on his feet and in position to face his adversary as the axes +came together. More active, more powerful, it may be, and certainly more +intelligent, was Ab than Boarface, but the leader of the assailants had +been a raider from early youth and knew how to take advantage. In those +fierce days to attain the death of an enemy, in any way, was the +practical end sought in a conflict. Close behind Boarface had leaped a +youth to whom the leader had given his commands before the onrush and +who, as he found his feet upon the valley's sward, sought, not an +adversary face to face, but circled about the two champions, seeking only +to get behind the leaping Ab while Boarface occupied his sole attention. +The young man bore a great stone-headed club, a dreadful weapon in such +hands as his. The men struck furiously and flakes spun from the heavy +axes, but Boarface was being slowly driven back when there descended upon +Ab's shoulder a blow which swerved him and would certainly have felled a +man with less heaped brawn to meet the impact. At the same instant +Boarface made a fierce downward stroke and Ab leaped aside without +parrying or returning it, for his arm was numbed. Another such blow from +the new assailant and his life was lost, yet he dare not turn. That would +be his death. And now Boarface rushed in again and as the axes came +together called to his henchman to strike more surely. +</p> + +<p> +And just then, just as it seemed to Ab the end was near, he heard behind +him the sharp twang of the bowstring which had sounded so sweetly at the +valley's other end and, with a groan, there pitched down upon the sward +beside him a writhing man whose legs drew back and forth in agony and who +had been pierced by an arrow shot fiercely and closely from behind and +driven in between his shoulder blades. He knew what it must mean. The arm +which had drawn that arrow to its head was that of a slight, strong +creature who was not a man. Lightfoot, wild with love and anxiety, had +shot past Old Mok just as he laid down his bundle of arrows, and, when +she saw her husband's peril, had leaped forward with arrow upon string +and slain his latest assailant in the nick of time. Now, with arrow +notched again and a face ablaze with murderous helpfulness, she hovered +near, intent only upon sending a second shaft into the breast of +Boarface. +</p> + +<p> +But there was no need. Unhampered now, Ab rushed in upon his enemy and +rained such blows as only a giant could have parried. Boarface fought +desperately, but it was only man to man, and he was not the equal of the +maddened one before him. His ax flew from his hand as his wrist was +broken by Ab's descending weapon, and the next moment he fell limply and +hardly moved, for a second blow had sunk the stone weapon so deeply in +his head that the haft was hidden in his long hair. +</p> + +<p> +It was all over in a moment now. As Ab turned with a shout of triumph +there was a swift end to the little battle. There were brief encounters +here and there, but the Eastern men were leaderless and less +well-equipped than their foes, and though they fought as desperately as +cornered wolves, there was no hope for them. Three escaped. They fled +wildly toward the flame and leaped over and through its flickering yellow +crest and there was no pursuit. It was not a time for besieged men to be +seeking useless vengeance. There came wild yells from the lower end of +the valley where the greater fight was on. With a cry Ab gathered his men +together and the victorious band ran toward the barrier again, there with +overwhelming force to end the struggle. Ever, in later years, did Ab +regret that his fight with Boarface had not ended sooner. To save an old +hero he had come too late. +</p> + +<p> +Boarface, when taking with him a strong band to the upper end of the +valley, had still left a supposably overwhelming force to fight its way +up and over the barrier. Ab away from the scene of struggle, old Hilltop +assumed command. He was a fit man for such death-facing steadfastness as +was here required. +</p> + +<p> +Never had Ab been able to persuade Lightfoot's father to use or even try +the new weapon, the bow and arrow. He had no tender feeling toward modern +innovations. He had a clear eye and strong arm, and the ax and spear were +good enough for him! He recognized Ab's great qualities, but there were +some things that even a well-regarded son-in-law could not impose upon +any elder family male. Among these was this twanging bow with its light +shaft, better fitted for a child's plaything than for real work among +men. As for him, give him a heavy spear, with the blade well set in +thongs, or a heavy ax, with the head well clinched in the sinew-bound +wooden haft. There was rarely miss or failure to the spear-thrust or the +ax-stroke. And now, in proof of the soundness of his old-fashioned +belief, he staked ruggedly his life. There were few spears left. There +were only axes on either side. And there stood old Hilltop upon the +barrier, while beside him and all across stood men as brave if not quite +as sturdy or as famous. +</p> + +<p> +In the rear of the line, noisy, sometimes fierce and sometimes weeping, +were the women, whose skill was only a little less than that of the males +and who were even more ruthless in all feeling toward the enemy. And +still easily chief among these, conspicuous by her noisy and uncaring +demeanor of mingled alarm and vengefulness, was the raging Moonface. She +rushed up close beside her husband's defending group and still hurled +stones and hurled them most effectively. They went as if from a catapult, +and more than one bone or head was broken that day by those missiles from +the arm of this squat savage wife and mother. But the men below were +outnumbering and brave, and now, maddened by different emotions, the lust +of conquest, the murderous anger over slain companions and, underlying +all, the thought of ownership of this fair and warm and safe place of +home, were resolute in their attack. They had faith in their leader, +Boarface, and expected confidently every moment an onslaught to aid +them from above. And so they came up the watery slope, one pressing +blood-thirstily behind the other with an earnestness none but men as +strong and well equipped and as brave or braver could hope to withstand. +The closing struggle was desperate. +</p> + +<p> +Hilltop stood to the front, between two rocks some few yards apart, over +which bubbled the shallow creek, and between which was the main upward +entrance to the valley. He stood upon a rock almost as flat as if some +expert engineer of ages later had planed its surface and then adjusted it +to a level, leaving the shallow waters tumbling all about it. The rock +out-jutted somewhat on the slope and there must necessarily be some +little climb to face the aged defender. On either side was a stretch of +down-running, gradually-sloping waterfall, full of great boulders, +embarrassing any straight rush of a group together, but, between and +upward, sprang swart men, and facing them on either side of old Hilltop +beyond the rocks were the remainder of the mass of cave men upon whom he +depended for making good the defense of the whole barrier. Beside him, in +the center of the battle, were the two creatures in the world upon whom +he could most depend, his stalwart and splendid sons, Strong-Arm and +Branch. With them, as gallant if not as strong as his great brother, +stood braced the eager Bark. They were ready, these young men, but, as it +chanced, there could be, at the beginning of the strong clamber of the +foe, only one man to first meet them. All were behind this man at the +front, for the flat rock came to something like a point. He stood there, +hairy and bare except for the skin about his hips, and with only an ax in +his hand, but this did not matter so much as it might have done, for only +axes were borne by the up-clambering assailants. The throwing of an ax +was a little matter to the sharp-eyed and flexile-muscled cave men. Who +could not dodge an ax was better out of the way and out of the world. A +meeting such as this impending must be a matter only of close personal +encounter and fencing with arm and wooden handle and flint-head of edge +and weight. +</p> + +<p> +There was a clash of stone together, and, one after another, strong +creatures with cloven skulls toppled backward, to fall into the babbling +creek, their blood helping to change its coloring. Leaping from side to +side across his rock, along each edge of which the water rushed, old +Hilltop met the mass of enemies, while those who passed were brained by +his great sons or by those behind. But the forces were unequal and the +plane in front was not steep enough nor the water deep enough to prevent +something like an organized onslaught. With fearful regularity, uplifted +and thrown aside occasionally in defense to avoid a stroke, the ax of +Hilltop fell and there was more and more fine fighting and fine dying. On +either side were men doing scarcely less stark work. Hilltop's two sons, +on either side of him now, as the assailants, crowded by those behind, +pressed closer, fully justified their parentage by what they did, and +Bark was like a young tiger. But the onslaught was too strong. There were +too many against too few. There were loud cries, a sudden impulse and, +though axes rose and fell and more men tumbled backward into the water, +the rock was swept upon and won and the old man stood alone amid his +foes, his sons having been carried backward by the pressure of the mass. +There was sullen battling on the upper level, but there was no fray so +red as that where Hilltop, old as he was, swung his awful ax among the +close crowding throng of enemies about him. Four fell with skulls cleanly +split before a giant of the invaders got behind the gray defender of the +pass. Then an ax came crashing down and old Hilltop pitched forward, dead +before he fell into the cool waters of the pool below. +</p> + +<p> +There was a yell of exultation from the upward-climbing Eastern cave men +as they saw the most dangerous of their immediate enemies go down, but, +before the echoes had come back, the sound was lost in that which came +from the height above them. It was loud and threatening, but not the yell +of their own kind. +</p> + +<p> +There had come sweeping down the valley the victors in the fight at the +Eastern end. Ab, with the lust of battle fully upon him as he heard the +wild shriek of Moonface, who had seen her husband fall, was a creature as +hungry for blood as any beast of all the forest, and his followers were +scarce less terrible. Swift and dreadful was the encounter which +followed, but the issue was not doubtful for a moment. The barrier's +living defenders became as wild themselves as were these conquering +allies. The fight became a massacre. Flying hopelessly up the valley, the +remnant, only some twenty, of the Eastern cave men ran into the vacant +big cave for refuge and there, barricaded, could keep their pursuers at +bay for the time at least. +</p> + +<p> +There was no immediate attack made upon the remnant of the assailants who +had thus sought refuge. They were safely imprisoned, and about the cave's +entrance there lay down to eat and rest a body of vengeful men of twice +their number. The struggle was over, and won, but there was little +happiness in the Fire Valley which had been so well defended. +</p> + +<p> +Moonface, wildly fighting, had seen her husband's death. With the rush of +Ab's returning force which changed the tide of battle she had been swept +away, shrieking and seeking to force herself toward the rock whereon old +Hilltop had so well demeaned himself. Now there emerged from one side a +woman who spoke to none but who clambered down the rough waterway and +waded into the little pool below the rock and stooped and lifted +something from the water. It was the body of the brave old hunter of the +hills. With her arms clutched about it the woman began the clamber upward +again, shaking her head dumbly, when rude warriors, touched somehow, +despite the coarse texture of their being, came wading in to assist her +with the ghastly burden. She emerged with it upon the level and laid it +gently down upon the grass, but still uttered no word until her children +gathered and the weeping Lightfoot came to her and put her arms about +her, and then from the uncouth creature's eyes came a flood of tears and +a gasp which broke the tension, and the death wail sounded through the +valley. The poor, affectionate animal was a little nearer herself again. +</p> + +<p> +There were dead men lying beside the flames at the Eastern end of the +valley, and these were brought by the men and tossed carelessly into the +pools below where lay so many others of the slain. There were storm +clouds gathering and all the valley people knew what must happen soon. +The storm clouds burst; the little creek, transformed suddenly into a +torrent by the fall of water from the heights above, swept the dead men +away together to the river and so toward the sea. Of all the invading +force there remained alive only the three who had re-leaped the flames +and those imprisoned in the cave. +</p> + +<p> +There was council that night between Ab and his friends and, as the +easiest way of disposing of the prisoners in the cave, it was proposed to +block the entrance and allow the miserable losers in battle to there +starve at their leisure. But the thoughtful Old Mok took Ab aside and +said: +</p> + +<p> +"Why not let them live and work for us? They will do as you say. This was +the place they wanted. They can stay and make us stronger." +</p> + +<p> +And Ab saw the reason of all this and the hungry, imprisoned men were +given the alternative of death or obedient companionship. They did not +hesitate long. The warmth of the valley and its other advantages were +what they had come for and they had no narrow views outside the food and +fuel question. The valley was good. They accepted Ab's authority and came +out and fed and, with their wives and children, who were sent for, became +of the valley people. +</p> + +<p> +This place of refuge and home and fortress was acquiring an importance. +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<h2><a name="xxx">CHAPTER XXX.</a></h2> + +<h3>OUR VERY GREAT GRANDFATHER.</h3> + +<p> +And the years passed. One still afternoon in autumn a gray, hairy man, a +man approaching old age, but without weakness of arm or stiffness of +joint, as yet, sat on the height overlooking the village. He looked in +tranquil comfort, now down into the little valley, and now across it into +the wood beyond, where the sun was approaching the treetops. He had come +to the hill with the mere instinct of the old hunter seeking to be +completely out of doors, but he had brought work with him and was +engaged, when not looking thoughtfully far away, in finishing a huge bow, +the spring of which he occasionally tested. Every motion showed the +retained possession of tremendous strength as well as the knowledge of +its use to most advantage. A very hale old man was Ab, the great hunter +and head of the people of the Fire Valley. +</p> + +<p> +A few yards away from Ab, leaning against the trunk of a beech, stood +Lightfoot, her quick glance roving from place to place and as keen, +seemingly, as ever. These two were still most content when together, and +it was well for each that they had in the same degree withstood what the +years bring. The woman had, perhaps, changed less than the man. Her hair +was still dark and her step had not grown heavy. She had changed in face +and expression rather than in form. There had grown in her eyes and about +her mouth the indefinable lines and tokens, pathetic and sweet, of care, +of sorrow, of suffering and of quiet gladness, in short, of motherhood. +</p> + +<p> +As twilight came on the woods rang with the shouts and laughter of a +party of young men who were coming home from some forest trip. Ab, +looking down the valley, over the flashing flame, into the forest hills, +in whose deep shade lay Little Mok, old Hilltop and Ab's mother, could +see the lusty youths in the village, running, leaping, wrestling and +throwing spears, axes and stones in competition. A strange oppression +came upon him and he thought of Oak lying in the ground alone on the +hillside, miles away. Ab felt, even now, the strong, helpful arm of his +friend around him, just as it was in the evening journey from the Feast +of the Mammoth homeward, when he had been rescued from almost certain +death by Oak. A lump rose in the throat of the man of many battles and +many trials. He shook himself, as if to shake off the memory that plagued +him. Oak came not often to trouble Ab's peace now, and when he came it +was always at night. Morning never found him near the Fire Village. +</p> + +<p> +The young hunters, rioting like the young men in the valley, were passing +now. Ab looked upon them thoughtfully. He felt dimly a desire to speak to +them, to tell them something about the hurts they might avoid, and how +hard it was to have a great, heavy load on one's chest at times--all +one's life--but the cave man was, as to the emotions, inarticulate. Ab +could no more have spoken his half defined feelings than the tree could +cry out at the blow of the ax. +</p> + +<p> +The woman left the beech tree and approached the man and touched his arm. +His eyes turned upon her kindly and after she had seated herself beside +him, there was laughing talk, for Lightfoot was declaring her desperate +condition of hunger and demanding that he return to the valley with her. +She examined his bow critically and had an opinion to express, for so +fine a shot as she might surely talk a little about so manful a thing as +the making of the weapon. And as the sun sank lower and the valley fell +into shadow, the two descended together, a pair who, after all, had +reason to be glad that they had lived. +</p> + +<p> +And the children these two left were bold and strong and dominant by +nature, and maintained the family leadership as the village grew. With +later generations came trouble vast and dire to the people of the land, +but it was not the part of this proud and seasoned and well-weaponed +group to flee like wild beasts when came drifting to the Westward the +first feeble vanguard of the Aryan overflow. The vanguard was overthrown; +its men made serfs and its women mothers. Other cave men in other regions +might escape to the Northward as the wave increased, there to become +frost-bitten Lapps or the "Skrallings" of the Norsemen, the Eskimo of +to-day, but not so the people of the great Fire Valley or their stern and +sturdy vassals for half a hundred miles about. No child's play was it for +those of another and still rude civilization to meet them in their +fastnesses, and the end of the struggle--for this region at least--was, +not a conquest, but a blending, a blending good for each of the two +forces. +</p> + +<p> +And as the face of Nature changed with the ages, as the later glacial +cold wavered and fluctuated and forced back and forth migrations of man +and beast, still the first-formed group retained coherence, retained it +beyond great natural cataclysms, retained it to historic ages, to wield +long the smoothed stone weapons, and, afterward, the bronze axes, and to +diverge in many branches of contentious defenders and invaders, to become +Iberian and Gaul and Celt and Saxon, to fight family against family, and +to commingle again in these later times. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the beach the other day, watching the waves lap toward her, sat a +woman, cultured, very beautiful and wise in woman's way and among the +fairest and the best of all earth can produce. There are many such as +she. Barely longer ago than the other day, as time is counted, a rugged +man, gentle as resolute and noble, became the enshrined hero of a vast +republic, when he struck from slave limbs the shackles of four million +people. In an insular home across the sea, interested still in the +world's affairs, is an old man vigorous in his octogenarianism, a power, +though out of power, a figure to be a monument in personal history, a +great man. But a few years ago the whole world stood with bowed head +while into the soil he loved was lowered the coffin of one who has bound +the nations together in sympathy for <i>Les Misérables</i> of the earth. In a +home on the continent broods watchfully a bald-headed giant in cavalry +boots, one who has dictated arbitrarily, as premier, the policy of the +empire he has largely made. The woman upon the sands, the great +liberator, the man wonderful even in old age, the heart-stirring writer, +the man of giant personality physical and mental, have had reason to +boast alike a strain of the blood of Ab and Lightfoot. In the veins of +each has danced the transmitted product of the identical corpuscles which +coursed in the veins of those two who first found a home in the Fire +Valley. Strong was primitive man; adroit, patient and faithful was +primitive woman; he, the strongest, she, the fairest and cleverest of the +time, could protect their offspring, breed and care for great children of +similar powers and so insure a lasting race. Thus has the good blue blood +come down. This is not romance, this is not fancy; this is but faithful +history. +</p> + +<p class="ctr"> +THE END +</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Ab, by Stanley Waterloo + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF AB *** + +***** This file should be named 8644-h.htm or 8644-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/6/4/8644/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, Andy Schmitt, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +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. 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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: The Story of Ab + A Tale of the Time of the Cave Man + +Author: Stanley Waterloo + +Posting Date: April 5, 2014 [EBook #8644] +Release Date: August, 2005 +First Posted: July 29, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF AB *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, Andy Schmitt, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: GREAT TRUNK SHOT DOWNWARD AND BACKWARD PICKED UP THE MAN +AND HURLED HIM YARDS AWAY] + + + + + THE STORY OF AB + + A TALE OF THE TIME OF THE CAVE MAN + + BY + + STANLEY WATERLOO + + 1905 + + + Author of "A Man and a Woman," "An Odd Situation," etc. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +This is the story of Ab, a man of the Age of Stone, who lived so long ago +that we cannot closely fix the date, and who loved and fought well. + +In his work the author has been cordially assisted by some of the ablest +searchers of two continents into the life history of prehistoric times. +With characteristic helpfulness and interest, these already burdened +students have aided and encouraged him, and to them he desires to express +his sense of profound obligation and his earnest thanks. + +Once only does the writer depart from accepted theories of scientific +research. After an at least long-continued study of existing evidence and +information relating to the Stone Ages, the conviction grew upon him that +the mysterious gap supposed by scientific teachers to divide Paleolithic +from Neolithic man never really existed. No convulsion of nature, no new +race of human beings is needed to explain the difference between the +relics of Paleolithic and Neolithic strugglers. Growth, experiment, +adaptation, discovery, inevitable in man, sufficiently account for all +the relatively swift changes from one form of primitive life to another +more advanced, from the time of chipped to that of polished implements. +Man has been, from the beginning, under the never resting, never +hastening, forces of evolution. The earth from which he sprang holds the +record of his transformations in her peat-beds, her buried caverns and +her rocky fastnesses. The eternal laws change man, but they themselves do +not change. + +Ab and Lightfoot and others of the cave people whose story is told in the +tale which follows the author cannot disown. He has shown them as they +were. Hungry and cold, they slew the fierce beasts which were scarcely +more savage than they, and were fed and clothed by their flesh and fur. +In the caves of the earth the cave men and their families were safely +sheltered. Theirs were the elemental wants and passions. They were +swayed by love, in some form at least, by jealousy, fear, revenge, and by +the memory of benefits and wrongs. They cherished their young; they +fought desperately with the beasts of their time, and with each other, +and, when their brief, turbulent lives were ended, they passed into +silence, but not into oblivion. The old Earth carefully preserved their +story, so that we, their children, may read it now. + +S. W. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER. + +I. THE BABE IN THE WOODS. + +II. MAN AND HYENA. + +III. A FAMILY DINNER. + +IV. AB AND OAK. + +V. A GREAT ENTERPRISE. + +VI. A DANGEROUS VISITOR. + +VII. THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS. + +VIII. SABRE-TOOTH AND RHINOCEROS. + +IX. DOMESTIC MATTERS. + +X. OLD MOK, THE MENTOR. + +XI. DOINGS AT HOME. + +XII. OLD MOK'S TALES. + +XIII. AB'S GREAT DISCOVERY. + +XIV. A LESSON IN SWIMMING. + +XV. A MAMMOTH AT BAY. + +XVI. THE FEAST OF THE MAMMOTH. + +XVII. THE COMRADES. + +XVIII. LOVE AND DEATH. + +XIX. A RACE WITH DREAD. + +XX. THE FIRE COUNTRY. + +XXI. THE WOOING OF LIGHTFOOT. + +XXII. THE HONEYMOON. + +XXIII. MORE OF THE HONEYMOON. + +XXIV. THE FIRE COUNTRY AGAIN. + +XXV. A GREAT STEP FORWARD. + +XXVI. FACING THE RAIDER. + +XXVII. LITTLE MOK. + +XXVIII. THE BATTLE OF THE BARRIERS. + +XXIX. OLD HILLTOP'S LAST STRUGGLE. + +XXX. OUR VERY GREAT GRANDFATHER. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +BY SIMON HARMON VEDDER + +"HIS GREAT TRUNK SHOT DOWNWARD AND BACKWARD, PICKED UP THE MAN, AND +HURLED HIM YARDS AWAY" + +MAP + +"AB SEIZED UPON TWO OF THE SNARLING CUBS, AND OAK DID THE SAME" + +"AB SPRANG TO HIS FEET, AND DREW HIS ARROW TO THE HEAD" + +"THE YOUNG MEN CALLED TO HER, BUT SHE MADE NO ANSWER. SHE BUT FISHED AWAY +DEMURELY" + +"AB STOOD THERE WEAPONLESS, A CREATURE WANDERING OF MIND" + +"WITH A GREAT LEAP HE WENT AT AND THROUGH THE CURLING CREST OF THE YELLOW +FLAME!" + +"THE GIRL COWERED BEHIND A REFUGE OF LEAVES AND BRANCHES" + +"UPON THE STRONG SHAFT OF ASH THE MONSTER WAS IMPALED" + + + + +THE STORY OF AB. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +THE BABE IN THE WOODS. + +Drifted beech leaves had made a soft, clean bed in a little hollow in a +wood. The wood was beside a river, the trend of which was toward the +east. There was an almost precipitous slope, perhaps a hundred and fifty +feet from the wood, downward to the river. The wood itself, a sort of +peninsula, was mall in extent and partly isolated from the greater forest +back of it by a slight clearing. Just below the wood, or, in fact, almost +in it and near the crest of the rugged bank, the mouth of a small cave +was visible. It was so blocked with stones as to leave barely room for +the entrance of a human being. The little couch of beech leaves already +referred to was not many yards from the cave. + +On the leafy bed rolled about and kicked up his short legs in glee a +little brown babe. It was evident that he could not walk yet and his lack +of length and width and thickness indicated what might be a babe not more +than a year of age, but, despite his apparent youth, this man-child +seemed content thus left alone, while his grip on the twigs which had +fallen into his bed was strong, as he was strong, and he was breaking +them delightedly. Not only was the hair upon his head at least twice as +long as that of the average year-old child of today, but there were downy +indications upon his arms and legs, and his general aspect was a swart +and rugged one. He was about as far from a weakly child in appearance as +could be well imagined and he was about as jolly a looking baby, too, as +one could wish to see. He was laughing and cooing as he kicked about +among the beech leaves and looked upward at the blue sky. His dress has +not yet been alluded to and an apology for the negligence may be found in +the fact that he had no dress. He wore nothing. He was a baby of the time +of the cave men; of the closing period of the age of chipped stone +instruments; the epoch of mild climate; the ending of one great animal +group and the beginning of another; the time when the mammoth, the +rhinoceros, the great cave tiger and cave bear, the huge elk, reindeer +and aurochs and urus and hosts of little horses, fed or gamboled in the +same forests and plains, with much discretion as to relative distances +from each other. + +It was some time ago, no matter how many thousands of years, when the +child--they called him Ab--lay there, naked, upon his bed of beech +leaves. It may be said, too, that there existed for him every chance for +a lively and interesting existence. There was prospect that he would be +engaged in running away from something or running after something during +most of his life. Times were not dull for humanity in the age of stone. +The children had no lack of things to interest, if not always to amuse, +them, and neither had the men and women. And this is the truthful story +of the boy Ab and his playmates and of what happened when he grew to be a +man. + +It is well to speak here of the river. The stream has been already +mentioned as flowing to the eastward. It did not flow in that direction +regularly; its course was twisted and diverted, and there were bays and +inlets and rapids between precipices, and islands and wooded peninsulas, +and then the river merged into a lake of miles in extent, the waters +converging into the river again. So it was that the banks in one place +might form a height and in another merge evenly into a densely wooded +forest or a wide plain. It was so, too, that these conditions might exist +opposite each other. Thus the woodland might face the plain, or the +precipice some vast extending marsh. + +To speak further of this river it may be mentioned, incidentally, that +to-day its upper reaches still exist and that the relatively small stream +remaining is called the Thames. Beside and across it lies the greatest +city in the world and its mouth is upon what is called the English +Channel. At the time when the baby, Ab, slept that afternoon in his nest +in the beech leaves this river was not called the Thames, it was only +called the Running Water, to distinguish it from the waters of the coast. +It did not empty into the British Channel, for the simple and sufficient +reason that there was no such channel at the time. Where now exists that +famous passage which makes islands of Great Britain, where, tossed upon +the choppy waves, the travelers of the world are seasick, where Drake and +Howard chased the Great Armada to the Northern seas and where, to-day, +the ships of the nations are steered toward a social and commercial +center, was then good, solid earth crowned with great forests, and the +present little tail end of a river was part of a great affluent of the +Rhine, the German river famous still, but then with a size and sweep +worth talking of. Then the Thames and the Elbe and Weser, into which +tumbled a thousand smaller streams, all went to feed what is now the +Rhine, and that then tremendous river held its course through dense +forests and deep gorges until it reached broad plains, where the North +Sea is to-day, and blended finally with the Northern Ocean. + +The trees which stood upon the bank of the great river, or which could be +seen in the far distance beyond the marsh or plain, were not all the same +as now exist. There was still a distinctive presence of the towering +conifers, something such as are represented in the redwood forests of +California to-day, or, in other forms, in some Australian woods. There +was a suggestion of the fernlike but gigantic age of growth of the +distant past, the past when the earth's surface was yet warm and its air +misty, and there was an exuberance of all plant and forest growth, +something compared with which the growth in the same latitude, just now, +would make, it may be, but a stunted showing. It is wonderful, though, +the close resemblance between most of the trees of the cave man's age, so +many tens of thousands of years ago, and the trees most common to the +temperate zone to-day. The peat bogs and the caverns and the strata of +deposits in a host of places tell truthfully what trees grew in this +distant time. Already the oak and beech and walnut and butternut and +hazel reared their graceful forms aloft, and the ground beneath their +spreading branches was strewn with the store of nuts which gave a portion +of food for many of the beasts and for man as well. The ash and the yew +were there, tough and springy of fiber and destined in the far future to +become famous in song and story, because they would furnish the wood from +which was made the weapon of the bowman. The maple was there with all its +symmetry. There was the elm, the dogged and beautiful tree-thing of +to-day, which so clings to life and nourishes in the midst of unwholesome +city surroundings and makes the human hive so much the better. There were +the pines, the sycamore, the foxwood and dogwood, and lime and laurel and +poplar and elder and willow, and the cherry and crab apple and others of +the fruit-bearing kind, since so developed that they are great factors in +man's subsistence now. It was a time of plenty which was riotous. There +remained, too, a vestige of the animal as well as of the vegetable life +of the remoter ages. There were strange and dangerous creatures which +came sometimes up the river from its inlet into the ocean. Such events +had been matters of interest, not to say of anxiety, to Ab's ancestors. + +The baby lying there among the beech leaves tired, finally, of its cooing +and twig-snapping and slept the sleep of dreamless early childhood. He +slept happily and noiselessly, but when he at last awoke his demeanor +showed a change. He had nothing to distract him, unless it might be the +breaking of twigs again. He had no toys, and, being hungry, he began to +yell. So far as can be learned from early data, babies, when hungry, have +always yelled. And, of old, as to-day, when a baby yelled, the woman who +had borne it was likely to appear at once upon the scene. Ab's mother +came running lightly from the river bank toward where the youngster lay. +She was worthy of attention as she ran, and this is but a bungling +attempt at a description of her and of her dress. + +It should be explained here, with much care and caution, that the mother +of Ab moved in the best and most exclusive circles of the time. She +belonged to the aristocracy and, it may be added, regarding this fine +lady personally, that she had the weakness of paying much attention to +her dress. She was what might properly be called a leader of society, +though society was at the time somewhat attenuated, families living, +generally, some miles apart, and various obstacles, chiefly in the form +of large, man-eating animals, complicating the matter of paying calls. As +for the calls themselves, they were nearly as often aggressive as social, +and there is a certain degree of difference between the vicious use of a +flint ax and the leaving of a card with a bending lackey. But all this +doesn't matter. The mother of Ab belonged to the very cream of the cream, +and was dressed accordingly. Her garb was elegant but simple; it had, +first, the one great merit, that it could easily be put on or taken off. +It was sustained with but a single knot, a bow-knot--they had learned to +make a bow-knot and other knots in the stone age, for, because of the +manual requirements for living, they were cleverer fumblers with their +fingers than we are now--and the lady here described had tied her knot in +a manner not to be excelled by any other woman in all the fiercely +beast-ranged countryside. + +The gown itself was of a quality to please the eye of the most carping. +It was made from the skins of wolverines, and was drawn in loosely about +the waist by a tied band, but was really sustained by a strip of the skin +which encircled the left shoulder and back and breast. This left the +right arm free from all encumbrance, a matter of some importance, for to +be right-handed was a quality of the cave man as of the man today. We +should have a grudge against them for this carelessness, and should, may +be, form an ambidextrous league, improving upon the past and teaching and +forcing young children to use each hand alike. + +The garment of wolverine skins, sewed neatly together with thread of +sinews, was all the young mother wore. Thus hanging from the shoulder and +fully encircling her, it reached from the waist to about half way down +between the hips and the knees. It was as delightful a gown as ever was +contrived by ambitious modiste or mincing male designer in these modern +times. It fitted with a free and easy looseness and its colors were such +as blended smoothly and kindly with the complexion of its wearer. The fur +of the wolverine was a mixed black and white, but neither black nor white +is the word to use. The black was not black; it was only a swart sort of +color, and the white was not white; it was but a dingy, lighter contrast +to the darker surface beside it. Yet the combination was rather good. +There was enough of difference to catch the eye and not enough of +glaringness to offend it. The mother of Ab would be counted by a wise +observer as the possessor of good taste. Still, dress is a small matter. +There is something to say about the cave mother aside from the mere +description of her gown. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +MAN AND HYENA. + +It is but an act of simple gallantry and justice to assert that the cave +woman had a certain unhampered swing of movement which the modern woman +often lacks. Without any reflection upon the blessed woman of to-day, it +must be said truthfully that she can neither leap a creek nor surmount +some such obstacle as a monster tree trunk with a close approach to the +ease and grace of this mother who came bounding through the forest. There +was nothing unknowing or hesitant about her movements. She ran swiftly +and leaped lightly when occasion came. She was lithe as the panther and +as careless of where her brown feet touched the ground. + +The woman had physical charms. She was of about the average size of +womanhood as we see it embodied now, but her waist was not compressed at +an unseemly angle, and much resembled in its contour that of the Venus of +Milo which has become such a stock example of the healthfully +symmetrical. Her hair was brown and long. It was innocent of knot or coil +or braid, and was transfixed by no abatis of dangerous pins. It was not +parted but was thrown straight backward over the head and hung down +fairly and far between brown shoulders. It was a fine head of hair; there +could be no question about that. It had gloss and color. Captious +critics, reasoning from the standpoint of another age, might think it +needed combing, but that is only a matter of opinion. It was tangled +together in a compact and fluffy mass, and so did not wander into the +woman's eyes, which was a good thing and a great convenience, for bright +eyes and unobstructed vision were required in those lively days. + +The face of this lady showed, at a glance, that no cosmetic had ever been +relied upon to give it an artificial charm. As a matter of fact it would +have been difficult to use cosmetics upon that face in the modern way, +for there was a suggestion of something more than down upon the +countenance, and there were certain irregularities of facial outline so +prominent that such details as the little matter of complexion must be +trifling. The eyes were deep set and small, the nose was short and thick +and possessed a certain vagueness of outline not easy of description. The +upper lip was excessively long and the under lip protruding. The chin was +well defined and firm. The mouth was rather wide, and the teeth were +strong and even, and as white as any ivory ever seen. Such was the face, +and there may be added some details of interest about the figure. The +arms of this fascinating woman were perfectly proportioned. They were +adapted to the times and were very beautiful. Down each of them from +shoulder to elbow ran a strip of short dark hair. From either hand ran +upward to the elbow another strip of hair, and the two, meeting at the +elbow, formed a delightful little tuft reminding one of what is known as +a "widow's peak," or that little point which grows down so charmingly on +an occasional woman's forehead. Her biceps were tremendous, as must +necessarily be the case with a lady accustomed to swing from limb to limb +along the treetops. Her thumb was nearly as long as her fingers, and the +palms of her hands were hard. Her legs were like her arms in their degree +of muscular development and hairy adornment. She had beautiful feet. It +is to be admitted that her heels projected a trifle more than is counted +the ideal thing at the present day, and that her big toe and all the +other toes were very much in evidence, but there is not one woman in +ten thousand now who could as handily pick up objects with her toes as +could the mother of the baby Ab. She was as brown as a nut, with the tan +of a half tropical summer, and as healthy a creature, from tawny head to +backward sloping heel, as ever trod a path in the world's history. This +was the quality of the lady who came so swiftly to learn the nature of +her offspring's trouble. Ladies of that day attended, as a rule, to the +wants of their own children. A wet nurse was a thing unknown and a dry +one as unthought of. This was good for the children. + +The woman made a dive into the little hollow and picked the babe from its +nest of leaves and tossed him up lightly, and at once his crying ceased, +and his little brown arms went around her neck, and he cooed and prattled +in very much the same fashion as does a babe of the present time. He was +content, all in a moment, yet some noise must have aroused him, for, as +it chanced, there was great need that this particular babe at this +particular moment should have awakened and cried aloud for his mother. +This was made evident immediately. As the woman tossed him aloft in her +arms and cuddled him again there came a sound to her ears which made her +leap like some wilder creature of the forest up to a little vantage +ground. She turned her head, and then--you should have seen the woman! + +Very nearly above them swung down one of the branches of a great beech +tree. The mother threw the child into the hollow of her left arm, and +leaped upward a yard to catch the branch with her right hand. So she hung +dangling. Then, instantly, holding him firmly by one arm in her left +hand, she lowered the child between her legs and clasped them about him +closely. And then, had it been your fortune to be born in those times, +you might have seen good climbing. With both her strong arms free, this +vigorous matron ran up the stout beech limb which depended downward from +the great bole of the tree until she was twenty feet above the ground, +and then, lifting herself into a comfortable place, in a moment was +sitting there at ease, her legs and one arm coiled about the big branch +and a smaller upstanding one, while the other arm held the brown babe +close to her bosom. + +This charming lady of the period had reached her perch in the beech tree +top none too soon. Even as she swung herself into place upon the huge +bough, there came rushing across the space beneath, snarling, smelling +and seeking, a brute as foul and dangerous as could be imagined for +mother and son upon the ground. It was of a dirty dun color, mottled and +striped with a lighter but still dingy hue. It had a black, hoggish nose, +but there were fangs in its great jaws. It resembled a huge wolf, save as +to its massiveness and club countenance, It was one of the monster hyenas +of the time, a beast which must have been as dangerous to the men then +living as any animal except the cave tiger and the cave bear. Its +degenerate posterity, as they shuffle uneasily back and forth when caged +to-day, are perhaps not less foul of aspect, but are relatively pygmies. +Doubtless the brute had scented the sleeping babe, and, snarling aloud in +its search, had waked it, inducing the cry which proved the child's +salvation. + +The beast scented immediately the prey above him and leaped upward +ferociously and vainly. Was the woman thus beset thus holding herself +aloft and with her child upon one arm in a state of sickening anxiety? +Hardly! She but encircled the supporting branch the closer, and laughed +aloud. She even poked one bare foot down at the leaping beast, and waved +her leg in provocation. At the same time there was no doubt that she was +beset. Furthermore she was hungry, and so she raised her voice, and sent +out through the forest a strange call, a quavering minor wail, but +something to be heard at a great distance. There was no delay in the +response, for delays were dangerous when cave men lived. The call was +answered instantly and the answering cry was repeated as she called +again, the sound of the reply approaching near and nearer all the time. +All at once the manner of her calling changed; it was an appeal no +longer; it was a conversation, an odd, clucking, penetrating speech in +the shortest of sentences. She was telling of the situation. There was +prompt reply; the voice seemed suddenly higher in the air and then came, +swinging easily from branch to branch along the treetops, the father of +Ab, a person who felt a natural and aggressive interest in what was going +on. + +To describe the cave man it is, it may be, best of all to say that he was +the woman over again, only stronger, longer limbed and deeper chested, +firmer of jaw and more grim of countenance. He was dressed almost as she +was. From his broad shoulder hung a cloak of the skin of some wild beast +but the cord which tied it was a stout one, and in the belt thus formed +was stuck a weapon of such quality as men have rarely carried since. It +was a stone ax; an ax heavier than any battle-ax of mediaeval times, its +haft a scant three feet in length, inclosing the ax through a split in +the tough wood, all being held in place by a taut and hardened mass of +knotted sinews. It was a fearful weapon, but one only to be wielded by +such a man as this, one with arms almost as mighty as those of the +gorilla. + +The man sat himself upon the limb beside his wife and child. The two +talked together in their clucking language for a moment or two, but few +words were wasted. Words had not their present abundance in those days; +action was everything. The man was hungry, too, and wanted to get home as +soon as possible. He had secured food, which was awaiting them, and this +slight, annoying episode of the day must be ended promptly. He clambered +easily up the tree and wrenched off a deadened limb at least two yards in +length, then tumbling back again and passing his wife and child along the +main branch, he swung down to where the leaping beast could almost reach +him. The heavy club he carried gave him an advantage. With a whistling +sweep, as the hyena leaped upward in its ravenous folly, came this huge +club crashing against the thick skull, a blow so fair and stark and +strong that the stunned beast fell backward upon the ground, and then, +down, lightly as any monkey, dropped the cave man. The huge stone ax went +crashing into the brain of the quivering brute, and that was the end of +the incident. Mother and child leaped down together, and the man and +woman went chattering toward their cave. This was not a particularly +eventful day with them; they were accustomed to such things. + +They went strolling off through the beech glades, the strong, hairy, +heavy-jawed man, the muscular but more lightly built woman and the child, +perched firmly and chattering blithely upon her shoulder as they walked, +or, rather, half trotted along the river side and toward the cave. They +were light of foot and light of thought, but there was ever that almost +unconscious alertness appertaining to their time. Their flexible ears +twitched, and turned, now forward now backward, to catch the slightest +sound. Their nostrils were open for dangerous scents, or for the scent of +that which might give them food, either animal or vegetable, and as for +the eyes, well, they were the sharpest existent within the history of the +human race. They were keen of vision at long distance and close at hand, +and ever were they in motion, swiftly turned sidewise this way and that, +peering far ahead or looking backward to note what enemies of the wood +might be upon the trail. So, swiftly along the glade and ever alert, went +the father and mother of Ab, carrying the strong child with them. + +There came no new alarm, and soon the cave was reached, though on the way +there was a momentary deviation from the path, to gather up the nuts and +berries the woman had found in the afternoon while the babe was lying +sleeping. The fruitage was held in a great leaf, a pliant thing pulled +together at the edges, tied stoutly with a strand of tough grass, and +making a handy pouch containing a quart or two of the food, which was the +woman's contribution to the evening meal. As for the father, he had more +to offer, as was evident when the cave was reached. + +The man and woman crept through the narrow entrance and stood erect in a +recess in the rocks twenty feet square, at least, and perhaps fifteen +feet in height. Looking upward one could see a gleam of light from the +outer world. The orifice through which the light came was the chimney, +dug downward with much travail from the level of the land above. Directly +underneath the opening was the fireplace, for men had learned thoroughly +the use of fire, and had even some fancies as to getting rid of smoke. +There were smoldering embers upon the hearth, embers of the hardest of +wood, the wood which would preserve a fire for the greatest length of +time, for the cave man had neither flint and steel nor matches, and when +a fire expired it was a matter of some difficulty to secure a flame +again. On this occasion there was no trouble. The embers were beaten up +easily into glowing coals and twigs and dry dead limbs cast upon them +made soon a roaring flame. As the cave was lighted the proprietor pointed +laughingly to the abundance of meat he had secured. It was food of the +finest sort and in such quantity that even this stalwart being's strength +must have been exceptionally tested in bringing the burden to the cave. +It was something in quality for an epicure of the day and there was +enough of it to make the cave man's family easy for a week, at least. It +was a hind quarter of a wild horse. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +A FAMILY DINNER. + +Despite the hyena and baby incident, the day had been a satisfactory one +for this cave family. Of course, had the woman failed to reach just when +she did the hollow in which her babe was left there would have come a +tragedy in the extinction of a young and promising cave child, and the +two would have been mourning, as even wild beasts mourn for their lost +young. But there was little reversion to past possibilities in the minds +of the cave people. The couple were not worrying over what might have +been. The mother had found food of one sort in abundance, and the +father's fortune had been royal. He had tossed a rock from a precipice a +hundred feet in height down into a passing herd of the little wild +horses, and great luck had followed, for one of them had been killed, and +so this was a holiday in the cave. The man and wife were at ease and had +each an appetite. + +The nuts gathered by the woman were tossed in a heap among the ashes and +live coals were raked upon them, and the popping which followed showed +how well they were being roasted. A sturdy twig, two yards in length and +sharpened at the end, was utilized by the man in cooking the strips of +meat cut from the haunch of the wild horse and very savory were the odors +that filled the cave. There was the faint perfume of the crackling nuts +and there was the fragrant beneficence of the broiling meat. There are no +definite records upon the subject; the chef of to-day can give you no +information on the point, but there is reason to believe that a steak +from the wild horse of the time was something admirable. There is a sort +of maxim current in this age, in civilized rural communities, to the +effect that those quadrupeds are good to eat which "chew the cud or part +the hoof." The horse of to-day is a creature with but one toe to each +leg--we all know that--but the horse of the cave man's time had only +lately parted with the split hoof, and so was fairly edible, even +according to the modern standard. + +The father and mother of Ab were not more than two years past their +honeymoon. They, in their way, were glad that their union had been so +blest and that a lusty man-child was rolling about and crowing and cooing +upon the earthen floor of the cave. They lived from hand to mouth, and +from day to day, and this day had been a good one. They were there +together, man, woman and child. They had warmth and food. The entrance to +the cave was barred so that no monster of the period might enter. They +could eat and sleep with a certainty of the perfect digestion which +followed such a life as theirs and with a certainty of all peace for the +moment. Even the child mumbled heartily, though not yet very strongly, at +the delicious meat of the little horse, and, the meal ended, the two lay +down upon a mass of leaves which made their bed, and the child lay +snuggled and warm within reach of them. The aristocracy of the time had +gone to sleep. + +There was silence in the cave, but, outside, the world was not so still. +The night was not always one of silence in the cave man's time. The hours +of darkness were those when the creature which walked upon two legs was +no longer gliding through the forest with ready club or spear, and when +those creatures which used four legs instead of two, especially the +defenseless, felt more at ease than in the daytime. The grass-eating +animals emerged from the forest into the plateaus and upon the low plains +along the river side and the flesh-eaters began again their hunting. It +was a time of wild life, and of wild death, for out of the abundance much +was taken; there were nightly tragedies, and the beasts of prey were as +glutted as the urus or the elk which fed on the sweet grasses. It was but +a matter of difference in diet and in the manner of doing away with one +life which must be sacrificed to support another. There was liveliness at +night with the queer thing, man, out of the way, and brutes and beasts of +many sorts, taking their chances together, were happier with him absent. +They could not understand him, and liked him not, though the great-clawed +and sharp-toothed ones had a vast desire to eat him. He was a disturbing +element in the community of the plain and forest. + +And, while all this play of life and death went on outside, the three +people, the man, woman and child, in the cave slept as soundly as sleep +the drunken or the just. They were full-fed and warm and safe. No beast +of a size greater than that of a lank wolf or sinewy wildcat could enter +the cave through the narrow entrance between the heaped-up rocks, and of +these, as of any other dangerous beast, there was none which would face +what barred even the narrow passage, for it was fire. Just at the +entrance the all-night fire of knots and hardest wood smoked, flamed and +smoldered and flickered, and then flamed again, and held the passageway +securely. No animal that ever lived, save man, has ever dared the touch +of fire. It was the cave man's guardian. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +AB AND OAK. + +Such were the father and mother of Ab, and such was the boy himself. His +surroundings have not been indicated with all the definiteness desirable, +because of the lack of certain data, but, in a general way, the degree of +his birth, the manner of his rearing and the natural aspects of his +estate have been described. That the young man had a promising future +could not admit of doubt. He was the first-born of an important family of +a great race and his inheritance had no boundaries. Just where the +possessions of the Ab family began or where they terminated no bird nor +beast nor human being could tell. The estates of the family extended from +the Mediterranean to the Arctic Ocean and there were no dividing lines. +Of course, something depended upon the existence or non-existence of a +stronger cave family somewhere else, but that mattered not. And the babe +grew into a sturdy youth, just as grow the boys of today, and had his +friendships and adventures. He did not attend the public schools--the +school system was what might reasonably be termed inefficient in his +time--nor did he attend a private school, for the private schools were +weak, as well, but he did attend the great school of Nature from the +moment he opened his eyes in the morning until he closed them at night. +Of his schoolboy days and his friendships and his various affairs, this +is the immediate story. + +The father and mother of Ab as has, it is hoped, been made apparent, were +strong people, intelligent up to the grade of the time and worthy of +regard in many ways. The two could fairly hold their own, not only +against the wild beasts, but against any other cave pair, should the +emergency arise. They had names, of course. The name of Ab's father was +One-Ear, the sequence of an incident occurring when he was very young, an +accidental and too intimate acquaintance with a species of wildcat which +infested the region and from which the babe had been rescued none too +soon. The name of Ab's mother was Red-Spot, and she had been so called +because of a not unsightly but conspicuous birthmark appearing on her +left shoulder. As to ancestry, Ab's father could distinctly remember his +own grandfather as the old gentleman had appeared just previous to his +consumption by a monstrous bear, and Red-Spot had some vague remembrance +of her own grandmother. + +As for Ab's own name, it came from no personal mark or peculiarity or as +the result of any particular incident of his babyhood. It was merely a +convenient adaptation by his parents of a childish expression of his own, +a labial attempt to say something. His mother had mimicked his babyish +prattlings, the father had laughed over the mimicry, and, almost +unconsciously, they referred to their baby afterward as "Ab," until it +grew into a name which should be his for life. There was no formal early +naming of a child in those days; the name eventually made itself, and +that was all there was to it. There was, for instance, a child living not +many miles away, destined to be a future playmate and ally of Ab, who, +though of nearly the same age, had not yet been named at all. His title, +when he finally attained it, was merely Oak. This was not because he was +straight as an oak, or because he had an acorn birthmark, but because +adjoining the cave where he was born stood a great oak with spreading +limbs, from one of which was dangled a rude cradle, into which the babe +was tied, and where he would be safe from all attacks during the absence +of his parents on such occasions as they did not wish the burden of +carrying him about. "Rock-a-by-baby upon the tree-top" was often a +reality in the time of the cave men. + +Ab was fortunate in being born at a reasonably comfortable stage of the +world's history. He had a decent prospect as to clothing and shelter, and +there was abundance of food for those brave enough or ingenious enough to +win it. The climate was not enervating. There were cold times for the +people of the epoch and, in their seasons, harsh and chilling winds swept +over bare and chilling glaciers, though a semi-tropical landscape was all +about. So suddenly had come the change from frigid cold to moderate +warmth, that the vast fields of ice once moving southward were not thawed +to their utmost depths even when rank vegetation and a teeming life had +sprung up in the now European area, and so it came that, in some places, +cold, white monuments and glittering plateaus still showed themselves +amid the forest and fed the tumbling streams which made the rivers +rushing to the ocean. There were days of bitter cold in winter and sultry +heat in summer. + +It may fairly be borne in mind of this child Ab that he was somewhat +different from the child of to-day, and nearer the quadruped in his +manner of swift development. The puppy though delinquent in the matter of +opening it's eyes, waddles clumsily upon its legs very early in its +career. Ab, of course, had his eyes open from the beginning, and if the +babe of to-day were to stand upright as soon as Ab did, his mother would +be the proudest creature going and his father, at the club, would be +acting intolerable. It must be admitted, though, that neither One-Ear nor +Red-Spot manifested an extraordinary degree of enthusiasm over the +precociousness of their first-born. He was not, for the time, remarkable, +and parents of the day were less prone than now to spoiling children. +Ab's layette had been of beech leaves, his bed had been of beech leaves, +and a beech twig, supple and stinging, had already been applied to him +when he misbehaved himself. As he grew older his acquaintance with it +would be more familiar. Strict disciplinarians in their way, though +affectionate enough after their own fashion, were the parents of +the time. + +The existence of this good family of the day continued without dire +misadventure. Ab at nine years of age was a fine boy. There could be no +question about that. He was as strong as a young gibbon, and, it must be +admitted, in certain characteristics would have conveyed to the learned +observer of to-day a suggestion of that same animal. His eyes were bright +and keen and his mouth and nose were worth looking at. His nose was +broad, with nostrils aggressively prominent, and as for his mouth, it was +what would be called to-day excessively generous in its proportions for a +boy of his size. But it did not lack expression. His lips could quiver at +times, or become firmly set, and there was very much of what might, even +then, be called "manliness" in the general bearing of the sturdy little +cave child. He had never cried much when a babe--cave children were not +much addicted to crying, save when very hungry--and he had grown to his +present stature, which was not very great, with a healthfulness and +general manner of buoyancy all the time. He was as rugged a child of his +age as could be found between the shore that lay long leagues westward of +what is now the western point of Ireland and anywhere into middle Europe. +He had begun to have feelings and hopes and ambitions, too. He had found +what his surroundings meant. He had at least done one thing well. He had +made well-received advances toward a friend; and a friend is a great +thing for a boy, when he is another boy of about the same age. This +friendship was not quite commonplace. + +Ab, who could climb like a young monkey, laid most casually the +foundation for this companionship which was to affect his future life. He +had scrambled, one day, up a tree standing near the cave, and, climbing +out along a limb near its top, had found a comfortable resting-place, and +there upon the swaying bough was "teetering" comfortably, when something +in another tree, further up the river, caught his sharp eye. It was a +dark mass,--it might have been anything caught in a treetop,--but the odd +part of it was that it was "teetering" just as he was. Ab watched the +object for a long time curiously, and finally decided that it must be +another boy, or perhaps a girl, who was swaying in the distant tree. +There came to him a vigorous thought. He resolved to become better +acquainted; he resolved dimly, for this was the first time that any idea +of further affiliation with anyone had come into his youthful mind. Of +course, it must not be understood that he had been in absolute retirement +throughout his young but not uneventful life. Other cave men and women, +sometimes accompanied by their children, had visited the cave of One-Ear +and Red-Spot and Ab had become somewhat acquainted with other human +beings and with what were then the usages of the best hungry society. He +had never, though, become really familiar with anyone save his father and +mother and the children which his mother had borne after him, a boy and a +girl. This particular afternoon a sudden boyish yearning came upon him. +He wanted to know who the youth might be who was swinging in the distant +tree. He was a resolute young cub, and to determine was to act. + +It was rare, particularly in the wooded districts of the country of the +cave men, for a boy of nine to go a mile from home alone. There was +danger lurking in every rod and rood, and, naturally, such a boy would +not be versed in all woodcraft, nor have the necessary strength of arm +for a long arboreal journey, swinging himself along beneath the +intermingling branches of close-standing trees. So this departure was, +for Ab, a venture something out of the common. But he was strong for his +age, and traversed rapidly a considerable distance through the treetops +in the direction of what he saw. Once or twice, though, there came +exigencies of leaping and grasping aloft to which he felt himself +unequal, and then, plucky boy as he was, he slid down the bole of the +tree and, looking about cautiously, made a dash across some little glade +and climbed again. He had traversed little more than half the distance +toward the object he sought when his sharp ears caught the sound of +rustling leaves ahead of him. He slipped behind the trunk of the tree +into whose top he was clambering and then, reaching out his head, peered +forward warily. As he thus ensconced himself, the sound he had heard +ceased suddenly. It was odd. The boy was perplexed and somewhat anxious. +He could but peer and peer and remain absolutely quiet. At last his +searching watchfulness was rewarded. He saw a brown protuberance on the +side of a great tree, above where the branches began, not twoscore yards +distant from him, and that brown protuberance moved slightly. It was +evident that the protuberance was watching him as he was watching it. He +realized what it meant. There was another boy there! He was not +particularly afraid of another boy and at once came out of hiding. The +other boy came calmly into view as well. They sat there, looking at each +other, each at ease upon a great branch, each with an arm sustaining +himself, each with his little brown legs dangling carelessly, and each +gazing upon the other with bright eyes evincing alike watchfulness and +curiosity and some suspicion. So they sat, perched easily, these +excellent young, monkeyish boys of the time, each waiting for the other +to begin the conversation, just as two boys wait when they thus meet +today. Their talk would not perhaps be intelligible to any professor of +languages in all the present world, but it was a language, however +limited its vocabulary, which sufficed for the needs of the men and women +and children of the cave time. It was Ab who first broke the silence: + +"Who are you?" he said. + +"I am Oak," responded the other boy. "Who are you?" + +"Me? Oh, I am Ab." + +"Where do you come from?" + +"From the cave by the beeches; and where do you come from?" + +"I come from the cave where the river turns, and I am not afraid of you." + +"I am not afraid of you, either," said Ab. + +"Let us climb down and get upon that big rock and throw stones at things +in the water," said Oak. + +"All right," said Ab. + +And the two slid, one after the other, down the great tree trunks and ran +rapidly to the base of a huge rock overtopping the river, and with sides +almost perpendicular, but with crevices and projections which enabled the +expert youngsters to ascend it with ease. There was a little plateau upon +its top a few yards in area and, once established there, the boys were +safe from prowling beasts. And this was the manner of the first meeting +of two who were destined to grow to manhood together, to be good +companions and have full young lives, howbeit somewhat exciting at times, +and to affect each other for joy and sorrow, and good and bad, and all +that makes the quality of being. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +A GREAT ENTERPRISE. + +What always happens when two boys not yet fairly in their 'teens meet, at +first aggressively, and then, each gradually overcoming this apprehension +of the other, decide upon a close acquaintance and long comradeship? +Their talk is firmly optimistic and they constitute much of the world. As +for Ab and Oak, when there had come to them an ease in conversation, +there dawned gradually upon each the idea that, next to himself, the +other was probably the most important personage in the world, fitting +companion and confederate of a boy who in an incredibly short space of +time was going to become a man and do things on a tremendous scale. +Seated upon the rock, a point of ease and vantage, they talked long of +what two boys might do, and so earnest did they become in considering +their possible great exploits that Ab demanded of Oak that he go with him +to his home. This was a serious matter. It was a no slight thing for a +boy of that day, allowed a playground within certain limits adjacent to +his cave home, to venture far away; but this in Oak's life was a great +occasion. It was the first time he had ever met and talked with a boy of +his age, and he became suddenly reckless, assenting promptly to Ab's +proposal. They ran along the forest paths together toward Ab's cave, +clucking in their queer language and utilizing in that short journey most +of the brief vocabulary of the day in anticipatory account of what they +were going to do. + +Ab's father and mother rather approved of Oak. They even went so far as +to consent that Ab might pay a return visit upon the succeeding day, +though it was stipulated that the father--and this was a demand the +mother made--should accompany the boy upon most of the journey. One-Ear +knew Oak's father very well. Oak's father, Stripe-Face, was a man of +standing in the widely-scattered community. Stripe-Face was so called +because in a casual, and, on his part, altogether uninvited encounter +with a cave bear when he was a young man, a sweep of the claws of his +adversary had plowed furrows down one cheek, leaving scars thereafter +which were livid streaks. One-Ear and Stripe-Face were good friends. +Sometimes they hunted together; they had fought together, and it was +nothing out of the way, and but natural, that Ab and Oak should become +companions. So it came that One-Ear went across the forest with his boy +the next day and visited the cave of Stripe-Face, and that the two young +cubs went out together buoyant and in conquering mood, while the grown +men planned something for their own advantage. Certainly the boys matched +well. A finer pair of youngsters of eight or nine years of age could +hardly be imagined than these two who sallied forth that afternoon. They +send very fine boys nowadays to our great high schools in the United +States, and to Rugby and Eaton and Harrow in England, but never went +forth a finer pair to learn things. No smattering of letters or lore of +any printed sort had these rugged youths, but their eyes were piercing as +those of the eagle, the grip of their hands was strong, their pace was +swift when they ran upon the ground and their course almost as rapid when +they swung along the treetops. They were self-possessed and ready and +alert and prepared to pass an examination for admission to any university +of the time; that is, to any of Nature's universities, where +matriculation depended upon prompt conception of existing dangers and the +ways of avoiding them, and of all adroitness in attainments which gave +food and shelter and safety. Eh! but they were a gallant pair, these two +young gentlemen who burst forth, owning the world entirely and feeling a +serene confidence in their ability, united, to maintain their rights. And +their ambitions soon took a definite turn. They decided that they must +kill a horse! + +The wild horse of the time, already referred to as esteemed for his +edible qualities, was, in the opinion of the cave people, but of moderate +value otherwise. He was abundant, ranging in herds of hundreds along the +pampas of the great Thames valley, and furnished forth abundant food for +man as well as the wild beasts, when they could capture him. His skin, +though, was not counted of much worth. Its short hair afforded little +warmth in cloak or breech-clout, and the tanned pelt became hard and +uncomfortable when it dried after a wetting. Still, there were various +uses for this horse's hide. It made fine strings and thongs, and the +beast's flesh, as has been said, was a staple of the larder. The first +great resolve of Ab and Oak, these two gallant soldiers of fortune, was +that, alone and unaided, they would circumvent and slay one of these wild +horses, thereby astonishing their respective families, at the same time +gaining the means for filling the stomachs of those families to +repletion, and altogether covering themselves with glory. + +Not in a day nor in a week were the plans of these youthful warriors and +statesmen matured. The wild horse had long since learned that the +creature man was as dangerous to it as were any of the fierce four-footed +animals which hunted it, and its scent was good and its pace was swift +and it went in herds and avoided doubtful places. Not so easy a task as +it might seem was that which Ab and Oak had resolved upon. There must be +some elaborate device to attain their end, but they were confident. They +had noted often what older hunters did, and they felt themselves as good +as anybody. They plotted long and earnestly and even made a mental +distribution of their quarry, deciding what should be done with its skin +and with its meat, far in advance of any determination upon a plan for +its capture and destruction. They were boys. + +There was no objection from the parents. They knew that the boys must +learn to become hunters, and if the two were not now capable of taking +care of themselves in the wood, then they were but disappointing +offspring. Consent secured, the boys acted entirely upon their own +responsibility, and, to make their subsequent plans clearer, it may be +well to explain a little more of the geography of the region. The cave of +Ab was on the north side of the stream, where the rocky banks came close +together with a little beach at either side, and the cave of Oak was +perhaps a mile to the westward, on the same side of the stream and with +very similar surroundings. On the south side of the river, opposite the +high banks between the two caves, the land was a prairie valley reaching +far away. On the north side as well there was at one place a little +valley, but it reached back only a few hundred yards from the river and +was surrounded by the forest-crowned hills. The close standing oaks and +beeches afforded, in emergency, a highway among their ranches, and along +this pathway the boys were comparatively safe. Either could climb a tree +at any time, and of the animals that were dangerous in the treetops there +were but few; in fact, there was only one of note, a tawny, cat-like +creature, not numerous, and resembling the lynx of the present day. +Almost in the midst of the little plain or valley, on the north side of +the river, rose a clump of trees, and in this the two boys saw means +afforded them for a realization of their hopes. The wild horses fed +daily in the valley to the north, as in the greater one to the south of +the river. But there also, in the high grass, as upon the south, +sometimes lurked the great beasts of prey, and to be far away from a tree +upon the plain was an unsafe thing for a cave man. From the forest edge +to the clump of trees was not more than two minutes' rush for a vigorous +boy and it was this fact which suggested to the youths their plan of +capture of the horse. + +The homes of the cave men were located, when possible, where the refuge +of safety overhung closely the river's bank, and where the non-climbing +animals must pass along beneath them, but, even at that period of few men +and abundant animal life, there had developed an acuteness among the +weaker beasts, and they had learned to avoid certain paths that had +proved fatal to their brethren. They were numerous in the plains and +comparatively careless there, relying upon their speed to escape more +dangerous wild beasts, but they passed rarely beneath the ledges, where a +weighty rock dropped suddenly meant certain death. It was not a task +entirely easy for the cave men to have meat with regularity, flush as was +the life about them. New devices must be resorted to, and Ab and Oak were +about to employ one not infrequently successful. + +The clam of the period, particularly the clam along this reach of the +upper Thames, was a marvel in his make-up. He was as large as he was +luscious, as abundant as he was both and was a great feature in the food +supply of the time. Not merely was he a feature in the food supply, but +in a mechanical way, and the first object sought by the boys, after their +plan had been agreed upon, was the shell of the great clam. They had no +difficulty in securing what they wanted, for strewn all about each cave +were the big shells in abundance. Sharp-edged, firm-backed, one of these +shells made an admirable little shovel, something with which to cut the +turf and throw up the soil, a most useful implement in the hands of the +river haunting people. The idea of the youngsters was simply this: Their +rendezvous should be at that point in the forest nearest the clump of +trees standing solitary in the valley below. They would select the safest +hours and then from the high ground make a sudden dash to the tree clump. +They would be watchful, of course, and seek to avoid the class of animals +for whom boys made admirable luncheon. Once at the clump of trees and +safely ensconced among the branches, they could determine wisely upon the +next step in their adventure. They were very knowing, these young men, +for they had observed their elders. What they wanted to do, what was the +end and aim of all this recklessness, was to dig a pit in this rich +valley land close to the clump of trees, a pit say some ten feet in +length by six feet in breadth and seven or eight feet in depth. That +meant a gigantic labor. Gillian, of "The Toilers of the Sea," assigned to +himself hardly a greater task. These were boys of the cave kind and must, +perforce, conduct themselves originally. As to the details of the plan, +well, they were only vague, as yet, but rapidly assuming a form more +definite. + +The first thing essential for the boys was to reach the clump of trees. +It was just before noon one day when they swung together on a tree branch +sweeping nearly to the ground, and at a point upon the hill directly +opposite the clump. This was the time selected for their first dash. They +studied every square yard of the long grass of the little valley with +anxious eyes. In the distance was feeding a small drove of wild horses +and, farther away, close by the river side, upreared occasionally what +might be the antlers of the great elk of the period. Between the boys and +the clump of trees there was no movement of the grass, nor any sign of +life. They could discern no trace of any lurking beast. + +"Are you afraid?" asked Ab. + +"Not if we run together." + +"All right," said Ab; "let's go it with a rush." + +The slim brown bodies dropped lightly to the ground together, each of the +boys clasping one of the clamshells. Side by side they darted down the +slope and across through the deep grass until the clump of trees was +reached, when, like two young apes, they scrambled into the safety of the +branches. + +The tree up which they had clambered was the largest of the group and of +dense foliage. It was one of the huge conifers of the age, but its +branches extended to within perhaps thirty feet of the ground, and from +the greatest of these side branches reached out, growing so close +together as to make almost a platform. It was but the work of a half hour +for these boys, with their arboreal gifts, to twine additional limbs +together and to construct for themselves a solid nest and lookout where +they might rest at ease, at a distance above the greatest leap of any +beast existing. In this nest they curled themselves down and, after much +clucking debate, formulated their plan of operation. Only one boy should +dig at a time, the other must remain in the nest as a lookout. + +Swift to act in those days were men, because necessity had made it a +habit to them, and swifter still, as a matter of course, were impulsive +boys. Their tree nest fairly made, work, they decided, must begin at +once. The only point to be determined upon was regarding the location of +the pit. There was a tempting spread of green herbage some hundred feet +to the north and east of the tree, a place where the grass was high but +not so high as it was elsewhere. It had been grazed already by the +wandering horses and it was likely that they would visit the tempting +area again. There, it was finally settled, should the pit be dug. It was +quite a distance from the tree, but the increased chances of securing a +wild horse by making the pit in that particular place more than offset, +in the estimation of the boys, the added danger of a longer run for +safety in an emergency. The only question remaining was as to who should +do the first digging and who be the first lookout? There was a violent +debate upon this subject. + +"I will go and dig and you shall keep watch," said Oak. + +"No, I'll dig and you shall watch," was Ab's response. "I can run faster +than you." + +Oak hesitated and was reluctant. He was sturdy, this young gentleman, but +Ab possessed, somehow, the mastering spirit. It was settled finally that +Ab should dig and Oak should watch. And so Ab slid down the tree, +clamshell in hand, and began laboring vigorously at the spot agreed upon. + +It was not a difficult task for a strong boy to cut through tough grass +roots with the keen edge of the clamshell. He outlined roughly and +rapidly the boundaries of the pit to be dug and then began chopping out +sods just as the workman preparing to garnish some park or lawn begins +his work to-day. Meanwhile, Oak, all eyes, was peering in every +direction. His place was one of great responsibility, and he recognized +the fact. It was a tremendous moment for the youngsters. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +A DANGEROUS VISITOR. + +It was not alone necessary for the plans of Ab and Oak that there should +be made a deep hole in the ground. It was quite as essential for their +purposes that the earth removed should not be visible upon the adjacent +surface. The location of the pit, as has been explained, was some yards +to the northeast of the tree in which the lookout had been made. A few +yards southwest of the tree was a slight declivity and damp hollow, for +from that point the land sloped, in a reed-grown marsh toward the river. +It was decided to throw into this marsh all the excavated soil, and so, +when Ab had outlined the pit and cut up its surface into sods, he carried +them one by one to the bank and cast them down among the reeds where the +water still made little puddles. In time of flood the river spread out +into a lake, reaching even as far as here. The sod removed, there was +exposed a rectangle of black soil, for the earth was of alluvial deposit +and easy of digging. Shellful after shellful of the dirt did Ab carry +from where the pit was to be, trotting patiently back and forth, but the +work was wearisome and there was a great waste of energy. It was Oak who +gave an inspiration. + +"We must carry more at a time," he called out. And then he tossed down to +Ab a wolfskin which had been given him by his father as a protection on +cold nights and which he had brought along, tied about his waist, quite +incidentally, for, ordinarily, these boys wore no clothing in warm +weather. Clothing, in the cave time, appertained only to manhood and +womanhood, save in winter. But Oak had brought the skin along because he +had noticed a vast acorn crop upon his way to and from the rendezvous and +had in mind to carry back to his own home cave some of the nuts. The pelt +was now to serve an immediately useful purpose. + +Spreading the skin upon the grass beside him, Ab heaped it with the dirt +until there had accumulated as much as he could carry, when, gathering +the corners together, he struggled with the enclosed load manfully to the +bank and spilled it down into the morass. The digging went on rapidly +until Ab, out of breath and tired, threw down the skin and climbed into +the treetop and became the watchman, while Oak assumed his labor. So they +worked alternately in treetop and upon the ground until the sun's rays +shot red and slanting from the west. Wiser than to linger until dusk had +too far deepened were these youngsters of the period. The clamshells were +left in the pit. The lookout above declared nothing in sight, then slid +to the ground and joined his friend, and another dash was made to the +hill and the safety of its treetops. It was in great spirits that the +boys separated to seek their respective homes. They felt that they were +personages of consequence. They had no doubt of the success of the +enterprise in which they had embarked, and the next day found them +together again at an early hour, when the digging was enthusiastically +resumed. + +Many a load of dirt was carried on the second day from the pit to the +marsh's edge, and only once did the lookout have occasion to suggest to +his working companion that he had better climb the tree. A movement in +the high grass some hundred yards away had aroused suspicion; some wild +animal had passed, but, whatever it was, it did not approach the clump of +trees and work was resumed at once. When dusk came the moist black soil +found in the pit had all been carried away and the boys had reached, to +their intense disgust, a stratum of hard packed gravel. That meant +infinitely more difficult work for them and the use of some new utensil. + +There was nothing daunting in the new problem. When it came to the mere +matter of securing a tool for digging the hard gravel, both Ab and Oak +were easily at home. The cave dwellers, haunting the river side for +centuries, had learned how to deal with gravel, and when Ab returned to +the scene the next day he brought with him a sturdy oaken stave some six +feet in length, sharpened to a point and hardened in the fire until it +was almost iron-like in its quality. Plunged into the gravel as far as +the force of a blow could drive it, and pulled backward with the leverage +obtained, the gravel was loosened and pried upward either in masses which +could be lifted out entire, or so crumbled that it could be easily dished +out with the clamshell. The work went on more slowly, but not less +steadily nor hopefully than on the days preceding, and, for some time, +was uninterrupted by any striking incident. The boys were becoming +buoyant. They decided that the grassy valley was almost uninfested by +things dangerous. They became reckless sometimes, and would work in the +pit together. As a rule, though, they were cautious--this was an inherent +and necessary quality of a cave being--and it was well for them that it +was so, for when an emergency came only one of them was in the pit, while +the other was aloft in the lookout and alert. + +It was about three o'clock one afternoon when Ab, whose turn it chanced +to be, was working valiantly in the pit, while Oak, all eyes, was perched +aloft. Suddenly there came from the treetop a yell which was no boyish +expression of exuberance of spirits. It was something which made Ab leap +from the excavation as he heard it and reach the side of Oak as the +latter came literally tumbling down the bole of the tree of watching. + +"Run!" Oak said, and the two darted across the valley and reached the +forest and clambered into safe hiding among the clustering branches. +Then, in the intervals between his gasping breath, Oak managed to again +articulate a word: + +"Look!" he said. + +Ab looked and, in an instant, realized how wise had been Oak's alarming +cry and how well it was for them that they were so distant from the clump +of trees so near the river. What he saw was that which would have made +the boys' fathers flee as swiftly had they been in their children's +place. Yet what Ab looked upon was only a waving, in sinuous regularity, +of the rushes between the tree clump and the river and the lifting of a +head some ten or fifteen feet above the reed-tops. What had so alarmed +the boys was what would have disturbed a whole tribe of their kinsmen, +even though they had chanced to be assembled, armed to the teeth with +such weapons as they then possessed. What they saw was not of the common. +Very rarely indeed, along the Thames, had occurred such an invasion. The +father of Oak had never seen the thing at all, and the father of Ab had +seen it but once, and that many years before. It was the great serpent of +the seas! + +Safely concealed in the branches of a tree overlooking the little valley, +the boys soon recovered their normal breathing capacity and were able to +converse again. Not more than a couple of minutes, at the utmost, had +passed between their departure from their place of labor and their +establishment in this same tree. The creature which had so alarmed them +was still gliding swiftly across the morass between the lowland and the +river. It came forward through the marsh undeviatingly toward the tree +clump, the tall reeds quivering as it passed, but its approach indicated +by no sound or other token of disturbance. The slight bank reached, there +was uplifted a great serpent head, and then, without hesitation, the +monster swept forward to the trees and soon hung dangling from the +branches of the largest one, its great coils twined loosely about trunk +and limb, its head swinging gently back and forth just below the lower +branch. It was a serpent at least sixty feet in length, and two feet or +more in breadth at its huge middle. It was queerly but not brilliantly +spotted, and its head was very nearly that of the anaconda of to-day. +Already the sea-serpent had become amphibious. It had already acquired +the knowledge it has transmitted to the anaconda, that it might leave the +stream, and, from some vantage point upon the shore, find more surely a +victim than in the waters of the sea or river. This monster serpent was +but waiting for the advent of any land animal, save perhaps those so +great as the mammoth or the great elk, or, possibly, even the cave +bear or the cave tiger. The mammoth was, of course, an impossibility, +even to the sea-serpent. The elk, with its size and vast antlers, was, to +put it at the mildest, a perplexing thing to swallow. The rhinoceros was +dangerous, and as for the cave bear and the cave tiger, they were +uncomfortable customers for anything alive. But there were the cattle, +the aurochs and the urus, and the little horses and deer, and wild hog +and a score of other creatures which, in the estimation of the +sea-serpent, were extremely edible. A tidbit to the serpent was a man, but +he did not get one in half a century. + +Not long did the boys remain even in a harborage so distant. Each fled +homeward with his story. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS. + +It was with scant breath, when they reached their respective caves, that +the boys told the story of the dread which had invaded the marsh-land. +What they reported was no light event and, the next morning, their +fathers were with them in the treetop at the safe distance which the +wooded crest afforded and watching with apprehensive eyes the movements +of the monster settled in the rugged valley tree. There was slight +movement to note. Coiled easily around the bole, just above where the +branches began, and resting a portion of its body upon a thick, extending +limb, its head and perhaps ten or fifteen feet of its length swinging +downward, the great serpent still hung awaiting its prey, ready to launch +itself upon any hapless victim which might come within its reach. That +its appetite would soon be gratified admitted of little doubt. Profiting +by the absence of the boys, who while at work made no effort to conceal +themselves, groups of wild horses were already feeding in the lowlands, +and the elk and wild ox were visible here and there. The group in the +treetop on the crest realized that it had business on hand. The +sea-serpent was a terror to the cave people, and when one appeared to +haunt the river the word was swiftly spread, and they gathered to +accomplish its end if possible. With warnings to the boys they left +behind them, the fathers sped away in different directions, one up, the +other down, the river's bank, Stripe-Face to seek the help of some of the +cave people and One-Ear to arouse the Shell people, as they were called, +whose home was beside a creek some miles below. Into the home of the +little colony One-Ear went swinging a little later, demanding to see the +head man of the fishing village, and there ensued an earnest conversation +of short sentences, but one which caused immediate commotion. To the hill +dwellers the rare advent of a sea-serpent was comparatively a small +matter, but it was a serious thing to the Shell folk. The sea-serpent +might come up the creek and be among them at any moment, ravaging their +community. The Shell people were grateful for the warning, but there were +few of them at home, and less than a dozen could be mustered to go with +One-Ear to the rendezvous. + +They were too late, the hardy people who came up to assail the serpent, +because the serpent had not waited for them. The two boys roosting in the +treetop on the height had beheld what was not pleasant to look upon, for +they had seen a yearling of the aurochs enveloped by the thing, which +whipped down suddenly from the branches, and the crushed quadruped had +been swallowed in the serpent's way. But the dinner which might suffice +it for weeks had not, in all entirety, the effect upon it which would +follow the swallowing of a wild deer by its degenerate descendants of the +Amazonian or Indian forests. + +The serpent did not lie a listless mass, helplessly digesting the product +of the tragedy upon the spot of its occurrence, but crawled away slowly +through the reeds, and instinctively to the water, into which it slid +with scarce a splash, and then went drifting lazily away upon the current +toward the sea. It had been years since one of these big water serpents +had invaded the river at such a distance from its mouth and never came +another up so far. There were causes promoting rapidly the extinction of +their dreadful kind. + +Three or four days were required before Ab and Oak realized, after what +had taken place, that there were in the community any more important +personages than they, and that they had work before them, if they were to +continue in their glorious career. When everyday matters finally asserted +themselves, there was their pit not yet completed. Because of their +absence, a greater aggregation of beasts was feeding in the little +valley. Not only the aurochs, the ancient bison, the urus, the progenitor +of the horned cattle of to-day, wild horse and great elk and reindeer +were seen within short distances from each other, but the big, hairy +rhinoceros of the time was crossing the valley again and rioting in its +herbage or wallowing in the pools where the valley dipped downward to the +marsh. The mammoth with its young had swung clumsily across the area of +rich feed, and, lurking in its train, eyeing hungrily and bloodthirstily +the mammoth's calf, had crept the great cave tiger. The monster cave bear +had shambled through the high grass, seeking some small food in default +of that which might follow the conquest of a beast of size. The uncomely +hyenas had gone slinking here and there and had found something worthy +their foul appetite. All this change had come because the two boys, being +boys and full of importance, had neglected their undertaking for about a +week and had talked each in his own home with an air intended to be +imposing, and had met each other with much dignity of bearing, at their +favorite perching-place in the treetop on the hillside. When there came +to them finally a consciousness that, to remain people of magnitude in +the world, they must continue to do something, they went to work bravely. +The change which had come upon the valley in their brief absence tended +to increase their confidence, for, as thus exhibited, early as was the +age, the advent of the human being, young or old, somehow affected all +animate nature and terrified it, and the boys saw this. Not that the +great beasts did not prey upon man, but then, as now, the man to the +great beast was something of a terror, and man, weak as he was, knew +himself and recognized himself as the head of all creation. The mammoth, +the huge, thick-coated rhinoceros, sabre-tooth, the monstrous tiger, or +the bear, or the hyena, or the loping wolf, or short-bodied and vicious +wolverine were to him, even then, but lower creatures. Man felt himself +the master of the world, and his children inherited the perception. + +Work in the pit progressed now rapidly and not a great number of days +passed before it had attained the depth required. The boy at work was +compelled, when emerging, to climb a dried branch which rested against +the pit's edge, and the lookout in the tree exercised an extra caution, +since his comrade below could no longer attain safety in a moment. But +the work was done at last, that is, the work of digging, and there +remained but the completion of the pitfall, a delicate though not a +difficult matter. Across the pit, and very close together, were laid +criss-crosses of slender branches, brought in armfuls from the forest; +over these dry grass was spread, thinly but evenly, and over this again +dust and dirt and more grass and twigs, all precautions being observed to +give the place a natural appearance. In this the boys succeeded very +well. Shrewd must have been the animal of any sort which could detect the +trap. Their chief work done, the boys must now wait wisely. The place was +deserted again and no nearer approach was made to the pitfall than the +treetops of the hillside. There the boys were to be found every day, +eager and anxious and hopeful as boys are generally. There was not +occasion for getting closer to the trap, for, from their distant perch, +its surface was distinctly visible and they could distinguish if it had +been broken in. Those were days of suppressed excitement for the two; +they could see the buffalo and wild horses moving here and there, but +fortune was still perverse and the trap was not approached. Before its +occupation by them, the place where they had dug had appeared the +favorite feeding-place; now, with all perversity, the wild horses and +other animals grazed elsewhere, and the boys began to fear that they had +left some traces of their work which revealed it to the wily beasts. On +one day, for an hour or two, their hearts were in their mouths. There +issued from the forest to the westward the stately Irish elk. It moved +forward across the valley to the waters on the other side, and, after +drinking its fill, began feeding directly toward the tree clump. It +reached the immediate vicinity of the pitfall and stood beneath the +trees, fairly outlined against the opening beyond, and affording +to the almost breathless couple a splendid spectacle. A magnificent +creature was the great elk of the time of the cave men, the Irish elk, as +those who study the past have named it, because its bones have been found +so frequently in what are now the preserving peat bogs of Ireland. But +the elk passed beyond the sight of the watchers, and so their bright +hopes fell. + +The crispness of full autumn had come, one morning, when Ab and Oak met +as usual and looked out across the valley to learn if anything had +happened in the vicinity of the pitfall. The hoar frost, lying heavily on +the herbage, made the valley resemble a sea of silver, checkered and +spotted all over darkly. These dark spots and lines were the traces of +such animals as had been in the valley during the night or toward early +morning. Leading everywhere were heavy trails and light ones, telling the +story of the night. But very little heed to these things was paid by the +ardent boys. They were too full of their own affairs. As they swung into +place together upon their favorite limb and looked across the valley, +they uttered a simultaneous and joyous shout. Something had taken place +at the pitfall! + +All about the trap the surface of the ground was dark and the area of +darkness extended even to the little bank of the swamp on the riverside. +Careless of danger, the boys dropped to the ground and, spears in hand, +ran like deer toward the scene of their weeks of labor. Side by side they +bounded to the edge of the excavation, which now yawned open to the sky. +They had triumphed at last! As they saw what the pitfall held, they +yelled in unison, and danced wildly around the opening, in the very +height of boyish triumph. The exultation was fully justified, for the +pitfall held a young rhinoceros, a creature only a few months old, but so +huge already that it nearly filled the excavation. It was utterly +helpless in the position it occupied. It was wedged in, incapable of +moving more than slightly in any direction. Its long snout, with its +sprouting pair of horns, was almost level with the surface of the ground +and its small bright eyes leered wickedly at its noisy enemies. It +struggled clumsily upon their approach, but nothing could relieve the +hopelessness of its plight. + +All about the pitfall the earth was plowed in furrows and beaten down by +the feet of some monstrous animal. Evidently the calf was in the company +of its mother when it fell a victim to the art of the pitfall diggers. It +was plain that the mother had spent most of the night about her young in +a vain effort to release it. Well did the cave boys understand the signs, +and, after their first wild outburst of joy over the capture, a sense of +the delicacy, not to say danger, of their situation came upon them. It +was not well to interfere with the family affairs of the rhinoceros. +Where had the mother gone? They looked about, but could see nothing to +justify their fears. Only for a moment, though, did their sense of safety +last; hardly had the echo of their shouting come back from the hillside +than there was a splashing and rasping of bushes in the swamp and the +rush of some huge animal toward the little ascent leading to the valley +proper. There needed no word from either boy; the frightened couple +bounded to the tree of refuge and had barely begun clambering up its +trunk than there rose to view, mad with rage and charging viciously, the +mother of the calf rhinoceros. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +SABRE-TOOTH AND RHINOCEROS. + +The rhinoceros of the Stone Age was a monstrous creature, an animal +varying in many respects from either species of the animal of the present +day, though perhaps somewhat closely allied to the huge double-horned and +now nearly extinct white rhinoceros of southern Africa. But the brute of +the prehistoric age was a beast of greater size, and its skin, instead of +being bare, was densely covered with a dingy colored, crinkly hair, +almost a wool. It was something to be dreaded by most creatures even in +this time of great, fierce animals. It turned aside for nothing; it was +the personification of courage and senseless ferocity when aroused. +Rarely seeking a conflict, it avoided none. The huge mammoth, a more +peaceful pachyderm, would ordinarily hesitate before barring its path, +while even the cave tiger, fiercest and most dreaded of the carnivora of +the time, though it might prey upon the young rhinoceros when opportunity +occurred, never voluntarily attacked the full-grown animal. From that +almost impervious shield of leather hide, an inch or more in thickness, +protected further by the woolly covering, even the terrible strokes of +the tiger's claws glanced off with but a trifling rending, while one +single lucky upward heave of the twin horns upon the great snout would +pierce and rend, as if it were a trifling obstacle, the body of any +animal existing. The lifting power of that prodigious neck was something +almost beyond conception. It was an awful engine of death when its +opportunity chanced to come. On the other hand, the rhinoceros of this +ancient world had but a limited range of vision, and was as dull-witted +and dangerously impulsive as its African prototype of today. + +But short-sighted as it was, the boys clambering up the tree were near +enough for the perception of the great beast which burst over the +hummock, and it charged directly at them, the tree quivering when the +shoulder of the monster struck it as it passed, though the boys, already +in the branches, were in safety. Checking herself a little distance +beyond, the rhinoceros mother returned, snorting fiercely, and began +walking round and round the calf imprisoned in the pitfall. The boys +comprehended perfectly the story of the night. The calf once ensnared, +the mother had sought in vain to rescue it, and, finally, wearied with +her exertion, had retired just over the little descent, there to wallow +and rest while still keeping guard over her imprisoned young. The +spectacle now, as she walked around the trap, was something which would +have been pitiful to a later race of man. The beast would get down upon +her knees and plow the dirt about the calf with her long horns. She would +seek to get her snout beneath its body sidewise, and so lift it, though +each effort was necessarily futile. There was no room for any leverage, +the calf fitted the cavity. The boys clung to their perches in safety, +but in perplexity. Hours passed, but the mother rhinoceros showed no +inclination to depart. It was three o'clock in the afternoon when she +went away to the wallow, returning once or twice to her young before +descending the bank, and, even when she had reached the marsh, snorting +querulously for some time before settling down to rest. + +The boys waited until all was quiet in the marsh, and, as a matter of +prudence, for some time longer. They wanted to feel assured that the +monster was asleep, then, quietly, they slid down the tree trunk and, +with noiseless step, stole by the pitfall and toward the hillside. A few +yards further on their pace changed to a run, which did not cease until +they reached the forest and its refuge, nor, even there, did they linger +for any length of time. Each started for his home; for their adventure +had again assumed a quality which demanded the consideration of older +heads and the assistance of older hands. It was agreed that they should +again bring their fathers with them--by a fortunate coincidence each knew +where to find his parent on this particular day--and that they should +meet as soon as possible. It was more than an hour later when the two +fathers and two sons, the men armed with the best weapons they possessed, +appeared upon the scene. So far as the watchers from the hillside could +determine, all was quiet about the clump of trees and the vicinity of the +pitfall. It was late in the afternoon now and the men decided that the +best course to pursue would be to steal down across the valley, kill the +imprisoned calf and then escape as soon as possible, leaving the mother +to find her offspring dead; reasoning that she would then abandon it. +Afterward the calf could be taken out and there would be a feast of cave +men upon the tender food and much benefit derived in utilization of +the tough yet not, at its age, too thick hide of the uncommon quarry. +There was but one difficulty in the way of carrying out this enterprise: +the wind was from the north and blew from the hunters toward the river, +and the rhinoceros, though lacking much range of vision, was as acute of +scent as the gray wolves which sometimes strayed like shadows through the +forest or the hyenas which scented from afar the living or the dead. +Still, the venture was determined upon. + +The four descended the hill, the two boys in the rear, treading with the +lightness of the tiger cat, and went cautiously across the valley and +toward the tree trunk. Certainly no sound they made could have reached +the ear of the monster wallowing below the bank, but the wind carried to +its nostrils the message of their coming. They were not half way across +the valley when the rhinoceros floundered up to the level and charged +wildly along the course of the wafted scent. There was a flight for the +hillside, made none too soon, but yet in time for safety. Walking around +in circles, snorting viciously, the great beast lingered in the vicinity +for a time, then went back to its imprisoned calf, where it repeated the +performance of earlier in the day and finally retired again to its hidden +resting-place near by. It was dusk now and the shadows were deepening +about the valley. + +The men, well up in the tree with the boys, were undetermined what to do. +They might steal along to the eastward and approach the calf from another +direction without disturbing the great brute by their scent. But it was +becoming darker every moment and the region was a dangerous one. In the +valley and away from the trees they were at a disadvantage and at night +there were fearful things abroad. Still, they decided to take the risk, +and the four, following the crest of the slight hill, moved along its +circle southeastward toward the river bank, each on the alert and each +with watchful eyes scanning the forest depths to the left or the valley +to the right. Suddenly One-Ear leaped back into the shadow, waved his +hand to check the advance of those behind him, then pointed silently +across the valley and toward the clump of trees. + +Not a hundred yards from the pitfall the high grass was swaying gently; +some creature was passing along toward the pitfall and a thing of no +slight size. Every eye of the quartet was strained now to learn what +might be the interloper upon the scene. It was nearly dark, but the eyes +of the cave men, almost nocturnal in their adaptation as they were, +distinguished a long, dark body emerging from the reeds and circling +curiously and cautiously around the pitfall; nearer and nearer it +approached the helpless prisoner until perhaps twenty feet distant from +it. Here the thing seemed to crouch and remain quiescent, but only for a +little time. Then resounded across the valley a screaming roar, so fierce +and raucous and death-telling and terrifying that even the hardened +hunters leaped with affright. At the same moment a dark object shot +through the air and landed on the back of the creature in the shallow +pit. The tiger was abroad! There was a wild bleat of terror and agony, a +growl fiercer and shorter than the first hoarse cry of the tiger, and, +then, for a moment silence, but only for a moment. Snorts, almost as +terrible in their significance as the tiger's roar, came from the +marsh's edge. A vast form loomed above the slight embankment and there +came the thunder of ponderous feet. The rhinoceros mother was charging +the great tiger! + +There was a repetition of the fierce snorts, with the wild rush of the +rhinoceros, another roar, the sound of which reechoed through the valley, +and then could be dimly seen a black something flying through the air and +alighting, apparently, upon the back of the charging monster. There was a +confusion of forms and a confusion of terrifying sounds, the snarling +roar of the great tiger and half whistling bellow of the great pachyderm, +but nothing could be seen distinctly. That a gigantic duel was in +progress the cave men knew, and knew, as well, that its scene was one +upon which they could not venture. The clamor had not ended when the +darkness became complete and then each father, with his son, fled swiftly +homeward. + +Early the next morning, the four were together again at the same point of +safety and advantage, and again the frost-covered valley was a sea of +silver, this time unmarred by the criss-crosses of feeding or hunting +animals. There was no sign of life; no creature of the forest or the +plain was so daring as to venture soon upon the battlefield of the +rhinoceros and the cave tiger. Cautiously the cave men and their sons +made their way across the valley and approached the pitfall. What was +revealed to them told in a moment the whole story. The half-devoured body +of the rhinoceros calf was in the pit. It had been killed, no doubt, by +the tiger's first fierce assault, its back broken by the first blow of +the great forearm, or its vertebrae torn apart by the first grasp of the +great jaws. There were signs of the conflict all about, but that it had +not come to a deadly issue was apparent. Only by some accident could the +rhinoceros have caught upon its horns the agile monster cat, and only by +an accident even more remote could the tiger have reached a vital part of +its huge enemy. There had been a long and weary battle--a mother creature +fighting for her young and the great flesh-eater fighting for his prey. +But the combatants had assuredly separated without the death of either, +and the bereaved rhinoceros, knowing her young one to be dead, had +finally left the valley, while the tiger had returned to its prey and fed +its fill. But there was much meat left. There were, in the estimation of +the cave people, few more acceptable feasts than that obtainable from the +flesh of a young rhinoceros. The first instinct of the two men was to +work fiercely with their flint knives and cut out great lumps of meat +from the body in the pit. Hardly had they begun their work, when, as +by common impulse, each clambered out from the depression suddenly, and +there was a brief and earnest discussion. The cave tiger, monarch of the +time, was not a creature to abandon what he had slain until he had +devoured it utterly. Gorged though he might be, he was undoubtedly in +hiding within a comparatively short distance. He would return again +inevitably. He might be lying sleeping in the nearest clump of bushes! It +was possible that his appetite might come upon him soon again and that he +might appear at any moment. What chance then for the human beings who had +ventured into his dining-room? There was but one sensible course to +follow, and that was instant retreat. The four fled again to the hillside +and the forest, carrying with them, however, the masses of flesh already +severed from the body of the calf. There was food for a day or two for +each family. + +And so ended the first woodland venture of these daring boys. For days +the vicinity of the little valley was not sought by either man or youth, +since the tiger might still be lurking near. When, later, the youths +dared to visit the scene of their bold exploit, there were only bones in +the pitfall they had made. The tiger had eaten its prey and had gone to +other fields. In later autumn came a great flood down the valley, rising +so high that the father of Oak and all his family were driven temporarily +from their cave by the water's influx and compelled to seek another +habitation many miles away. Some time passed before the comrades met +again. + +As for Ab, this exploit might be counted almost as the beginning of his +manhood. His father--and fathers had even then a certain paternal +pride--had come to recognize in a degree the vigor and daring of his son. +The mother, of course, was even more appreciative, though to her firstborn +she could give scant attention, as Ab had the small brother in the cave +now and the little sister who was still smaller, but from this time the +youth became a person of some importance. He grew rapidly, and the sinewy +stripling developed, not increasing strength and stature and rounding +brawn alone, for he had both ingenuity and persistency of purpose, +qualities which made him rather an exception among the cave boys of his +age. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +DOMESTIC MATTERS. + +Attention has already been called to the fact that the family of Ab were +of the aristocracy of the region, and it should be added that the +interior of One-Ear's mansion corresponded with his standing in the +community. It was a fine cave, there was no doubt about that, and Red-Spot +was a notable housekeeper. As a rule, the bones remaining about the +fire after a meal were soon thrown outside--at least they were never +allowed to accumulate for more than a month or two. The beds were +excellent, for, in addition to the mass of leaves heaped upon the earth +which formed a resting-place for the family, there were spread the skins +of various animals. The water privileges of the establishment were +extensive, for there was the river in front, much utilized for drinking +purposes. There were ledges and shelves of rock projecting here and there +from the sides of the cave, and upon these were laid the weapons and +implements of the household, so that, excepting an occasional bone upon +the earthen floor, or, perhaps, a spattering of red, where some animal +had been cut up for roasting, the place was very neat indeed. The fact +that the smoke from the fire could, when the wind was right, ascend +easily through the roof made the residence one of the finest within a +large district of the country. As to light, it cannot be said that the +house was well provided. The fire at night illuminated a small area and, +in the daytime, light entered through the doorway, and, to an extent, +through the hole in the cave's top, as did also the rains, but the light +was by no means perfect. The doorway, for obvious reasons, was narrow and +there was a huge rock, long ago rolled inside with much travail, which +could on occasion be utilized in blocking the narrow passage. Barely room +to squeeze by this obstruction existed at the doorway. The sneaking but +dangerous hyena had a keen scent and was full of curiosity. The monster +bear of the time was ever hungry and the great cave tiger, though rarer, +was, as has been shown, a haunting dread. Great attention was paid to +doorways in those days, not from an artistic point of view exactly, but +from reasons cogent enough in the estimation of the cave men. But the +cave was warm and safe and the sharp eyes of its inhabitants, accustomed +to the semi-darkness, found slight difficulty in discerning objects in +the gloom. Very content with their habitation were all the family and +Red-Spot particularly, as a chatelaine should, felt much pride in her +surroundings. + +It may be added that the family of One-Ear was a happy one. His life with +Red-Spot was the sequence of what might be termed a fortunate marriage. +It is true that standards vary with times, and that the demeanor of the +couple toward each other was occasionally not what would be counted the +index of domestic felicity in this more artificial and deceptive age. It +was never fully determined whether One-Ear or Red-Spot could throw a +stone ax with the greater accuracy, although certainly he could hurl one +with greater force than could his wife. But the deftness of each in +eluding such dangerous missiles was about the same, and no great harm had +at any time resulted from the effects of momentary ebullitions of anger, +followed by action on the part of either. There had not been at any time +a scandal in the family. The pair were faithful to each other. Society +was somewhat scattered in those days, and the cave twain, anywhere, were +generally as steadfast as the lion and the lioness. It was centuries +later, too, before the cave men's posterity became degenerate enough or +prosperous enough, or safe enough, to be polygamous, and, so far as the +area of the Thames valley or even the entire "Paris basin," as it is +called, was concerned, monogamy held its own very fairly, from the +shell-beds of the earliest kitchen-middens to the time of the bronze ax +and the dawn of what we now call civilization. + +There were now five members in this family of the period, One-Ear, +Red-Spot, Ab, Bark and Beech-Leaf, the two last named being Ab's younger +brother and little more than baby sister. The names given them had come +in the same accidental way as had the name of Ab. The brother, when very +small, had imitated in babyish way the barking of some wolfish creature +outside which had haunted the cave's vicinity at night time, and so the +name of Bark, bestowed accidentally by Ab himself, had become the +youngster's title for life. As to Beech-Leaf, she had gained her name in +another way. She was a fat and joyous little specimen of a cave baby and +not much addicted to lying as dormant as babies sometimes do. The +bearskin upon which her mother laid her had not infrequently proven too +limited an area for her exploits and she would roll from it into the +great bed of beech leaves upon which it was placed, and become fairly +lost in the brown mass. So often had this hilarious young lady to be +disinterred from the beech leaf bed, that the name given her came +naturally, through association of ideas. Between the birth of Ab and that +of his younger brother an interval of five years had taken place, the +birth of the sister occurring three or four years later. So it came that +Ab, in the absence of his father and mother, was distinctly the head of +the family, admonitory to his brother, with ideas as to the physical +discipline requisite on occasion, and, in a rude way, fond of and +protective toward the baby sister. + +There was a certain regularity in the daily program of the household, +although, with reference to what was liable to occur outside, it can +hardly be said to have partaken of the element of monotony. The work of +the day consisted merely in getting something to eat, and in this work +father and mother alike took an active part, their individual duties +being somewhat varied. In a general way One-Ear relied upon himself for +the provision of flesh, but there were roots and nuts and fruits, in +their season, and in the gathering of these Red-Spot was an admitted +expert. Not that all her efforts were confined to the fruits of the soil +and forest, for she could, if need be, assist her husband in the pursuit +or capture of any animal. She was not less clever than he in that +animal's subsequent dissection, and was far more expert in its cooking. +In the tanning of skins she was an adept. So it chanced that at this time +the father and mother frequently left the cave together in the morning, +their elder son remaining as protector of the younger inmates. When +occasionally he went with his parents, or was allowed to venture forth +alone, extra precautions were taken as to the cave's approaches. Just +outside the entrance was a stone similar to the one on the inside, and +when the two young children were left unguarded this outside barricade +was rolled against what remained of the entrance, so that the small +people, though prisoners, were at least secure from dangerous animals. +Of course there were variations in the program. There was that degree of +fellowship among the cave men, even at this early age, to allow of an +occasional banding together for hunting purposes, a battle of some sort +or the surrounding and destruction of some of the greater animals. At +such times One-Ear would be absent from the cave for days and Ab and his +mother would remain sole guardians. The boy enjoyed these occasions +immensely; they gave him a fine sense of responsibility and importance, +and did much toward the development of the manhood that was in him, +increasing his self-reliance and perfecting him in the art of winning his +daily bread, or what was daily bread's equivalent at the time in which he +lived. It was not in outdoor and physical life alone that he grew. There +was something more to him, a combination of traits somewhere which made +him a little beyond and above the mere seeker after food. He was never +entirely dormant, a sleeper on the skins and beech leaves, even when in +the shelter of the cave, after the day's adventures. He reasoned +according to such gifts as circumstances had afforded him and he had the +instinct of devising. An instinct toward devising was a great thing to +its possessor in the time of the cave people. + +We know very well to-day, or think we know, that the influence of the +mother, in most cases, dominates that of the father in making the future +of the man-child. It may be that this comes because in early life the +boy, throughout the time when all he sees or learns will be most clear in +his memory until he dies, is more with the woman parent than with the +man, who is afield; or, it may be, there is some criss-cross law of +nature which makes the man ordinarily transmit his qualities to the +daughter and the woman transmit hers to the son. About that we do not +know yet. But it is certain that Ab was more like his mother than his +father, and that in these young days of his he was more immediately under +her influence. And Red-Spot was superior in many ways to the ordinary +woman of the cave time. + +It was good for the boy that he was so under the maternal dominion, and +that, as he lingered about the cave, he aided in the making of threads of +sinew or intestine, or looked on interestedly as his mother, using the +bone needle, which he often sharpened for her with his flint scraper, +sewed together the skins which made the garments of the family. The +needle was one without an eye, a mere awl, which made holes through which +the thread was pushed. As the growing boy lounged or labored near his +mother, alternately helpful or annoying, as the case might be, he learned +many things which were of value to him in the future, and resolved upon +brave actions which should be greatly to his credit. He was but a cub, a +young being almost as unreasoning in some ways as the beasts of the wood, +but he had his hopes and vanities, as has even the working beaver or the +dancing crane, and from the long mother-talks came a degree of +definiteness of outline to his ambitions. He would be the greatest hunter +and warrior in all the region! + +The cave mother easily understood her child's increasing daringness and +vigor, and though swift to anger and strong of hand, she could not but +feel a pride in and tell her tales to the boy beside her. After a time, +when the family of Oak returned to the cave above and the boys were much +together again, the mother began to see less of her son. The influence of +the days spent by her side remained with the boy, however, and much that +he learned there was of value in his later active life. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +OLD MOK, THE MENTOR. + +It was at about this time, the time when Ab had begun to develop from +boyhood into strong and aspiring youth, that his family was increased +from five to six by the addition of a singular character, Old Mok. This +personage was bent and seemingly old, but he was younger than he looked, +though he was not extremely fair to look upon. He had a shock of grizzled +hair, a short, stiff, unpleasant beard, and the condition of one of his +legs made him a cripple of an exaggerated type. He could hobble about and +on great occasions make a journey of some length, but he was practically +debarred from hunting. The extraordinary curvature of his twisted leg +was, as usual in his time, the result of an encounter with some wild +beast. The limb curved like a corkscrew and was so much shorter than the +other leg that the man was really safe only when the walls of a cave +enclosed him. But if his legs were weak his brain and arms were not. In +that grizzled head was much intelligence and the arms were those of a +great climber. His toes were clasping things and he was at home in a +treetop. But he did not travel much. There was no need. Old Mok had +special gifts, and they were such as made him a desirable friend among +the cave men. He had, in his youth, been a mighty hunter and had so +learned that he could tell wonderfully the ways of beasts and swimming +things and the ways of slaying or eluding them. Best of all, he was such +a fashioner of weapons as the valley had rarely known, and, because of +this, was in great request as a cared-for inmate of almost any cave which +hit his fancy. After his crippling he had drifted from one haven to +another, never quite satisfied with what he found, and now he had come to +live, as he supposed, with his old friend, One-Ear, until life should +end. Despite his harshness of appearance--and neither of the two could +ever afterward explain it--there was something about the grim old man +which commended him to Ab from the very first. There was an occasional +twinkle in the fierce old fellow's eye and sometimes a certain cackle in +his clucking talk, which betokened not unkindliness toward a healthy +youngster, and the two soon grew together, as often the young and old may +do. + +Though but what might be called in one sense a dependent, the crippled +hunter had a dignity and was arbitrary in the expression of his views. +Never once, through all the thousands of years which have passed since he +hobbled here and there, has lived an armorer more famous among those who +knew him best. No fashioner of sword, or lance, or coat of mail or plate, +in the far later centuries, had better reputation than had Mok with his +friends and patrons for the making of good weapons, though it may be that +his clientele was less numerous by hundreds to one than that of some +later manufacturer of a Toledo blade. He might be living partly as a +dependent, but he could do almost as he willed. Who should have standing +if it were not accorded to the most gifted chipper of flint and carver of +mammoth tooth in all the region from where the little waters came down to +make a river, to where the blue, broad stream, blending with friendly +currents, was lost in what is now the great North Sea? + +A boy and an old man can come together closely, and that has, through all +the ages, been a good thing for each. The boy learns that which enables +him to do things and the man is happy in watching the development of one +of his own kind. Helping and advising Ab, and sometimes Oak as well, Old +Mok did not discourage sometimes reckless undertakings. In those days +chances were accepted. So when any magnificent scheme suggested itself to +the two youths, Ab at once sought his adviser and was not discountenanced. + +It was a great night in the cave when Ab brought home two fluffy gray +bundles not much larger than kittens and tied them in a corner with +thongs of sinew, sinew so tough and stringy that it could not easily be +severed by the sharp teeth which were at once applied to it. The fluffy +gray bundles were two young wolves, and were, for Ab, a great possession. +They were not even brother and sister, these cubs, and had been gallantly +captured by the two courageous rangers, Ab and Oak. For some time the +boys had noted lurking shadows about a rugged height close by the river, +some distance below the cave of Ab, and had resolved upon a closer +investigation. A particularly ugly brute was the wolf of the cave man's +time, but one which, when not in pack, was unlikely to assail two +well-armed and sturdy youths in daylight; and the result of much cautious +spying was that they found two dens, each with young in them, and at a +time when the old wolves were away. In one den Ab seized upon two of the +snarling cubs and Oak did the same in the other, and then the raiders +fled with such speed as was in them, until they were at a safe distance +from the place where things would not go well with them should the robbed +parents return. Once in safe territory, each exchanged a cub for one +seized by the other and then each went home in triumph. Ab was especially +delighted. He was determined to feed his cubs with the utmost care and to +keep them alive and growing. He was full of the fancy and delighted in +it, but he had assumed a great responsibility. + +[Illustration: AB SEIZED UPON TWO OF THE SNARLING CUBS AND OAK DID THE +SAME] + +The cubs were tied in a corner of the cave and at once commanded the +attention and unbounded admiration of Bark and Beech-Leaf. The young lady +especially delighted in the little beasts and could usually be found +lying in the corner with them, the baby wolves learning in time to play +with her as if she were a wolf-suckled cub herself. Bark had almost the +same relations with the little brutes and Ab looked after them most +carefully. Even the father and mother became interested in the antics of +the young children and young wolves and the cubs became acknowledged, if +not particularly respected, members of the family. But Ab's dream was too +much for sudden realization. Not all at once could the wild thing become +a tame one. As the cubs grew and their teeth became longer and sharper, +there was an occasional conflict and the arms of Bark and Beech-Leaf were +scarred in consequence, until at last Ab, though he protested hardly, was +compelled to give up his pets. Somehow, he was not in the mood for +killing the half grown beasts, and so he simply turned them loose, but +they did not, as he had thought they would, flee to the forest. They had +known almost no life except that of the cave, they had got their meat +there and, at night, the twain were at the doorway whining for food. To +them were tossed some half-gnawed bones and they received them with +joyous yelps and snarls. Thenceforth they hung about the cave and +retained, practically, their place in the family, oddly enough showing +particular animosity to those of their own kind who ventured near the +place. One day, the female was found in the cave's rear with four little +whelps lying beside her, and that settled it! The family petted the young +animals and they grew up tamer and more obedient than had been their +father and mother. Protected by man, they were unlikely to revert to +wildness. Members of the pack which grew from them were, in time, +bestowed as valued gifts among the cave men of the region and much came +of it. The two boys did a greater day's work than they could comprehend +when they raided the dens by the river's side. + +But there was much beside the capture of wolf cubs to occupy the +attention of the boys. They counted themselves the finest bird hunters in +the community and, to a certain extent, justified the proud claim made. +No youths could set a snare more deftly or hurl a stone more surely, and +there was much bird life for them to seek. The bustard fed in the vast +nut forests, the capercailzie was proud upon the moors, where the +heath-cock was as jaunty, and the willow grouse and partridge were wise in +covert to avoid the hungry snowy owl. Upon the river and lagoons and +creeks the swan and wild goose and countless duck made constant clamor, +and there were water-rail and snipe along the shallows. There were eggs +to be found, and an egg baked in the ashes was a thing most excellent. It +was with the waterfowl that the boys were most successful. The ducks +would in their feeding approach close to the shores of the river banks or +the little islands and would gather in bunches so near to where the boys +were hidden that the young hunters, leaping suddenly to their feet and +hurling their stones together, rarely failed to secure at least a single +victim. There were muskrats along the banks and there was a great beaver, +which was not abundant, and which was a mighty creature of his kind. Of +muskrats the boys speared many--and roasted muskrat is so good that it is +eaten by the Indians and some of the white hunters in Canada to-day--but +the big beaver they did not succeed in capturing at this stage of their +career. Once they saw a seal, which had come up the river from the sea, +and pursued it, running along the banks for miles, but it proved as +elusive as the great beaver. + +But, as a matter of course, it was upon land that the greatest sport was +had. There were the wild hogs, but the hogs were wary and the big boars +dangerous, and it was only when a litter of the young could be pounced +upon somewhere that flint-headed spears were fully up to the emergency. +On such occasions there was fine pigsticking, and then the atmosphere in +the caves would be made fascinating with the odor of roasting suckling. +There is a story by a great and gentle writer telling how a Chinaman +first discovered the beauties of roast pig. It is an admirable tale and +it is well that it was written, but the cave man, many tens of thousands +of years before there was a China, yielded to the allurements of young +pig, and sought him accordingly. + +The musk-ox, which still mingled with the animals of the river basin, was +almost as difficult of approach as in arctic wilds to-day, as was a small +animal, half goat, half antelope, which fed upon the rocky hillsides or +wherever the high reaches were. There were squirrels in the trees, but +they were seldom caught, and the tailless hare which fed in the river +meadows was not easily approached and was swift as the sea wind in its +flight, swifter than a sort of fox which sought it constantly. But the +burrowing things were surer game. There were martens and zerboas, and +marmots and hedgehogs and badgers, all good to eat and attainable to +those who could dig as could these brawny youths. The game once driven to +its hole, the clamshell and the sharpened fire-hardened spade-stick were +brought into use and the fate of the animal sought was rarely long in +doubt. It is true that the scene lacked one element very noticeable when +boys dig out any animal to-day. There was not the inevitable and +important dog, but the youths were swift of sight and quick of hand, and +the hidden creature, once unearthed, seldom escaped. One of the prizes of +those feats of excavation was the badger, for not only was it edible, but +its snow-white teeth, perforated and strung on sinew, made necklaces +which were highly valued. + +The youths did not think of attacking many of the dangerous brutes. They +might have risked the issue with a small leopard which existed then, or +faced the wildcat, but what they sought most was the wolverine, because +it had fur so long and oddly marked, and because it was braver than other +animals of its size and came more boldly to some bait of meat, affording +opportunity for fine spear-throwing. And, apropos of the wolverine, the +glutton, as it is called in Europe, it is something still admired. It is +a vicious, bloodthirsty, unchanging and, to the widely-informed and +scientifically sentimental, lovable animal. It is vicious and +bloodthirsty because that is its nature. It is lovable because, through +all the generations, it has come down just the same. The cave man knew it +just as it is now; the early Teuton knew it when "hides" of land were the +rewards of warriors. The Roman knew it when he made forays to the far +north for a few centuries and learned how sharp were the blades of the +Rhine-folk and the Briton. The Druid and the Angle and Jute and Saxon +knew it, and it is known to-day in all northern Europe and Asia and +America, in fact, in nearly all the northern temperate zone. The +wolverine is something wonderful; it laughs at the ages; its bones, found +side by side with those of the cave hyena, are the same as those found in +its body as it exists to-day. It is an anomaly, an animal which does not +advance nor retrograde. + +The two big boys grew daily in the science of gaining food and grew more +and more of importance in their respective households. Sometimes either +one of them might hunt alone, but this was not the rule. It was safer for +two than one, when the forest was invaded deeply. But not all their time +was spent in evading or seeking the life of such living things as they +might discover. They had a home life sometimes as entertaining as the +life found anywhere outside. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +DOINGS AT HOME. + +Those were happy times in the cave, where Ab, developing now into an +exceedingly stalwart youth, found the long evenings about the fire far +from monotonous. There was Mok, the mentor, who had grown so fond of him, +and there was most interesting work to do in making from the dark flint +nodules or obsidian fragments--always eagerly seized upon when discovered +by the cave people in their wanderings--the spearheads and rude knives +and skin scrapers so essential to their needs. The flint nodule was but a +small mass of the stone, often somewhat pear-shaped. Though apparently a +solid mass, composed of the hardest substance then known, it lay in what +might be called a series of flakes about a center, and, in wise hands, +these flakes could be chipped or pried away unbroken. The flake, once +won, was often slightly concave on the outside and convex on the other, +but the core of the stone was something more equally balanced in +formation and, when properly finished, made a mighty spearhead. For the +heavy axes and mallets, other stones, such as we now call granite, +redstone or quartose grit, were often used, but in the making of all the +weapons was required the exercise of infinite skill and patience. To make +the flakes symmetrical demanded the nicest perception and judgment of +power of stroke, for, with each flake gained, there resulted a new form +to the surface of the stone. The object was always to secure a flake with +a point, a strong middle ridge and sides as nearly edged as possible. And +in the striking off of these flakes and their finishing others of the +cave men were to old Mok as the child is to the man. + +Ab hung about the old man at his work and was finally allowed to help +him. If, at first, the boy could do nothing else, he could, with his +flint scraper, work industriously at the smoothing of the long spear +shafts, and when he had learned to do well at this he was at last allowed +to venture upon the stone chipping, especially when into old Mok's +possession had come a piece of flint the quality of which he did not +quite approve and for the ruining of which in the splitting he cared but +little. + +There were disasters innumerable when the boy began and much bad stone +was spoiled, but he had a will and a good eye and hand, and it came, in +time, that he could strike off a flake with only a little less of +deftness than his teacher and that, even in the more delicate work of the +finer chipping to complete the weapon, he was a workman not to be +despised. He had an ambition in it all and old Mok was satisfied with +what he did. + +The boy was always experimenting, ever trying a new flint chipper or +using a third stone to tap delicately the one held in the hand to make +the fracture, or wondering aloud why it would not be well to make this +flint knife a little thinner, or that spearhead a trifle heavier. He was +questioning as he worked and something of a nuisance with it all, but old +Mok endured with what was, for him, an astonishing degree of patience, +and would sometimes comment grumblingly to the effect that the boy could +at least chip stone far better than some men. And then the veteran would +look at One-Ear, who was, notoriously, a bad flint worker,--though, a +weapon once in his grasp, there were few could use it with surer eye or +heavier hand--and would chuckle as he made the comment. As for One-Ear, +he listened placidly enough. He was glad a son of his could make good +weapons. So much the better for the family! + +As times went, Ab was a tolerably good boy to his mother. Nearly all +young cave males were good boys until the time came when their thews and +sinews outmatched the strength of those who had borne them, and this, be +it said, was at no early age, for the woman, hunting and working with the +man, was no maternal weakling whose buffet was unworthy of notice. A blow +from the cave mother's hand was something to be respected and avoided. +The use of strength was the general law, and the cave woman, though she +would die for her young, yet demanded that her young should obey her +until the time came when the maternal instinct of first direction blended +with and was finally lost in pride over the force of the being to whom +she had given birth. So Ab had vigorous duties about the household. + +As has been told already, Red-Spot was a notable housekeeper and there +was such product of the cave cooking as would make happy any gourmand of +to-day who could appreciate the quality of what had a most natural +flavor. Regarding her kitchen appliances Red-Spot had a matron's +justifiable pride. Not only was there the wood fire, into which, held on +long, pointed sticks, could be thrust all sorts of meat for the somewhat +smoky broiling, and the hot coals and ashes in which could be roasted the +clams and the clay-covered fish, but there was the place for boiling, +which only the more fortunate of the cave people owned. Her growing son +had aided much in the attainment of this good housewife's fond desire. + +With much travail, involving all the force the cave family could muster +and including the assistance of Oak's father and of Oak himself, who +rejoiced with Ab in the proceedings, there had been rolled into the cave +a huge sandstone rock with a top which was nearly flat. Here was to be +the great pot, sometimes used as a roasting place, as well, which only +the more pretentious of the caves could boast. On the middle of the big +stone's uppermost surface old Mok chipped with an ax the outline of a +rude circle some two feet in diameter. This defined roughly the size of +the kettle to be made. Inside the circle, the sandstone must be dug out +to a big kettle's proper depth, and upon the boy, Ab, must devolve most +of this healthful but not over-attractive labor. + +The boy went at the task gallantly, in the beginning, and pecked away +with a stone chisel and gained a most respectable hollow within a day or +two, but his enthusiasm subsided with the continuity of much effort with +small result. He wanted more weight to his chisel of flint set firmly in +reindeer's horn, and a greater impact to the blows into which could not +be put the force resulting from a swing of arm. He thought much. Then he +secured a long stick and bound his chisel strongly to it at one end, the +top of the chisel resting against a projecting stub of limb, so that it +could not be driven upward. To the other end of the stick he bound a +stone of some pounds in weight and then, holding the shaft with both +hands, lifted it and let the whole drop into the depression he had +already made. The flint chisel bit deeply under the heavy impact and the +days were few before Ab had dug in the sandstone rock a cavity which +would hold much meat and water. There was an unconscious celebration when +the big kettle was completed. It was nearly filled with water, and into +the water were flung great chunks of the meat of a reindeer killed that +day. Meanwhile, the cave fire had been replenished with dry wood and +there had been formed a wide bed of coals, upon which were cast numerous +stones of moderate size, which soon attained a shining heat. A sort of +tongs made of green withes served to remove the stones, one after +another, from the mass of coal, and drop them in with the meat and water. +Within a little time the water was fairly boiling and soon there was a +monster stew giving forth rich odors and ready to be eaten. And it was +not allowed to get over-cool after that summoning fragrance had once +extended throughout the cave. There was a rush for the clam shells which +served for soup dishes or cups, there was spearing with sharpened sticks +for pieces of the boiled meat, and all were satisfied, though there was +shrill complaint from Bark, whose turn at the kettle came late, and much +clamor from chubby Beech-Leaf, who was not yet tall enough to help +herself, but who was cared for by the mother. It may be that, to some +people of to-day, the stew would be counted lacking in quality of +seasoning, but an opinion upon seasoning depends largely upon the stomach +and the time, and, besides, it may be that the dirt clinging to the +stones cast into the water gave a certain flavor as fine in its way as +could be imparted by salt and pepper. + +Old Mok, observing silently, had decidedly approved of Ab's device for +easier digging into sandstone than was the old manner of pecking away +with a chisel held in the hand. He was almost disposed now to admit the +big lad to something like a plane of equality in the work they did +together. He became more affable in their converse, and the youth was, in +the same degree, delighted and ambitious. They experimented with the +stick and weight and chisel in accomplishing the difficult work of +splitting from boulders the larger fragments of stone from which weapons +were to be made, and learned that by heavy, steady pressure of the +breast, thus augmented by heavy weight, they could fracture more evenly +than by blow of stone, ax or hammer. They learned that two could work +together in stone chipping and do better work than one. Old Mok would +hold the forming weapon-head in one hand and the horn-hafted chisel in +another, pressing the blade close against the stone and at just such +angle as would secure the result he sought, while Ab, advised as to the +force of each succeeding stroke, tapped lightly upon the chisel's head. +Woe was it for the boy if once he missed his stroke and caught the old +man's fingers! Very delicate became the chipping done by these two +artists, and excellent beyond any before made were the axes and +spearheads produced by what, in modern times, would have been known under +the title of "Old Mok & Co." + +At this time, too, Ab took lessons in making all the varied articles of +elk or reindeer horn and the drinking cups from the horns of urus and +aurochs. Old Mok even went so far as to attempt teaching the youth +something of carving figures upon tusks and shoulder blades, but in this +art Ab never greatly excelled. He was too much a creature of action. The +bone needles used by Red-Spot in making skin garments he could form +readily enough and he made whistles for Bark and Beech-Leaf, but his +inclinations were all toward larger things. To become a fighter and a +hunter remained his chief ambition. + +Rather keen, with light snows but nipping airs, were the winters of this +country of the cave men, and there were articles of food essential to +variety which were, necessarily, stored before the cold season came. +There were roots which were edible and which could be dried, and there +were nuts in abundance, beyond all need. Beechnuts and acorns were +gathered in the autumn, the children at this time earning fully the right +of home and food, and the stores were heaped in granaries dug into the +cave's sides. Should the snow at any time fall too deeply for +hunting--though such an occurrence was very rare--or should any other +cause, such, for instance, as the appearance of the great cave tiger in +the region, make the game scarce and hunting perilous, there was the +recourse of nuts and roots and no danger of starvation. There was no fear +of suffering from thirst. Man early learned to carry water in a pouch of +skin and there were sometimes made rock cavities, after the manner of the +cave kettle, where water could be stored for an emergency. Besieging wild +beasts could embarrass but could not greatly alarm the family, for, with +store of wood and food and water, the besieged could wait, and it was not +well for the flesh-seeking quadruped to approach within a long +spear-thrust's length of the cavern's narrow entrance. + +The winter following the establishment of Ab's real companionship with +Old Mok, as it chanced, was not a hard one. There fell snow enough for +tracking, but not so deeply as to incommode the hunter. There had been a +wonderful nut-fall in the autumn and the cave was stored with such +quantity of this food that there was no chance of real privation. The ice +was clean upon the river and through the holes hacked with stone axes +fish were dragged forth in abundance upon the rude bone and stone hooks, +which served their purpose far better than when, in summer time, the line +was longer and the fish escaped so often from the barbless implements. It +was a great season in all that made a cave family's life something easy +and complacent and vastly promotive of the social amenities and the +advancement of art and literature--that is, they were not compelled to +make any sudden raid on others to assure the means of subsistence, and +there was time for the carving of bones and the telling of strange +stories of the past. The elders declared it one of the finest winters +they had ever known. + +And so Old Mok and Ab worked well that winter and the youth acquired such +wisdom that his casual advice to Oak when the two were out together was +something worth listening to because of its confidence and ponderosity. +Concerning flint scraper, drill, spearhead, ax or bone or wooden haft, +there was, his talk would indicate, practically nothing for the boy to +learn. That was his own opinion, though, as he grew older, he learned to +modify it greatly. With his adviser he had made good weapons and some +improvements; yet all this was nothing. It was destined that an +accidental discovery should be his, the effect of which would be to +change the cave man's rank among living things. But the youth, just now, +was greatly content with himself. He was older and more modest when he +made his great discovery. + +It was when the fire blazed out at night, when all had fed, when the +tired people lay about resting, but not ready yet for sleep, and the +story of the day's events was given, that Old Mok's ordinarily still +tongue would sometimes loosen and he would tell of what happened when he +was a boy, or of the strange tales which had been told him of the time +long past, the times when the Shell and Cave people were one, times when +there were monstrous things abroad and life was hard to keep. To all +these legends the hearers listened wonderingly, and upon them afterward +Ab and Oak would sometimes speculate together and question as to their +truth. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +OLD MOK'S TALES. + +It was worth while listening to Old Mok when he forgot himself and talked +and became earnestly reminiscent in telling of what he had seen or had +heard when he was young. One day there had been trouble in the cave, for +Bark, left in charge, had neglected the fire and it had "gone out," and +upon the return of his parents there had been blows and harsh language, +and then much pivotal grinding together of dry sticks before a new flame +was gained, and it was only after the odor of cooked flesh filled the +place and strong jaws were busy that the anger of One-Ear had abated and +the group became a comfortable one. Ab had come in hungry and the value of +fire, after what had happened, was brought to his mind forcibly. He laid +himself down upon the cave's floor near Old Mok, who was fashioning a +shaft of some sort, and, as he lay, poked his toes at Beechleaf, who +chuckled and gurgled as she rolled about, never for a moment relinquishing +a portion of the slender shin bone of a deer, upon the flesh of which the +family had fed. It was a short piece but full of marrow, and the child +sucked and mumbled away at it in utmost bliss. Ab thought, somehow, of how +poor would have been the eating with the meat uncooked, and looked at his +hands, still reddened--for it was he who had twisted the stick which made +the fire again. "Fire is good!" he said to Mok. + +The old man kept his flint scraper going for a moment or two before he +answered; then he grunted: + +"Yes, it's good if you don't get burned. I've been burned," and he thrust +out an arm upon which appeared a cicatrice. + +Ab was interested. "Where did you get that?" he queried. + +"Far from here, far beyond the black swamp and the red hills that are +farther still. It was when I was strong." + +"Tell me about it," said the youth. + +"There is a fire country," answered Old Mok, "away beyond the swamp and +woods and the place of the big rocks. It is a wonderful place. The fire +comes out of the ground in long sheets and it is always the same. The rain +and the snow do not stop it. Do I not know? Have I not seen it? Did I not +get this scar going too near the flame and stumbling and falling against a +hot rock almost within it? There is too much fire sometimes!" + +The old man continued: "There are many places of fire. They are to the +east and south. Some of the Shell People who have gone far down the river +have seen them. But the one where I was burned is not so far away as they; +it is up the river to the northwest." + +And Ab was interested and questioned Old Mok further about the strange +region where flames came from the ground as bushes grow, and where snow or +water did not make them disappear. He was destined, at a later day, to be +very glad that he had learned the little that was told him. But to-night +he was intent only on getting all the tales he could from the veteran +while he was in the mood. "Tell about the Shell People," he cried, "and +who they are and where they came from. They are different from us." + +"Yes, they are different from us," said Old Mok, "but there was a time, I +have heard it told, when we were like them. The very old men say that +their grandfathers told them that once there were only Shell People +anywhere in this country, the people who lived along the shores and who +never hunted nor went far away from the little islands, because they were +afraid of the beasts in the forests. Sometimes they would venture into the +wood to gather nuts and roots, but they lived mostly on the fish and +clams. But there came a time when brave men were born among them who said +they would have more of the forest things, and that they would no longer +stay fearfully upon the little islands. So they came into the forest and +the Cave Men began. And I think this story true." + +"I think it is true," Old Mok continued, "because the Shell People, you +can see, must have lived very long where they are now. Up and down the +creek where they live and along other creeks there lie banks of earth +which are very long and reach far back. And this is not really earth, but +is all made up of shells and bones and stone spearheads and the things +which lie about a Shell Man's place. I know, for I have dug into these +long banks myself and have seen that of which I tell. Long, very long, +must the Shell People have lived along the creeks and shores to have made +the banks of bones and shells so high." + +And Old Mok was right. They talk of us as the descendants of an Aryan +race. Never from Aryan alone came the drifting, changing Western being of +to-day. But a part of him was born where bald plains were or where were +olive trees and roses. All modern science, and modern thoughtfulness, and +all later broadened intelligence are yielding to an admission of the fact +that he, though of course commingling with his visitors of the ages, was +born and changed where he now exists. The kitchen-midden--the name given +by scientists to refuse from his dwelling places--the kitchen-middens of +Denmark, as Denmark is to-day, alone, regardless of other fields, suffice +to tell a wondrous story. Imagine a kitchen-midden, that is to say the +detritus of ordinary living in different ages, accumulated along the side +of some ancient water course, having for its dimensions miles in length, +extending hundreds of yards back from the margin of this creek, of tens +and tens of thousands of years ago, and having a depth of often many feet +along this water course. Imagine this vast deposit telling the history of +a thousand centuries or more, beginning first with the deposit of clams +and mussel shells and of the shells of such other creatures as might +inhabit this river seeking its way to the North Sea. Imagine this deposit +increasing year after year and century by century, but changing its +character and quality as it rose, and the base is laid for reasoning. + +At first these creatures who ranged up and down the ancient Danish creek +and devoured the clams and periwinkles must have been, as one might say, +but little more than surely anthropoid. Could such as these have migrated +from the Asiatic plateaus? + +The kitchen-middens tell the early story with greater accuracy than could +any writer who ever lifted pen. Here the creek-loving, ape-like creatures +ranged up and down and quelled their appetites. They died after they had +begotten sons and daughters; and to these sons and daughters came an added +intelligence, brought from experience and shifting surroundings. The +kitchen-middens give graphic details. The bottom layer, as has been said, +is but of shells. Above it, in another layer, counting thousands of years +in growth, appear the cracked bones of then existing animals and appear +also traces of charred wood, showing that primitive man had learned what +fire was. And later come the rudely carved bones of the mammoth and woolly +rhinoceros and the Irish elk; then come rude flint instruments, and later +the age of smoothed stone, with all its accompanying fossils, bones and +indications; and so on upward, with a steady sweep, until close to the +surface of this kitchen-midden appear the bronze spear, the axhead and the +rude dagger of the being who became the Druid and who is an ancestor whom +we recognize. From the kitchen-midden to the pinnacle of all that is great +to-day extends a chain not a link of which is weak. + +"They tell strange stories, too, the Shell People," Old Mok continued, +"for they are greater story-tellers than the Cave Men are, more of them +being together in one place, and the old men always tell the tales to the +children so that they are never forgotten by any of the people. They say +that once huge things came out of the great waters and up the creeks, such +as even the big cave tiger dare not face. And the old men say that their +grandfathers once saw with their own eyes a monster serpent many times as +large as the one you two saw, which came swimming up the creek and seized +upon the river horses there and devoured them as easily as the cave bear +would a little deer. And the serpent seized upon some of the Cave People +who were upon the water and devoured them as well, though such as they +were but a mouthful to him. And this tale, too, I believe, for the old +Shell Men who told me what their grandfathers had seen were not of the +foolish sort." + +"But of another sort of story they have told me," Mok continued, "I think +little. The old men tell of a time when those who went down the river to +the greater river and followed it down to the sea, which seems to have no +end, saw what no man can see to-day. But they do not say that their +grandfathers saw these things. They only say that their grandfathers told +of what had been told them by their grandfathers farther back, of a story +which had come down to them, so old that it was older than the great trees +were, of monstrous things which swam along the shores and which were not +serpents, though they had long necks and serpent heads, because they had +great bodies which were driven by flippers through the water as the beaver +goes with his broad feet. And at the same time, the old story goes, were +great birds, far taller than a man, who fed where now the bustards and the +capercailzie are. And these tales I do not believe, though I have seen +bones washed from the riversides and hillsides by the rains which must +have come from creatures different from those we meet now in the forests +or the waters. They are wonderful story-tellers, the old men of the Shell +People." + +"And they tell other strange stories," continued the old man. "They say +that very long ago the cold and ice came down, and all the people and +animals fled before it, and that the summer was cold as now the winter is, +and that the men and beasts fled together to the south, and were there for +a long time, but came back again as the cold and ice went back. They say, +too, that in still later times, the fireplaces where the flames came out +of great cracks in the earth were in tens of places where they are in one +now, and that, even in the ice time, the flames came up, and that the ice +was melted and then ran in rivers to the sea. And these things I do not +believe, for how can men tell of what there was so long ago? They are but +the gabblings of the old, who talk so much." + +Many other stories the veteran told, but what most affected Ab was his +account of the vale of fire. He hoped to see it sometime. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +AB'S GREAT DISCOVERY. + +It may be that never in what was destined to be a life of many changes was +Ab happier than in this period of his lusty boyhood and early manhood, +when there was so much that was new, when he was full of hope and +confidence and of ambition regarding what a mighty hunter and great man he +would become in time. As the years passed he was not less indefatigable in +his experiments, and the day came when a marvelous success followed one of +them, although, like most inventions, it was suggested in the most trivial +and accidental manner. + +It chanced one afternoon that Ab, a young man of twenty now, had returned +early from the wood and was lying lazily upon the sward near the cave's +entrance, while, not far away, Bark and the still chubby Beechleaf were +rolling about. The boy was teasing the girl at times and then doing +something to amuse or awe her. He had found a stiff length of twig and was +engaged in idly bending the ends together and then letting them fly apart +with a snap, meanwhile advancing toward and threatening with the impact +the half-alarmed but wholly delighted Beechleaf. Tired of this, at last, +Bark, with no particular intent, drew forth from the pouch in his skin +cloak a string of sinew, and drawing the ends of the strong twig somewhat +nearly together, attached the cord to each, thus producing accidentally a +petty bow of most rotund proportions. He found that the string twanged +joyously, and, to the delight of Beechleaf, kept twanging it for such time +as his boyish temperament would allow a single occupation. Then he picked +from the ground a long, slender pencil of white wood, a sliver, perhaps, +from the making of a spear shaft, and began strumming with it upon the +taut sinew string. This made a twang of a new sort, and again the boy and +girl were interested temporarily. But, at last, even this variation of +amusement with the new toy became monotonous, and Bark ceased strumming +and began a series of boyish experiments with his plaything. He put one +end of the stick against the string and pushed it back until the other end +would press against the inside of the twig, and the result would be a +taut, new figure in wood and string which would keep its form even when +laid upon the ground. Bark made and unmade the thing a time or two, and +then came great disaster. He had drawn the little stick, so held in the +way we now call arrowwise, back nearly to the point where its head would +come inside the bent twig and there fix itself, when the slight thing +escaped his hands and flew away. + +The quiet of the afternoon was broken by a piercing childish yell which +lacked no element of earnestness. Ab leaped to his feet and was by the +youngsters in a moment. He saw the terrified Beechleaf standing, screaming +still, with a fat arm outheld, from which dangled a little shaft of wood +which had pierced the flesh just deeply enough to give it hold. Bark stood +looking at her, astonished and alarmed. Understanding nothing of the +circumstances, and supposing the girl's hurt came from Bark's careless +flinging of sticks toward her, Ab started toward his brother to administer +one of those buffets which were so easy to give or get among cave +children. But Bark darted behind a convenient tree and there shrieked out +his innocence of dire intent, just as the boy of to-day so fluently +defends himself in any strait where castigation looms in sight. He told of +the queer plaything he had made, and offered to show how all had happened. + +Ab was doubtful but laughing now, for the little shaft, which had scarcely +pierced the skin of Beechleaf's arm had fallen to the ground and that +young person's fright had given way to vengeful indignation and she was +demanding that Bark be hit with something. He allowed the sinner to give +his proof. Bark, taking his toy, essayed to show how Beechleaf had been +injured. He was the most unfortunate of youths. He succeeded but too well. +The mimic arrow flew again and the sound that rang out now was not the cry +of a child. It was the yell of a great youth, who felt a sudden and +poignant hurt, and who was not maintaining any dignity. Had Bark been as +sure of hand and certain of aim as any archer who lived in later centuries +he could not have sent an arrow more fairly to its mark than he sent that +admirable sliver into the chest of his big brother. For a second the +culprit stood with staring eyes, then dropped his toy and flew into the +forest with a howl which betokened his fear of something little less than +sudden death. + +Ab's first impulse was to pursue his sinful younger brother, but, after +the first leap, he checked himself and paused to pluck away the thing +which, so light the force that had impelled it, had not gone deeply in. He +knew now that Bark was really blameless, and, picking up the abandoned +plaything, began its examination thoughtfully and curiously. + +The young man's instinct toward experiment exhibited itself as usual and +he put the splinter against the string and drew it back and let it fly as +he had seen Bark do--that promising sprig, by the way, being now engaged +in peering from the wood and trying to form an estimate as to whether or +not his return was yet advisable. Ab learned that the force of the bent +twig would throw the sliver farther than he could toss it with his hand, +and he wondered what would follow were something like this plaything, the +device of which Bark had so stumbled upon, to be made and tried on a +greater scale. "I'll make one like it, only larger," he said to himself. + +The venturesome but more or less diplomatic Bark had, by this time, +emerged from the wood and was apprehensively edging up toward the place +where Ab was standing. The older brother saw him and called to him to come +and try the thing again and the youngster knew that he was safe. Then the +two toyed with the plaything for an hour or two and Ab became more and +more interested in its qualities. He had no definite idea as to its +possibilities. He thought only of it as a curious thing which should be +larger. + +The next day Ab hacked from a low-limbed tree a branch as thick as his +finger and about a yard in length, and, first trimming it, bent it as Bark +had bent the twig and tied a strong sinew cord across. It was a not +discreditable bow, considering the fact that it was the first ever made, +though one end was smaller than the other and it was rough of outline. +Then Ab cut a straight willow twig, as long nearly as the bow, and began +repeating the experiments of the day before. Never was man more astonished +than this youth after he had drawn the twig back nearly to its head and +let it go! + +So drawn by a strong arm, the shaft when released flew faster and farther +than the maker of what he thought of chiefly as a thing of sport had +imagined could be possible. He had long to search for the headless arrow +and when he found it he went away to where were bare open stretches, that +he might see always where it fell. Once as he sent it from the string it +struck fairly against an oak and, pointless as it was, forced itself +deeply into the hard brown bark and hung there quivering. Then came to the +youth a flash of thought which had its effect upon the ages: "What if +there had been a point to the flying thing and it had struck a reindeer or +any of the hunted animals?" + +He pulled the shaft from the tree and stood there pondering for a moment +or two, then suddenly started running toward the cave. He must see Old +Mok! + +The old man was at work and alone and the young man told him, somewhat +excitedly, why he had thus come running to him. The elder listened with +some patience but with a commiserating grin upon his face. He had heard +young men tell of great ideas before, of a new and better way of digging +pits, or of fishing, or making deadfalls for wild beasts. But he listened +and yielded finally to Ab's earnest demand that he should hobble out into +the open and see with his own eyes how the strung bow would send the +shaft. They went together to an open space, and again and again Ab showed +to his old friend what the new thing would do. With the second shot there +came a new light into the eyes of the veteran hunter and he bade Ab run to +the cave and bring back with him his favorite spear. The young man was +back as soon as strong legs could bring him, and when he burst into the +open he found Mok standing a long spear's cast from the greatest of the +trees which stood about the opening. + +"Throw your spear at the tree," said Mok. "Throw strongly as you can." + +Ab hurled the spear as the Zulu of later times might hurl his assagai, as +strongly and as well, but the distance was overmuch for spear throwing +with good effect, and the flint point pierced the wood so lightly that the +weight of the long shaft was too great for the holding force and it sank +slowly to the ground and pulled away the head. A wild beast struck by the +spear at such distance would have been sorely pricked, but not hurt +seriously. + +"Now take the plaything," said Old Mok, "and throw the little shaft at the +tree with that." + +Ab did as he was told, and, poor marksman with his new device, of course +missed the big tree repeatedly, broad as the mark was, but when, at last, +the bolt struck the hard trunk fairly there was a sound which told of the +sharpness of the blow and the headless shaft rebounded back for yards. Old +Mok looked upon it all delightedly. + +"It may be there is something to your plaything," he said to the young +man. "We will make a better one. But your shaft is good for nothing. We +will make a straighter and stronger one and upon the end of it will put a +little spearhead, and then we can tell how deeply it will go into the +wood. We will work." + +For days the two labored earnestly together, and when they came again into +the open they bore a stronger bow, one tapered at the end opposite the +natural tapering of the branch, so that it was far more flexible and +symmetrical than the one they had tried before. They had abundance of ash +and yew and these remained the good bow wood of all the time of archery. +And the shaft was straight and bore a miniature spearhead at its end. The +thought of notching the shaft to fit the string came naturally and +inevitably. The bow had its first arrow. + +An old man is not so easily affected as a young one, nor so hopeful, but +when the second test was done the veteran Mok was the wilder and more +delighted of the two who shot at the tree in the forest glade. He saw it +all! No longer could the spear be counted as the thing with which to do +most grievous hurt at a safe distance from whatever might be dangerous. +With the better bow and straighter shaft the marksmanship improved; even +for these two callow archers it was not difficult to hit at a distance of +a double spear's cast the bole of the huge tree, two yards in width at +least. And the arrow whistled as if it were a living thing, a hawk seeking +its prey, and the flint head was buried so deeply in the wood that both +Mok and Ab knew that they had found something better than any weapon the +cave men had ever known! + +There followed many days more of the eager working of the old man and the +young one in the cave, and there was much testing of the new device, and +finally, one morning, Ab issued forth armed with his ax and knife, but +without his spear. He bore, instead, a bow which was the best and +strongest the two had yet learned to fashion, and a sheaf of arrows slung +behind his back in a quiver made of a hollow section of a mammoth's leg +bone which had long been kicked about the cave. The two workers had +drilled holes in the bone and passed thongs through and made a wooden +bottom to the thing and now it had found its purpose. The bow was rude, as +were the arrows, and the archer was not yet a certain marksman, though he +had practiced diligently, but the bow was stiff, at least, and the arrows +had keen heads of flint and the arms of the hunter were strong as was the +bow. + +There was a weary and fruitless search for game, but late in the afternoon +the youth came upon a slight, sheer descent, along the foot of which ran a +shallow but broad creek, beyond which was a little grass-grown valley, +where were feeding a fine herd of the little deer. They were feeding in +the direction of the creek and the wind blew from them to the hunter, so +that no rumor of their danger was carried to them on the breeze. Ab +concealed himself among the bushes on the little height and awaited what +might happen. The herd fed slowly toward him. + +As the deer neared the creek they grouped themselves together about where +were the greenest and richest feeding-places, and when they reached the +very border of the stream they were gathered in a bunch of half a hundred, +close together. They were just beyond a spear's cast from the watcher, but +this was a test, not of the spear, but of the bow, and the most +inexperienced of archers, shooting from where Ab was hidden, must strike +some one of the beasts in that broad herd. Ab sprang to his feet and drew +his arrow to the head. The deer gathered for a second in affright, +crowding each other before the wild bursting away together, and then the +bow-string twanged, and the arrow sang hungrily, and there was the swift +thud of hundreds of light feet, and the little glade was almost silent. It +was not quite silent, for, floundering in its death struggles, was a +single deer, through which had passed an arrow so fiercely driven that its +flint head projected from the side opposite that which it had entered. + +[Illustration: AB SPRANG TO HIS FEET, AND DREW HIS ARROW TO THE HEAD] + +Half wild with triumph was the youth who bore home the arrow-stricken +quarry, and not much more elated was he than the old man, who heard the +story of the hunt, and who recognized, at once far more clearly than the +younger one, the quality of the new weapon which had been discovered; the +thing destined to become the greatest implement both of chase and warfare +for thousands of years to come, and which was to be gradually improved, +even by these two, until it became more to them than they could yet +understand. + +But the lips of each of the two makers of the bow were sealed for the +time. Ab and Old Mok cherished together their mighty secret. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +A LESSON IN SWIMMING. + +Ab and Oak, ranging far in their hunting expeditions, had, long since, +formed the acquaintance of the Shell People, and had even partaken of +their hospitality, though there was not much to attract a guest in the +abodes of the creek-haunters. Their homes were but small caves, not much +more than deep burrows, dug here and there in the banks, above high water +mark, and protected from wild beasts by the usual heaped rocks, leaving +only a narrow passage. This insured warmth and comparative safety, but the +homes lacked the spaciousness of the caves and caverns of the hills, and +the food of fish and clams and periwinkles, with flesh and fruit but +seldom gained, had little attraction for the occasional cave visitor. Ab +and Oak would sometimes traffic with the Shell People, exchanging some +creature of the land for a product of the water, but they made brief stay +in a locality where the food and odors were not quite to their accustomed +taste. Yet the settlement had a slight degree of interest to them. They +had noted the buxom quality of some of the Shell maidens, and the two had +now attained an age when a bright-eyed young person of the other sex was +agreeable to look upon. But there had been no love passages. Neither of +the youths was yet so badly stricken. + +There came an autumn morning when Ab and Oak, who had met at daybreak, +determined to visit the Shell People and go with them upon a fishing +expedition. The Shell People often fished from boats, and the boats were +excellent. Each consisted of four or five short logs of the most buoyant +wood, bound firmly together with tough withes, but the contrivance was +more than a simple raft, because, at the bow, it had been hewed to a +point, and the logs had been so chosen that each curved upward there. It +had been learned that the waves sometimes encountered could so more easily +be cleft or overridden. None of these boats could sink, and the man of the +time was quite at home in the water. It was fun for the young men whose +tale is told here to go with the Shell People and assist in spearing fish +or drawing them from the river's depths upon rude hooks, and the Shell +People did not object, but were rather proud of the attendance of +representatives of the hillside aristocracy. + +The morning was one to make men far older than these two most confident +and full of life. The season was late, though the river's waters were not +yet cold. The mast had already begun to fall and the nuts lay thickly +among the leaves. Every morning, and more regularly than it comes now, +there was a spread of glistening hoar frost upon the lowlands and the +little open lands in the forest and upon every spot not tree-protected. At +such times there appeared to the eyes of the cave people the splendor of +nature such as we now can hardly comprehend. It came most strikingly in +spring and autumn, and was something wonderful. The cave men, probably, +did not appreciate it. They were accustomed to it, for it was part of the +record of every year. Doubtless there came a greater vigor to them in the +keen air of the hoar frost time, doubtless the step of each was made more +springy and each man's valor more defined in this choice atmosphere. +Temperate, with a wonderful keenness to it, was the climate of the cave +region in the valley of the present Thames. Even in the days of the cave +men, the Gulf Stream, swinging from the equator in the great warm current +already formed, laved the then peninsula as it now laves the British +Isles. The climate, as has been told, was almost as equable then as now, +but with a certain crispness which was a heritage from the glacial epoch. +It was a time to live in, and the two were merry on their journey in the +glittering morning. + +The young men idled on their way and wasted an hour or two in vain +attempts to approach a feeding deer nearly enough for effective +spear-throwing. They were late when, after swimming the creek, they +reached the Shell village and there learned that the party had already +gone. They decided that they might, perhaps, overtake the fishermen, and +so, with the hunter's easy lope, started briskly down the river bank. They +were not destined to fish that day. + +Three or four miles had been passed and a straight stretch of the river +had been attained, at the end of which, a mile away, could be seen the +boats of the Shell People, to be lost to sight a moment later as they +swept around a bend. But there was something else in sight. Perched +comfortably upon a rock, the sides of which were so precipitous that they +afforded a foothold only for human beings, was a young woman of the Shell +People who had before attracted Ab's attention and something of his +admiration. She was fishing diligently. She had been left by the fishing +party, to be taken up on their return, because, in the rush of waters +about the base of the rock, was a haunt of a small fish esteemed +particularly, and because the girl was one of the little tribe's adepts +with hook and line She raised her eyes as she heard the patter of +footsteps upon the shore, but did not exhibit any alarm when she saw the +two young men. The ordinary young woman of the Shell People did not worry +when away from land. She could swim like an otter and dive like a loon, +and of wild beasts she had no fear when she was thus safely bestowed away +from the death-harboring forest. The maiden on the rock was most serene. + +[Illustration: THE YOUNG MEN CALLED TO HER BUT SHE MADE NO ANSWER. SHE BUT +FISHED AWAY DEMURELY] + +The young men called to her, but she made no answer. She but fished away +demurely, from time to time hauling up a flashing finny thing, which she +calmly bumped on the rock and then tossed upon the silvery heap, which had +already assumed fair dimensions, close behind her. As Ab looked upon the +young fisherwoman his interest in her grew rapidly and he was silent, +though Oak called out taunting words and asked her if she could not talk. +It was not this young woman, but another, who had most pleased Oak among +the girls of the Shell People. + +It was not love yet with Ab, but the maiden interested him. He held no +defined wish to carry her away to a new home with him, but there arose a +feeling that he wanted to know her better. There might,--he didn't +know--be as good wives among the Shell maidens as among the well-running +girls of the hills. + +"I'll swim to the rock!" he said to his companion, and Oak laughed loudly. + +Short time elapsed between decision and action in those days, and hardly +had Ab spoken when he flung his fur covering into the hands of Oak, and, +clad only in the clout about his hips, dropped, with a splash, into the +water. All this time the girl had been eyeing every motion closely. As the +little waves rose laughingly about the man, she descended lightly from her +perch and slid into the stream as easily and silently as a beaver might +have done. And then began a chase. The girl, finding mid-current swiftly, +was a full hundred yards ahead as Ab came fairly in her wake. + +A splendid swimmer was the stalwart young man of the hills. He had been in +and out of water almost daily since early childhood, and, though there had +never been a test, was confident that, among all the Shell People, there +was none he could not overtake, despite what he had heard and knew of +their wonderful cleverness in the water. Were not his arms and legs longer +and stronger than theirs and his chest deeper? He felt that he could +outswim easily any bold fisherman among them, and as for this girl, he +would overtake her very quickly and draw her to the bank, and then there +would be an interview of much enjoyment, at least to him. His strong arm +swept the water back, and his strong legs, working with them, drove his +body forward swiftly toward the brown object not very far ahead. Along the +bank ran the laughing and shouting Oak. + +Yard by yard, Ab's mighty strokes brought him nearer the object of his +pursuit. She was swimming breast forward, as was he--for that was his only +way--she with a dog-like paddling stroke, and often she turned her head to +look backward at the man. She did not, even yet, appear affrighted, and +this Ab wondered at, for it was seldom that a girl of the time, thus +hunted, was not, and with reason, terrified. She, possibly, understood +that the chase did not involve a real abduction, for she and her pursuer +had often met, but there was, at least, reason enough for avoiding too +close contact on this day. She swam on steadily, and, as steadily, Ab +gained upon her. + +Down the long stretch of tumbling river, sweeping eastward between hill +and slope and plain and woodland, went the chase, while the panting and +cheering Oak, strong-legged and enduring as he was, barely kept pace with +the two heads he could see bobbing, not far apart now, in the tossing +waters. Ab had long since forgotten Oak. He had forgotten how it was that +he came to be thus swimming in the river. His thought was only what now +made up an overmastering aim. He must reach and seize upon the girl before +him! + +Closer and closer, though she as much as he was aided by the swift +current, the young man approached the girl. The hundred yards had lessened +into tens and he could plainly see now the wake about her and the +occasional up-flip of her brown heels as she went high in her stroke. He +now felt easily assured of her and laughed to himself as he swept his arms +backward in a fiercer stroke and came so close that he could discern her +outline through the water. It was but a matter of endurance, he chuckled +to himself. How could a woman outswim a man like him? + +It was just at the time when this thought came that Ab saw the Shell girl +lift her head and turn it toward him and laugh--laugh recklessly, almost +in his very face, so close together were they now. And then she taught him +something! There was a dip such as the otter makes when he seeks the +depths and there was no longer a girl in sight! But this was only a +demonstration, made in sheer audacity and blithesome insolence, for the +brown head soon appeared again some yards ahead and there was another +twist of it and another merry laugh. Then the neat body turned upon its +side, and with quick outdriving legstrokes and the overhand and underhand +pulling-forward which modern swimmers partly know, the girl shot ahead +through the tiny white-capped waves and away from the swimmer so close +behind her, as to-day the cutter leaves the scow. From the river bank came +a wild yelp, the significance of which, if analyzed, might have included +astonishment and great delight and brotherly derision. Oak was having a +great day of it! He was the sole witness of a swimming-match the like of +which was rare, and he was getting even with his friend for various +assumptions of superiority in various doings. + +Unexhausted and sturdy and stubborn, Ab was not the one to abandon his +long chase because of this new phase of things. He inhaled a great breath +and made the water foam with his swift strokes, but as well might a wild +goose chase a swallow on the wing as he seek to overtake that brown streak +on the water. It was wonderful, the manner in which that Shell girl swam! +She was like the birds which swim and dive and dip, and know of nothing +which they fear if only they are in the water far enough away from where +there is the need of stalking over soil and stone. It was not that the +Shell girl was other than at home on land. She was quite at home there and +reasonably fleet, but the creek and river had so been her element from +babyhood that the chase of the hill man had been, from the start, a sheer +absurdity. + +Ab lifted himself in the waters and gazed upon the dark spot far away, +and, piqued and maddened, put forth all the swimming strength there was +left in his brawny body. It seemed for a brief time that he was almost +equal to the task of gaining upon what was little more than a dot upon the +surface far ahead. But his scant prospect of success was only momentary. +The trifling spot in the distant drifts of the river seemed to have +certain ideas of its own. The speed of its course in the water did not +abate and, in a moment, it was carried around the bend, and lost to sight. +Ab drifted to the turn and saw, below, a girl clambering into safety among +the rafts of the fishing Shell People. What she would tell them he did not +know. That was not a matter to be much considered. + +There was but one thing to be done and that was to reach the land and +return to a life more strictly earthly and more comfortable. There is +nothing like water for overcoming a young man's fancy for many things. Ab +swam now with a somewhat tired and languid stroke to the shore, where Oak +awaited him hilariously. They almost came to blows that afternoon, and +blows between such as they might have easily meant sudden death. But they +were not rivals yet and there was much to talk of good-naturedly, after +some slight outflamings of passion on the part of Ab, and the two men were +good friends again. + +The sum of all the day was that there had been much exercise and fun, for +Oak at least. Ab had not caught the Shell girl, manfully as he had +striven. Had he caught her and talked with her upon the river bank it +might have changed the current of his life. With a man so young and sturdy +and so full of life the laughing fancy of a moment might have changed into +a stronger feeling and the swimming girl might have become a woman of the +cave people, one not quite so equal by heritage to the task of breeding +good climbing and running and fighting and progressive beings as some girl +of the hills. + +It matters little what might have happened had the outcome of the day's +effort been the reverse of what it was. This is but the account of the +race and what the sequel was when Ab swam so far and furiously and well. +It was his first flirtation. It was yet to come to him that he should be +really in love in the cave man's way. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +THE MAMMOTH AT BAY. + +It was late autumn, and a light snow covered the ground, when one day a +cave man, panting for breath, came running down the river bank and paused +at the cave of One-Ear. He had news, great news! He told his story +hurriedly, and then was taken into the cave and given meat, while Ab, +seizing his weapons, fled downward further still toward the great +kitchen-midden of the Shell People. Just as ages and ages later, not far +from the same region, some Scottish runner carried the fiery cross, Ab ran +exultingly with the news it was his to bring. There must be an immediate +gathering, not only of the cave men, but of the Shell People as well, and +great mutual effort for great gain. The mammoths were near the point of +the upland! + +The runner to the cave of One-Ear was a hunter living some miles to the +north, upon a ledge of a broad forest-covered plateau terminating on the +west in a slope which ended in a precipice with more than a hundred feet +of sheer descent to the valley below. On rare occasions a herd of mammoths +invaded the forest and worked itself toward the apex of the plateau, and +then word went all over the region, for it was an event in the history of +the cave men. If but a sufficient force could be suddenly assembled, food +in abundance for all was almost certainly assured. The prize was something +stupendous, but prompt action was required, and there might be tragedies. +As bees hum and gather when their hive is disturbed, so did the Shell +People when Ab burst in upon them and delivered his message. There was +rushing about and a gathering of weapons and a sorting out of men who +should go upon the expedition. But little time was wasted. Within half an +hour Ab was straining back again up the river toward his own abode, while +behind him trailed half a hundred of the Shell People, armed in a way +effective enough, but which, in the estimation of the cave men, was +preposterous. The spears of the Shell People had shafts of different wood +and heads of different material from those of the cave men, and they used +their weapons in a different manner. Accustomed to the spearing of fish or +of an occasional water beast, like a small hippopotamus, which still +existed in the rivers of the peninsula, they always threw their +spears--though the cave people were experts with this as well--and, as a +last resource in close conflict, they used no stone ax or mace, but simply +ran away, to throw again from a distance, or to fly again, as conditions +made advisable. But they were brave in a way--it was necessary that all +who would live must have a certain animal bravery in those days--and +their numbers made them essential in the rare hunting of the mammoth. + +When the company reached the home of Ab they found already assembled there +a score of the hill men, and, as the word had gone out in every direction, +it was found, when the rendezvous was reached, which was the cave of +Hilltop, the man living near the crest of the plateau, and the one who had +made the first run down the river, that there were more than a hundred, +counting all together, to advance against the herd and, if possible, drive +the great beasts toward the precipice. Among this hundred there was none +more delighted than Ab and Oak, for, of course, these two had found each +other in the group, and were almost like a brace of dogs whining for the +danger and the hunt. + +Not lightly was an expedition against a herd of mammoths to be begun, even +by a hundred well-armed people of the time of the cave men. The mammoth +was a monster beast, with perhaps somewhat less of sagaciousness than the +modern elephant, but with a temper which was demoniacal when aroused, and +with a strength which nothing could resist. He could be slain only by +strategy. Hence the everlasting watch over the triangular plateau and the +gathering of the cave and river people to catch him at a disadvantage. +But, even with a drove feeding near the slope which led to the precipice, +the cave men would have been helpless without the introduction of other +elements than their weapons and their clamor. The mammoth paid no more +attention to the cave man with a spear than to one of the little wild +horses which fed near him at times. The pygmy did not alarm him, but did +the pygmy ever venture upon an attack, then it was likely to be seized by +the huge trunk and flung against rock or tree, to fall crushed and +mangled, or else it was trodden viciously under foot. From one thing, +though, the mammoth, huge as he was, would flee in terror. He could not +face the element of fire, and this the cave men had learned to their +advantage. They could drive the mammoth when they dare not venture to +attack him, and herein lay their advantage. + +Under direction of the veteran hunter, Hilltop, who had discovered the +whereabouts of the drove, preparations were made for the dangerous +advance, and the first thing done was the breaking off of dry roots of the +overturned pitch pines, and gathering of knots of the same trees, with +limbs attached, to serve as handles. These roots and knots, once lighted, +would blaze for hours and made the most perfect of natural torches. +Lengths of bark of certain other trees when bound together and lighted at +one end burned almost as long and brightly as the roots and knots. Each +man carried an unlighted torch of one kind or another, in addition to his +weapons, and when this provision was made the band was stretched out in a +long line and a silent advance began through the forest. The herd of +mammoths was composed of nineteen, led by a monster even of his kind, and +men who had been watching them all night and during the forenoon said that +the herd was feeding very near the edge of the wood, where it ended on the +slope leading to the precipice. There was ice upon the slope and there +were chances of a great day's hunting. To cut off the mammoths, that is, +to extend a line across the uprising peninsula where they were feeding, +would require a line of not more than about five hundred yards in length, +and as there were more than a hundred of the hunters, the line which could +be formed would be most effective. Lighted punk, which preserved fire and +gave forth no odor to speak of, was carried by a number of the men, and +the advance began. + +It had been an exhilarating scene when the cave men and Shell People first +assembled and when the work of gathering material for the torches was in +progress. So far was the gathering from the present haunt of the game that +caution had been unnecessary, and there was talk and laughter and all the +open enjoyment of an anticipated conquest. The light snow, barely covering +the ground, flashed in the sun, and the hunters, practically impervious to +the slight cold, were almost prankish in their demeanor. Ab and Oak +especially were buoyant. This was the first hunt upon the rocky peninsula +of either of them, and they were delighted with the new surroundings and +eager for the fray to come. All about was talk and laughter, which became +general with any slight physical disaster which came to one among the +hunters in the climbing of some tree for a promising dead branch or +finding a treacherous hollow when assailing the roots of some upturned +pine. It was a brisk scene and a lively one, that which occurred that +crisp morning in late autumn when the wild men gathered to hunt the +mammoth. All was brightness and jollity and noise. + +Very different, in a moment, was the condition when the hunters entered +the forest and, extended in line, began their advance toward the huge +objects of their search. The cave man, almost a wild beast himself in some +of his ways, had, on occasion, a footfall as light as that of any animal +of the time. The twig scarcely crackled and the leaf scarcely rustled +beneath his tread, and when the long line entered the wood the silence of +death fell there, for the hunters made no sound, and what slight sound the +woodland had before--the clatter of the woodpeckers and jays--was hushed +by their advance. So through the forest, which was tolerably close, the +dark line swept quietly forward until there came from somewhere a sudden +signal, and with a still more cautious advance and contraction of the line +as the peninsula narrowed the quarry was brought in sight of all. + +Close to the edge of the slope, and separated by a slight open space from +the forest proper, was an evergreen grove, in which the herd of monster +beasts was feeding. A great bull, with long up-curling tusks, loomed above +them all, and was farthest away in the grove. The hunters, hidden in the +forest, lay voiceless and motionless until the elders decided upon a plan +of attack, and then the word was passed along that each man must fire his +torch. + +All along the edge of the wood arose the flashing of little flames. These +grew in magnitude until a line of fire ran clear across the wood, and the +mammoths nearest raised their trunks and showed signs of uneasiness. Then +came a signal, a wild shout, and at once, with a yell, the long line burst +into the open, each man waving his flaming torch and rushing toward the +grove. + +There was a chance--a slight one--that the whole herd might be stampeded, +but this had rarely happened within the memory of the oldest hunter. The +mammoth, though subject to panic, did not lack intelligence and when in a +group was conscious of its strength. As that yell ascended, the startled +beasts first rushed deeper into the grove and then, as the slope beyond +was revealed to them, turned and charged blindly, all save one, the great +tusker, who was feeding at the grove's outer verge. They came on, great +mountains of flesh, but swerved as they met the advancing line of fire and +weaved aimlessly up and down for a moment or two. Then a huge bull, stung +by a spear hurled by one of the hunters and frantic with fear, plunged +forward across the line and the others followed blindly. Three men were +crushed to death in their passage and all the mammoths were gone save the +big bull, who had started to rejoin his herd but had not reached it in +time. He was now raging up and down in the grove, bewildered and +trumpeting angrily. Immediately the hunters gathered closer together and +made their line of fire continuous. + +The mammoth rushed out clear of the trees and stood looming up, a +magnificent creature of unrivaled size and majesty. His huge tusks shone +out whitely against the mountain of dark shaggy hair. His small eyes +blazed viciously as he raised his trunk and trumpeted out what seemed +either a hoarse call to his herd or a roar of agony over his strait. He +seemed for a moment as if about to rush upon the dense line of his +tormentors, but the flaming faggots dashed almost in his face by the +reckless and excited hunters daunted him, and, as a spear lodged in his +trunk, he turned with almost a shriek of pain and dashed into the grove +again. Close at his heels bounded the hundred men, yelling like demons and +forgetting all danger in the madness of the chase. Right through the grove +the great beast crashed and then half turned as he came to the open slope +beyond. Running beside him was a daring youth trying in vain to pierce him +in the belly with his flint-headed spear, and, as the mammoth came for the +moment to a half halt, his keen eyes noted the pygmy, his great trunk shot +downward and backward, picked up the man and hurled him yards away against +the base of a great tree, the body as it struck being crushed out of all +semblance to man and dropping to the earth a shapeless lump. But the fire +behind and about the desperate mammoth seemed all one flame now, countless +spears thrown with all the force of strong arms were piercing his tough +hide, and out upon the slope toward the precipice the great beast plunged. +Upon his very flanks was the fire and about him all the stinging danger +from the half-crazed hunters. He lunged forward, slipped upon the smooth +glacial floor beneath him, tried to turn again to meet his thronging foes +and face the ring of flame, and then, wavering, floundering, moving +wonderfully for a creature of his vast size, but uncertain as to foothold, +he was driven to the very crest of the ledge, and, scrambling vainly, +carrying away an avalanche of ice, snow and shrubs, went crashing to his +death, a hundred feet below! + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +THE FEAST OF THE MAMMOTH. + +To the right and left of the precipice the fall to the plain below was +more gradual, and with exultant yells, the cave and Shell men rushed in +either direction, those venturing nearest the sheer descent going down +like monkeys, clinging as they went to shrubs and vines, while those who +ran to where the drop was a degree more passable fairly tumbled downward +to the plain. In an incredibly short space of time absolute silence +prevailed in and about the grove where the scene had lately been so +fiercely stirring. In the valley below there was wildest clamor. + +It was a great occasion for the human beings of the region. There was no +question as to the value of the prize the hunters had secured. Never +before in any joint hunting expedition, within the memory of the oldest +present, had followed more satisfactory result. The spoil was well worth +the great effort that had been made; in the estimation of the time, +perhaps worth the death of the hunters who had been killed. The huge beast +lay dead, close to the base of the cliff. One great, yellow-white, curved +tusk had been snapped off and showed itself distinct upon the grass some +feet away from the mountain of flesh so lately animated. The sight was one +worth looking upon in any age, for, in point of grandeur of appearance, +the mammoth, while not as huge as some of the monsters of reptilian times, +had a looming impressiveness never surpassed by any beast on the earth's +surface. Though prone and dead he was impressive. + +But the cave and Shell men were not so much impressed as they were +delighted. They had come into possession of food in abundance and there +would be a feast of all the people of the region, and, after that, +abundant meat in many a hut and cave for many a day. The hunters were +noisy and excited. A group pounced upon the broken tusk--for a mammoth +tusk, or a piece of one, was a prize in a cave dwelling--and there was +prospect of a struggle, but grim voices checked the wrangle of those who +had seized upon this portion of the spoil and it was laid aside, to be +apportioned later. The feast was the thing to be considered now. + +Again swift-footed messengers ran along forest paths and swam streams and +thridded wood and thicket, this time to assemble, not the hunters alone, +but with them all members of households who could conveniently and safely +come to the gathering of the morrow, when the feast of the mammoth would +be on. The messengers dispatched, the great carcass was assailed, and keen +flint knives, wielded by strong and skillful hands, were soon separating +from the body the thick skin, which was divided as seemed best to the +leaders of the gathering, Hilltop, the old hunter, for his special +services, getting the chief award in the division. Then long slices of the +meat were cut away, fires were built, the hunters ate to repletion and +afterward, with a few remaining awake as guards, slept the sleep of the +healthy and fully fed. Not in these modern days would such preliminary +consumption of food be counted wisest preparation for a feast on the +morrow, but the cave and Shell men were alike independent of affections of +the stomach or the liver, and could, for days in sequence, gorge +themselves most buoyantly. + +The morning came crisp and clear, and, with the morning, came from all +directions swiftly moving men and women, elated and hungry and expectant. +The first families and all other families of the region were gathering for +the greatest social function of the time. The men of various households +had already exerted themselves and a score or two of fires were burning, +while the odor of broiling meat was fragrant all about. Hunter husbands +met their broods, and there was banqueting, which increased as, hour after +hour, new groups came in. The families of both Ab and Oak were among those +early in the valley, Beechleaf and Bark, wide-eyed and curious, coming +upon the scene as a sort of advance guard and proudly greeting Ab. All +about was heard clucking talk and laughter, an occasional shout, and ever +the cracking of stone upon the more fragile thing, as the monster's +roasted bones were broken to secure the marrow in them. + +There was hilarity and universal enjoyment, though the assemblage, almost +by instinct, divided itself into two groups. The cave men and the Shell +men, while at this time friendly, were, as has been indicated, unlike in +many tastes and customs and to an extent unlike in appearance. The cave +man, accustomed to run like the deer along the forest ways, or to avoid +sudden danger by swift upward clambering and swinging along among +treetops, was leaner and more muscular than the Shell man, and had in his +countenance a more daring and confident expression. The Shell man was +shorter and, though brawny of build, less active of movement. He had spent +more hours of each day of his life in his rude raft-boat, or in walking +slowly with poised spear along creek banks, or, with bent back, digging +for the great luscious shell-fish which made a portion of his food, than +he had spent afoot and on land, with the smell of growing things in his +nostrils. The flavor of the water was his, the flavor of the wood the cave +man's. So it was that at the feast of the mammoth the allies naturally and +good-naturedly became somewhat grouped, each person according to his kind. +When hunger was satisfied and the talking-time came on, those with objects +and impulses the same could compare notes most interestedly. Constantly +the number of the feasters increased, and by mid-day there was a company +of magnitude. Much meat was required to feed such a number, but there were +tons of meat in a mammoth, enough to defy the immediate assaults of a much +greater assemblage than this of exceedingly healthy people. And the smoke +from the fires ascended and these rugged ones ate and were happy. + +But there came a time in the afternoon when even such feasters as were +assembled on this occasion became, in a measure, content, when this one +and that one began to look about, and when what might be called the social +amenities of the period began. Veterans flocked together, reminiscent of +former days when another mammoth had been driven over this same cliff; the +young grouped about different firesides, and there was talk of feats of +strength and daring and an occasional friendly grapple. Slender, sinewy +girls, who had girls' ways then as now, ate together and looked about +coquettishly and safely, for none had come without their natural +guardians. Rarely in the history of the cave men had there been a +gathering more generally and thoroughly festive, one where good eating had +made more good fellowship. Possibly--for all things are relative--there +has never occurred an affair of more social importance within the +centuries since. Human beings, dangerous ones, were merry and trusting +together, and the young looked at each other. + +Of course Ab and Oak had been eating in company. They had risked +themselves dangerously in the battle on the cliff, had escaped injury and +were here now, young men of importance, each endowed with an appetite +corresponding with the physical exertion of which he was capable and which +he never hesitated to make. The amount either of those young men had eaten +was sufficient to make a gourmand, though of grossest Roman times, fairly +sick with envy, and they were still eating, though, it must be confessed, +with modified enthusiasm. Each held in his hand a smoking lump of flesh +from some favored portion of the mammoth and each rent away an occasional +mouthful with much content. Suddenly Ab ceased mastication and stood +silent, gazing intently at a not unpleasing object a few yards distant. + +Two girls stood together near a fire about which were grouped perhaps a +dozen people. The two were eating, not voraciously, but with an apparent +degree of interest in what they were doing, for they had not been among +the early arrivals. It was upon these two that Ab's wandering glance had +fallen and had been held, and it was not surprising that he had become so +interested. Either of the couple was fitted to attract attention, though a +pair more utterly unlike it would be difficult to imagine. One was slight +and the other the very reverse, but each had striking characteristics. + +They stood there, the two, just as two girls so often stand to-day, the +hand of one laid half-caressingly upon the hip of the other. The beaming, +broad one was chattering volubly and the slender one listening carelessly. +The talking of the heavier girl was interrupted evenly by her mumbling at +a juicy strip of meat. Her hunger, it was clear, had not yet been +satisfied, and it was as clear, too, that her companion had yet an +appetite. The slender one was, seemingly, not much interested in the +conversation, but the other chattered on. It was plain that she was a most +contented being. She was symmetrical only from the point of view of +admirers of the heavily built. She had very broad hips and muscular arms +and was somewhat squat of structure. It is hesitatingly to be admitted of +this young lady that, sturdy and prepossessing, from a practical point of +view, as she might be to the average food-winning cave man, she lacked a +certain something which would, to the observant, place her at once in good +society. She was an exceedingly hairy young woman. She wore the usual +covering of skins, but she would have been well-draped, in moderately +temperate weather, had the covering been absent. Either for fashion's sake +or comfort, not much weight of foreign texture in addition to her own +hirsute and, to a certain extent, graceful, natural garb, was needed. She +was a female Esau of the time, just a great, good-hearted, strong and +honest cave girl, of the subordinate and obedient class which began +thousands of years before did history, one who recognized in the girl who +stood beside her a stronger and dominating spirit, and who had been +received as a trusted friend and willing assistant. It is so to-day, even +among the creatures which are said to have no souls, the dogs especially. +But the girl had strength and a certain quick, animal intelligence. She +was the daughter of a cave man living not far from the home of old +Hilltop, and her name was Moonface. Her countenance was so broad and +beaming that the appellation had suggested itself in her jolly childhood. + +Very different from Moonface was the slender being who, having eaten a +strip of meat, was now seeking diligently with a splinter for the marrow +in the fragment of bone her father had tossed toward her. Her father was +Hilltop, the veteran of the immediate region and the hero of the day, and +she was called Lightfoot, a name she had gained early, for not in all the +country round about was another who could pass over the surface of the +earth with greater swiftness than could she. And it was upon Lightfoot +that Ab was looking. + +The young woman would have been fair to look upon, or at least +fascinating, to the most world-wearied and listless man of the present +day. She stood there, easily and gracefully, her arms and part of her +breast, above, and her legs from about the knees, below, showing clearly +from beneath her covering of skins. Her deep brown hair, knotted back with +a string of the tough inner bark of some tree, hung upon the middle of her +flat, in-setting back. She was not quite like any of the other girls about +her. Her eyes were larger and softer and there was more reflection and +variety of expression in them. Her limbs were quite as long as those of +any of her companions and the fingers and toes, though slenderer, were +quite as suggestive of quick and strong grasping capabilities, but there +was, with all the proof of springiness and litheness, a certain rounding +out. The strip of hair upon her legs below the knees was slight and +silken, as was also that upon her arms. Yet, undoubted leader in society +as her appearance indicated, quite aside from her father's standing, there +was in her face, with all its loftiness of air, a certain blithesomeness +which was almost at variance with conditions. She was a most lovable young +woman--there could be no question about that--and Ab had, as he looked +upon her for the first time, felt the fact from head to heel. He thought +of her as like the leopard tree-cat, most graceful creature of the wood, +so trim was she and full of elasticity, and thought of her, too, as he +looked in her intelligent face, as higher in another way. He was somewhat +awed, but he was courageous. He had, so far in life, but sought to get +what he wanted whenever it was in sight. Now he was nonplussed. + +Presently Lightfoot raised her eyes and they met those of Ab. The young +people looked at each other steadily for a moment and then the glance of +the girl was turned away. But, meanwhile, the man had recovered himself. +He had been eating, absent-mindedly, a well-cooked portion of a great +steak of the mammoth's choicest part. He now tore it in twain and watched +the girl intently. She raised her eyes again and he tossed her a half of +the smoking flesh. She saw the movement, caught the food deftly in one +hand as it reached her, and looked at Ab and laughed. There was no mock +modesty. She began eating the choice morsel contentedly; the two were, in +a manner, now made formally acquainted. + +The young man did not, on the instant, pursue his seeming advantage, the +result of an impulsive bravery requiring a greater effort on his part than +the courage he had shown in conflict with many a beast of the forest. He +did not talk to the young woman. But he thought to himself, while his +blood bubbled in his veins, that he would find her again; that he would +find her in the wood! She did not look at him more, for her people were +clustering about her and this was a great occasion. + +Ab was recalled to himself by a hoarse exclamation. Oak was looking at him +fiercely. There was no other sound, but the young man stood gazing fixedly +at the place where the girl had just been lost amid the group about her. +And Ab knew instinctively, as men have learned to know so well in all the +years, from the feeling which comes to them at such a time, that he had a +rival, that Oak also had seen and loved this slender creature of the +hillside. + +There was a division of the mammoth flesh and hide and tusks. Ab struggled +manfully for a portion of one of the tusks, which he wanted for Old Mok's +carving, and won it at last, the elders deciding that he and Oak had +fought well enough upon the cliff to entitle them to a part of the honor +of the spoil, and Oak opposing nothing done by Ab, though his looks were +glowering. Then, as the sun passed toward the west, all the people +separated to take the dangerous paths toward their homes. Ab and Oak +journeyed away together. Ab was jubilant, though doubtful, while the face +of Oak was dark. The heart of neither was light within him. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +THE COMRADES. + +Drifting away in various directions toward their homes the Cave and Shell +People still kept in groups, by instinct. Social functions terminated +before dark and guests going and coming kept together for mutual +protection in those days of the cave bear and other beasts. But on the day +of the Feast of the Mammoth there was somewhat less than the usual +precaution shown. There were vigorous and well-armed hunters at hand by +scores, and under such escort women and children might travel after dusk +with a degree of safety, unless, indeed, the great cave tiger, +Sabre-Tooth, chanced to be abroad, but he was more rarely to be met than +others of the wild beasts of the time. When he came it was as a +thunderbolt and there were death and mourning in his trail. The march +through the forest as the shadows deepened was most watchful. There was a +keen lookout on the part of the men, and the women kept their children +well in hand. From time to time, one family after another detached itself +from the main body and melted into the forest on the path to its own cave +near at hand. Thus Hilltop and his family left the group in which were Ab +and Oak, and glances of fire followed them as they went. The two girls, +Lightfoot and Moonface, had walked together, chattering like crows. They +had strung red berries upon grasses and had hung them in their hair and +around their necks, and were fine creatures. Lightfoot, as was her wont, +laughed freakishly at whatever pleased her, and in her merry mood had an +able second in her sturdy companion. There were moments, though, when even +the irrepressible Lightfoot was thoughtful and so quiet that the girl who +was with her wondered. The greater girl had been lightly touched with that +unnamable force which has changed men and women throughout all the ages. +The picture of Ab's earnest face was in her mind and would not depart. She +could not, of course, define her own mood, nor did she attempt it. She +felt within herself a certain quaking, as of fear, at the thought of him, +and yet, so she told herself again and again, she was not afraid. All the +time she could see Ab's face, with its look of longing and possession, but +with something else in it, when his eyes met hers, which she could not +name nor understand. She could not speak of him, but Moonface had upon her +no such stilling influence. + +"They look alike," she said. + +Lightfoot assented, knowing the girl meant Ab and Oak. "But Ab is taller +and stronger," Moonface continued, and Lightfoot assented as +indifferently, for, somehow, of the two she had remembered definitely one +only. She became daring in her reflections: "What if he should want to +carry me to his cave?" and then she tried to run away from the thought and +from anything and everybody else, leaping forward, outracing and leaving +all the company. She reached her father's cave far ahead of the others and +stood, laughing, at the entrance, as the family and Moonface, a guest for +the night, came trotting up. + +And Ab, the buoyant and strong, was not himself as he journeyed with the +homeward-pressing company. His mood changed and he dropped away from Oak +and lagged in the rear of the little band as it wound its way through the +forest. Slight time was needed for others to recognize his mood, and he +was strong of arm and quick of temper, as all knew well, and, so, he was +soon left to stalk behind in independent sulkiness. He felt a weight in +his breast; a fiery spot burned there. He was fierce with Oak because Oak +had looked at Lightfoot with a warm light in his eyes. He! when he should +have known that Ab was looking at her! This made rage in his heart; and +sadness came, too, because he was perplexed over the girl. "How can I get +her?" he mumbled to himself, as he stalked along. + +Meanwhile, at the van of the company there was noise and frolic. Assembled +in force, they were for the hour free from dread of the haunting terror of +wild beasts, and, satisfied with eating, the Cave and Shell People were in +one of the merriest moods of their lives, collectively speaking. The young +men were especially jubilant and exuberant of demeanor. Their sport was +rough and dangerous. There were scuffling and wrestling and the more +reckless threw their stone axes, sometimes at each other, always, it is +true, with warning cries, but with such wild, unconscious strength put in +the throwing that the finding of a living target might mean death. Ab, +engrossed in thoughts of something far apart from the rude sport about +him, became nervously impatient. Like the girl, he wanted to escape from +his thoughts, and bounding ahead to mingle with the darting and swinging +group in front, he was soon the swift and stalwart leader in their +foolishly risky sport, the center of the whole commotion. One muscled man +would hurl his stone hatchet or strong flint-headed spear at a green tree +and another would imitate him until a space in advance was covered and the +word given for a rush, when all would race for the target, each striving +to reach it first and detach his own weapon before others came. It was a +merry but too careless contest, with a chance of some serious happening. +There followed a series of these mad games and the oldsters smiled as they +heard the sound of vigorous contest and themselves raced as they could, to +keep in close company with the stronger force. + +Ab had shown his speed in all his playing. Now he ran to the front and +plucked out his spear, a winner, then doubled and ran back beside the +pathway to mingle with the central body of travelers, having in mind only +to keep in the heart and forefront of as many contests as possible. There +was more shouting and another rush from the main body and, bounding aside +from all, he ran to get the chance of again hurling his spear as well. A +great oak stood in the middle of the pathway and toward it already a spear +or two had been sent, all aimed, as the first thrower had indicated, at a +white fungus growth which protruded from the tree. It was a matter of +accuracy this time. Ab leaped ahead some yards in advance of all and +hurled his spear. He saw the white chips fly from the side of the fungus +target, saw the quivering of the spear shaft with the head deep sunken in +the wood, and then felt a sudden shock and pain in one of his legs. He +fell sideways off the path and beneath the brushwood, as the wild band, +young and old, swept by. He was crippled and could not walk. He called +aloud, but none heard him amid the shouting of that careless race. He +tried to struggle to his feet, but one leg failed him and he fell back, +lying prone, just aside from the forest path, nearly weaponless and the +easy prey of the wild beasts. What had hurt him so grievously was a spear +thrown wildly from behind him. It had, hurled with great strength, struck +a smooth tree trunk and glanced aside, the point of the spear striking the +young man fairly in the calf of the leg, entering somewhat the bone +itself, and shocking, for the moment, every nerve. The flint sides had cut +a vein or two and these were bleeding, but that was nothing. The real +danger lay in his helplessness. Ab was alone, and would afford good eating +for those of the forest who, before long, would be seeking him. The scent +of the wild beast was a wonderful thing. The man tried to rise, then lay +back sullenly. Far in the distance, and growing fainter and fainter, he +could hear the shouts of the laughing spear-throwers. + +The strong young man, thus left alone to death almost inevitable, did not +altogether despair. He had still with him his good stone ax and his long +and keen stone knife. He would, at least, hurt something sorely before he +was eaten, he thought grimly to himself. And then he pressed leaves +together on the cut upon his leg, and laid himself back upon the leaves +and waited. + +He did not have to wait long. He had not thought to do so. How full the +woods were of blood-scenting and man-eating things none knew better than +he. His ear, keen and trained, caught the patter of a distant approach. +"Wolves," he said to himself at first, and then "Hyenas," for the step was +puzzling. He was perplexed. The step was regular, and it was not in the +forest on either side, but was coming up the path. A terror came upon him +and he had crawled deeper into the shades, when he noted that the steps +first ceased, and then that they wandered searchingly and uncertainly. +Then, loud and strong, rang out a voice, calling his name, and it was the +voice of Oak! He could not answer for a moment, and then he cried out +gladly. + +Oak had, in the forward-rushing group, seen Ab's hurt and fall, but had +thought it a trifling matter, since no outcry came from those behind, and +so had kept his course away and ahead with the rest. But finally he had +noted the absence of Ab and had questioned, and then--first telling some +of his immediate companions that they were to lag and wait for him--had +started back upon a run to reach the place where he had last seen his +friend. It was easy now to arrange wet leaves about Ab's crippling, but +little more than temporary, wound. The two, one leaning upon the other and +hobbling painfully, and each with weapons in hand, contrived, at last, to +reach Oak's lingering and grumbling contingent. Ab was helped along by two +instead of one then, and the rest was easy. When the pathway leading to +home was reached, Oak accompanied his friend, and the two passed the night +together. + +Ab, once on his own bed, with Oak couched beside him, was surprised to +find, not merely that his physical pain was going, but that the greater +one was gone. The weight and burning had left his breast and he was no +longer angry at Oak. He thought blindly but directly toward conclusions. +He had almost wanted to kill Oak, all because each saw the charm of and +wanted the possession of a slender, beautiful creature of their kind. Then +something dangerous had happened to him, and this same Oak, his friend, +the man he had wished to kill, had come back and saved his life. The sense +which we call gratitude, and which is not unmingled with what we call +honor, came to this young cave man then. He thought of many things, +worried and wakeful as he was, and perhaps made more acute of perception +by the slight, exciting fever of his wound. + +He thought of how the two, he and Oak, had planned and risked together, of +their boyish follies and failures and successes, and of how, in later +years, Oak had often helped him, of how he had saved Oak's life once in +the river swamp, where quicksands were, of how Oak had now offset even +that debt by carrying him away from certain ending amid wild beasts. No +one--and of the cave men he knew many--no one in all the careless, merry +party had missed him save Oak. He doubtless could not have told himself +why it was, but he was glad that he could repay it all and have the +balance still upon his side. He was glad that he had the secret of the bow +and arrow to reveal. That should be Oak's! So it came that, late that +night, when the fire in the cave had burned low and when one could not +wisely speak above a whisper, Ab told Oak the story of the new weapon, of +how it had been discovered, of how it was to be used and of all it was for +hunters and fighters. Furthermore, he brought his best bow and best arrows +forth, and told Oak they were his and that they would practice together in +the morning. His astonished and delighted companion had little to say over +the revelation. He was eager for the morning, but he straightened out his +limbs upon the leafy mattress and slept well. So, somewhat later, did the +half-feverish Ab. + +Morning came and the cave people were astir. There was brief though hearty +feeding and then Ab and Oak and Old Mok, to whom Ab had said much aside, +went away from the cave and into the forest. There Oak was taught the +potency of the new weapon, its deadly quality and the safety of distance +it afforded its user. It was a great morning for all three, not excepting +the stern and critical old teacher, when they thus met together in the +wood and the secret of what two had found was so transmitted to another. +As for Oak, he was fairly aflame with excitement. He was far from slow of +mind and he recognized in a moment the enormous advantage of the new way +of killing either the things they ate, or the things they dreaded most. He +could scarcely restrain his eagerness to experiment for himself. Before +noon had come he was gone, carrying away the bow and the good arrows. As +he disappeared in the wood Ab said nothing, but to himself he thought: + +"He may have all the bows and arrows he can make, but I will have +Lightfoot myself!" + +Ab and Mok started for the cave again, Ab, bow in hand and with ready +arrow. There was a patter of feet upon leaves in the wood beside them and +then the arrow was fitted to the string, while Old Mok, strong-armed if +weak-legged, raised aloft his spear. The two were seeking no conflict with +wild beasts today and were but defensive and alert. They were puzzled by +the sound their quick ears caught. "Patter, patter," ever beside them, but +deep in the forest shade, came the sound of menacing followers of some +sort. + +There was tension of nerves. Old Mok, sturdy and unconsciously fatalistic, +was more self-contained than the youth at his side, bow-armed and with +flint ax and knife ready for instant use. At last an open space was +reached across which ran the well-worn path. Now the danger must reveal +itself. The two men emerged into the glade, and, a moment later, there +bounded into it gamboling and full of welcome, the wolf cubs, which had +played about the cave so long, who were now detached from their own kind +and preferred the companionship of man. There was laughter then, and a +more careless demeanor with the weapon borne. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +LOVE AND DEATH. + +Different from his former self became this young forester, Ab. He was +thinking of something other than wild beasts and their pursuit. +Instinctively, the course of his hunting expeditions tended toward the +northwest and soon the impulse changed to a design. He must look upon +Lightfoot again! Henceforth he haunted the hill region, and never keener +for quarry or more alert for the approach of some dangerous animal was the +eye of this woodsman than it was for the appearance somewhere of a slender +figure of a cave girl. Neither game nor things to dread were numerous in +the vicinity of the home of Hilltop, for there one of the hardiest and +wisest among hunters had occupied his cave for many years, and wild beasts +learn things. So it chanced that Lightfoot could wander farther afield +than could most girls of the time. Ab knew all this well, for the quality +of expert and venturesome old Hilltop was familiar to all the cave men +throughout a wide stretch of country. So Ab, somewhat shamefaced to his +own consciousness, hunted in a region not the best for spoil, and looked +for a girl who might appear on some forest path, moderately safe from the +rush of any of the hungry man-eaters of the wood. + +But not all the time of this wild lover was wasted in haunting the +possible idling-places of the girl he wanted so. With love there had come +to him such sense and thoughtfulness as has come with earnest love to +millions since. What could he do with Lightfoot should he gain her? He was +but a big, young fighting man and hunter, still sleeping, almost nightly, +on one of the leaf beds in his father's cave. With a wife of his own he +must have a cave of his own. Compared with his first impulses toward the +girl, this was a new train of thought, and, as we recognize it to-day, a +nobler one. He wanted to care for his own. He wanted a cave fit for the +reception of such a woman as this, to him, the sweetest and proudest of +all beings, Lightfoot, daughter of old Hilltop, of the wooded highlands. + +Far up the river, far beyond the home of Oak's father and beyond the +shining marshlands and the purple heather reaches which made the foothills +pleasant, extended to the river's bank a promontory, bold and picturesque +and clad heavily with the best of trees. It was a great stretch of land, +where, in some of nature's grim work, the earth had been up-heaved and +there had been raised good soil for giant forests, and at the same time +been made broad caverns to become future habitations of the creature known +as man. But the trees bore nuts and fruits, and such creatures as found +food in nuts and fruits, and, later, such as loved rich herbage, came to +the forest in great numbers, and then followed such as fed upon these +again, all the flesh eaters, to whom man was, as any other living thing, +to be seized upon and devoured. The promontory, so rich in game and nuts +and fruits, was, at the same time, the most dangerous in all the region +for human habitation. There were deep, dry caves within its limits, but in +none of them had a cave man yet ventured to make his home. It was toward +this promontory that the young man in love turned his eyes. Because others +had feared to make a home in this lone, high region should he also fear? +There was food there in plenty and if there were chance of fighting in +plenty, so much the better! Was he not strong and fleet; had he not the +best of spears and axes? Above all, had he not the new weapon which made +man far above the beasts? Here was the place for a home which should be +the best in all this region of the cave men. Here game and food of all +kinds would be most abundant. The situation would demand a brave man and a +woman scarcely less courageous, but would not he and the girl he was +determined to bring there meet all occasion? His mind was fixed. + +Ab found a cave, one clean and dry and opening out upon a slight treeless +area, and this he, lover-like, improved for the woman he had resolved to +bring there, arranging carefully the interior of which must be a home. He +had fancies such as lovers have exhibited from since the time when the +plesiosaurus swashed away in the strand of a warm sea a hollow nursery for +the birth and first tending of the young of his odd kind, up to the later +time when men have squandered fortunes on the sleeping rooms of women they +have loved. He toiled for many days. With his ax he chipped away the +cavern's sharp protuberances at each side, and with the stone chips from +the walls and with what he brought from outside, he made the floor white +and clean and nearly level. He built a fireplace and chipped into a huge +stone, which, fortunately, lay inside the cave, a hollow for holding +drinking water, or for the boiling of meat. He built up a passage-way at +the entrance, allowing something but not too much more than his own width, +as the gauge for measurement of its breadth. He brought into the cave a +deep carpet of leaves and made a wide bed in one corner and this he +covered with furred skins, for many skins Ab owned in his own right. Then, +with a thick fragment of tough branch as a lever, he rolled a big stone +near the cave's entrance and left it ready to be occupied as a home. The +woman was still lacking. + +There came a day when Ab, impatient after his searching and waiting, but +yet resolute, had killed a capercailzie--the great grouse-like bird of the +time, the descendants of which live to-day in northern forests--and had +built a fire and feasted, and then, instinctively careful, had climbed to +the first broad, low branch of an enormous tree and there adjusted himself +to sleep the sleep of one who has eaten heartily. He lay with the big +branch for a bed, supported on either side by green, upspringing twigs, +and slept well for an hour or two and then awoke, lazy and listless, but +with much good to him from the repast and rest. It was not yet very late +in the afternoon and the sun still shone kindly upon him, as upon a whole +world of rejoicing things. Something like a reflection of the life of the +morning was beginning to manifest itself, as is ever the way where forests +and wild things are. The wonderful noise of wood life was renewed. As the +young man awakened, he felt in every pulse the thrilling powers of +existence. Everything was fair to look upon. His ears took in the sound of +the voices of birds, already beginning vesper songs, though the afternoon +was yet so early as scarcely to hint of evening, and the scent from a +thousand plants and flowers, permeating and intoxicating, reached his +senses as he lounged sprawlingly upon his safe bed aloft. + +It was attractive, the scene which Ab looked upon. The forest was in all +the glory of summer and nesting and breeding things were happy. There was +the fullness of the being of trees and plants and of all birds and beasts. +There was a soft commingling of sounds which told of the life about, the +effect of which was, somehow, almost drowsy in the blending of all +together. The great ferns waved gently along the hollows as the slight +breeze touched them. They were queer, those ferns. They were not quite so +slender and tapering and gothic as the ferns we see to-day. They were a +trifle more lush and ragged, and their tips were sometimes almost rounded. +But Ab noted little of fern or bird. It was only the general sensuousness +that was upon him. The smell of the pines was a partial tonic to the +healthy, half-awakened man, and, though he lay back upon the rugged wooden +bed and half dozed again, nature had aroused him a trifle beyond the point +of relapse into absolute, unknowing slumber. There was coming to him a +sharpness of perception which affected the quiescence of his enjoyment. He +rose to a sitting posture and looked about him. At once his eyes flashed, +every nerve and muscle became tense and the blood leaped turbulently in +his veins. He had seen that for which he had come into this region, the +girl who had so reached his rude, careless heart. Lightfoot was very near +him! + +The girl, all unconscious, was sitting upon the trunk of a fallen tree +which lay close beside a creek. There was an abundance of small pebbles +upon the little strand and the young lady was absent-mindedly engaged in +an occupation in which, to the observer, she took some interest, while +she, no doubt, was really thinking of something else. She sat there, +slender, beautiful and excelling, in her way, the belle of the period, +merely amusing herself. Her toes were charming toes. There could be no +debate on that point, for, while long and strong and flexible, they had a +certain evenness and symmetry. They were being idly employed just now. At +the creek's edge, half imbedded in the ground, uprose the crest of a +granite stone. Picking up pebble after pebble in her admirable toes, +Lightfoot was engaged in throwing them, one after another, at the +outstanding point of granite, utilizing in the performance only those toes +and the brown leg below the knee. She did exceedingly well and hit the +red-brown target often. Ab, hot-headed and fierce lover in the tree top, +looked on admiringly. How perfect of form was she; how bright the face! +and then, forgetting himself, he cried aloud and slid from the branch as +easily and swiftly as any serpent and started running toward the girl. He +must have her! + +With his cry, the girl leaped to her feet, and as he reached the ground, +recognized him on the instant. She knew in the same instant that they had +felt together and that it was not by accident that he was near her. She +had felt as he; so far as a woman may feel with a man; but maidens are +maidens, and sweet lightness dreads force, and a modified terror came upon +her. She paused for a moment, then turned and ran toward the upland +forest. + +Not a moment hesitating or faltering as affected by the girl's action was +the young man who had tumbled from the tree bed. The blood dancing within +him and the great natural impulse of gaining what was greatest to him in +life controlled him now. He was hot with fierce lovingness. He ran well, +but he did not run better than the graceful thing before him. + +Even for the critical being of the great cities of to-day, the one who +"manages" races of all sorts, it would have been worth while to see this +race in the forest. As the doe leaps, scarcely touching the ground, ran +Lightfoot. As the wolf or hound runs, less swift for the moment, but +tireless, ran the man behind her. Yet of all the men in the cave region, +this flying girl wanted most this man to take her! It was the maidenly +force-dreading instinct alone which made her run. + +Ab, dogged and enduring, lost no space as the race led away toward the +hill and home of the fleet thing ahead of him. There were miles to be +covered, and therein he had hope. They were on the straight path to +Hilltop's cave, though there were divergent, curving side paths almost as +available; but to avoid her pursuer, the fugitive could take none of +these. There were cross-cuts everywhere. In leaving the direct path she +would but lose ground. To reach soon enough by straight, clean running the +towering wooded hill in which was her father's cave seemed the only hope +of the half-unwilling fugitive. + +There were descents and ascents in the long chase and plateaus where the +running was on level ground. Straining forward, gaining little, but +confident of overtaking the girl, Ab, deep-chested and physically +untroubled, pressed onward, when he noted that the girl made a sudden +spurt and bounded forward with a speed not shown before, while, at the +same time, she swerved from the right of the path. + +It was not Ab who had made her swerve. Some new alarm had come to her. She +was about to reach and, as Ab supposed, pass one of the inletting paths +entering almost at right angles from the left. She did not pass it. She +leaped into it in evident terror and then, breaking out from the wood on +the right, came another form and one surely in swift following. Ab knew +the figure well. Oak was the new pursuer! + +The awful rage which rose in the heart of Ab as he saw what was happening +is what can no more be described than one can tell what a tiger in the +jungle thinks. He saw another--the other his friend--pursuing and +intending to take what he wanted to be his and what had become to him more +than all else in the world; more than much eating and the skins of things +to keep him warm, more than a mammoth's tooth to carve, more than the +glorious skin of the great cave tiger, the possession of which made a rude +nobility, more than anything and all else! He leaped aside from the path. +He knew well the other path upon which were running Oak and Lightfoot. He +knew that he could intercept them, because, though the running was not so +good, the distance to be covered was much less, for to him path running +was a light matter. In the wood he ran as easily and leaped as well and +attained a point almost as quickly as the beasts. There was a stress of +effort and, as the shadows deepened, he burst in upon the cross path where +he knew were the fleeing Lightfoot and following Oak. He had thought to +head them off, but Ab was not the only man who was swift of foot in the +cave country. They passed, almost as he bounded from the forest. He saw +them close together not many yards ahead of him and, with a shout of rage, +bent himself in swift and terrible pursuit again. + +It was all plain to Ab now as he flew along, unnoted by the two ahead of +him. He knew that Oak had, like him, determined to own Lightfoot, and had +like him, been seeking her. Only chance had made the chase thus cross +Oak's path; but that made no difference. There must be a grim meeting +soon. Ab could see that the endurance of the wonderfully fleet-footed +woman was not equal to that of the man so near her. She would soon be +overtaken. Before her rose the hill, not a mile in its slope, where were +her father's cave, and safety. He knew that she had not the strength to +breast it fleetly enough for covert. And, as he looked, he saw the girl +turn a frightened face toward her close pursuer and knew that she saw him +as well. Her pace slackened for a moment as this revelation came to her, +and he felt, somehow, that in him she recognized comparative protection. +Then she recovered herself and bent all the power she had toward the +ascent. But Oak had been gaining steadily, and now, with a sudden rush, he +reached her and grasped her, the woman shrieking wildly. A moment later Ab +rushed in upon them with a shout. Instinctively Oak released the girl, for +in the cry he heard that which meant menace and immediate danger. As +Lightfoot felt herself free she stood for a moment or two without a +movement, with wide-open eyes, looking upon what was happening before her. +Then she bounded away, not looking backward as she ran. + +[Illustration: AB STOOD THERE WEAPONLESS, A CREATURE WANDERING OF MIND] + +The two men stood there glaring at each other, Oak perched, and yet not +perched, so broad and perfect was his foothold, on the crest of a slight +shelf of the downward slope. There stood the two men, poised, the one +above, the other below, two who had been as close together from childhood +as all the attributes of mind and body might allow, and yet now as far +apart as human beings may be. They were beautiful in a way, each in his +murderous, unconscious posing for the leap. The sun hit the blue ax of Oak +and made it look a gray. The raised ax of Ab, which was of a lighter +colored stone, was in the shade and its yellowness was darkened into +brown. The spectacle lasted for but a second. As Oak leaped Ab bounded +aside and they stood upon a level, a tiny plateau, and there was fierce, +strong fencing. One could not note its methods; even the keen-eyed +wolverine, crouching low upon an adjacent monster limb, could never have +followed the swift movements of these stone axes. The dreadful play was +brief. The clash of stone together ceased as there came a duller sound, +which told that stone had bitten bone. Oak, slightly the higher of the +two, as they stood thus in the fray, leaned forward suddenly, his arms +aloft, while from his hand dropped the blue ax. He floundered down +uncouthly and grasped the beech leaves with his hands, and then lay still. +Ab stood there weaponless, a creature wandering of mind. His yellow ax had +parted from his hand, sunk deeply into the skull of Oak, and he looked +upon it curiously and vacantly. He was not sane. He stepped forward and +pulled the ax away and lifted it to a level with his eyes and went to +where the sunlight shone. The ax was not yellow any more. Meanwhile a girl +was flitting toward her home and the shadows of the waning day were +deepening. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +A RACE WITH DREAD. + +Ab looked toward the forest wherein Lightfoot had fled and then looked +upon that which lay at his feet. It was Oak--there were the form and +features of his friend--but, somehow, it was not Oak. There was too much +silence and the blood upon the leaves seemed far too bright. His rage +departed, and he wanted Oak to answer and called to him, but Oak did not +answer. Then came slowly to him the idea that Oak was dead and that the +wild beasts would that night devour the dead man where he lay. The thought +nerved him to desperate, sudden action. He leaped forward, he put his arms +about the body and carried it away to a hollow in the wooded slope. He +worked madly, doing some things as he had seen the cave people do at other +buryings. He placed the weapons of Oak beside him. He took from his belt +his own knife, because it was better than that of Oak, and laid it close +to the dead man's hand, and then, first covering the body with beech +leaves, he worked frantically upon the overhanging soil, prying it down +with a sharp-pointed fragment of limb, and tossing in upon all as heavy +stones as he could lift, until a great cairn rose above the hunter who +would hunt no more. + +Panting with his efforts, Ab sat himself down upon a rock and looked upon +the monument he had raised. Again he called to Oak, but there was still no +answer. The sun had set, evening shadows thickened around him. Then there +came upon the live man a feeling as dreadful as it was new, and, with a +yell, which was almost a shriek, he leaped to his feet and bounded away in +fearful flight. + +He only knew this, that there was something hurt his inside of body and +soul, but not the inside of him as it had been when once he had eaten +poisonous berries or when he had eaten too much of the little deer. It was +something different. It was an awful oppression, which seemed to leave his +body, in a manner, unfeeling but which had a great dread about it and +which made him think and think of the dead man, and made him want to run +away and keep running. He had always run far that day, but he was not +tired now. His legs seemed to have the hard sinews of the stag in them but +up toward the top of him was something for them to carry away as fast and +far as possible from somewhere. He raced from the dense woodland down into +the broad morass to the west--beyond which was the rock country--and into +which he had rarely ventured, so treacherous its ways. What cared he now! +He made great leaps and his muscles and sinews responded to the thought of +him. To cross that morass safely required a touch on tussocks and an +upbounding aside, a zig-zag exhibition of great strength and knowingness +and recklessness. But it was unreasoning; it was the instinct begotten of +long training and, now, of the absence of all nervousness. Each taut toe +touched each point of bearing just as was required above the quagmire, +and, all unperceiving and uncaring, he fled over dirty death as easily as +he might have run upon some hardened woodland pathway. He did not think +nor know nor care about what he was doing. He was only running away from +the something he had never known before! Why should he be running now? He +had killed things before and not cared and had forgotten. Why should he +care now? But there was the something which made him run. And where was +Oak? Would Oak meet him again and would they hunt together? No, Oak would +not come, and he, this Ab, had made it so! He must run. No one was +following him--he knew that--but he must run! + +The marsh was passed, night had fallen, but he ran on, pressing into the +bear and tiger haunted forest beyond. Anything, anything, to make him +forget the strange feeling and the thing which made him run! He plunged +into a forest path, utterly reckless, wanting relief, a seeker for +whatever might come. + +In that age and under such conditions as to locality it was inevitable +that the creature, man, running through such a forest path at night, must +face some fierce creature of the carnivora seeking his body for food. Ab, +blinded of mood, cared not for and avoided not a fight, though it might be +with the monster bear or even the great tiger. There was no reason in his +madness. He was, though he knew it not, a practical suicide, yet one who +would die fighting. What to him were weight and strength to-night? What to +him were such encounters as might come with hungry four-footed things? It +would but relieve him were some of the beasts to try to gain his life and +eat his body. His being seemed valueless, and as for the wild beasts--and +here came out the splendid death-facing quality of the cave man--well, it +would be odd if there were not more deaths than one! But all this was +vague and only a minor part of thought. + +Sometimes, as if to invite death, he yelled as he ran. He yelled whenever +in his fleeting visions he saw Oak lying dead again. So ran the man who +had killed another. + +There was a growl ahead of him, a sudden breaking away of the bushes, and +then he was thrown back, stunned and bleeding, because a great paw had +smitten him. Whatever the beast might be, it was hungry and had found what +seemed easy prey. There was a difference, though, which the animal,--it +was doubtless a bear--unfortunately for him, did not comprehend, between +the quality of the being he proposed to eat just now and of other animals +included in his ordinary menu. But the bear did not reason; he but plunged +forward to crush out the remaining life of the runner his great paw had +driven back and down and then to enjoy his meal. + +The man was little hurt. His skin coat had somewhat protected him and his +sinewy body had such toughness that the hurling of it backward for a few +feet was not anything involving a fatality. Very surely and suddenly had +been thrust upon him now the practical lesson of being or dying, and it +was good for the half-crazed runner, for it cleared his mind. But it made +him no less desperate or careless. With strength almost maniacal he leaped +at what he would have fled from at any other time, and, swinging his ax +with the quickness of light, struck tremendously at the great lowering +head. He yelled again as he felt stone cut and crash into bone, though +himself swept aside once more as a great paw, sidestruck, hurled him into +the bushes. He bounded to his feet and saw something huge and dark and +gasping floundering in the pathway. He thought not but ran on panting. By +some strange freak of forest fortune abetting might the man wandering of +mind had driven his ax nearly to the haft into the skull of his huge +assailant. It may be that never before had a cave man, thus armed, done so +well. The slayer ran on wildly, and now weaponless. + +Soon to the runner the scene changed. The trees crowded each other less +closely and there was less of denned pathway. There came something of an +ascent and he breasted it, though less swiftly, for, despite the impelling +force, nature had claims, and muscles were wearying of their work. Fewer +and fewer grew the trees. He knew that he was where there was now a sweep +of rocky highlands and that he was not far from the Fire Country, of which +Old Mok had so often told him. He burst into the open, and as he came out +under the stars, which he could see again, he heard an ominous whine, too +near, and a distant howl behind him. A wolf pack wanted him. + +He shuddered as he ran. The life instinct was fully awakened in him now, +as the dread from which he had run became more distant. Had he heard that +close whine and distant howl before he fairly reached the open he would +have sought a treetop for refuge. Now it was too late. He must run ahead +blindly across the treeless space for such harborage as might come. Far +ahead of him he could see light, the light of fire, reaching out toward +him through the darkness. He was panting and wearied, but the sounds +behind him were spur enough to bring the nearly dead to life. He bowed his +head and ran with such effort as he had never made before in all his wild +and daring existence. + +The wolves of the time, greater, swifter and fiercer than the gaunt gray +wolves of northern latitudes and historic times, ran well, but so did +contemporaneous man run well, and the chase was hard. With his life to +save, Ab swept panting over the rocky ground with a swiftness begotten of +the grand last effort of remaining strength, running straight toward the +light, while the wolf pack, now gathered, hurled itself from the wood +behind and followed swiftly and relentlessly. Ever before the man shone +the light more brightly; ever behind him became more distinct the sound +made by the following pack. It was a dire strait for the running man. He +was no longer thinking of what he had lately done. He ran. + +[Illustration: WITH A GREAT LEAP HE WENT AT AND THROUGH THE CURLING CREST +OF THE YELLOW FLAME] + +The light he had seen extended as he neared it into what looked like a +great fence of flame lying across his way. There were gaps in the fence +where the flame, still continuous, was not so high as elsewhere. He did +not hesitate. He ran straight ahead. Closer and closer behind him crowded +the pursuing wolves, and straight at the flame he ran. There was one +chance in many, he thought, and he took it without hesitation. Close +before him now loomed the wall of flame. Close behind him slavering jaws +were working in anticipation, and there was a strain for the last rush. +There was no alternative. Straight at the fire wall where it was lowest +rushed Ab, and with a great leap he went at and through the curling crest +of the yellow flame! + +The man had found safety! There was a moment of heat and then he knew +himself to be sprawling upon green turf. A little of the strength of +desperation was still with him and he bounded to his feet and looked +about. There were no wolves. Beside him was a great flat rock, and he +clambered upon this, and then, over the crest of the flames could see +easily enough the glaring eyes of his late pursuers. They were running up +and down, raging for their prey, but kept from him beyond all peradventure +by the fire they could not face. Ab started upright on the rock panting +and defiant, a splendid creature erect there in the firelight. + +Soon there came to the man a more perfect sense of his safety. He shouted +aloud to the flitting, snarling creatures, which could not harm him now; +he stooped and found jagged stones, which he sent whirling among them. +There was a savage satisfaction in it. + +Suddenly the man fell to the ground, fairly groaning with exhaustion. +Nature had become indignant and the time for recuperation had been +reached. The wearied runner lay breathing heavily and was soon asleep. The +flames which had afforded safety gave also a grateful warmth in the chill +night, and so it was that scarcely had his body touched the ground when he +became oblivious to all about him, only the heaving of the broad chest +showing that the man lying fairly exposed in the light was a living thing. +The varying wind sometimes carried the sheet of flame to its utmost extent +toward him, so that the heat must have been intense, and again would carry +it in an opposite direction while the cold air swept down upon the +sleeping man. Nothing disturbed him. Inured alike to heat and cold, Ab +slept on, slept for hours the sleep which follows vast strain and +endurance in a healthy human being. Then the form lying on the ground +moved restlessly and muttered exclamations came from the lips. The man was +dreaming. + +For as the sleeper lay there--he remembered it when he awoke and wondered +over it many times in after years--Oak sprang through the flames, as he +himself had done, and soon lay panting by his side. The lapping of the +fire, the snapping and snarling of the wolves beyond and the familiar +sound of Oak's voice all mingled confusedly in his ears, and then he and +Oak raced together over the rough ground, and wrestled and fought and +played as they had wrestled and fought and played together for years. And +the hours passed and the wind changed and the flames almost scorched him +and Ab started up, looking about him into the wild aspect of the Fire +Country; for the night had passed and the sun had risen and set again +since the exhausted man had fallen upon the ground and become unconscious. + +Ab rolled instinctively a little away from the smoky sheets of flame and, +sitting up, looked for Oak. He could not see him. He ran wildly around +among the rocks looking for him and despairingly called aloud his name. +The moment his voice had been hoarsely lifted, "Oak!" the memory of all +that had happened rushed upon him. He stood there in the red firelight a +statue of despair. Oak was dead; he had killed Oak, and buried him with +his own hands, and yet he had seen Oak but a minute ago! He had bounded +through the flames and had wrestled and run races with Ab, and they had +talked together, and yet Oak must be lying in the ground back there in the +forest by the little hill. Oak was dead. How could he get out of the +ground? Fear clutched at Ab's heart, his limbs trembled under him. He +whimpered like a lost and friendless hound and crouched close to the +hospitable fire. His brain wavered under the stress of strange new +impressions. He recalled some mutterings of Old Mok about the dead, that +they had been seen after it was known that they were deep in the ground, +but he knew it was not good to speak or think of such things. Again Ab +sprang to his feet. It would not do to shut his eyes, for then he saw +plainly Oak in his shallow hole in the dark earth and the face Ab had +hurried to cover first when he was burying his friend, there under the +trees. And so the night wore away, sleep coming fitfully from time to +time. Ab could not explore his retreat in the strange firelight nor run +the risks of another night journey across the wild beasts' chosen country. +He began to be hungry, with the fierce hunger of brute strength, sharpened +by terrific labors, but he must wait for the morning. The night seemed +endless. There was no relief from the thoughts which tortured him, but, at +last, morning broke, and in action Ab found the escape he had longed for. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +THE FIRE COUNTRY. + +It was light now and the sun shone fairly on Ab's place of refuge. As his +senses brought to him full appreciation he wondered at the scene about +him. He was in a glade so depressed as to be a valley. About it, to the +east and north and west, in a wavering, tossing wall, rose the uplifting +line of fire through which he had leaped, though there were spaces where +the height was insignificant. On the south, and extending till it circled +a trifle to east, rose a wall of rock, evidently the end of a +forest-covered promontory, for trees grew thickly to its very edge and +their green branches overhung its sheer descent. Coming from some crevice +of the rocks on the east, and tumbling downward through the valley, was a +riotous brook, which disappeared through some opening at the west. Within +this area, thus hemmed in by fire and rock, appeared no living thing save +the birds which sang upon the bushes beside the small stream's banks and +the butterflies which hung above the flowers and all the insect world +which joined in the soft, humming chorus of the morning. It was something +that Ab looked upon with delighted wonder, but without understanding. What +he saw was not a marvel. It was but the result of one of many upheavals at +a time when the earth's cooled shell was somewhat thinner than now and +when earthquakes, though there were no cities to overthrow, at least made +havoc sometimes by changing the face of nature. There had come a great +semi-circular crack in the earth, near and extending to the line of the +sheer rock range. The natural gas, the product of the vegetation of +thousands of centuries before, had found a chance to escape and had poured +forth into the outer world. Something, perhaps a lightning stroke and a +flaming tree, perhaps some cave man making fire and consumed on the +instant when he succeeded, had ignited the sheet of rising gas, and the +result was the wall of flame. It was all natural and commonplace, for the +time. There were other upleaping flame sheets in the surrounding region +forever burning--as there are in northern Asia to-day--but Ab knew of +these fires only from Old Mok's tales. He stood wonderstruck at what he +saw about him. + +But this man in the valley was young and very strong, with tissues to be +renewed, and the physical man within him clamored and demanded. He must +eat. He ran forward and around, anxiously observant, and soon learned that +at the western end of the valley, where the little creek tumbled through a +rocky cut into a lower level, there was easy exit from the +fire-encompassed and protected area. He clambered along the creek's rough, +descending side. He emerged upon an easier slope and then found it +possible to climb the hillside to the plane of the great wood. There must, +he thought, be food of some sort, even for a man with only Oak's knife in +his possession! There was the forest and there were nuts. He was in the +forest soon, among the gray-trunked, black-mottled beeches and the rough +brown oaks. He found something of what he sought, the nuts lying under +shed leaves, though the supply was scant. But nuts, to the cave man, made +moderately good food, supplying a part of the sustenance he required, and +Ab ate of what he could find and arose from the devouring search and +looked about him. + +He was weaponless, save for the knife, and a flint knife was but a thing +for closest struggle. He longed now for his ax and spear and the strong +bow which could hurt so at a distance. But there was one sort of weapon to +be had. There was the club. He wandered about among the tops of fallen +trees and wrenched at their dried limbs, and finally tore one away and +broke off, later, with a prying leverage, what made a rough but available +club for a cave man's purposes. It was much better than nothing. Then +began a steady trot toward what should be fair life again. There were +vague paths through the forest made by wild beasts. As he moved the man +thought deeply. + +He thought of the fire-wall, and could not with all his reasoning +determine upon the cause of its existence, and so abandoned the subject as +a thing, the nub of which was unreachable. That was the freshest object in +his mind and the first to be mentally disposed of. But there were other +subjects which came in swift succession. As he went along with a dog's +gait he was not in much terror, practically weaponless as he was. His eye +was good and he was going through the forest in the daylight. He was +strong enough, club in hand, to meet the minor beasts. As for the others, +if any of them appeared, there were the trees, and he could climb. So, as +he trotted he could afford to think. + +And he thought much that day, this perplexed man, our grandfather with so +many "greats" before the word. He had nothing to divert him even in the +selection of the course toward his cave. He noted not where the sun stood, +nor in what direction the tiny head-waters of the rivulets took their +course, nor how the moss grew on the trees. He traveled in the wood by +instinct, by some almost unexplainable gift which comes to the thing of +the woods. The wolf has it; the Indian has it; sometimes the white man of +to-day has it. + +As he went Ab engaged in deeper and more sustained thought than ever +before in all his life. He was alone; new and strange scenes had enlarged +his knowledge and swift happenings had made keener his perceptions. For +days his entire being had been powerfully affected by his meeting with +Lightfoot at the Feast of the Mammoth and the events which had followed +that meeting in such swift succession. The tragedy of Oak's death had +quickened his sensibilities. Besides, what had ensued latest had been what +was required to make him in a condition for the divination of things. The +wise agree that much stimulant or much deprivation enables the brain +convolutions to do their work well, though deprivation gets the cleaner +end. The asceticism of Marcus Aurelius was productive of greater results +than the deep drinking of any gallant young Roman man of letters of whom +he was a patron. The literature of fasting thinkers is something fine. Ab, +after exerting his strength to the utmost for days, had not eaten of +flesh, and the strong influences to which he was subjected were exerted +upon a man still, practically, fasting. For a time, the rude and +earth-born child of the cave was lifted into a region of comparative +sentiment and imagination. It was an experience which affected materially +all his later life. + +Ever to the trotting man came the feelings which must follow fierce love +and deadly action and vague remorse and fear of something indefinable. He +saw the face and form of Lightfoot; he saw again the struggle, +death-ending, with the friend of youth and of mutual growing into manhood. +He remembered dimly the half insane flight, the leaps across the dreaded +morass and, more distinctly, the chase by the wolves. The aspect of the +Fire Country and of all that followed his awakening was, of course, yet +fresh in his mind. He was burdened. + +Ever uprising and oppressing above all else was the memory of the man he +had killed and buried, covering the face first, so that it might not look +at him. Was Oak really dead? he asked himself again! Had not he, Ab, as +soon as he slept again, seen, alive and well, the close friend of his? He +clung to the vision. He reasoned as deeply as it was in him to reason. + +As he struggled in his mind to obtain light there came to him the fancy of +other things dimly related to the death mystery which had perplexed him +and all his kind. There must be some one who made the river rise and fall +or the nut-bearing forest be either fruitful or the hard reverse. Who and +what could it be? What should he do, what should all his friends do in the +matter of relation to this unknown thing? + +With this day and hour did not come really the beginning of Ab's thought +upon the subject of what was, to him and those he knew, the supernatural. +He had thought in the past--he could not help it--of the shadow and the +echo. He remembered how he and Oak had talked about the echo, and how they +had tried to get rid of the thing which had more than once called back to +them insolently across the valley. Every word they shouted this hidden +creature would mockingly repeat and there was no recourse for them. They +had once fully armed themselves and, in a burst of desperate bravery, had +resolved to find who and what the owner of this voice was and have, at +least, a fight. They had crossed the valley and ranged about the woodland +whence the voice seemed to have come, but they never found what they +sought! + +The shadow which pursued them on sunny afternoons had puzzled them in +another way. Very persistent had been the flat, black, earth-clinging and +distorted thing which followed them so everywhere. What was this black, +following thing, anyhow, this thing which swung its unsubstantial body +around as one moved but which ever kept its own feet at the feet of the +pursued, wherever there was no shade, and which lay there beside one so +persistently? + +But the echoes and the shadows were nothing as compared with the things +which came to one at night. What were those creatures which came when a +man was sleeping? Why did they escape with the dawn and appear again only +when he was asleep and helpless, at least until he awoke fairly and seized +his ax? + +The sun rose high and dropped slowly down toward the west, where the far +ocean was, and the shadows somewhat lengthened, but it was still light +along the forest pathways and the untiring man still hurried on. He was +now close to his country and becoming careless and at ease. But his +imagination was still busy; he could not free himself of memory. There +came to him still the vision of the friend he had buried, hiding his face +first of all. The frenzy of his wish for knowing rushed again upon him. +Where was Oak now? he demanded of himself and of all nature. "Where is +Oak?" he yelled to the familiar trees beside his path. But the trees, even +to the cave man, so close to them in the economy of wild life, so like +them in his naturalness, could give no answer. + +So the cave man struggled in his dim, uncertain way with the eternal +question: "If a man die shall he live again?" So the human mind still +struggles, after thousands of centuries have contributed to its +development. A wall more impassable than the wall of flame Ab had so +lately looked upon still rises between us and those who no longer live. We +reach out for some knowledge of those who have died, and go almost into +madness because we can grasp nothing. Silence unbroken, darkness +impenetrable ever guard the mystery of death. In the long ages since the +cave man ran that day, love and hope have in faith erected, beyond the +grim barriers of blackness and despair, fair pavilions of promise and +consolation, but to the stern examiners of physical fact and reality there +has come no news from beyond the walls of silence since. We clamor +tearfully for some word from those who are dead, but no answer comes. So +Ab groped and strove alone in the forest, in his youth and ignorance, and +in the youth and ignorance of our race. + +Upon the pathway along the river's bank Ab emerged at last. All was +familiar to him now. There, by the clump of trees in the flat below, was +the place where he and Oak had dug the pit when they were but mere boys +and had learned their first important lessons in sterner woodcraft. Soon +came in sight, as he ran, the entrance to the cave of his own family. He +was home again. But he was not the one who had left that rude habitation +three days before. He had gone away a youth. He had come back one who had +suffered and thought. He came back a man. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +THE WOOING OF LIGHTFOOT. + +Lightfoot, when Ab seized Oak, had fled away from the two infuriated men, +as the hare runs, and had sped into the forest. She had the impetus of new +fear now and ran swiftly as became her name, never looking behind her, nor +did she slacken her pace, though panting and exhausted, until she found +herself approaching the cave where lived her playmate, Moonface, not more +than an hour's run from her own home. + +The fleeing girl was fortunate in stumbling upon her friend as soon as she +came into the open space about the cave. Moonface was enjoying herself +lazily that afternoon. She was leaning back idly in a swing of vines to +which she had braided a flexible back, and was blinking somnolently in the +sunshine as the visitor leaped from the wood. Moonface recognized her +friend, gave a quavering cry of delight and came slipping and rolling +recklessly to the ground to meet her. Lightfoot uttered no word. She stood +breathless, and was rather carried than led by Moonface to an easy seat, +moss-padded, upon twisted tree roots, which was that young lady's ordinary +resting-place. Upon this seat the two sank, one overcome with past fear +and present fatigue, and the other with an all-absorbing and demanding +curiosity. It was beyond the ordinary scope of the self-restraining forces +in Moonface to await with calm the recovery of Lightfoot's breath and +powers of conversation. She pinched and shook her friend and demanded, +half-crying but impatiently, some explanation. It was a great hour for +Moonface, the greatest in her life. Here was her friend and dictator +panting and terrified like some weak, hunted-down thing of the wood. It +was a marvel. At last Lightfoot spoke: + +"They are fighting at the foot of the hill!" she said, and Moonface at +once guessed the whole story, for she was not blind, this wide-mouthed +creature. + +"Why did you run away?" she asked. + +"I ran because I was scared. One of them must be dead before this time. I +am glad I am alive myself," Lightfoot gasped. Then the girl covered her +face with her hands as she recalled Ab's face, distorted by passion and +murderous hate, and Oak's equally maddened look as, before the onrush, he +had grasped her so firmly that the marks of his fingers remained blue upon +her arms and slender waist and neck. + +Then Lightfoot, slow to regain her composure, told tremblingly the story +of all that had occurred, finding comfort in the unaffrighted look upon +the face, as well as in the reassuring talk, of her easy-going, +unimaginative and cheerful and faithful companion. She remained as a guest +at the cave overnight and the next forenoon, when she took her way for +home, she was accompanied by Moonface. Gradually, as the hours passed, +Lightfoot regained something of her usual frame of mind and a little of +her ordinary manner of careless light-heartedness, but when home had been +reached and the girls had rested and eaten and she heard Moonface telling +anew for her the story of the flight in the wood, while her father, +Hilltop, and her two strapping brothers listened with interest, but with +no degree of excitement, she felt again the wild alarm and horror and +uncertainty which had affected her when first she fled from what was to +her so dreadful. She crept away from the cave door near which the others +sat enjoying the balmy midsummer afternoon, beckoning to one of her +brothers to follow her, as the big fellow did unquestioningly, for +Lightfoot had been, almost from young girlhood, the dominant force in the +family, even the strong father, though it was contrary to the spirit of +the time, admiring and yielding to his one daughter without much comment. +The great, hulking youth, well armed and ready for any adventure, joined +her, nothing both, and the two disappeared, like shadows, in the depths of +the forest. + +Lightfoot had been the housekeeper in the cave of Hilltop, the cave of the +greatest hunter of the region, young despite the years which had +encompassed him, and father of two boys who were fine specimens of the +better men of the time. They were splendid whelps, and this slim thing, +whom they had cared for as she grew, dominated them easily, though the age +was not one of vast family affection, while chivalry, of course, did not +exist. Hilltop's wife had died two years before, and Lightfoot, with +unconscious force, had taken her mother's place. There was none other with +woman's ways to help the men in the rock-guarded home on the windy hill. +Hilltop had not been altogether unthinking all this time. He had often +looked upon his daughter's friend, the jolly, swart and well-fed Moonface, +and had much approved of her, but, today, as he listened to her story, he +did not pay such attention as was demanded by the interest of the theme. +An occasional death, though it were the killing of one cave man by +another, was not a matter of huge importance. He was not inflamed in any +way by what he heard, but as he looked and listened to the comfortable +young person who was speaking, the idea, hastened it may be by some loving +and domestic instinct, grew slowly in his brain that she might make for +him as excellent a mate as any other of the "good matches" to be found in +the immediately surrounding country. He was a most directly reasoning +person, this Hilltop, best of hunters and generally respected on the +forest ridges. After the thought once dawned upon him, it grew and grew, +and an idea fairly developed in Hilltop's mind meant action. His +fifty-five years of age had hardly cooled and had certainly not nearly +approached to freezing the blood in his outstanding veins. He had a suit +to make, and make at once. That he might have no interruption he bade +Stone-Arm, his remaining son, who sat on a rock near by, and who had +listened, open-mouthed, to the recital of Moonface, to seek his brother +and Lightfoot in the forest path. There might be beasts abroad and two men +were better than one, said this crafty father-hunter-lover. + +The boy, clever tracker as a red Indian or Australian trailer, soon found +the path his brother and Lightfoot had taken and joined them. As he +listened to what they were saying he was glad he had been sent to follow +them. They were hastening toward the valley. The trees were beginning to +cast long shadows when the three came to where the more abrupt hillside +reached the slope and where the torn ground, broken limbs and twigs and +deep-indented footprints in the soil gave glaring evidence to the eye of +yesterday's struggle. But, aside from all this, there was something else. +There was a carpet of yellowish-brown leaves, at the edge of the circle of +fray, where a man had fallen. On the clean stretch of evenly rain-packed +leaves there were spots from which the scarlet had but lately faded into +crimson. There was a place where the surface was disturbed and sunken a +little. All three knew that a man had died there. + +The two young men and their sister stood together uttering no word. The +men were amazed. The woman half comprehended all. She did not hesitate a +moment. Guided by a sure instinct, Lightfoot reached, without thought or +conscious search, the spot of unnatural earth which reared itself so near +to them, the spot where was fresh stone-covered soil and where a man was +buried. The pile of stones, newly heaped upon the moist earth, told their +story. + +Someone was buried there, but whom? Was it Oak or Ab? + +"Shall I dig?" said Stone-Arm, making ready for the task, while Branch, +his elder brother, prepared for work as well. + +"No! No!" cried Lightfoot. "He is buried deep and the stones are over him. +It will be night soon and the wolves and hyenas would be here before we +could get away. Let it be. Someone is there, but the one who killed him +has buried him. He will come back!" The two boys were silent, and +Lightfoot led the way toward home. When the three reached the cave of +Hilltop the sun was setting. Something had happened at the cave, but there +arises at this point no stern demand for going into details. Hilltop, +brave man, was no laggard in wooing, and Moonface was not a nervous young +person. When the other members of the household reached the cave Moonface +was already installed as mistress. There would be no reprisals from an +injured family. The girl had lived with her ancient father, whom she had +half-supported and who would, possibly, be transplanted to Hilltop's cave +for such pottering life as he was still capable of during the rest of his +existence. The new regime was fairly established. + +The arrangement suited Lightfoot well enough. This astounding stepmother +had been her humble but faithful friend. Lightfoot was a ruling woman +spirit wherever she was, and she knew it, though she bowed at all times to +the rule of strength as the only law. Nevertheless she knew how to get her +own way. With Moonface, everything was easy for her and she found it +rather pleasant than otherwise to find the other young woman made suddenly +a permanent resident of the cave in which she had been born and had lived +all her life. As the two girls met, and the situation was curtly announced +by Hilltop, their faces were worth the seeing. There was alarm and +hopefulness upon the countenance of Moonface, sudden astonishment and +indignation, and then reflection, upon the face of Lightfoot. After a few +moments of thought both girls laughed cheerfully. + +The story of the newly found grave made but little impression upon the +group and Lightfoot, the only one of the household who thought much about +it, thought silently. To her the single question was: "Who lay there?" +There was nothing strange to the others of the family in the thought that +one man should have killed another, and no one attached blame to or +proposed punishment of the slayer. Sometimes after such a happening, the +cave man who had slain another might have a rock rolled suddenly upon him +from a height, or in passing a thicket have the flint head of a spear +driven through him, but this was only the deed, perhaps, of an enraged +father or brother, not in any sense a matter of course in the way of +justice, and even such attempt at reprisal was not the rule. + +But in the bosom of Lightfoot was a weight like a stone. It was as heavy, +she thought, as one of the stones on the bare ground over the body of the +man who lay there in the dark earth, because he had run after her. Who was +it? It might be Ab! And all through the night the girl tossed uneasily on +her bed of leaves, as she did for nights to come. + +As for Moonface, who shall say what that rotund and hairy young person +thought when the family had settled down to the changed order of things +and she had adjusted herself to the duties of a matron in her new home? +She was not less broadly buoyant and beaming, but who can tell that, when +she noted Lightfoot's burning look and thoughtful mien, Moonface did not +sometimes think of the two young men who, but yesterday, had rejoiced in +such strength and vigor and charm of power and who were so good to look +upon? She was a wife now, but to another sort of man. Even the feminine +among writers of erotic novels have not yet revealed what the young moon +thinks when she "holds the old moon in her arms." Anyhow, Hilltop was a +defense and a great provider of food. He was a fine figure of a man, too. + +[Illustration: THE GIRL COWERED BEHIND A REFUGE OF LEAVES AND BRANCHES] + +Lightfoot was not much in the cave now. She lingered about the open space +or wandered in the near wood. A woman's instinct told her to be out-doors +all the time she could. A man would seek her, but with the thought came an +awful dread. Which man? One afternoon she saw something. + +Two gray forms flitted across an open space in the forest near the cave, +and in a moment the girl was in a treetop. What followed was the +unexpected. Close behind the gray things came a man, fully armed, +straight, eager and alert and silent in his wood surroundings, with eyes +roving over and searching all the open space about the cave of Hilltop. +The man was Ab. + +The girl gave a shriek of delight, then, alarmed at the sound she had +made, cowered behind a refuge of leaves and branches. She was happy beyond +all her experience before. The question which had been in all her thoughts +was answered! It was Oak, not Ab, who lay in the ground on the hillside. +And, even as she realized this fully, there was a swift upward scramble +and the young cave man was beside her on the limb. There was no running +away this time. The girl's face told its story well enough, so well that +Ab, still lately doubting, though resolved, knew that his fitting mate +belonged to him. There came to them the happiness which ever comes to +lovers, be they man or bird or beast, and then came swift conclusion. He +told her she must go with him at once, told her of the new cave and of all +he had done, but the girl, well aware of the dangers of the beast-haunted +region where the new home had been selected, was thoroughly alarmed. Then +Ab told her of the little flying spears which Old Mok had made for him, +and about the wonderful bow which sent them to their mark, and the girl +was reassured and soon began to feel exceedingly brave and proud of her +lover and his prowess. + +No need of carrying off a girl by force or craft on this occasion, for +Hilltop had fully recognized Ab's strength and quality. The two went to +the cave together and there was eating and then, later, two skin-clad +human beings, a man and a woman, went away together through the forest. +Their journey was a long one and a careful lookout was necessary as they +hurried along a pathway of the strange country. But the cave was reached +at last, just as the sun burned red and gave a rosy glow to everything. + +Silently the two came into the open space in front of what was to be their +fortress and abode. Solid was the rock about the entrance and narrow the +blocked opening. Smoke curled in a pretty spiral upward from where +smoldered the fire Ab had made the day before. Lightfoot looked upon it +all and laughed joyously, though tremblingly, for she had now given +herself to a man and he had brought her to his place of living. + +As for the man, he looked down upon the girl delightedly. His pulse beat +fast. He put his arm about her and together they entered the cave. There +was a marriage but no ceremony. Just as robins mate when they have met or +as the buck and doe, so faithful man and wife became these two. + +Darkness fell, the fire at the cave entrance flashed up fiercely and Ab +and Lightfoot were "at home." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +THE HONEYMOON. + +The sun shone brilliantly, birds were singing and the balsam firs gave +forth their morning incense as Ab and Lightfoot issued from their cave. +They had eaten heartily, and came out buoyant and delighted with the +world which was theirs. The chattering of the waterfowl along the river +reached their ears faintly, the leaves were moved by a gentle breeze, +there was a hum of insects in the air and the very pulse of living could +be felt. Ab carried his new weapon proudly, hungering for the love and +admiration of this girl of his, and eager to show her its powers and to +exhibit his own skill. At his back hung his quiver of mammoth bone. His +bow, unstrung, was in his hand. In front of the cave was a bare area of +many yards in extent, then came a few scattering trees and, at a distance +of perhaps two hundred yards, the forest began. Across the open space of +ground, with its great mass of branches crushed together not far from the +cave's mouth, had fallen one of the gigantic conifers' of the time, and +was there gradually decaying, its huge limbs and bole, disintegrating, +and dry as punk, affording, close at hand, a vast fuel supply, the +exceptional value of which Ab had recognized when making his selection of +a home. Near the edge of the little clearing made by nature, Ab seated +himself upon a log, and drawing Lightfoot down to a seat beside him, +began enthusiastically to make clear the marvels of the weapon he had +devised and which he and Old Mok had developed into something startling +in its possibilities. + +All details of the explanation made by the earnest young hunter, it is +probable, Lightfoot did not comprehend. She looked proudly at him, +fingering the flint pointed arrows curiously, yet seemed rather intent +upon the man than the wood and stone. But when he pointed at a great knot +in a tree near them and bent his bow and sent an arrow fairly into the +target, and when, even with her strength, Lightfoot could not pull the +arrow out, she was wild with admiration and excitement. She begged to be +taught how to use, herself, this wonderful new weapon, for she recognized +as readily as could anyone its adaptation to the use of one of inferior +strength. The delighted lover was certainly as desirous as she that she +should some day become an expert. He handed her the bow, retaining, slung +over his shoulder, fortunately, as it developed, the bone quiver full of +Old Mok's best arrows. He taught her, first, how to bend and string the +bow. There were failures and successes, and there was much laughter from +the merry-hearted Lightfoot. Finally, it happened that Ab was not just +content with the quality of the particular arrow which he had selected +for Lightfoot's use. He had taken a slender one with a clean flint head, +but something about the notch had not quite suited him. With a thin, hard +stone scraper, carried in a pouch of his furry garb, he began rasping and +filing at this notch to make it better fit the string of tendons, while +Lightfoot, with the bow still strung, stood beside him. At last, tired of +holding the thing in her hands, she passed it over her head and one +shoulder and stood there jauntily, with both hands free, while the man +scraped away with the one little flake of flint in his possession, and, +as he worked, paused from time to time note how well he was rounding the +notch in the end of the slight hardwood shaft. It was just as he was +holding up to her eyes the arrow, now made almost an ideal one, according +to his fancy, when there came to the ears of the two a sound, distinct, +ominous and implying to them deadly peril, a sound such that, though +nerves spoke and muscles acted, they were very near the momentary +paralysis which sometimes come from sudden fearful shock. From close +beside them came the half grunt and half growl of the great cave bear! + +With the instinct born of generations, each leaped independently toward +the nearest tree, and, with the unconscious strength and celerity which +comes to even wild animals with the dread of death at hand, each +clambered to a treetop before a word was spoken. Scarcely had either left +the ground before there was a rush into the open glade of a huge brown +hairy form, and this was instantly followed by another. As Ab and +Lightfoot climbed far amid the branches and looked down, they saw +upreared at the base of each tree the figure of one of the monsters whose +hungry exclamations they knew so well. They had been careless, these two +lovers, especially the man. He had known well, but for the moment had +forgotten how beast-infested was the immediate area about his new home, +and now had come the consequence of his thoughtlessness. He and his wife +had been driven to the treetops within a few yards of their own +hearthstone, leaving their weapons inside their cave! + +Alarmed and panting, after settling down to a firm seat far aloft, each +looked about to see what had become of the other. Each was at once +reassured as to the present, and each became much perplexed as to the +future. The cave bear, like his weaker and degenerate descendant, the +grizzly of to-day, had the quality of persistence well developed, and +both Ab and Lightfoot knew that the siege of their enemies would be +something more than for the moment. The trees in which they perched were +very close to the wood, but not so close that the forest could be reached +by passing from branch to branch. Their two trees were not far from each +other, but their branches did not intermingle. There was a distinct +opening between them. The tree up which Lightfoot had scrambled was a +great fir towering high above the strong beech in which Ab had found his +safety. Branches of the fir hung down until between their ends and Ab's +less lofty covert there were but a few yards of space. Still, one trying +to reach the beech from the lofty fir would find an unpleasantly wide +gap. + +Each of the creatures in the tree was unarmed. Ab still bore the quiver +full of admirable arrows, and across the breast of Lightfoot still hung +the strong bow which she had slung about her in such blithesome mood. +Soon began an exceedingly earnest conversation. Ab, eager to reach again +the fair creature who now belonged to him, was half frantic with rage, +and Lightfoot was far from her usual mood of careless gaiety. The two +talked and considered, though but to little purpose, and, finally, after +weary hours, the night came on. It was a trying situation. Man and woman +were in equal danger. The bears were hungry--and the cave bear knew his +quarry. The beasts beneath were not disposed to leave the prey they had +imprisoned aloft. The night grew, but either Ab or Lightfoot, looking +down, could see the glare of small, hungry eyes. There was gentle talk +between the two, for this was a great strait and, in straits, souls, be +they prehistoric, historic or of to-day, always come closer together. +Very much more loving lovers, even, than they were before, became the two +perched aloft that night. It was a comfort for the wedded pair to call to +each other through the darkness. After a time, however, muscles grew lax +with the continued strain. Weariness clouded the spirits of the couple +and almost overcame them and only the thing which has always, in great +stress, given the greatest strength in this world--the love of male and +female--sustained them. They stood the test pretty well. To sleep in a +tree top was an easy thing for them, with the precautions, simple and +natural, of the time. Each plaited a withe of twigs with which to be tied +to the tree or limb, and resting in the hollow nest where some great limb +joined the bole, slept as sleep tired children, until the awakening of +nature awoke these who were nature's own. When Ab awoke, he had more on +his mind than Lightfoot, for he was the one who must care for the two. He +blinked and wondered where he was. Then he remembered all, suddenly. He +looked across anxiously at a slender brown thing lying asleep, coiled so +close to the bole of the tree to which she was bound that she seemed +almost a part of it. Then he looked down, and, after what he saw, thought +very seriously. The bears were there! He looked up at the bright sky and +all about him, and inhaled all the fragrance of the forest, and felt +strong, and that he knew what he should do. He called aloud. + +The girl awoke, frightened. She would have fallen had she not been bound +to the tree. Gradually, the full meaning of the situation dawned upon her +and she began to cry. She was hungry, her limbs were stiffened by her +bands, and there was death below. But there, close to her, was the Man. +His voice gradually reassured her. He was becoming angry now, almost +raging. Here he was, the lord of a cave, independent and master as much +as any other man whom he knew, perched in one tree while his bride of a +day was in the top of another, yet kept apart from her by the brutes +below! + +He had decided what to do, and now he talked to Lightfoot with all the +frankness of the strong male who felt that he had another to care for, +and who realized his responsibility and authority together. As the +strength and decided personality of the young man came to her through his +voice, the young woman drew her scanty fur robe about her and checked her +tears. She became comparatively calm and reasonable. + +The tree in which Lightfoot had found refuge had many long slender +branches lowering toward the giant beech into which the man had made his +retreat. Ab argued that it was possible--barely possible--for Lightfoot's +compact, agile, slender body to be launched in just the right way from +one of the branches of the taller tree, and, swinging in its descent +across the space between the two, lodge among the branches of the beech +with him. Strong arms ready to clasp her as she came and to withstand the +shock and to hold her safely he promised and, to enforce his plea, he +pointed out that, unless they thus took their fate in hand, there was +starvation awaiting them as they were, while carrying out his plan, if +any accident befell, there was only swift though dreadful death to reckon +with. There was one chance for their lives and that chance must be taken. +Ab called to his young wife: + +"Crawl out upon a branch above me, swing down from it, swing hard and +throw yourself to me. I will catch you and hold you. I am strong." + +The woman, with all faith in the man, still demurred. It was a great +test, even for the times and the occasion. But hunger was upon her and +she was cold and was, naturally, very brave. She lowered herself and +climbed down and reached an out-extending limb, and there, across the +gap, she saw Ab with his strong legs twined about the uprearing branch +along which he laid, with giant brown arms stretched out confidently and +with eyes steadily regarding her, eyes which had love and longing and a +lot of fight in them. She walked out along the limb, holding herself +safely by a firm hand-hold on the limb above, until the one her bare feet +rested upon swayed and tipped uncertainly. Then came her time of trial of +nerve and trust. Suddenly she stooped, caught the lower limb with her +hands and then swung beneath it, hanging by her hands alone, and, hand +over hand, passed herself along until she reached almost its end. Then +she began swaying back and forth. She was but a few yards above Ab now, +dangling in mid-air, while, below her, the two hungry bears had rushed +together and were looking upward with red, anticipating eyes, the ooze +coming from their mouths. The moment was awful. Soon she must be a +mangled thing devoured by frightful beasts, or else a woman with a life +renewed. She looked at Ab, and, with courage regained, prepared for the +great effort which must end all or gain a better lease of life. + +She swung back and forth, each drawing up and outreach and flexible +motion of her arms giving more momentum to the sway and conserving force +for the launch of herself she was about to make. The desperation and +strength of a wood-wise creature, so bravely combined, alone enabled her +to obey Ab's hoarse command. + +Ab, with his arms outreaching in their strength, feeling the fierce eyes +of the hungry bears below boring into his very heart, leaned forward and +upward as the swing of the woman reached its climax. With a cry of +warning, the woman launched herself and shot downward and forward, like a +bolt to its mark, a very desirable lump of femininity as appearing in +mid-air, but one somewhat forcible in its alighting. + +Ab was strong, but when that girl landed fairly in his brawny arms, as +she did beautifully, it was touch and go, for a fraction of a second, +whether both should fall to the ground together or both be saved. He +caught her deftly, but there was a great shock and swing and then, with a +vast effort, there came recovery and the man drew himself, shaking, back +to the support of the branch from which he had been almost wrenched away, +at the same time placing beside him the object he had just caught. + +There was absolute silence for a moment or two between these +unconventional lovers to whom had come escape from a hard situation. They +were drawing deep breaths and recovering an equilibrium. There they sat +together on the strong branch, each of them as secure and, for the +moment, as perfectly at home as if lying on a couch in the cave. Each of +them was panting and each of them rejoicing. It was unlikely that upon +their trained, robust nerves the life-endangering episode of a moment +could have a more than passing effect. They sat so together for some +minutes with arms entwined, still drawing deep breaths, and, a little +later, began to laugh chucklingly, as breath came to be spared for such +exhibition if human feeling. Gradually, the indrawing and expelling of +the glorious air shortened. The two had regained their normal condition +and Ab's face lengthened and the lines upon it became more distinct. He +was all himself again, but in no dallying mood. He gave a triumphant +whoop which echoed through the forest, shook his clenched hand savagely +at the brutes below and reached toward Lightfoot for the bow which hung +about her shoulders. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +MORE OF THE HONEYMOON. + +The brown, downy woman knew, on the instant, what was her husband's mood +and immediate intent when he thus shouted and took into his own keeping +again the stiff bow which hung about her shoulders. She knew that her +lord was not merely in a glad, but that he was also in a vengeful frame +of mind, that he wanted from her what would enable him to kill things, +and that, equipped again, he was full of the spirit of fight. She knew +that, of the four animals grouped together, two huge creatures of the +ground and two slighter ones perched in a tree top, the chances were that +the condition of those below had suddenly become the less preferable. + +The bow was about Ab's shoulders instantly, and then this preposterous +young gentleman of the period turned to the woman and laughed, and caught +her in one of his arms a little closer, and drew her up against him and +laid his cheek against her own for a moment and drew it away and laughed +again. The kiss, it is believed, had not fully developed itself in the +cave man's time, but there were substitutes. Then, releasing her, he said +gleefully and chucklingly, "follow me;" and they clambered down the bole +of the beech together until they reached the biggest and very lowest limb +of all. It was perhaps twenty feet above the ground. A little below their +dangling feet the hungry bears, hitherto more patient, now, with their +expected prey so close at hand, becoming desperately excited, ran about, +frothing and foaming and red-eyed, uprearing themselves in awful +nearness, at times, in their eagerness to reach the prey which they had +so awaited and which, to their intelligence, seemed about falling into +their jaws. They had so driven into trees before, and finally consumed +exhausted cave men and women. As bears went, they were doubtless logical +animals. They could not know that there had come into possession of this +particular pair of creatures of the sort they had occasionally eaten, a +trifling thing of wood and sinew string and flint point, which was +destined henceforth to make a decided change in the relative condition of +the biped and quadruped hunters of the time. How could they know that +something small and sharp would fly down and sting them more deeply than +they had ever been stung before, that it would sting so deeply that their +arteries might be cut, or their hearts pierced and that then they must +lie down and die? The well-thrown spear had been, in other ages, a vast +surprise to the carnivora of the period, but there was something yet to +learn. + +When they had reached the huge branch so near the ground both Ab and +Lightfoot were for a moment startled and lifted their feet instinctively, +but it was only for a moment in the case of the man. He knew that he was +perfectly safe and that he had with him an engine of death. He selected +his best and strongest arrow, he fitted it carefully to the string and +then, as his mother had done years before above the hyena which sought +her child, he reached one foot down as far as he could, and swung it back +and forth tantalizingly, just above the larger of the hungry beasts +below. The monster, fierce with hunger and the desire for prey, roared +aloud and upreared himself by the tree trunk and tore the bark with his +strong claws, throwing back his great head as he looked upward at the +quarry so near him and yet just beyond his reach. This was the man's +opportunity. Ab drew back the arrow till the flint head rested close by +his out-straining hand and the tough wood of the bow creaked under the +thrust of his muscled arm. Then he released the shaft. So close together +were man and bear that archer's skill of aim was not required. The brown +target could not be missed. The arrow struck with a tear and the flint +head drove through skin and tissue till its point protruded at the back +of the great brute's neck. The bear fell suddenly backward, then rose +again and reached blindly at its neck with its huge fore-paws, while from +where the arrow had entered the blood came out in spurts. Suddenly the +bear ceased its appalling roars and started for the cave. There had come +to it the instinct which makes such great beasts seek to die alone. It +rushed at the narrow entrance but its course was scarcely noted by the +couple in the tree. The other bear, the female, was seeking to reach them +in no less savage mood than had animated her stricken mate. + +Not often, when the cave man first learned the use of the bow, came to +him such fortune with a first strong shot as that which had so come to +Ab. Again he selected a good arrow, again shot his strongest and best, +but the shaft only buried itself in the shoulder and served but to drive +to absolute madness the raging creature thus sorely hurt. The forest +echoed with the roaring of the infuriated animal, and as she reared +herself clambering against the tree the tough fiber was rended away in +great slivers, and the man and woman were glad that the trunk was thick +and that they owned a natural citadel. Again and again did Ab discharge +his arrows and still fail to reach a vital part of the terror below. She +fairly bristled with the shafts. It was inevitable that she must die, but +when the last shot had sped she was still infuriate and, apparently, as +strong as ever. The archer looked down upon her with some measure of +despondency in his face, but by no means with despair. He and his bride +must wait. That was all, and this he told to Lightfoot. That intelligent +and reliable young helpmate of a few hours, who had looked upon what had +occurred with an awed admiration, did not exhibit any depression. Her +husband, fortunate Benedict, had produced a great effect upon her by his +feat. She felt herself something like a queen. Had she known enough and +had the fancies of the Ruth of some thousands of decades later she would +have told him how completely thenceforth his people were her people and +his gods her gods. + +The she bear became finally somewhat quieted; she tore less angrily at +the tree and made less of the terrible clamor which had for the moment +driven from the immediate region all the inmates of the wood, for none +save the cave tiger cared to be in the immediate neighborhood of the cave +bear. Her roars changed into roaring growls, and she wandered +staggeringly about. At last she started blindly and weakly toward the +forest, and just as she had passed beneath its shadow, paused, weaved +back and forth for a moment, and then fell over heavily. She was dead. + +Not an action of the beast had escaped the eyes of Ab. Well he knew the +ways of wounded things. As the bear toppled over he gave utterance to a +whoop and, with a word to the girl beside him, slid lightly to the +ground, she following him at once. It was very good to be upon the earth +again. Ab stamped with his feet and stretched his arms, and the woman +danced upon the grass and laughed gleefully. But this was only for a +moment or so. Ab started toward the cave, and as he reached the entrance, +gave a great cry of rage and dismay. Lightfoot ran to his side and even +her ready laugh failed her when she looked upon his perplexed and stormy +countenance and saw what had happened. The rump of the monster he bear +was what she looked upon. The beast, in his instinctive effort to crawl +into some dark place to die, had fairly driven himself into the cave's +entrance, dislodging some of the stones Ab had placed there, had wedged +himself in firmly, and had died before he could extricate his great +carcass. The two human beings were homeless and, with all the arrows +gone, weaponless, in the midst of a region so dangerously infested that +any movement afoot was but inviting death. They were hungry, too, for +many hours had passed since they had tasted food. It was not matter of +surprise that even the stout-hearted cave man stood aghast. + +The occasion for Ab's alarm was fully verified. From the spot where the +cave bear lay at the forest's edge came a sharp, snapping growl. The +lurking hyenas had found the food, and a long, inquiring howl from +another direction told that the wolves had scented it and were gathering. +For the instant Ab was himself almost helpless with fear. The woman was +simply nerveless. Then the man, so accustomed to physical danger, +recovered himself. He sprang forward, seized a stout fragment of limb +which might serve as a sort of weapon, and, turning to the woman, said +only the one word "fire." + +Lightfoot understood and life came to her again. None in all the region +could make a fire more swiftly than she. Her quick eye detected just the +base she wanted in a punkish fragment of wood and the harder and pointed +bit of limb to be used in making the friction. In a time scarcely worth +the noting the point was whirling about and burning into the wooden base, +twirling with a skill and velocity not comprehensible by us to-day, for +the cave people had perfected wonderfully this greatest manual art of the +time, and Lightfoot, muscular and enduring, was, as already said, in this +thing the cleverest among the clever. Ab, with ready club in hand, +advanced cautiously toward the point at the wood's edge where lay the +body of the bear. He paused as he came near enough to see what was +happening. Four great hyenas were tearing eagerly at the flesh of the +dead brute, and behind them, deeper in the wood, were shining eyes, and +Ab knew that the wolf pack was gathering. The bear consumed, the man and +woman, without defense, would surely be devoured. It was a desperate +strait, but, though he was weaponless, there was the cave man's great +resort, the fire, and there might be a chance for life. To seek the tree +tops would be dangerous even now, and once ensconced in such harborage, +only starvation was awaiting. He moved back noiselessly, with as little +apparent motion as possible, for he did not want to attract the attention +of the gleaming eyes in the distance, until he came near Lightfoot again, +and then he abandoned caution of movement and began tearing frantically +at the limbs and debris of the great dead conifer, and to build a +semicircular fence in front of the cave entrance. He did the swift work +of half a score of men in his desperation and anxiety, his great strength +serving him well in his compelling strait. + +Meanwhile the stick twirled and rasped in the hands of the brown woman +seated on the ground, and at last a tiny thread of smoke arose. The +continued friction had done its work. Deft himself at fire-making, Ab +knew just what was wanted at this moment and ran to his wife's side with +punk from the dead tree, rubbed to a powder in his hard hands. The +powder, poured gently down upon the point where the increasing heat had +brought the gleam of fire, burst, almost at once, into a little flame. +What followed was simple and easy. Dry twigs made the slight flame a +greater one and then, at a dozen different points, the wall which Ab had +built was fired. They were safe, for the time at least. Behind them was +the uprearing rock in which was the cave and before them, almost +encircling them completely, was the ring of fire which no wild beast +would cross. At one end, close to the rock, a space had been left by Ab, +that he and Lightfoot might, through it, reach the vast store of fuel +which lay there ready to the hand and so close that there was no danger +in visiting it. Hardly had the flame extended itself along the slight +wooden barrier than the whole wood and clearing resounded with terrifying +sounds. The wolf pack had increased until strong enough to battle with +the hyenas for the remainder of the feast in the wood, and their fight +was on. + +The feeling of terror had passed away from this young bride and groom, +with the assurance of present safety, and Ab felt the need of eating. +"There is meat," he said, as he pointed toward the haunches of the bear, +half-protruding from the rock, "and there is fire. The fire will cook the +meat, and, besides, we are safe. We will eat!" + +The bridegroom of but a day or two said this somewhat grandiloquently, +but he was not disposed to be vain or grandiloquent a little later. He +put his hand to the belt of his furry garb and found no sharp flint knife +there! It had been lost in his late tree clambering. He put his hand into +the pouch of his cloak and found only the flint skin scraper, the scraper +with which he had improved the arrow's notch, though it was not +originally intended for such use. It was all that remained to him of +weapon or utensil. But it would cut or tear, though with infinite effort, +and the man, to reassure the woman, laughed, and assailed the brown +haunch before him. Even with his strength, it was difficult for Ab to +penetrate the tough skin of the bear with an implement intended for +scraping, not for cutting, and it was only after he had finally cut, or +rather dug, away enough to enable him to get his fingers under the skin +and tear away an area of it by sheer main strength that the flesh was +made available. That end once attained, there followed a hard transverse +digging with the scraper, a grasp about tissue of strong, impressed +fingers, and a shred of flesh came away. It was tossed at once to a young +person who, long twig in hand, stood eagerly waiting. She caught the +shred as she had caught the fine bit of mammoth when first she and Ab had +met, and it was at once impaled and thrust into the flames. It was +withdrawn, it is to be feared, a trifle underdone, and then it +disappeared, as did other shreds of excellent bear's meat which came +following. It was a sight for a dyspeptic to note the eating of this +belle-matron of the region on this somewhat exceptional occasion. + +Strip after strip did Ab tear away and toss to his wife until the +expression on her face became a shade more peaceful and then it dawned +upon him that she was eating and that he was not. There was clamor in his +stomach. He sprang away from the bear, gave Lightfoot the scraper and +commanded her to get food for him as he had done for her. The girl +complied and did as well as had done the man in digging away the meat. He +ate as she had done, and, at last, partly gorged and content, allowed her +to take her place at the fire and again eat to his serving. He had shown +what, from the standard of the time, must be counted as most gallant and +generous and courteous demeanor. He had thought a little of the woman. + +A tiny rill of cold water trickled down on one side of the outer door of +their cave. With this their thirst was slaked, and they ate and ate. The +shadows lengthened and Ab replenished again and again the fire. From the +semicircle of forest all about came the sound of footsteps rustling in +the leaves. But the two people inside the fire fence, hungry no longer, +were content. Ab talked to his wife: + +"The fire will keep the man-eating things away," he said. "I ran not long +ago with things behind me, and I would have been eaten had I not come +upon a ring of fire like the one we have made. I leaped it and the eaters +could not reach me. But, for the fire I leaped there was no wood. It came +out of a crack in the ground. Some day we will go there and I will show +you that thing which is so strange." + +The woman listened, delighted, but, at last, there was a nodding of the +head. She lay back upon the grass a sleepy being. Ab looked at her and +thought deeply. Where was safety? As they were, one of them must be awake +all the time to keep the fire replenished. Until he could enter the cave +again he must be weaponless. Only the fire could protect the two. They +had heat and food and nothing to fear for the moment, but they must +fairly eat their way into a safety which would be permanent! + +He kept the fire alight far into the darkness, and then, piling the fuel +high all along the line of defense, he aroused the sleeping woman and +told her she must keep the flames bright while he slept in his turn. She +was just the wife for such an emergency as this, and rose uncomplainingly +to do her part of the guarding work. From the forest all about came +snarling sounds or threatening growls, and eyes blazed in the somber +depths beneath the trees. There were hungry things out there and they +wanted to eat a man and woman, but fire they feared. The woman was not +afraid. + +After hours had passed the man awoke and took the woman's place and she +slept in his stead. Morning came and the sounds from the forest died away +partly, but the man and woman knew of the fierce creatures still lurking +there. They knew what was before them. They must delve and eat their way +into the cave as soon as possible. + +Ab scraped at the bear's huge body with his inefficient bit of flint and +dug away food in abundance, which he heaped up in a little red mound +inside the fire, but the bear was a monstrous beast and it was a long way +from tail to head. The days of the honeymoon passed with a degree of +travail, for there was no moment when one of the two must not be awake +feeding the guarding fire or digging at the bear. They ate still heartily +on the second day but it is simple, truthful history to admit that on the +sixth day bear's meat palled somewhat on the happy couple. To have eaten +thirty quails in thirty days or, at a pinch, thirty quails in two days +would have been nothing to either of them, but bear's meat eaten as part +of what might be called a tunneling exploit ceased, finally, to possess +an attractive flavor. There was a degree of shade cast by all these +obtrusive circumstances across this honeymoon, but there came a day and +hour when the bear was largely eaten, and fairly dug away as to much of +the rest of him, and then, quite suddenly, his head and fore-quarters +toppled forward into the cave, leaving the passage free, and when Ab and +Lightfoot followed, one shouting and the other laughing, one coming again +to his fortress and his weapons and his power, and the other to her +hearth and duties. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +THE FIRE COUNTRY AGAIN. + +The sun rose brightly the next morning and when Ab, armed and watchful, +rolled the big stone away and passed the smoldering fire and issued from +the cave into the open, the scene he looked upon was fair in every way. +Of what had been left of the great bear not a trace remained. Even the +bones had been dragged into the forest by the ravening creatures who had +fed there during the night. There were birds singing and there were no +enemies in sight. Ab called to Lightfoot and the two went forth together, +loving and brave, but no longer careless in that too interesting region. + +And so began the home life of these two people. It was, in its way and +relatively, as sweet and delicious as the first home life of any loving +and appreciating man and woman of to-day. The two were very close, as the +conditions under which they lived demanded. They were the only human +beings within a radius of miles. The family of the cave man of the time +was serenely independent, each having its own territory, and depending +upon itself for its existence. And the two troubled themselves about +nothing. Who better than they could daily win the means of animal +subsistence? + +Ab taught Lightfoot the art of cracking away the flakes of the flint +nodules and of the finer chipping and rasping which made perfect the +spear and arrowheads, and never was pupil swifter in the learning. He +taught her, too, the use of his new weapon, and in all his life he did no +wiser thing! It was not long before she became easily his superior with +the bow, so far as her strength would allow, and her strength was far +from insignificant. Her arrows flew with greater accuracy than his, +though the buzzing shaft had not as yet, and did not have for many +centuries later, the "gray goose" feather which made the doing of its +mission far more certain. Lightfoot brought to the cave the capercailzie +and willow grouse and other birds which were good things for the larder, +and Ab looked on admiringly. Even in their joint hunting, when there was +a half rivalry, he was happy in her. Somehow, the arrow sang more merrily +when it flew from Lightfoot's bow. + +Better than Ab, too, could the young wife do rare climbing when in a nest +far out upon some branch were eggs good for roasting and which could be +reached only by a light-weight. And she learned the woods about them +well, and, though ever dreading when alone, found where were the trees +from which fell the greatest store of nuts and where, in the mud along +the river's side, her long and highly educated toes could reach the clams +which were excellent to feed upon. + +But never did the hunter leave the cave without a fear. Ever, even in the +daytime, was there too much rustling among the leaves of the near forest. +Ever when day had gone was there the sound of padded feet on the sward +about the cave's blocked entrance. Ever, at night, looking out through +the narrow space between the heaped rocks, could the two inside the cave +see fierce and blazing eyes and there would come to them the sound of +snarls and growls as the beasts of different quality met one another. Yet +the two cared little for these fearful surroundings of the darkness. They +were safe enough. In the morning there were no signs of the lurking +beasts of prey. They were somewhere near, though, and waiting, and so Ab +and Lightfoot had the strain of constant watchfulness upon them. + +It may be that because of this ever present peril the two grew closer +together. It could not well be otherwise with human beings thus bound and +isolated and facing and living upon the rest of nature, part of it +seeking always their own lives. They became a wonderfully loving couple, +as love went in that rude time. Despite the too wearing outlook imposed +upon them, because they were in so dangerous a locality, they were very +happy. Yet, one day, came a difference and a hurt. + +Oak, apparently forgotten by others, was remembered by Ab, though never +spoken of. Sometimes the man had tossed upon his bed of leaves and had +muttered in his sleep, and the one word he had most often spoken in this +troubled dreaming was the name of Oak. Early in their married life +Lightfoot, to whom the memory of the dead man, so little had she known +him, was a far less haunting thing than to her husband, had suddenly +broken a silence, saying "Where is Oak?" There was no answer, but the +look of the man of whom she had asked the question was such that she was +glad to creep from his sight unharmed. Yet once again, months later, she +forgot herself and mocked Ab when he had been boastful over some exploit +of strength and courage and when he had seemed to say that he knew no +fear. She, but to tease him, sprang up with a face convulsed and +agonized, and with staring eyes and hands opening and shutting, had cried +out "Oak! Oak!" as she had seen Ab do at night. Her mimic terror was +changed on the moment into reality. With a shudder and then with a glare +in his eyes the man leaped toward her, snatching his great ax from his +belt and swinging it above her head. The woman shrieked and shrank to the +ground. The man whirled the weapon aloft and then, his face twitching +convulsively, checked its descent. He may, in that moment, have thought +of what followed the slaying of the other who had been close to him. +There was no death done, but, thenceforth, Lightfoot never uttered aloud +the name of Oak. She became more sedate and grave of bearing. + +The episode was but a passing, though not a forgotten one in the lives of +the two. The months went by and there were tranquil hours in the cave as, +at night, the weapons were shaped, and Lightfoot boasted of the +arrowheads she had learned to make so well. Sometimes Old Mok would be +rowed up the river to them by the sturdy and venturesome Bark, who had +grown into a particularly fine youth and who now cared for nothing more +than his big brother's admiration. Between Old Mok and Lightfoot, to Ab's +great delight, grew up the warmest friendship. The old man taught the +woman more of the details of good arrow-making and all he knew of +woodcraft in all ways, and the lord of the place soon found his wife +giving opinions with an air of the utmost knowledge and authority. +Whatever came to him from her and Old Mok pleased him, and when she told +him of some of the finer points of arrow-making he stretched out his +brawny arms and laughed. + +But there came, in time, a shade upon the face of the man. The incident +of the talk of Oak may have brought to his mind again more freshly and +keenly the memory of the Fire Country. There he had found safety and +great comfort. Why should not he and Lightfoot seize upon this home and +live there? It was a wonderful place and warm, and there were forests at +hand. He became so absorbed in his own thoughts on this great theme that +the woman who was his could not understand his mood, but, one day, he +told her of what he had been thinking and of what he had resolved upon. +"I am going to the Fire Country," he said. + +Armed, this time with spear and ax and bow and arrow, and with food +abundant in the pouch of his skin garb, Ab left the cave in which +Lightfoot was now to stay most of the time, well barricaded, for that she +was to hunt afar alone in such a region was not even to be thought of. +What thoughts came to the man as he traversed again the forest paths +where he had so pondered as he once ran before can be but guessed at. +Certainly he had learned no more of Oak. + +Lightfoot, left alone in the cave, became at once a most discreet and +careful personage, for one of her buoyant and daring temperament. She had +often taken risks since her marriage, but there was always the chance of +finding within the sound of her voice her big mate, Ab, should danger +overtake her. She remained close to the cave, and when early dusk came +she lugged the stone barriers into place and built a night-fire within +the entrance. The fierce and hungry beasts of the wood came, as usual, +lurking and sniffing harshly about the entrance, and when she ventured +there and peered outside she saw the wicked and leering eyes. Alone and a +little alarmed, she became more vengeful than she would have been with +the big, careless Ab beside her. She would have sport with her bow. The +advantage of the bow is that it requires no swing of space for its work +as is demanded of the flung spear. An arrow may be sent through a mere +loophole with no probable demerit as to what it will accomplish. So the +woman brought her strongest bow--and far beyond the rough bow of Ab's +first make was the bow they now possessed--and gathered together many of +the arrows she could make so well and use so well, and, thus equipped, +went again to the cave's entrance, and through the space between the +heaped rocks of the doorway sent toward the eyes of wolf, or cave hyena, +shafts to which they were unaccustomed, but which, somehow, pierced and +could find mid-body quite as well as the cave man's spear. There was a +certain comfort in the work, though it could not affect her condition in +one way or another. It was only something of a gain to drive the eyes +away. + +And Ab reached the Fire Valley again. He found it as comfortable and +untenanted as when the leap through the ring of flame had saved his life. +He clambered up the creek and wandered along its banks, where the grass +was green because of the warmth about, and studied all the qualities of +the naturally defended valley. "I will make my home here," he said. +"Lightfoot shall come with me." + +The man returned to his cave and his lonely mate again and told her of +the Fire Country. He said that in the Fire Valley they would be safer and +happier, and told her how he had found an opening underneath the cliff +which they could soon enlarge into a cave to meet all wants. Not that a +cave was really needed in a fire valley, but they might have one if they +cared. And Lightfoot was glad of the departure. + +The pair gathered their belongings together and there was the long +journey over again which Ab had just accomplished. But it was far +different from either journey that he had made. There with him was his +wife, and he was all equipped and was to begin a new sort of life which +would, he felt, be good. Lightfoot, bearing her load gallantly, was not +less jubilant. As a matter of plain fact, though Lightfoot had been happy +in the cave in the forest, she had always recognized certain of its +disadvantages, as had, in the end, her fearless husband. It is, in a +general way, vexatious to live in a locality where, as soon as you leave +your hearthstone, you incur, at least, a chance of an exciting and +uncomfortable episode and then lodgment in the maw of some imposing +creature of the carnivora. Lightfoot was quite ready to seek with Ab the +Fire Valley of which he had so often told her. She was a plucky young +matron, but there were extremes. + +There were no adventures on the journey worth relating. The Fire Valley +was reached at nightfall and the two struggled weariedly up the rugged +path beside the creek which issued from the valley's western end. As they +reached the level Ab threw down his burden, as did Lightfoot, and as the +woman's eyes roved over the bright scene, she gave a great gasp of +delight. "It is our home!" she cried. + +They ate and slept in the light and warmth of surrounding flames, and +when the day came they began the work of enlarging what was to be their +cave. But, though they worked earnestly, they did not care so much for +the prospective shelter as they might have done. What a cave had given +was warmth and safety. Here they had both, out of doors and under the +clear sky. It was a new and glorious life. Sometimes, though happy, the +woman worked a little wearily, and, not long after the settlement of the +two in their new home, a child was born to them, a son, robust and +sturdy, who came afterward to be known as Little Mok. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +A GREAT STEP FORWARD. + +There came to Ab and Lightfoot that comfort which comes with laboring for +something desired. In all that the two did amid their pleasant +surroundings life became a greater thing because its dangers were so +lessened and its burdens lightened. But they were not long the sole human +beings in the Fire Valley. There was room for many and soon Old Mok took +up his permanent abode with them, for he was most contented when with Ab, +who seemed so like a son to him. A cave of his own was dug for Mok, +where, with his carving and his making of arrows and spearheads, he was +happy in his old age. Soon followed a hegira which made, for the first +time, a community. The whole family of Ab, One-Ear, Red-Spot and Bark and +Beech-leaf and the later ones, all came, and another cave was made, and +then old Hilltop was persuaded to follow the example and come with +Moonface and Branch and Stone Arm, his big sons, and the group, thus +established and naturally protected, feared nothing which might happen. +The effect of daily counsel together soon made itself distinctly felt, +and, under circumstances so different, many of the old ways were departed +from. Half a mile to the south the creek, which made a bend adown its +course, tumbled into the river and upon the river were wild fowl in +abundance and in its depths were fish. The forest abounded in game and +there were great nut-bearing trees and the wild fruits in their season. +Wild bees hovered over the flowers in the open places and there were +hoards of wild honey to be found in the hollows of deadened trunks or in +the high rock crevices. A great honey-gatherer, by the way, was +Lightfoot, who could climb so well, and who, furthermore, had her own +fancy for sweet things. It was either Bark or Moonface who usually +accompanied her on her expeditions, and they brought back great store of +this attractive spoil. The years passed and the community grew, not +merely in numbers, but intelligence. Though always an adviser with Old +Mok, Ab's chief male companion in adventure was the stanch Hilltop, who +was a man worth hunting with. Having two such men to lead and with a +force so strong behind them the valley people were able to cope with the +more dangerous animals venturesomely, and soon the number of these was so +decreased that even the children might venture a little way beyond the +steep barriers which had been raised where the flame circle had its gaps. +The opening to the north was closed by a high stone wall and that along +the creek defended as effectively, in a different way. They were having +good times in the valley. + +At first, the home of all was in the caves dug in the soft rock of the +ledge, for of those who came to the novel refuge there was, for a season, +none who could sleep in the bright light from the never-waning flames. +There came a time, though, when, in midsummer, Ab grumbled at the heat +within his cave and he and Lightfoot built for themselves an outside +refuge, made of a bark-covered "lean-to" of long branches propped against +the rock. Thus was the first house made. The habitation proved so +comfortable that others in the valley imitated it and soon there was a +hive of similar huts along the foot of the overhanging precipice. When +the short, sharp winter came, all did not seek their caves again, but the +huts were made warmer by the addition to their walls of bark and skins, +and cave dwelling in the valley was finally abandoned. There was one +exception. Old Mok would not leave his warm retreat, and, as long as he +lived, his rock burrow was his home. + +There came also, as recruits, young men, friends of the young men of the +valley, and the band waxed and waned, for nothing could at once change +the roving and independent habits of the cave men. But there came +children to the mothers, the broad Moonface being especially to the fore +in this regard, and a fine group of youngsters played and straggled up +and down the creek and fought valiantly together, as cave children +should. The heads of families were friendly, though independent. Usually +they lived each without any reference to anyone else, but when a great +hunt was on, or any emergency called, the band came together and fought, +for the time, under Ab's tacitly admitted leadership. And the young men +brought wives from the country round. + +The area of improvement widened. Around the Fire Village the zone of +safety spread. The roar of the great cave tiger was less often heard +within miles of the flaming torches of the valley so inhabited. There +grew into existence something almost like a system of traffic, for, from +distant parts, hitherto unknown, came other cave men, bringing skins, or +flints, or tusks for carving, which they were eager to exchange for the +new weapon and for instruction in its uses. Ab was the first chieftain, +the first to draw about him a clan of followers. The cave men were taking +their first lesson in a slight, half unconfessed obedience, that first +essential of community life where there is yet no law, not even the +unwritten law of custom. + +Running in and out among the children, sometimes pummeled by them, were a +score or two of gray, four-footed, bone-awaiting creatures, who, though +as yet uncounted in such relation, were destined to furnish a factor in +man's advancement. They were wolves and yet no longer wolves. They had +learned to cling to man, but were not yet intelligent enough or taught +enough to aid him in his hunting. They were the dogs of the future, the +four-footed things destined to become the closest friends of men of +future ages, the descendants of the four cubs Ab and Oak had taken from +the dens so many years before. + +It was humanizing for the children, this association of such a number +together, though they ran only a little less wildly than those who had +heretofore been born in the isolated caves. There came more of an average +of intelligence among them, thus associated, though but little more +attention was paid them than the cave men had afforded offspring in the +past. There had come to Ab after Little Mok two strong sons, Reindeer and +Sure-Aim, very much like him in his youth, but of them, until they +reached the age of help and hunting, he saw little. Lightfoot regarded +them far more closely, for, despite the many duties which had come upon +her, there never disappeared the mother's tenderness and watchfulness. +And so it was with Moonface, whose brood was so great, and who was like a +noisy hen with chickens. So existed the hovering mother instinct with all +the women of the valley, though then the mothers fished and hunted and +had stirring events to distract them from domesticity and close affection +almost as much as had the men. + +From this oddly formed community came a difference in certain ways of +doing certain things, which changed man's status, which made a revolution +second only to that made by the bow and for which even men of thought +have not accounted as they should have done, with the illustration before +them in our own times of what has followed so swiftly the use of steam +and, later, of electricity. Men write of and wonder at the strange gap +between what are called the Paleolithic and the Neolithic ages, that is, +between the ages when the spearheads and ax and arrowheads were of stone +chipped roughly into shape, and the age of stone even-edged and smoothly +polished. There was really no gap worth speaking of. The Paleolithic age +changed as suddenly into the Neolithic as the age of horse power changed +into that of steam and electricity, allowance being always made for the +slower transmission of a new intelligence in the days when men lived +alone and when a hundred years in the diffusion of knowledge was as a +year to-day. + +One day Ab went into Old Mok's cave grumbling. "I shot an arrow into a +great deer," he said, "and I was close and shot it with all my force, but +the beast ran before it fell and we had far to carry the meat. I tore the +arrow from him and the blood upon the shaft showed that it had not gone +half way in. I looked at the arrow and there was a jagged point uprising +from its side. How can a man drive deeply an arrow which is so rough? Are +you getting too old to make good spears and arrows, Mok?" And the man +fumed a little. Old Mok made no reply, but he thought long and deeply +after Ab had left the cave. Certainly Ab must have good arrows! Was there +any way of bettering them? And, the next day, the crippled old man might +have been seen looking for something beside the creek where it found its +exit from the valley. There were stones ground into smoothness tossed up +along the shore and the old man studied them most carefully. Many times +he had bent over a stream, watching, thinking, but this time he acted. He +noted a small sandstone block against which were rasping stones of harder +texture, and he picked this from the tumbling current and carried it to +his cave. Then, pouring a little water upon a depression in the stone's +face, he selected his best big arrowhead and began rubbing it upon the +wet sandstone. It was a weary work, for flint and sandstone are different +things and flint is much the harder, but there came a slow result. +Smoother and smoother became the chipped arrowhead, and two days +later--for all the waking hours of two days were required in the weary +grinding--Old Mok gave to Ab an arrow as smooth of surface and keen of +edge as ever flew from bow while stone was used. And not many years +passed--as years are counted in old history--before the smoothed stone +weaponhead became the common property of cave men. The time of chipped +stone had ended and that of smoothed stone had begun. There was no space +between them to be counted now. One swiftly became the other. It was a +matter of necessity, this exhibition of enterprise and sense by the early +man in the prompt general utilization of a new discovery. And not alone +in the improvements in means which came when men of the hunting type were +so gathered in a community were the bow and the smoothed implements, +though these were the greatest of the discoveries of the epoch. The +fishermen who went to the river were not content with the raft-like +devices of the aquatic Shell People and learned, in time, that hollowed +logs would float and that, with the aid of fire and flint axes, a great +log could be hollowed. And never a Phoenician ship-builder, never a +Fulton of the steamer, never a modern designer of great yachts, stood +higher in the estimation of his fellows than stood the expert in the +making of the rude boats, as uncouth in appearance as the river-horse +which sometimes upset them, but from which men could, at least, let down +their lines or dart their spears to secure the fish in the teeming +waters. And the fishermen had better spears and hooks now, for comparison +was necessarily always made among devices, and bone barbs and hooks were +whittled out from which the fish no longer often floundered. There came, +in time, the making of rude nets, plaited simply from the tough marsh +grasses, but they served the purpose and lessened somewhat the gravity of +the great food question. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +FACING THE RAIDER. + +One day, at noon, a man burst, panting, through the wide open entrance to +the Fire Valley. His coat of skin was rent and hung awry and, as all +could see when he staggered down the pathway, the flesh was torn from one +cheek and arm, and down his leg on one side was the stain of dried blood. +He was exhausted from his hurt and his run and his talk was, at first, +almost unmeaning. He was met by some of the older and wiser among those +who saw him coming and to their questions answered only by demanding Ab, +who came at once. The hard-breathing and wounded man could only utter the +words "Big tiger," when he pitched forward and became unconscious. But +his words had been enough. Well understood was it by all who listened +what a raid of the cave tiger meant, and there was a running to the +gateway and soon was raised the wall of ready stone, upbuilt so high that +even the leaping monster could not hope to reach its summit. Later the +story of the wounded, but now conscious and refreshed runner, was told +with more of detail and coherence. + +The messenger brought out what he had to tell gaspingly. He had lost much +blood and was faint, but he told how there had taken place something +awful in the village of the Shell Men. It was but little after dusk the +night before when the Shell Men were gathered together in merrymaking +after good fishing and lucky gathering of what there was to eat along the +shores of the shell fish and the egg-laying turtles and the capture of a +huge river-horse. It had been, up to midnight, one of the greatest and +most joyous meetings the Shell People had joined in for many years. They +were close-gathered and prosperous and content, and though there was +daily turmoil and risk of death upon the water and sometimes as great +risk upon the land, yet the village fringing the waters had grown, and +the midden--the "kitchen-midden" of future ages--had raised itself +steadily and now stretched far up and down the creek which was a river +branch and far backward from the creek toward the forest which ended with +the uplands. They had learned to dread the forest little, the water +people, but from the forest now came what made for each in all the +village a dread and horror. The cave tiger had been among them! + +The Shell People had gathered together upon the sward fronting their line +of shallow caves and one of them, the story-teller and singer, was +chanting aloud of the river-horse and the great spoil which was theirs, +when there was a hungry roar and the yell or shriek of all, men or women +not too stricken by fear to be unable to utter sound, and then the leap +into their midst of the cave tiger! Perhaps the story-teller's chant had +called the monster's attention to him, perhaps his attitude attracted it; +whatever may have been the influence, the tiger seized the singer and +leaped lightly into the open beyond the caves and, as lightly, with long +bounds, into the blackness of the forest beyond. + +There was a moment of awe and horror and then the spirit of the brave +Shell Men asserted itself. There was grasping of weapons and an +outpouring in pursuit of the devourer. Easy to follow was the trail, for +a monster beast carrying a man cannot drop lightly in his leaps. There +was a brief mile or two traversed, though hours were consumed in the +search, and then, as morn was breaking, the seekers came upon what was +left of the singer. It was not much and it lay across the forest pathway, +for the cave tiger did not deign to hide his prey. There came a half +moaning growl from the forest. That growl meant lurking death. Then the +seekers fled. There was consultation and a resolve to ask for help. So +the runner, the man stricken down by a casual stroke in the tiger's rush, +but bravest among his tribe, had come to the Fire Valley. + +To the panting stranger Ab had not much to say. He saw to it that the man +was refreshed and cared for and that the deep scars along his side were +dressed after the cave man's fashion. But through the night which +followed the great cave leader pondered deeply. Why should men thus live +and dread the cave tiger? Surely men were wiser than any beast! This one +monster must, anyhow, be slain! + +But little it mattered to all surrounding nature that the strong man in +the Fire Valley had resolved upon the death of the cave tiger. The tiger +was yet alive! There was a difference in the pulse of all the woodland. +There was a hush throughout the forest. The word, somehow, went to every +nerve of all the world of beasts, "Sabre-Tooth is here!" Even the huge +cave bear shuffled aside as there came to him the scent of the invader. +The aurochs and the urus, the towering elk, the reindeer and the lesser +horned and antlered things fled wildly as the tainted air brought to them +the tale of impending murder. Only the huge rhinoceros and mammoth stood +their ground, and even these were terror-stricken with regard for their +guarded young whenever the tiger neared them. The rhinoceros stood then, +fierce-fronted and dangerous, its offspring hovering by its flanks, and +the mammoths gathered in a ring encircling their calves and presenting an +outward range of tusks to meet the hovering devourer. The dread was all +about. The forest became seemingly nearly lifeless. There was less +barking and yelping, less reckless playfulness of wild creatures, less +rustling of the leaves and pattering along the forest paths. There was +fear and quiet, for Sabre-Tooth had come! + +The runner, refreshed and strengthened by food and sleep, appeared before +Ab in the morning and told his story more in detail and got in return the +short answer: "We will go with you and help you and your people. Tigers +must be killed!" + +Rarely before had man gone out voluntarily to hunt the great cave tiger. +He had, sometimes in awful strait, defended himself against the monster +as best he could, but to seek the encounter where the odds were so great +against him was an ugly task. Now the man-slayer was to be the pursued +instead of the pursuer. It required courage. The vengeful wounded man +looked upon Ab with a grim, admiring regard. "You fear not?" he said. + +There was bustling in the valley and soon a stalwart dozen men were armed +with bow and spear and the journey was taken up toward the Shell Men's +home. The village was reached at mid-day and as the little troop emerged +from the forest the death wail fell upon their ears. "The tiger has come +again!" exclaimed the runner. + +It was true. The tiger had come again! Once more with his stunning roar +he had swept through the village and had taken another victim, a woman, +the wife of one of the head men. Too benumbed by fear, this time, to act +at once, the Shell Men had not pursued the great brute into the darkness. +They had but ventured out in the morning and followed the trail and found +that the tiger had carried the woman in very nearly the same direction as +he had borne the man and that what remained from his gorging of the night +lay where his earlier feast had been. It was the first tragedy almost +repeated. + +The little group of Fire Valley folk entered the village and were +received with shouts from the men, while from the throats of the women +still rose the death wail. There were more people about the huts than Ab +had ever seen there and he recognized at once among the group many of the +cave men from the East, strong people of his own kind. As the wounded +runner had gone to the Fire Valley, so another had been sent to the East, +to call upon another group for aid, and the Eastern cave people, under +the leadership of a huge, swarthy man called Boarface, had come to learn +what the strait was and to decide upon what degree of help they could +afford to give. Between these Eastern and the Western cave men there was +a certain coldness. There was no open enmity, though at some time in the +past there had been family battles and memories of feuds were still +existent. But Ab and Boarface met genially and there was not a trace of +difference now. Boarface joined readily in the council which was held and +decided that he would aid in the desperate hunt, and certainly his aid +was not to be despised when his followers were looked upon. They were a +stalwart lot. + +The way was taken by the gathered fighting men toward where, across the +forest path, lay part of a woman. As the place was neared the band +gathered close together and there were outpointing spears, just as the +mammoths' tusks outpointed when the beasts guarded their young from the +thing now hunted. But there came no attack and no sound from the forest. +The tiger must be sleeping. Beneath a huge tree bordering the pathway lay +what remained of the woman's body. Fifty feet above, and almost directly +over this dreadful remnant of humanity, shot out a branch as thick as a +man's body. There was consultation among the hunters and in this Ab took +the lead, while Boarface and the Shell Men who had come to help assented +readily. No need existed for the risk of an open fight with this great +beast. Craft must be used and Ab gave forth his swift commands. + +The Fire Valley leader had seen to it that his company had brought what +he needed in his effort to kill the tiger. There were two great tanned, +tough urus hides. There were lengths of rhinoceros hide, cut thickly, +which would endure a strain of more than the weight of ten brawny men. +There was one spear, with a shaft of ash wood at least fifteen feet in +length and as thick as a man's wrist. Its head was a blade of hardest +flint, but the spear was too heavy for a man's hurling. It had been made +for another use. + +There was little hesitation in what was done, for Ab knew well the +quality of the work he had in hand. He unfolded his plan briefly and then +he himself climbed to the treetop and out upon the limb, carrying with +him the knotted strip of rhinoceros hide. In the pouch of his skin +garment were pebbles. He reached a place on the big limb overhanging the +path and dropped a pebble. It struck the earth a yard or two away from +what remained of the woman's body and he shouted to those below to drag +the mangled body to the spot where the pebble had hit the earth. They +were about to do so when from the forest on one side of the path came a +roar, so appalling in every way that there was no thought of anything +among most of the workers save of sudden flight. The tiger was in the +wood and very near and a scent had reached him. There was a flight which +left upon the ground beneath the tree branches only old Hilltop and the +rough Boarface and some dozen sturdy followers, these about equally +divided between the East and the West men of the hills. There was swift +and sharp work then. + +The tiger might come at any moment, and that meant death to one at least. +But those who remained were brave men and they had come far to encompass +this tiger's ending. They dragged what remained of the tiger's prey to +where the pebble had hit the earth. Ab, clinging and raging aloft, afar +out upon the limb, shouted to Hilltop to bring him the spear and the urus +skins, and soon the sturdy old man was beside him. Then, about two deep +notches in the huge shaft, thongs were soon tied strongly, and just below +its middle were attached the bag-shaped urus skins. Near its end the +rhinoceros thong was knotted and then it was left hanging from the limb +supported by this strong rope, while, three-fourths of the way down its +length, dangled on each side the two empty bags of hide. Short orders +were given, and, directed by Boarface, one man after another climbed the +tree, each with a weight of stones carried in his pouch, and each +delivering his load to old Hilltop, who, lying well out upon the limb, +passed the stones to Ab, who placed them in the skin pouches on either +side the suspended and threatening spear. The big skin pouches on either +side were filling rapidly, when there came from the forest another roar, +nearer and more appalling than before, and some of the workers below fled +panic-stricken. Ab shouted and frothed and foamed as the men ran. Old +Hilltop slid down the tree, ax in hand, followed by the dark Boarface, +and one or two of the men below were captured and made to work again. +Soon all the work which Ab had in mind was done. Above the path, just +over what remained of the woman, hung the great spear, weighted with half +a thousand pounds of stone and sure to reach its mark should the tiger +seek its prey again. The branch was broad and the line of rhinoceros skin +taut, and Ab's flint knife was keen of edge. Only courage and calmness +were needed in the dread presence of the monster of the time. Neither the +swarthy Boarface nor the gaunt Hilltop wanted to leave him, but Ab forced +them away. + +Not long to wait had the cave man, but the men who had been with him were +already distant. The shadows were growing long now, but the light was +still from the sunshine of the early afternoon. The man lying along the +limb, knife in hand, could hear no sound save the soft swish of leaves +against each other as the breeze of later day pushed its way through the +forest, or the alarmed cries of knowing birds who saw on the ground +beneath them a huge thing slip along with scarce a sound from the impact +of his fearfully clawed but padded feet as he sought the meal he had +prepared for himself. The great beast was approaching. The great man +aloft was waiting. + +Into the open along the path came the tiger, and Ab, gripping the limb +more firmly, looked down upon the thing so closely and in daylight for +the first time in his life. Ab was certainly brave, and he was calm and +wise and thinking beyond his time, but when he saw plainly this beast +which had slipped so easily and silently from the forest, safe though he +was upon his perch, he was more than startled. The thing was so huge and +with an aspect so terrible to look upon! + +The great cat's head moved slowly from side to side; the baleful eyes +blazed up and down the pathway and the tawny muzzle was lifted to catch +what burden there might be on the air. The beast seemed satisfied, +emerging fairly into the sunlight. Immense of size but with the graceful +lankness of the tigers of to-day, Sabre-Tooth somewhat resembled them, +though, beside him, the largest inmate of the Indian jungle would appear +but puny. The creature Ab looked upon that day so long ago was beautiful, +in his way. He was beautiful as is the peacock or the banded rattlesnake. +There were color contrasts and fine blendings. The stripes upon him were +wonderfully rich, and as he came creeping toward the body, he was as +splendid as he was dreadful. + +With every nerve strained, but with his first impulse of something like +terror gone, Ab watched the devourer beneath him while his sharp flint +knife, hard gripped, bore lightly against the taut rhinoceros-hide rope. +The tiger began his ghastly meal but was not quite beneath the suspended +spear. Then came some distant sound in the forest and he raised his head +and shifted his position. + +[Illustration: UPON THE STRONG SHAFT OF ASH THE MONSTER WAS IMPALED] + +He was fairly under the spear now. The knife pressed firmly against the +rawhide was drawn back and forth noiselessly but with effectiveness. +Suddenly the last tissue parted and the enormously weighted spear fell +like a lightning-stroke. The broad flint head struck the tiger fairly +between the shoulders, and, impelled by such a weight, passed through his +huge body as if it had met no obstacle. Upon the strong shaft of ash the +monster was impaled. There echoed and reechoed through the forest a roar +so fearful that even the hunters whom Ab had sent far away from the scene +of the tragedy clambered to the trees for refuge. The struggles of the +pierced brute were tremendous beyond description, but no strength could +avail it now; it had received its death wound and soon the great tiger +lay still, as harmless as the squirrel, frightened and hidden in his +nest. In wild triumph Ab slid to the ground and then the long cry to +summon his party went echoing through the wood. When the others found him +he had withdrawn the spear and was already engaged, flint knife in hand, +in stripping from the huge body the glorious robe it wore. + +There was excitement and rejoicing. The terror had been slain! The Shell +People were frantic in their exultation. Meanwhile Ab had called upon his +own people to assist him and the wonderful skin of the tiger was soon +stretched out upon the ground, a glorious possession for a cave man. + +"I will have half of it," declared Boarface, and he and Ab faced each +other menacingly. "It shall not be cut," was the fierce retort. "It is +mine. I killed the tiger!" + +Strong hands gripped stone axes and there was chance of deadly fray then +and there, but the Shell People interfered and the Shell People excelled +in number, and were a potent influence for peace. Ab carried away the +splendid trophy, but as Boarface and his men departed, there were black +faces and threatening words. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +LITTLE MOK. + +Among all the children of Ab--and remarkable it was for the age--the best +loved was Little Mok, the eldest son. When the child, strong and joyous, +was scarcely two years old, he fell from a ledge off the cliff where he +had climbed to play, and both his legs were broken. Strange to say he +survived the accident in that time when the law of the survival of the +fittest was almost invariable in its sternest and most purely physical +demonstration. The mother love of Lightfoot warded off the last pitiless +blow of nature, although the child, a hopeless cripple, never after +walked. The name Little Mok was naturally given him, and before long the +child had won the heart, as well as the name, of the limping old maker of +axes, spearheads and arrows. + +The closer ties of family life, as we know them now, existed but in their +outlines to the cave man. The man and woman were faithful to each other +with the fidelity of the higher animals and their children were cared for +with rough tenderness in their infancy. The time of absolute dependence +was made very short, though, and children very early were required to +find some of their own food, and taught by necessity to protect +themselves. But Little Mok, unable to take up for himself the burden of +an independent existence, was not slain nor left to die of neglect as +might have been another child thus crippled in the time in which he +lived. He, once spared, grew into the wild hearts of those closest to him +and became the guarded and cherished one of the rude home of Ab and +Lightfoot, and to him was thus given the continuous love and care which +the strong-limbed boys and girls of the family lost and never missed. + +It was a strange thing for the time. The child had qualities other than +the negative ones of helplessness and weakness with which to bind to him +the hearts of those around him, but the primary fact of his entire +dependence upon them was what made him the center of the little circle of +untaught, untamed cave people who lived in the Fire Valley. He may have +been the first child ever so cherished from such impulse. + +From his mother the child inherited a joyous disposition which nothing +could subdue. Often on the return home from some little expedition on +which it had been practicable to take him, sitting on Lightfoot's +shoulder, or on the still stronger arm of old One-Ear, his silent, +somewhat brooding grandfather, the little brown boy made the woods ring +with shrill bird calls, or the mimicry of animals, and ever his laughter +filled the spaces in between these sounds. Other children flocked around +the merry youngster, seeking to emulate his play of voice and the +oldsters smiled as they saw and heard the joyous confusion about the tiny +reveler. The excursions to the river were Little Mok's chief delight from +his early childhood. He entered into the preparations for them with a +zest and keen enjoyment born of the presence of an adventurous spirit in +a maimed body, and when the fishing party left the Fire Camp it was +incomplete if Little Mok was not carried lightly at the van, the life and +joy of the occasion. + +No one ever forgot the day when Little Mok, then about six years old, +caught his first fish. His joy and pride infected all as he exhibited his +prize and boasted of what he would catch in the river next, and when, on +the return, Old Mok saluted him as the "Great Fisherman," the elf's +elation became too great for any expression. His little chest heaved, his +eyes flashed, and then he wriggled from Lightfoot's arms into the lap of +Old Mok, snuggled down into the old man's furs and hid his face there; +and the two understood each other. + +It was soon after this great event of the first fish-catching that +Red-Spot, Ab's mother, died. She had never quite adapted herself to the +new life in the Fire Valley, and after a time she began to grow old very +fast. At last a fever attacked her and the end of her patient, busy life +came. After her death One-Ear was much in Old Mok's cave, the two had so +long been friends. There with them the crippled boy was often to be +found. He was not always gay and joyous. Sometimes he lay for days on his +bed of leaves at home, in weakness and pain, silent and unlike himself. +Then when Lightfoot's care had given him back a little strength, he would +beg to be taken to Old Mok's cave. There he could sleep, he said, away +from the noise and the lights of the outside world, and finally he +claimed and was allowed a nest of his own in the warmest and darkest nook +of Old Mok's den, where he slept every night, and sometimes a good part +of the day, when one of his times of pain and weakness was upon him. Here +during many a long hour of work, experiment and argument, the wide eyes +and quick ears of Little Mok saw and heard, while Ab, Mok and One-Ear +bent over their work at arrowhead or spear point, and talked of what +might be done to improve the weapons upon which so much depended. Here, +when no one else remained in the weary darkness of night and the half +light of stormy days Old Mok beguiled the time with stories, and +sometimes in a hoarse voice even attempted to chant to his little hearer +snatches of the wild singing tales of the Shell People, for the Shell +People had a sort of story song. + +Once, when Lightfoot sat by Old Mok's fire, she told them of the time +when she and Ab found themselves outside their cave, unarmed, with a bear +to be eaten through before they could get into their door, and Little Mok +surprised his mother and Old Mok by an outburst of laughter at the tale. +He had a glimmering of humor, and saw the droll side of the adventure, a +view which had not occurred to Lightfoot, nor to Ab. The little lad, of +the world, yet not in it, saw vaguely the surprises, lights and shades +and contrasts of existence, and sometimes they made him laugh. The laugh +of the cave man was not a common event, and when it came was likely to be +sober and sardonic, at least it was so when not simply an evidence of +rude health and high animal spirits. Humor is one of the latest, as it is +one of the most precious, grains shaken out of Time's hour-glass, but +Little Mok somehow caught a tiny bit of the rainbow gift, long before its +time in the world, and soon, with him, it was to disappear for centuries +to come. + +One day when Little Mok was brought back from an expedition to the river, +he told Old Mok how he had sat long on the bank, too tired to fish, and +had just rested and feasted his eyes on the wood, the stream, the small +darting creatures in it, the birds, and the animals which came to drink. +Describing a herd of reindeer which had passed near him, Little Mok took +up a piece of Old Mok's red chalkstone and on the wall of the cave drew a +picture of the animal. The veteran stared in surprise. The picture was +wonderfully life-like in grasp and detail. The child owned that great +gift, the memory of sight, and his hand was cunning. Encouraged by his +success, the boy drew on, delighting Old Mok with his singular fidelity +and skill. Then came hours and days of sketching and etching in the old +man's cave. The master was delighted. He brought out from their hiding +places his choicest pieces of mammoth tusk or teeth of the river-horse +for Little Mok's etchings and carvings. And, as time passed, the young +artist excelled the old one, and became the pride and boast of his friend +and teacher. Sometimes the little lad would work far into the night, for +he could not pause when he had begun a thing until it was complete--but +then he would sleep in his warm nest until noon the next day, crawling +out to cook a bit of meat for himself at the nearest fire, or sharing Old +Mok's meal, as was more convenient. + +While everything else in the Fire Valley was growing, developing and +flourishing, Little Mok's frail body had ever grown but slowly, and about +the beginning of his twelfth year there appeared a change in him. He +became permanently weak and grew more and more helpless day by day. His +cherished excursions to the river, even his little journeys on old +One-Ear's strong arm to the cliff top, from whence he could see the whole +world at once, had all to be abandoned. + +When the winter snows began to whirl in the air Little Mok was lying +quietly on his bed, his great eyes looking wistfully up at Lightfoot, who +in vain taxed her limited skill and resources to tempt him to eat and +become more sturdy. She hovered over him like a distressed mother bird +over its youngling fallen from the nest, but, with all her efforts, she +could not bring back even his usual slight measure of health and strength +to the poor Little Mok. Ab came sometimes and looked sadly at the two and +then walked moodily away, a great weight on his breast. Old Mok was +always at work, and yet always ready to give Little Mok water or turn his +weary little frame on its rude bed, or spread the furs over the wasted +body, and always Lightfoot waited and hoped and feared. + +And at last Little Mok died, and was buried under the stones, and the +snow fell over the lonely cairn under the fir trees outside the Fire +Valley where his grave was made. + +Lightfoot was silent and sad, and could not smile nor laugh any more. She +longed for Little Mok, and did not eat or sleep. One night Ab, trying to +comfort her, said, "You will see him again." + +"What do you mean?" cried Lightfoot. And Ab only answered, "You will see +him; he will come at night. Go to sleep, and you will see him." + +But Lightfoot could not sleep yet and for many a night her eyes closed +only when extreme fatigue compelled sleep toward the morning. + +And at last, after many days and nights, Lightfoot, when asleep, saw +Little Mok. Just as in life, she saw him, with all his familiar looks and +motions. But he did not stay long. And again and again she saw him, and +it comforted her somewhat because he smiled. There had come to her such a +heartache about him, lying out there under the snow and stones, with no +one to care for him, that the smile warmed her heavy heart and she told +Ab that she had seen Little Mok, only whispering it to him--for it was +not well, she knew, to talk about such things--and she whispered to Ab, +too, her anguish that Little Mok only came at night, and never when it +was day, but she did not complain. She only said: "I want to see him in +the daytime." + +And Ab could think of nothing to say. But that made him think more and +more. He felt drawn closer to Lightfoot, his wife, no longer a young +girl, but the mother of Little Mok, who was dead, and of all his +children. + +In his mind arose, vaguely obscure, yet persistent, the idea that brute +strength and vigor, keen senses and reckless bravery were not, after all, +the sole qualities that make and influence men. Old Mok, crippled and +disabled for the hunt and defense, was nevertheless a power not to be +despised, and Little Mok, the helpless child, had been still strong +enough to win and keep the love of all the stalwart and rough cave +people. Ab was sorry for Lightfoot. When in the spring the forlorn mother +held in her arms a baby girl a little brightness came into her eyes +again, and Ab, seeing this, was glad, but neither Ab nor Lightfoot ever +forgot their eldest and dearest, Little Mok. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +THE BATTLE OF THE BARRIERS. + +While Ab had been occupied by home affairs trouble for him and his people +had been brewing. By no means unknown to each other before the tiger hunt +were Ab and Boarface. They had hunted together and once Boarface, with +half a dozen companions, had visited the Fire Valley and had noted its +many attractions and advantages. Now Boarface had gone away angry and +muttering, and he was not a man to be thought of lightly. His rage over +the memory of Ab's trophy did not decrease with the return to his own +region. Why should this cave man of the West have sole possession of that +valley, which was warm and green throughout the winter and where the wild +beasts could not enter? Why had he, this Ab, been allowed to go away with +all the tiger's skin? Brooding enlarged into resolve and Boarface +gathered together his relations and adherents. "Let us go and take the +Fire Valley of Ab," he said to them, and, gradually, though objections +were made to the undertaking of an enterprise so fraught with danger, the +listeners were persuaded. + +"There are other fires far down the river," said one old man. "Let us go +there, if it is fire we most need, and so we will not disturb nor anger +Ab, who has lived in his valley for many years. Why battle with Ab and +all his people?" + +But Boarface laughed aloud: "There are many other earth fires," he said. +"I know them well, but there is no other fire which chances to make a +flaming fence about a valley close to the great rocks, and which has +water within the space it surrounds and which makes a wall against all +the wild beasts. We will fight and win the valley of Ab." + +And so they were led into the venture. They sought, too, the aid of the +Shell People in this raid, but were not successful. The Shell People were +not unfriendly to those of the Fire Valley, and had not Ab been really +the one to kill the tiger? Besides, it was not wise for the waterside +dwellers to engage in any controversy between the forest factions, for +the hill people had memories and heavy axes. A few of the younger and +more adventurous joined the force of Boarface, but the alliance had no +tribal sanction. Still, the force of the swarthy leader of the Eastern +cave men was by no means insignificant. It contained good fighting men, +and, when runners had gone far and wide in the Eastern country, there +were gathered nearly ten score of hunters who could throw the spear or +wield the ax and who were not fearful of their lives. The band led by +Boarface started for the Fire Country, intending to surprise the people +in the valley. They moved swiftly, but not so swiftly as a fleet young +man from the Shell People who preceded them. He was sent by the elders a +day before the time fixed for the assault, and so Ab learned all about +the intended raid. Then went forth runners from the valley; then the +matron Lightfoot's eyes became fiery, since Ab was threatened; then old +Hilltop looked carefully over his spears, and poised thoughtfully his +great stone ax; then Moonface smote her children and gathered together +certain weapons, and then Old Mok went into his cave and stayed there, +working at none knew what. + +They came from all about, the Western cave men, for never in the valley +had food or shelter been refused to any and the Eastern cave men were not +loved. Many a quarrel over game had taken place between the raging +hunters of the different tribes, and many a bloody single-handed +encounter had come in the depths of the forest. The band was not a large +one, the Eastern men being far more numerous, but the outlook was not as +fine as it might be for the advancing Boarface. The force assembled +inside the valley was, in point of numbers, but little more than half his +own, but it was entrenched and well-armed, and there were those among the +defenders whom it was not well to meet in fight. But Boarface was +confident and was not dismayed when his force crept into the open only to +find the ordinary valley entrance barred and all preparations made for +giving him a welcome of the warmer sort. There was what could not be +thoroughly barricaded in so brief a time, the entrance where the brook +issued at the west. This pass must be forced, for the straight, uprising +wall between the flames and across the opening to the north was something +relatively unassailable. It was too narrow and too high and sheer and +there were too many holes in the wall through which could be sent those +piercing arrows which the Western cave men knew how to use so well. The +battle must be up along the bed of the little creek. The water was low at +this season, so low that a man might wade easily anywhere, and there had +been erected only a slight barrier, enough to keep wild beasts away, for +Ab had never thought of invasion by human beings. The creek tumbled +downward, through passages, between straight-sided, ruggedly built stone +heaps, with spaces between wide enough to admit a man, but not any great +beast of prey. There was no place where, by a man, the wall could not +easily be mounted and, above, there was no really good place of vantage +for the defenders. + +So the invading force, concealment of action being no longer necessary, +ranged themselves along the banks of the creek to the west of the valley +and prepared for a rush. They had certain chances in their favor. They +were strong men, who knew how to use their weapons well, and they were in +numbers almost as two to one. Meanwhile, inside the valley, where the +approach and plans of the enemy had been seen and understood, there had +gone on swiftly, under Ab's stern direction, such preparation for the +fray as seemed most adequate with the means at hand. + +The great advantage possessed was that the defenders, on firm footing +themselves, could meet men climbing, and so, a little further up the +creek than the beast-opposing wall, had been thrown up what was little +more than a rude platform of rock, wide and with a broad expanse of top, +on which all the valley's force might cluster in an emergency. Upon this +the people were to gather, defending the first pass, if they could, by +flights of spears and arrows and here, at the end, to win or lose. This +was the general preparation for the onslaught, but there had been +precautions taken more personal and more involving the course of the most +important of the people of the valley. + +At the left of the gorge, where must come the invaders, the rock rose +sheerly and at one place extended outward a shelf, high up, but reached +easily from the Fire Valley side. There were consultations between Ab and +the angry and anxious and almost tearful Lightfoot. That charming lady, +now easily the best archer of the tribe, had developed at once into a +fighting creature and now demanded that her place be assigned to her. +With her own bow, and with arrows in quantity, it was decided that she +should occupy the ledge and do all she could. Upon the ledge was +comparative safety in the fray, and Ab directed that she should go there. +Old Hilltop said but little. It was understood, almost as a matter of +course, that he would be upon the barrier and there face, with Ab, the +greatest issue. The old man was by no means unsatisfactory to look upon +as he moved silently about and got ready the weapons he might have to +use. Gaunt, strong-muscled and resolute, he was worthy of admiration. +Ever following him with her eyes, when not engaged in the chastisement of +one of her swart brood, was Moonface, for Moonface had long since learned +to regard her grizzled lord with love as well as much respect. + +There were other good fighting men and other women beside these mentioned +who would do their best, but these few were the dominant figures. +Meanwhile, Boarface and his strong band had decided upon their plan of +attack and would soon rush up the bed of the shallow stream with all the +bravery and ferocity of those who were accustomed to face death lightly +and to seize that which they wanted. + +The invaders came clambering up the creek's course, openly and with +menacing and defiant shouts, for any concealment was now out of the +question. They had but few bows and could, under the conditions, send no +arrow flight which would be of avail, but they had thews and sinews and +spears and axes. As they came with such rush as men might make up a +tumbling waterway with slipping pebbles beneath the feet and forced +themselves one by one between the heaped stone piles and fairly in front +of the barrier there was a discharge of arrows and more than one man, +impaled by a stone-headed shaft, fell, to dabble feebly in the water, and +did not rise again. But there came a time in the fight when the bow must +be abandoned. + +The assault was good and the demeanor of the men behind the barrier was +good as well. Not more gallant was one group than the other for there +were splendid fighters in both ranks. The boasted short sword of the +Romans, in times effeminate, as compared with these, afforded not in its +wielding a greater test of personal courage than the handling of the +flint-headed spear or the stone knife or chipped ax. There, all along the +barrier, was the real grappling of man and man, with further existence as +the issue. + +The invaders, losing many of their number, for arrows flew steadily and a +mass so large could not easily be missed even by the most bungling of +those strong archers, swept upward to the barrier and then was a +muscular, deadly tumult worth the seeing. To the south and nearest the +side where Lightfoot was perched with her bow and great bunch of arrows +Ab stood in front, while to his right and near the other end of the rude +stone rampart was stationed old Hilltop, and he hurled his spears and +slew men as they came. The fight became simply a death struggle, with the +advantage of position upon one side and of numbers on the other. And Ab +and Boarface were each seeking the other. + +So the struggle lasted for a long half hour, and when it ended there were +dead and dying men upon the barrier, while the waters of the creek were +reddened by the blood of the slain assailants. The assault now ebbed a +little. Neither Ab nor Hilltop had been injured in the struggle. As the +invaders pressed close Ab had noted the whish of an arrow now and then +and the hurt to one pressing him closely, and old Hilltop had heard the +wild cries of a woman who hovered in his rear and hurled stones in the +faces of those who strove to reach him. And now there came a lull. + +Boarface had recognized the futility of scaling, under such conditions, a +steep so well defended and had thought of a better way to gain his end +and crush Ab and his people. He had heard the story of Ab's first advent +into the valley when, chased by the wolves, he leaped through the flame, +and there came an inspiration to him! What one man had done others could +do, and, with picked warriors of his band, he made a swift detour, while, +at the same time, the main body rushed desperately upon the barrier +again. + +What had been good fighting before was better now. Lives were lost, and +soon all arrows were spent and all spears thrown, and then came but the +dull clashing of stone axes. Ab raged up and down, and, ever in the +front, faced the oncoming foe and slew as could slay the strong and +utterly desperate. More than once his life was but a toy of chance as men +sprang toward him, two or three together, but ever at such moment there +sang an arrow by his head and one of his assailants, pierced in throat or +body, fell back blindly, hampering his companions, whose heads Ab's great +ax was seeking fiercely. And, all the time, nearer the northern end of +the barrier, old Hilltop fought serenely and dreadfully. There were many +dead men in the pools of the creek between the barrier and the entrance +to the valley. And about Ab ever sang the arrows from the rocky shelf. + +There was wild clamor, the clash of weapons and the shouting of +battle-crazed men but there was not enough to drown the sound of a scream +which rose piercingly above the din. Ab recognized the voice of Lightfoot +and raised his eyes to see the woman, regardless of her own safety, +standing upright and pointing up the valley. He knew that something +meaning life and death was happening and that he must go. He leaped +backward and a huge Western cave man sprang to his place, to serve as +best he could. + +Not a moment too soon had that shrill cry reached the ears of the +fighting man. He ran backward, shouting to a score of his people to +follow him as he ran, and in an instant recognized that he had been +outwitted, at least for the moment, by the vengeful Boarface. As he +rushed to the east toward the wall of flame he saw a dark form pass +through its crest in a flying leap. There were others he knew would +follow. His own feat of long ago was being repeated by Boarface and his +chosen group of best men! + +It was not Boarface who leaped and it was hard for a gallant youth of the +Eastern cave men that he had strength and daring and had dashed ahead in +the assault, for he had scarcely touched the ground when there sank +deeply into his head a stone ax, impelled by the strongest arm of all +that region, and he was no more among things alive. Ab had reached the +fire wall with the speed of a great runner while, close behind him, came +his eager following. + +The forces could see each other clearly enough now, and those on the +outside outnumbered those on the inside again by two to one. But those +leaping the flames could not alight poised ready for a blow, and there +were adroit and vengeful axmen awaiting them. There was a momentary pause +for planning among the assailants, and then it was that Ab fumed over his +own lack of foresight. His chosen band who were with him now were all +bowmen, and about the shoulder and chest of each was still slung his +weapon, but there were no more arrows. Each quiverful had been shot away +early in the fight and then had come the spear and ax play. But what a +chance for arrows now, with that threatening band preparing for the rush +and leap together, and, while out of reach of spear or ax, within easy +reach of the singing little shafts! Oh, for the shafts now, those slender +barbed things which were hurled in his new way! And, even as he thus +raged, there came a feeble shout from down the valley behind him and he +saw something very good! + +Limping, with effort, but resolutely forward, was a bent old man, bearing +encircled within his long arms a burden which Ab himself could not have +carried for any distance without stress and labored breathing. The lean +old Mok's arms were locked about a monster sheaf of straight flint-headed +arrows, a sheaf greater in size than ever man had looked upon before. The +crippled veteran had not been idle in his cave. He had worked upon the +store of shafts and flintheads he had accumulated, and here was the +result in a great emergency! + +The old man cast his sheaf upon the ground and then sank down, somewhat +totteringly, beside it. There needed no shout of command from Ab to tell +those about him what to do. There was one combined yell of sudden +exultation, a rush together for the shafts and a swift filling of empty +quivers. It was but the work of a moment or two. Then something promptly +happened. The great fellows, though acting without orders, shot almost +"all together," as the later English archers did, and so close just +across the flame wall was the opposing group that the meanest archer in +all the lot could scarcely fail to reach a living target, and stronger +arms drew back those arrows than were the arms of those who drew +bowstring in the battles of mediaeval history. With the first deadly +flight came a scattering outside and men lay tossing upon the ground in +their death agony. There was no cessation to the shot, though Boarface +sought fiercely to rally his followers, until all had fled beyond the +range of the bowmen. Upon the ground were so many dead that the numbers +of the two forces were now more nearly equal. But Boarface had brave +followers. They ranged themselves together at a safe distance and then +started for the flame wall with a rush, to leap it all together. + +There was another arrow-flight as the onslaught came, and more men went +down, but the charge could not be stopped. Over the low flame-crests shot +a great mass of bodies, there to meet that which was not good for them. +The struggle was swift and deadly, but the forces were almost evenly +matched now and the insiders had the advantage. Boarface and Ab met face +to face in the melee and each leaped toward the other with a yell. There +was to be a fight which must be excellent, for two strong leaders were +meeting and there were many lives at stake. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +OLD HILLTOP'S LAST STRUGGLE. + +Even as he leaped the flames, the desperate Boarface hurled at Ab a +fragment of stone, which was a thing to be wisely dodged, and the invader +was fairly on his feet and in position to face his adversary as the axes +came together. More active, more powerful, it may be, and certainly more +intelligent, was Ab than Boarface, but the leader of the assailants had +been a raider from early youth and knew how to take advantage. In those +fierce days to attain the death of an enemy, in any way, was the +practical end sought in a conflict. Close behind Boarface had leaped a +youth to whom the leader had given his commands before the onrush and +who, as he found his feet upon the valley's sward, sought, not an +adversary face to face, but circled about the two champions, seeking only +to get behind the leaping Ab while Boarface occupied his sole attention. +The young man bore a great stone-headed club, a dreadful weapon in such +hands as his. The men struck furiously and flakes spun from the heavy +axes, but Boarface was being slowly driven back when there descended upon +Ab's shoulder a blow which swerved him and would certainly have felled a +man with less heaped brawn to meet the impact. At the same instant +Boarface made a fierce downward stroke and Ab leaped aside without +parrying or returning it, for his arm was numbed. Another such blow from +the new assailant and his life was lost, yet he dare not turn. That would +be his death. And now Boarface rushed in again and as the axes came +together called to his henchman to strike more surely. + +And just then, just as it seemed to Ab the end was near, he heard behind +him the sharp twang of the bowstring which had sounded so sweetly at the +valley's other end and, with a groan, there pitched down upon the sward +beside him a writhing man whose legs drew back and forth in agony and who +had been pierced by an arrow shot fiercely and closely from behind and +driven in between his shoulder blades. He knew what it must mean. The arm +which had drawn that arrow to its head was that of a slight, strong +creature who was not a man. Lightfoot, wild with love and anxiety, had +shot past Old Mok just as he laid down his bundle of arrows, and, when +she saw her husband's peril, had leaped forward with arrow upon string +and slain his latest assailant in the nick of time. Now, with arrow +notched again and a face ablaze with murderous helpfulness, she hovered +near, intent only upon sending a second shaft into the breast of +Boarface. + +But there was no need. Unhampered now, Ab rushed in upon his enemy and +rained such blows as only a giant could have parried. Boarface fought +desperately, but it was only man to man, and he was not the equal of the +maddened one before him. His ax flew from his hand as his wrist was +broken by Ab's descending weapon, and the next moment he fell limply and +hardly moved, for a second blow had sunk the stone weapon so deeply in +his head that the haft was hidden in his long hair. + +It was all over in a moment now. As Ab turned with a shout of triumph +there was a swift end to the little battle. There were brief encounters +here and there, but the Eastern men were leaderless and less +well-equipped than their foes, and though they fought as desperately as +cornered wolves, there was no hope for them. Three escaped. They fled +wildly toward the flame and leaped over and through its flickering yellow +crest and there was no pursuit. It was not a time for besieged men to be +seeking useless vengeance. There came wild yells from the lower end of +the valley where the greater fight was on. With a cry Ab gathered his men +together and the victorious band ran toward the barrier again, there with +overwhelming force to end the struggle. Ever, in later years, did Ab +regret that his fight with Boarface had not ended sooner. To save an old +hero he had come too late. + +Boarface, when taking with him a strong band to the upper end of the +valley, had still left a supposably overwhelming force to fight its way +up and over the barrier. Ab away from the scene of struggle, old Hilltop +assumed command. He was a fit man for such death-facing steadfastness as +was here required. + +Never had Ab been able to persuade Lightfoot's father to use or even try +the new weapon, the bow and arrow. He had no tender feeling toward modern +innovations. He had a clear eye and strong arm, and the ax and spear were +good enough for him! He recognized Ab's great qualities, but there were +some things that even a well-regarded son-in-law could not impose upon +any elder family male. Among these was this twanging bow with its light +shaft, better fitted for a child's plaything than for real work among +men. As for him, give him a heavy spear, with the blade well set in +thongs, or a heavy ax, with the head well clinched in the sinew-bound +wooden haft. There was rarely miss or failure to the spear-thrust or the +ax-stroke. And now, in proof of the soundness of his old-fashioned +belief, he staked ruggedly his life. There were few spears left. There +were only axes on either side. And there stood old Hilltop upon the +barrier, while beside him and all across stood men as brave if not quite +as sturdy or as famous. + +In the rear of the line, noisy, sometimes fierce and sometimes weeping, +were the women, whose skill was only a little less than that of the males +and who were even more ruthless in all feeling toward the enemy. And +still easily chief among these, conspicuous by her noisy and uncaring +demeanor of mingled alarm and vengefulness, was the raging Moonface. She +rushed up close beside her husband's defending group and still hurled +stones and hurled them most effectively. They went as if from a catapult, +and more than one bone or head was broken that day by those missiles from +the arm of this squat savage wife and mother. But the men below were +outnumbering and brave, and now, maddened by different emotions, the lust +of conquest, the murderous anger over slain companions and, underlying +all, the thought of ownership of this fair and warm and safe place of +home, were resolute in their attack. They had faith in their leader, +Boarface, and expected confidently every moment an onslaught to aid +them from above. And so they came up the watery slope, one pressing +blood-thirstily behind the other with an earnestness none but men as +strong and well equipped and as brave or braver could hope to withstand. +The closing struggle was desperate. + +Hilltop stood to the front, between two rocks some few yards apart, over +which bubbled the shallow creek, and between which was the main upward +entrance to the valley. He stood upon a rock almost as flat as if some +expert engineer of ages later had planed its surface and then adjusted it +to a level, leaving the shallow waters tumbling all about it. The rock +out-jutted somewhat on the slope and there must necessarily be some +little climb to face the aged defender. On either side was a stretch of +down-running, gradually-sloping waterfall, full of great boulders, +embarrassing any straight rush of a group together, but, between and +upward, sprang swart men, and facing them on either side of old Hilltop +beyond the rocks were the remainder of the mass of cave men upon whom he +depended for making good the defense of the whole barrier. Beside him, in +the center of the battle, were the two creatures in the world upon whom +he could most depend, his stalwart and splendid sons, Strong-Arm and +Branch. With them, as gallant if not as strong as his great brother, +stood braced the eager Bark. They were ready, these young men, but, as it +chanced, there could be, at the beginning of the strong clamber of the +foe, only one man to first meet them. All were behind this man at the +front, for the flat rock came to something like a point. He stood there, +hairy and bare except for the skin about his hips, and with only an ax in +his hand, but this did not matter so much as it might have done, for only +axes were borne by the up-clambering assailants. The throwing of an ax +was a little matter to the sharp-eyed and flexile-muscled cave men. Who +could not dodge an ax was better out of the way and out of the world. A +meeting such as this impending must be a matter only of close personal +encounter and fencing with arm and wooden handle and flint-head of edge +and weight. + +There was a clash of stone together, and, one after another, strong +creatures with cloven skulls toppled backward, to fall into the babbling +creek, their blood helping to change its coloring. Leaping from side to +side across his rock, along each edge of which the water rushed, old +Hilltop met the mass of enemies, while those who passed were brained by +his great sons or by those behind. But the forces were unequal and the +plane in front was not steep enough nor the water deep enough to prevent +something like an organized onslaught. With fearful regularity, uplifted +and thrown aside occasionally in defense to avoid a stroke, the ax of +Hilltop fell and there was more and more fine fighting and fine dying. On +either side were men doing scarcely less stark work. Hilltop's two sons, +on either side of him now, as the assailants, crowded by those behind, +pressed closer, fully justified their parentage by what they did, and +Bark was like a young tiger. But the onslaught was too strong. There were +too many against too few. There were loud cries, a sudden impulse and, +though axes rose and fell and more men tumbled backward into the water, +the rock was swept upon and won and the old man stood alone amid his +foes, his sons having been carried backward by the pressure of the mass. +There was sullen battling on the upper level, but there was no fray so +red as that where Hilltop, old as he was, swung his awful ax among the +close crowding throng of enemies about him. Four fell with skulls cleanly +split before a giant of the invaders got behind the gray defender of the +pass. Then an ax came crashing down and old Hilltop pitched forward, dead +before he fell into the cool waters of the pool below. + +There was a yell of exultation from the upward-climbing Eastern cave men +as they saw the most dangerous of their immediate enemies go down, but, +before the echoes had come back, the sound was lost in that which came +from the height above them. It was loud and threatening, but not the yell +of their own kind. + +There had come sweeping down the valley the victors in the fight at the +Eastern end. Ab, with the lust of battle fully upon him as he heard the +wild shriek of Moonface, who had seen her husband fall, was a creature as +hungry for blood as any beast of all the forest, and his followers were +scarce less terrible. Swift and dreadful was the encounter which +followed, but the issue was not doubtful for a moment. The barrier's +living defenders became as wild themselves as were these conquering +allies. The fight became a massacre. Flying hopelessly up the valley, the +remnant, only some twenty, of the Eastern cave men ran into the vacant +big cave for refuge and there, barricaded, could keep their pursuers at +bay for the time at least. + +There was no immediate attack made upon the remnant of the assailants who +had thus sought refuge. They were safely imprisoned, and about the cave's +entrance there lay down to eat and rest a body of vengeful men of twice +their number. The struggle was over, and won, but there was little +happiness in the Fire Valley which had been so well defended. + +Moonface, wildly fighting, had seen her husband's death. With the rush of +Ab's returning force which changed the tide of battle she had been swept +away, shrieking and seeking to force herself toward the rock whereon old +Hilltop had so well demeaned himself. Now there emerged from one side a +woman who spoke to none but who clambered down the rough waterway and +waded into the little pool below the rock and stooped and lifted +something from the water. It was the body of the brave old hunter of the +hills. With her arms clutched about it the woman began the clamber upward +again, shaking her head dumbly, when rude warriors, touched somehow, +despite the coarse texture of their being, came wading in to assist her +with the ghastly burden. She emerged with it upon the level and laid it +gently down upon the grass, but still uttered no word until her children +gathered and the weeping Lightfoot came to her and put her arms about +her, and then from the uncouth creature's eyes came a flood of tears and +a gasp which broke the tension, and the death wail sounded through the +valley. The poor, affectionate animal was a little nearer herself again. + +There were dead men lying beside the flames at the Eastern end of the +valley, and these were brought by the men and tossed carelessly into the +pools below where lay so many others of the slain. There were storm +clouds gathering and all the valley people knew what must happen soon. +The storm clouds burst; the little creek, transformed suddenly into a +torrent by the fall of water from the heights above, swept the dead men +away together to the river and so toward the sea. Of all the invading +force there remained alive only the three who had re-leaped the flames +and those imprisoned in the cave. + +There was council that night between Ab and his friends and, as the +easiest way of disposing of the prisoners in the cave, it was proposed to +block the entrance and allow the miserable losers in battle to there +starve at their leisure. But the thoughtful Old Mok took Ab aside and +said: + +"Why not let them live and work for us? They will do as you say. This was +the place they wanted. They can stay and make us stronger." + +And Ab saw the reason of all this and the hungry, imprisoned men were +given the alternative of death or obedient companionship. They did not +hesitate long. The warmth of the valley and its other advantages were +what they had come for and they had no narrow views outside the food and +fuel question. The valley was good. They accepted Ab's authority and came +out and fed and, with their wives and children, who were sent for, became +of the valley people. + +This place of refuge and home and fortress was acquiring an importance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +OUR VERY GREAT GRANDFATHER. + +And the years passed. One still afternoon in autumn a gray, hairy man, a +man approaching old age, but without weakness of arm or stiffness of +joint, as yet, sat on the height overlooking the village. He looked in +tranquil comfort, now down into the little valley, and now across it into +the wood beyond, where the sun was approaching the treetops. He had come +to the hill with the mere instinct of the old hunter seeking to be +completely out of doors, but he had brought work with him and was +engaged, when not looking thoughtfully far away, in finishing a huge bow, +the spring of which he occasionally tested. Every motion showed the +retained possession of tremendous strength as well as the knowledge of +its use to most advantage. A very hale old man was Ab, the great hunter +and head of the people of the Fire Valley. + +A few yards away from Ab, leaning against the trunk of a beech, stood +Lightfoot, her quick glance roving from place to place and as keen, +seemingly, as ever. These two were still most content when together, and +it was well for each that they had in the same degree withstood what the +years bring. The woman had, perhaps, changed less than the man. Her hair +was still dark and her step had not grown heavy. She had changed in face +and expression rather than in form. There had grown in her eyes and about +her mouth the indefinable lines and tokens, pathetic and sweet, of care, +of sorrow, of suffering and of quiet gladness, in short, of motherhood. + +As twilight came on the woods rang with the shouts and laughter of a +party of young men who were coming home from some forest trip. Ab, +looking down the valley, over the flashing flame, into the forest hills, +in whose deep shade lay Little Mok, old Hilltop and Ab's mother, could +see the lusty youths in the village, running, leaping, wrestling and +throwing spears, axes and stones in competition. A strange oppression +came upon him and he thought of Oak lying in the ground alone on the +hillside, miles away. Ab felt, even now, the strong, helpful arm of his +friend around him, just as it was in the evening journey from the Feast +of the Mammoth homeward, when he had been rescued from almost certain +death by Oak. A lump rose in the throat of the man of many battles and +many trials. He shook himself, as if to shake off the memory that plagued +him. Oak came not often to trouble Ab's peace now, and when he came it +was always at night. Morning never found him near the Fire Village. + +The young hunters, rioting like the young men in the valley, were passing +now. Ab looked upon them thoughtfully. He felt dimly a desire to speak to +them, to tell them something about the hurts they might avoid, and how +hard it was to have a great, heavy load on one's chest at times--all +one's life--but the cave man was, as to the emotions, inarticulate. Ab +could no more have spoken his half defined feelings than the tree could +cry out at the blow of the ax. + +The woman left the beech tree and approached the man and touched his arm. +His eyes turned upon her kindly and after she had seated herself beside +him, there was laughing talk, for Lightfoot was declaring her desperate +condition of hunger and demanding that he return to the valley with her. +She examined his bow critically and had an opinion to express, for so +fine a shot as she might surely talk a little about so manful a thing as +the making of the weapon. And as the sun sank lower and the valley fell +into shadow, the two descended together, a pair who, after all, had +reason to be glad that they had lived. + +And the children these two left were bold and strong and dominant by +nature, and maintained the family leadership as the village grew. With +later generations came trouble vast and dire to the people of the land, +but it was not the part of this proud and seasoned and well-weaponed +group to flee like wild beasts when came drifting to the Westward the +first feeble vanguard of the Aryan overflow. The vanguard was overthrown; +its men made serfs and its women mothers. Other cave men in other regions +might escape to the Northward as the wave increased, there to become +frost-bitten Lapps or the "Skrallings" of the Norsemen, the Eskimo of +to-day, but not so the people of the great Fire Valley or their stern and +sturdy vassals for half a hundred miles about. No child's play was it for +those of another and still rude civilization to meet them in their +fastnesses, and the end of the struggle--for this region at least--was, +not a conquest, but a blending, a blending good for each of the two +forces. + +And as the face of Nature changed with the ages, as the later glacial +cold wavered and fluctuated and forced back and forth migrations of man +and beast, still the first-formed group retained coherence, retained it +beyond great natural cataclysms, retained it to historic ages, to wield +long the smoothed stone weapons, and, afterward, the bronze axes, and to +diverge in many branches of contentious defenders and invaders, to become +Iberian and Gaul and Celt and Saxon, to fight family against family, and +to commingle again in these later times. + +Upon the beach the other day, watching the waves lap toward her, sat a +woman, cultured, very beautiful and wise in woman's way and among the +fairest and the best of all earth can produce. There are many such as +she. Barely longer ago than the other day, as time is counted, a rugged +man, gentle as resolute and noble, became the enshrined hero of a vast +republic, when he struck from slave limbs the shackles of four million +people. In an insular home across the sea, interested still in the +world's affairs, is an old man vigorous in his octogenarianism, a power, +though out of power, a figure to be a monument in personal history, a +great man. But a few years ago the whole world stood with bowed head +while into the soil he loved was lowered the coffin of one who has bound +the nations together in sympathy for _Les Miserables_ of the earth. In a +home on the continent broods watchfully a bald-headed giant in cavalry +boots, one who has dictated arbitrarily, as premier, the policy of the +empire he has largely made. The woman upon the sands, the great +liberator, the man wonderful even in old age, the heart-stirring writer, +the man of giant personality physical and mental, have had reason to +boast alike a strain of the blood of Ab and Lightfoot. In the veins of +each has danced the transmitted product of the identical corpuscles which +coursed in the veins of those two who first found a home in the Fire +Valley. Strong was primitive man; adroit, patient and faithful was +primitive woman; he, the strongest, she, the fairest and cleverest of the +time, could protect their offspring, breed and care for great children of +similar powers and so insure a lasting race. Thus has the good blue blood +come down. This is not romance, this is not fancy; this is but faithful +history. + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Ab, by Stanley Waterloo + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF AB *** + +***** This file should be named 8644.txt or 8644.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/6/4/8644/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, Andy Schmitt, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +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. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Story of Ab + A Tale of the Time of the Cave Man + +Author: Stanley Waterloo + +Release Date: August, 2005 [EBook #8644] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on July 29, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF AB *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, Andy Schmitt, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration: GREAT TRUNK SHOT DOWNWARD AND BACKWARD PICKED UP THE MAN +AND HURLED HIM YARDS AWAY] + + + + + THE STORY OF AB + + A TALE OF THE TIME OF THE CAVE MAN + + BY + + STANLEY WATERLOO + + 1905 + + + Author of "A Man and a Woman," "An Odd Situation," etc. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +This is the story of Ab, a man of the Age of Stone, who lived so long ago +that we cannot closely fix the date, and who loved and fought well. + +In his work the author has been cordially assisted by some of the ablest +searchers of two continents into the life history of prehistoric times. +With characteristic helpfulness and interest, these already burdened +students have aided and encouraged him, and to them he desires to express +his sense of profound obligation and his earnest thanks. + +Once only does the writer depart from accepted theories of scientific +research. After an at least long-continued study of existing evidence and +information relating to the Stone Ages, the conviction grew upon him that +the mysterious gap supposed by scientific teachers to divide Paleolithic +from Neolithic man never really existed. No convulsion of nature, no new +race of human beings is needed to explain the difference between the +relics of Paleolithic and Neolithic strugglers. Growth, experiment, +adaptation, discovery, inevitable in man, sufficiently account for all +the relatively swift changes from one form of primitive life to another +more advanced, from the time of chipped to that of polished implements. +Man has been, from the beginning, under the never resting, never +hastening, forces of evolution. The earth from which he sprang holds the +record of his transformations in her peat-beds, her buried caverns and +her rocky fastnesses. The eternal laws change man, but they themselves do +not change. + +Ab and Lightfoot and others of the cave people whose story is told in the +tale which follows the author cannot disown. He has shown them as they +were. Hungry and cold, they slew the fierce beasts which were scarcely +more savage than they, and were fed and clothed by their flesh and fur. +In the caves of the earth the cave men and their families were safely +sheltered. Theirs were the elemental wants and passions. They were +swayed by love, in some form at least, by jealousy, fear, revenge, and by +the memory of benefits and wrongs. They cherished their young; they +fought desperately with the beasts of their time, and with each other, +and, when their brief, turbulent lives were ended, they passed into +silence, but not into oblivion. The old Earth carefully preserved their +story, so that we, their children, may read it now. + +S. W. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER. + +I. THE BABE IN THE WOODS. + +II. MAN AND HYENA. + +III. A FAMILY DINNER. + +IV. AB AND OAK. + +V. A GREAT ENTERPRISE. + +VI. A DANGEROUS VISITOR. + +VII. THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS. + +VIII. SABRE-TOOTH AND RHINOCEROS. + +IX. DOMESTIC MATTERS. + +X. OLD MOK, THE MENTOR. + +XI. DOINGS AT HOME. + +XII. OLD MOK'S TALES. + +XIII. AB'S GREAT DISCOVERY. + +XIV. A LESSON IN SWIMMING. + +XV. A MAMMOTH AT BAY. + +XVI. THE FEAST OF THE MAMMOTH. + +XVII. THE COMRADES. + +XVIII. LOVE AND DEATH. + +XIX. A RACE WITH DREAD. + +XX. THE FIRE COUNTRY. + +XXI. THE WOOING OF LIGHTFOOT. + +XXII. THE HONEYMOON. + +XXIII. MORE OF THE HONEYMOON. + +XXIV. THE FIRE COUNTRY AGAIN. + +XXV. A GREAT STEP FORWARD. + +XXVI. FACING THE RAIDER. + +XXVII. LITTLE MOK. + +XXVIII. THE BATTLE OF THE BARRIERS. + +XXIX. OLD HILLTOP'S LAST STRUGGLE. + +XXX. OUR VERY GREAT GRANDFATHER. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +BY SIMON HARMON VEDDER + +"HIS GREAT TRUNK SHOT DOWNWARD AND BACKWARD, PICKED UP THE MAN, AND +HURLED HIM YARDS AWAY" + +MAP + +"AB SEIZED UPON TWO OF THE SNARLING CUBS, AND OAK DID THE SAME" + +"AB SPRANG TO HIS FEET, AND DREW HIS ARROW TO THE HEAD" + +"THE YOUNG MEN CALLED TO HER, BUT SHE MADE NO ANSWER. SHE BUT FISHED AWAY +DEMURELY" + +"AB STOOD THERE WEAPONLESS, A CREATURE WANDERING OF MIND" + +"WITH A GREAT LEAP HE WENT AT AND THROUGH THE CURLING CREST OF THE YELLOW +FLAME!" + +"THE GIRL COWERED BEHIND A REFUGE OF LEAVES AND BRANCHES" + +"UPON THE STRONG SHAFT OF ASH THE MONSTER WAS IMPALED" + + + + +THE STORY OF AB. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +THE BABE IN THE WOODS. + +Drifted beech leaves had made a soft, clean bed in a little hollow in a +wood. The wood was beside a river, the trend of which was toward the +east. There was an almost precipitous slope, perhaps a hundred and fifty +feet from the wood, downward to the river. The wood itself, a sort of +peninsula, was mall in extent and partly isolated from the greater forest +back of it by a slight clearing. Just below the wood, or, in fact, almost +in it and near the crest of the rugged bank, the mouth of a small cave +was visible. It was so blocked with stones as to leave barely room for +the entrance of a human being. The little couch of beech leaves already +referred to was not many yards from the cave. + +On the leafy bed rolled about and kicked up his short legs in glee a +little brown babe. It was evident that he could not walk yet and his lack +of length and width and thickness indicated what might be a babe not more +than a year of age, but, despite his apparent youth, this man-child +seemed content thus left alone, while his grip on the twigs which had +fallen into his bed was strong, as he was strong, and he was breaking +them delightedly. Not only was the hair upon his head at least twice as +long as that of the average year-old child of today, but there were downy +indications upon his arms and legs, and his general aspect was a swart +and rugged one. He was about as far from a weakly child in appearance as +could be well imagined and he was about as jolly a looking baby, too, as +one could wish to see. He was laughing and cooing as he kicked about +among the beech leaves and looked upward at the blue sky. His dress has +not yet been alluded to and an apology for the negligence may be found in +the fact that he had no dress. He wore nothing. He was a baby of the time +of the cave men; of the closing period of the age of chipped stone +instruments; the epoch of mild climate; the ending of one great animal +group and the beginning of another; the time when the mammoth, the +rhinoceros, the great cave tiger and cave bear, the huge elk, reindeer +and aurochs and urus and hosts of little horses, fed or gamboled in the +same forests and plains, with much discretion as to relative distances +from each other. + +It was some time ago, no matter how many thousands of years, when the +child--they called him Ab--lay there, naked, upon his bed of beech +leaves. It may be said, too, that there existed for him every chance for +a lively and interesting existence. There was prospect that he would be +engaged in running away from something or running after something during +most of his life. Times were not dull for humanity in the age of stone. +The children had no lack of things to interest, if not always to amuse, +them, and neither had the men and women. And this is the truthful story +of the boy Ab and his playmates and of what happened when he grew to be a +man. + +It is well to speak here of the river. The stream has been already +mentioned as flowing to the eastward. It did not flow in that direction +regularly; its course was twisted and diverted, and there were bays and +inlets and rapids between precipices, and islands and wooded peninsulas, +and then the river merged into a lake of miles in extent, the waters +converging into the river again. So it was that the banks in one place +might form a height and in another merge evenly into a densely wooded +forest or a wide plain. It was so, too, that these conditions might exist +opposite each other. Thus the woodland might face the plain, or the +precipice some vast extending marsh. + +To speak further of this river it may be mentioned, incidentally, that +to-day its upper reaches still exist and that the relatively small stream +remaining is called the Thames. Beside and across it lies the greatest +city in the world and its mouth is upon what is called the English +Channel. At the time when the baby, Ab, slept that afternoon in his nest +in the beech leaves this river was not called the Thames, it was only +called the Running Water, to distinguish it from the waters of the coast. +It did not empty into the British Channel, for the simple and sufficient +reason that there was no such channel at the time. Where now exists that +famous passage which makes islands of Great Britain, where, tossed upon +the choppy waves, the travelers of the world are seasick, where Drake and +Howard chased the Great Armada to the Northern seas and where, to-day, +the ships of the nations are steered toward a social and commercial +center, was then good, solid earth crowned with great forests, and the +present little tail end of a river was part of a great affluent of the +Rhine, the German river famous still, but then with a size and sweep +worth talking of. Then the Thames and the Elbe and Weser, into which +tumbled a thousand smaller streams, all went to feed what is now the +Rhine, and that then tremendous river held its course through dense +forests and deep gorges until it reached broad plains, where the North +Sea is to-day, and blended finally with the Northern Ocean. + +The trees which stood upon the bank of the great river, or which could be +seen in the far distance beyond the marsh or plain, were not all the same +as now exist. There was still a distinctive presence of the towering +conifers, something such as are represented in the redwood forests of +California to-day, or, in other forms, in some Australian woods. There +was a suggestion of the fernlike but gigantic age of growth of the +distant past, the past when the earth's surface was yet warm and its air +misty, and there was an exuberance of all plant and forest growth, +something compared with which the growth in the same latitude, just now, +would make, it may be, but a stunted showing. It is wonderful, though, +the close resemblance between most of the trees of the cave man's age, so +many tens of thousands of years ago, and the trees most common to the +temperate zone to-day. The peat bogs and the caverns and the strata of +deposits in a host of places tell truthfully what trees grew in this +distant time. Already the oak and beech and walnut and butternut and +hazel reared their graceful forms aloft, and the ground beneath their +spreading branches was strewn with the store of nuts which gave a portion +of food for many of the beasts and for man as well. The ash and the yew +were there, tough and springy of fiber and destined in the far future to +become famous in song and story, because they would furnish the wood from +which was made the weapon of the bowman. The maple was there with all its +symmetry. There was the elm, the dogged and beautiful tree-thing of +to-day, which so clings to life and nourishes in the midst of unwholesome +city surroundings and makes the human hive so much the better. There were +the pines, the sycamore, the foxwood and dogwood, and lime and laurel and +poplar and elder and willow, and the cherry and crab apple and others of +the fruit-bearing kind, since so developed that they are great factors in +man's subsistence now. It was a time of plenty which was riotous. There +remained, too, a vestige of the animal as well as of the vegetable life +of the remoter ages. There were strange and dangerous creatures which +came sometimes up the river from its inlet into the ocean. Such events +had been matters of interest, not to say of anxiety, to Ab's ancestors. + +The baby lying there among the beech leaves tired, finally, of its cooing +and twig-snapping and slept the sleep of dreamless early childhood. He +slept happily and noiselessly, but when he at last awoke his demeanor +showed a change. He had nothing to distract him, unless it might be the +breaking of twigs again. He had no toys, and, being hungry, he began to +yell. So far as can be learned from early data, babies, when hungry, have +always yelled. And, of old, as to-day, when a baby yelled, the woman who +had borne it was likely to appear at once upon the scene. Ab's mother +came running lightly from the river bank toward where the youngster lay. +She was worthy of attention as she ran, and this is but a bungling +attempt at a description of her and of her dress. + +It should be explained here, with much care and caution, that the mother +of Ab moved in the best and most exclusive circles of the time. She +belonged to the aristocracy and, it may be added, regarding this fine +lady personally, that she had the weakness of paying much attention to +her dress. She was what might properly be called a leader of society, +though society was at the time somewhat attenuated, families living, +generally, some miles apart, and various obstacles, chiefly in the form +of large, man-eating animals, complicating the matter of paying calls. As +for the calls themselves, they were nearly as often aggressive as social, +and there is a certain degree of difference between the vicious use of a +flint ax and the leaving of a card with a bending lackey. But all this +doesn't matter. The mother of Ab belonged to the very cream of the cream, +and was dressed accordingly. Her garb was elegant but simple; it had, +first, the one great merit, that it could easily be put on or taken off. +It was sustained with but a single knot, a bow-knot--they had learned to +make a bow-knot and other knots in the stone age, for, because of the +manual requirements for living, they were cleverer fumblers with their +fingers than we are now--and the lady here described had tied her knot in +a manner not to be excelled by any other woman in all the fiercely +beast-ranged countryside. + +The gown itself was of a quality to please the eye of the most carping. +It was made from the skins of wolverines, and was drawn in loosely about +the waist by a tied band, but was really sustained by a strip of the skin +which encircled the left shoulder and back and breast. This left the +right arm free from all encumbrance, a matter of some importance, for to +be right-handed was a quality of the cave man as of the man today. We +should have a grudge against them for this carelessness, and should, may +be, form an ambidextrous league, improving upon the past and teaching and +forcing young children to use each hand alike. + +The garment of wolverine skins, sewed neatly together with thread of +sinews, was all the young mother wore. Thus hanging from the shoulder and +fully encircling her, it reached from the waist to about half way down +between the hips and the knees. It was as delightful a gown as ever was +contrived by ambitious modiste or mincing male designer in these modern +times. It fitted with a free and easy looseness and its colors were such +as blended smoothly and kindly with the complexion of its wearer. The fur +of the wolverine was a mixed black and white, but neither black nor white +is the word to use. The black was not black; it was only a swart sort of +color, and the white was not white; it was but a dingy, lighter contrast +to the darker surface beside it. Yet the combination was rather good. +There was enough of difference to catch the eye and not enough of +glaringness to offend it. The mother of Ab would be counted by a wise +observer as the possessor of good taste. Still, dress is a small matter. +There is something to say about the cave mother aside from the mere +description of her gown. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +MAN AND HYENA. + +It is but an act of simple gallantry and justice to assert that the cave +woman had a certain unhampered swing of movement which the modern woman +often lacks. Without any reflection upon the blessed woman of to-day, it +must be said truthfully that she can neither leap a creek nor surmount +some such obstacle as a monster tree trunk with a close approach to the +ease and grace of this mother who came bounding through the forest. There +was nothing unknowing or hesitant about her movements. She ran swiftly +and leaped lightly when occasion came. She was lithe as the panther and +as careless of where her brown feet touched the ground. + +The woman had physical charms. She was of about the average size of +womanhood as we see it embodied now, but her waist was not compressed at +an unseemly angle, and much resembled in its contour that of the Venus of +Milo which has become such a stock example of the healthfully +symmetrical. Her hair was brown and long. It was innocent of knot or coil +or braid, and was transfixed by no abatis of dangerous pins. It was not +parted but was thrown straight backward over the head and hung down +fairly and far between brown shoulders. It was a fine head of hair; there +could be no question about that. It had gloss and color. Captious +critics, reasoning from the standpoint of another age, might think it +needed combing, but that is only a matter of opinion. It was tangled +together in a compact and fluffy mass, and so did not wander into the +woman's eyes, which was a good thing and a great convenience, for bright +eyes and unobstructed vision were required in those lively days. + +The face of this lady showed, at a glance, that no cosmetic had ever been +relied upon to give it an artificial charm. As a matter of fact it would +have been difficult to use cosmetics upon that face in the modern way, +for there was a suggestion of something more than down upon the +countenance, and there were certain irregularities of facial outline so +prominent that such details as the little matter of complexion must be +trifling. The eyes were deep set and small, the nose was short and thick +and possessed a certain vagueness of outline not easy of description. The +upper lip was excessively long and the under lip protruding. The chin was +well defined and firm. The mouth was rather wide, and the teeth were +strong and even, and as white as any ivory ever seen. Such was the face, +and there may be added some details of interest about the figure. The +arms of this fascinating woman were perfectly proportioned. They were +adapted to the times and were very beautiful. Down each of them from +shoulder to elbow ran a strip of short dark hair. From either hand ran +upward to the elbow another strip of hair, and the two, meeting at the +elbow, formed a delightful little tuft reminding one of what is known as +a "widow's peak," or that little point which grows down so charmingly on +an occasional woman's forehead. Her biceps were tremendous, as must +necessarily be the case with a lady accustomed to swing from limb to limb +along the treetops. Her thumb was nearly as long as her fingers, and the +palms of her hands were hard. Her legs were like her arms in their degree +of muscular development and hairy adornment. She had beautiful feet. It +is to be admitted that her heels projected a trifle more than is counted +the ideal thing at the present day, and that her big toe and all the +other toes were very much in evidence, but there is not one woman in +ten thousand now who could as handily pick up objects with her toes as +could the mother of the baby Ab. She was as brown as a nut, with the tan +of a half tropical summer, and as healthy a creature, from tawny head to +backward sloping heel, as ever trod a path in the world's history. This +was the quality of the lady who came so swiftly to learn the nature of +her offspring's trouble. Ladies of that day attended, as a rule, to the +wants of their own children. A wet nurse was a thing unknown and a dry +one as unthought of. This was good for the children. + +The woman made a dive into the little hollow and picked the babe from its +nest of leaves and tossed him up lightly, and at once his crying ceased, +and his little brown arms went around her neck, and he cooed and prattled +in very much the same fashion as does a babe of the present time. He was +content, all in a moment, yet some noise must have aroused him, for, as +it chanced, there was great need that this particular babe at this +particular moment should have awakened and cried aloud for his mother. +This was made evident immediately. As the woman tossed him aloft in her +arms and cuddled him again there came a sound to her ears which made her +leap like some wilder creature of the forest up to a little vantage +ground. She turned her head, and then--you should have seen the woman! + +Very nearly above them swung down one of the branches of a great beech +tree. The mother threw the child into the hollow of her left arm, and +leaped upward a yard to catch the branch with her right hand. So she hung +dangling. Then, instantly, holding him firmly by one arm in her left +hand, she lowered the child between her legs and clasped them about him +closely. And then, had it been your fortune to be born in those times, +you might have seen good climbing. With both her strong arms free, this +vigorous matron ran up the stout beech limb which depended downward from +the great bole of the tree until she was twenty feet above the ground, +and then, lifting herself into a comfortable place, in a moment was +sitting there at ease, her legs and one arm coiled about the big branch +and a smaller upstanding one, while the other arm held the brown babe +close to her bosom. + +This charming lady of the period had reached her perch in the beech tree +top none too soon. Even as she swung herself into place upon the huge +bough, there came rushing across the space beneath, snarling, smelling +and seeking, a brute as foul and dangerous as could be imagined for +mother and son upon the ground. It was of a dirty dun color, mottled and +striped with a lighter but still dingy hue. It had a black, hoggish nose, +but there were fangs in its great jaws. It resembled a huge wolf, save as +to its massiveness and club countenance, It was one of the monster hyenas +of the time, a beast which must have been as dangerous to the men then +living as any animal except the cave tiger and the cave bear. Its +degenerate posterity, as they shuffle uneasily back and forth when caged +to-day, are perhaps not less foul of aspect, but are relatively pygmies. +Doubtless the brute had scented the sleeping babe, and, snarling aloud in +its search, had waked it, inducing the cry which proved the child's +salvation. + +The beast scented immediately the prey above him and leaped upward +ferociously and vainly. Was the woman thus beset thus holding herself +aloft and with her child upon one arm in a state of sickening anxiety? +Hardly! She but encircled the supporting branch the closer, and laughed +aloud. She even poked one bare foot down at the leaping beast, and waved +her leg in provocation. At the same time there was no doubt that she was +beset. Furthermore she was hungry, and so she raised her voice, and sent +out through the forest a strange call, a quavering minor wail, but +something to be heard at a great distance. There was no delay in the +response, for delays were dangerous when cave men lived. The call was +answered instantly and the answering cry was repeated as she called +again, the sound of the reply approaching near and nearer all the time. +All at once the manner of her calling changed; it was an appeal no +longer; it was a conversation, an odd, clucking, penetrating speech in +the shortest of sentences. She was telling of the situation. There was +prompt reply; the voice seemed suddenly higher in the air and then came, +swinging easily from branch to branch along the treetops, the father of +Ab, a person who felt a natural and aggressive interest in what was going +on. + +To describe the cave man it is, it may be, best of all to say that he was +the woman over again, only stronger, longer limbed and deeper chested, +firmer of jaw and more grim of countenance. He was dressed almost as she +was. From his broad shoulder hung a cloak of the skin of some wild beast +but the cord which tied it was a stout one, and in the belt thus formed +was stuck a weapon of such quality as men have rarely carried since. It +was a stone ax; an ax heavier than any battle-ax of mediaeval times, its +haft a scant three feet in length, inclosing the ax through a split in +the tough wood, all being held in place by a taut and hardened mass of +knotted sinews. It was a fearful weapon, but one only to be wielded by +such a man as this, one with arms almost as mighty as those of the +gorilla. + +The man sat himself upon the limb beside his wife and child. The two +talked together in their clucking language for a moment or two, but few +words were wasted. Words had not their present abundance in those days; +action was everything. The man was hungry, too, and wanted to get home as +soon as possible. He had secured food, which was awaiting them, and this +slight, annoying episode of the day must be ended promptly. He clambered +easily up the tree and wrenched off a deadened limb at least two yards in +length, then tumbling back again and passing his wife and child along the +main branch, he swung down to where the leaping beast could almost reach +him. The heavy club he carried gave him an advantage. With a whistling +sweep, as the hyena leaped upward in its ravenous folly, came this huge +club crashing against the thick skull, a blow so fair and stark and +strong that the stunned beast fell backward upon the ground, and then, +down, lightly as any monkey, dropped the cave man. The huge stone ax went +crashing into the brain of the quivering brute, and that was the end of +the incident. Mother and child leaped down together, and the man and +woman went chattering toward their cave. This was not a particularly +eventful day with them; they were accustomed to such things. + +They went strolling off through the beech glades, the strong, hairy, +heavy-jawed man, the muscular but more lightly built woman and the child, +perched firmly and chattering blithely upon her shoulder as they walked, +or, rather, half trotted along the river side and toward the cave. They +were light of foot and light of thought, but there was ever that almost +unconscious alertness appertaining to their time. Their flexible ears +twitched, and turned, now forward now backward, to catch the slightest +sound. Their nostrils were open for dangerous scents, or for the scent of +that which might give them food, either animal or vegetable, and as for +the eyes, well, they were the sharpest existent within the history of the +human race. They were keen of vision at long distance and close at hand, +and ever were they in motion, swiftly turned sidewise this way and that, +peering far ahead or looking backward to note what enemies of the wood +might be upon the trail. So, swiftly along the glade and ever alert, went +the father and mother of Ab, carrying the strong child with them. + +There came no new alarm, and soon the cave was reached, though on the way +there was a momentary deviation from the path, to gather up the nuts and +berries the woman had found in the afternoon while the babe was lying +sleeping. The fruitage was held in a great leaf, a pliant thing pulled +together at the edges, tied stoutly with a strand of tough grass, and +making a handy pouch containing a quart or two of the food, which was the +woman's contribution to the evening meal. As for the father, he had more +to offer, as was evident when the cave was reached. + +The man and woman crept through the narrow entrance and stood erect in a +recess in the rocks twenty feet square, at least, and perhaps fifteen +feet in height. Looking upward one could see a gleam of light from the +outer world. The orifice through which the light came was the chimney, +dug downward with much travail from the level of the land above. Directly +underneath the opening was the fireplace, for men had learned thoroughly +the use of fire, and had even some fancies as to getting rid of smoke. +There were smoldering embers upon the hearth, embers of the hardest of +wood, the wood which would preserve a fire for the greatest length of +time, for the cave man had neither flint and steel nor matches, and when +a fire expired it was a matter of some difficulty to secure a flame +again. On this occasion there was no trouble. The embers were beaten up +easily into glowing coals and twigs and dry dead limbs cast upon them +made soon a roaring flame. As the cave was lighted the proprietor pointed +laughingly to the abundance of meat he had secured. It was food of the +finest sort and in such quantity that even this stalwart being's strength +must have been exceptionally tested in bringing the burden to the cave. +It was something in quality for an epicure of the day and there was +enough of it to make the cave man's family easy for a week, at least. It +was a hind quarter of a wild horse. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +A FAMILY DINNER. + +Despite the hyena and baby incident, the day had been a satisfactory one +for this cave family. Of course, had the woman failed to reach just when +she did the hollow in which her babe was left there would have come a +tragedy in the extinction of a young and promising cave child, and the +two would have been mourning, as even wild beasts mourn for their lost +young. But there was little reversion to past possibilities in the minds +of the cave people. The couple were not worrying over what might have +been. The mother had found food of one sort in abundance, and the +father's fortune had been royal. He had tossed a rock from a precipice a +hundred feet in height down into a passing herd of the little wild +horses, and great luck had followed, for one of them had been killed, and +so this was a holiday in the cave. The man and wife were at ease and had +each an appetite. + +The nuts gathered by the woman were tossed in a heap among the ashes and +live coals were raked upon them, and the popping which followed showed +how well they were being roasted. A sturdy twig, two yards in length and +sharpened at the end, was utilized by the man in cooking the strips of +meat cut from the haunch of the wild horse and very savory were the odors +that filled the cave. There was the faint perfume of the crackling nuts +and there was the fragrant beneficence of the broiling meat. There are no +definite records upon the subject; the chef of to-day can give you no +information on the point, but there is reason to believe that a steak +from the wild horse of the time was something admirable. There is a sort +of maxim current in this age, in civilized rural communities, to the +effect that those quadrupeds are good to eat which "chew the cud or part +the hoof." The horse of to-day is a creature with but one toe to each +leg--we all know that--but the horse of the cave man's time had only +lately parted with the split hoof, and so was fairly edible, even +according to the modern standard. + +The father and mother of Ab were not more than two years past their +honeymoon. They, in their way, were glad that their union had been so +blest and that a lusty man-child was rolling about and crowing and cooing +upon the earthen floor of the cave. They lived from hand to mouth, and +from day to day, and this day had been a good one. They were there +together, man, woman and child. They had warmth and food. The entrance to +the cave was barred so that no monster of the period might enter. They +could eat and sleep with a certainty of the perfect digestion which +followed such a life as theirs and with a certainty of all peace for the +moment. Even the child mumbled heartily, though not yet very strongly, at +the delicious meat of the little horse, and, the meal ended, the two lay +down upon a mass of leaves which made their bed, and the child lay +snuggled and warm within reach of them. The aristocracy of the time had +gone to sleep. + +There was silence in the cave, but, outside, the world was not so still. +The night was not always one of silence in the cave man's time. The hours +of darkness were those when the creature which walked upon two legs was +no longer gliding through the forest with ready club or spear, and when +those creatures which used four legs instead of two, especially the +defenseless, felt more at ease than in the daytime. The grass-eating +animals emerged from the forest into the plateaus and upon the low plains +along the river side and the flesh-eaters began again their hunting. It +was a time of wild life, and of wild death, for out of the abundance much +was taken; there were nightly tragedies, and the beasts of prey were as +glutted as the urus or the elk which fed on the sweet grasses. It was but +a matter of difference in diet and in the manner of doing away with one +life which must be sacrificed to support another. There was liveliness at +night with the queer thing, man, out of the way, and brutes and beasts of +many sorts, taking their chances together, were happier with him absent. +They could not understand him, and liked him not, though the great-clawed +and sharp-toothed ones had a vast desire to eat him. He was a disturbing +element in the community of the plain and forest. + +And, while all this play of life and death went on outside, the three +people, the man, woman and child, in the cave slept as soundly as sleep +the drunken or the just. They were full-fed and warm and safe. No beast +of a size greater than that of a lank wolf or sinewy wildcat could enter +the cave through the narrow entrance between the heaped-up rocks, and of +these, as of any other dangerous beast, there was none which would face +what barred even the narrow passage, for it was fire. Just at the +entrance the all-night fire of knots and hardest wood smoked, flamed and +smoldered and flickered, and then flamed again, and held the passageway +securely. No animal that ever lived, save man, has ever dared the touch +of fire. It was the cave man's guardian. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +AB AND OAK. + +Such were the father and mother of Ab, and such was the boy himself. His +surroundings have not been indicated with all the definiteness desirable, +because of the lack of certain data, but, in a general way, the degree of +his birth, the manner of his rearing and the natural aspects of his +estate have been described. That the young man had a promising future +could not admit of doubt. He was the first-born of an important family of +a great race and his inheritance had no boundaries. Just where the +possessions of the Ab family began or where they terminated no bird nor +beast nor human being could tell. The estates of the family extended from +the Mediterranean to the Arctic Ocean and there were no dividing lines. +Of course, something depended upon the existence or non-existence of a +stronger cave family somewhere else, but that mattered not. And the babe +grew into a sturdy youth, just as grow the boys of today, and had his +friendships and adventures. He did not attend the public schools--the +school system was what might reasonably be termed inefficient in his +time--nor did he attend a private school, for the private schools were +weak, as well, but he did attend the great school of Nature from the +moment he opened his eyes in the morning until he closed them at night. +Of his schoolboy days and his friendships and his various affairs, this +is the immediate story. + +The father and mother of Ab as has, it is hoped, been made apparent, were +strong people, intelligent up to the grade of the time and worthy of +regard in many ways. The two could fairly hold their own, not only +against the wild beasts, but against any other cave pair, should the +emergency arise. They had names, of course. The name of Ab's father was +One-Ear, the sequence of an incident occurring when he was very young, an +accidental and too intimate acquaintance with a species of wildcat which +infested the region and from which the babe had been rescued none too +soon. The name of Ab's mother was Red-Spot, and she had been so called +because of a not unsightly but conspicuous birthmark appearing on her +left shoulder. As to ancestry, Ab's father could distinctly remember his +own grandfather as the old gentleman had appeared just previous to his +consumption by a monstrous bear, and Red-Spot had some vague remembrance +of her own grandmother. + +As for Ab's own name, it came from no personal mark or peculiarity or as +the result of any particular incident of his babyhood. It was merely a +convenient adaptation by his parents of a childish expression of his own, +a labial attempt to say something. His mother had mimicked his babyish +prattlings, the father had laughed over the mimicry, and, almost +unconsciously, they referred to their baby afterward as "Ab," until it +grew into a name which should be his for life. There was no formal early +naming of a child in those days; the name eventually made itself, and +that was all there was to it. There was, for instance, a child living not +many miles away, destined to be a future playmate and ally of Ab, who, +though of nearly the same age, had not yet been named at all. His title, +when he finally attained it, was merely Oak. This was not because he was +straight as an oak, or because he had an acorn birthmark, but because +adjoining the cave where he was born stood a great oak with spreading +limbs, from one of which was dangled a rude cradle, into which the babe +was tied, and where he would be safe from all attacks during the absence +of his parents on such occasions as they did not wish the burden of +carrying him about. "Rock-a-by-baby upon the tree-top" was often a +reality in the time of the cave men. + +Ab was fortunate in being born at a reasonably comfortable stage of the +world's history. He had a decent prospect as to clothing and shelter, and +there was abundance of food for those brave enough or ingenious enough to +win it. The climate was not enervating. There were cold times for the +people of the epoch and, in their seasons, harsh and chilling winds swept +over bare and chilling glaciers, though a semi-tropical landscape was all +about. So suddenly had come the change from frigid cold to moderate +warmth, that the vast fields of ice once moving southward were not thawed +to their utmost depths even when rank vegetation and a teeming life had +sprung up in the now European area, and so it came that, in some places, +cold, white monuments and glittering plateaus still showed themselves +amid the forest and fed the tumbling streams which made the rivers +rushing to the ocean. There were days of bitter cold in winter and sultry +heat in summer. + +It may fairly be borne in mind of this child Ab that he was somewhat +different from the child of to-day, and nearer the quadruped in his +manner of swift development. The puppy though delinquent in the matter of +opening it's eyes, waddles clumsily upon its legs very early in its +career. Ab, of course, had his eyes open from the beginning, and if the +babe of to-day were to stand upright as soon as Ab did, his mother would +be the proudest creature going and his father, at the club, would be +acting intolerable. It must be admitted, though, that neither One-Ear nor +Red-Spot manifested an extraordinary degree of enthusiasm over the +precociousness of their first-born. He was not, for the time, remarkable, +and parents of the day were less prone than now to spoiling children. +Ab's layette had been of beech leaves, his bed had been of beech leaves, +and a beech twig, supple and stinging, had already been applied to him +when he misbehaved himself. As he grew older his acquaintance with it +would be more familiar. Strict disciplinarians in their way, though +affectionate enough after their own fashion, were the parents of +the time. + +The existence of this good family of the day continued without dire +misadventure. Ab at nine years of age was a fine boy. There could be no +question about that. He was as strong as a young gibbon, and, it must be +admitted, in certain characteristics would have conveyed to the learned +observer of to-day a suggestion of that same animal. His eyes were bright +and keen and his mouth and nose were worth looking at. His nose was +broad, with nostrils aggressively prominent, and as for his mouth, it was +what would be called to-day excessively generous in its proportions for a +boy of his size. But it did not lack expression. His lips could quiver at +times, or become firmly set, and there was very much of what might, even +then, be called "manliness" in the general bearing of the sturdy little +cave child. He had never cried much when a babe--cave children were not +much addicted to crying, save when very hungry--and he had grown to his +present stature, which was not very great, with a healthfulness and +general manner of buoyancy all the time. He was as rugged a child of his +age as could be found between the shore that lay long leagues westward of +what is now the western point of Ireland and anywhere into middle Europe. +He had begun to have feelings and hopes and ambitions, too. He had found +what his surroundings meant. He had at least done one thing well. He had +made well-received advances toward a friend; and a friend is a great +thing for a boy, when he is another boy of about the same age. This +friendship was not quite commonplace. + +Ab, who could climb like a young monkey, laid most casually the +foundation for this companionship which was to affect his future life. He +had scrambled, one day, up a tree standing near the cave, and, climbing +out along a limb near its top, had found a comfortable resting-place, and +there upon the swaying bough was "teetering" comfortably, when something +in another tree, further up the river, caught his sharp eye. It was a +dark mass,--it might have been anything caught in a treetop,--but the odd +part of it was that it was "teetering" just as he was. Ab watched the +object for a long time curiously, and finally decided that it must be +another boy, or perhaps a girl, who was swaying in the distant tree. +There came to him a vigorous thought. He resolved to become better +acquainted; he resolved dimly, for this was the first time that any idea +of further affiliation with anyone had come into his youthful mind. Of +course, it must not be understood that he had been in absolute retirement +throughout his young but not uneventful life. Other cave men and women, +sometimes accompanied by their children, had visited the cave of One-Ear +and Red-Spot and Ab had become somewhat acquainted with other human +beings and with what were then the usages of the best hungry society. He +had never, though, become really familiar with anyone save his father and +mother and the children which his mother had borne after him, a boy and a +girl. This particular afternoon a sudden boyish yearning came upon him. +He wanted to know who the youth might be who was swinging in the distant +tree. He was a resolute young cub, and to determine was to act. + +It was rare, particularly in the wooded districts of the country of the +cave men, for a boy of nine to go a mile from home alone. There was +danger lurking in every rod and rood, and, naturally, such a boy would +not be versed in all woodcraft, nor have the necessary strength of arm +for a long arboreal journey, swinging himself along beneath the +intermingling branches of close-standing trees. So this departure was, +for Ab, a venture something out of the common. But he was strong for his +age, and traversed rapidly a considerable distance through the treetops +in the direction of what he saw. Once or twice, though, there came +exigencies of leaping and grasping aloft to which he felt himself +unequal, and then, plucky boy as he was, he slid down the bole of the +tree and, looking about cautiously, made a dash across some little glade +and climbed again. He had traversed little more than half the distance +toward the object he sought when his sharp ears caught the sound of +rustling leaves ahead of him. He slipped behind the trunk of the tree +into whose top he was clambering and then, reaching out his head, peered +forward warily. As he thus ensconced himself, the sound he had heard +ceased suddenly. It was odd. The boy was perplexed and somewhat anxious. +He could but peer and peer and remain absolutely quiet. At last his +searching watchfulness was rewarded. He saw a brown protuberance on the +side of a great tree, above where the branches began, not twoscore yards +distant from him, and that brown protuberance moved slightly. It was +evident that the protuberance was watching him as he was watching it. He +realized what it meant. There was another boy there! He was not +particularly afraid of another boy and at once came out of hiding. The +other boy came calmly into view as well. They sat there, looking at each +other, each at ease upon a great branch, each with an arm sustaining +himself, each with his little brown legs dangling carelessly, and each +gazing upon the other with bright eyes evincing alike watchfulness and +curiosity and some suspicion. So they sat, perched easily, these +excellent young, monkeyish boys of the time, each waiting for the other +to begin the conversation, just as two boys wait when they thus meet +today. Their talk would not perhaps be intelligible to any professor of +languages in all the present world, but it was a language, however +limited its vocabulary, which sufficed for the needs of the men and women +and children of the cave time. It was Ab who first broke the silence: + +"Who are you?" he said. + +"I am Oak," responded the other boy. "Who are you?" + +"Me? Oh, I am Ab." + +"Where do you come from?" + +"From the cave by the beeches; and where do you come from?" + +"I come from the cave where the river turns, and I am not afraid of you." + +"I am not afraid of you, either," said Ab. + +"Let us climb down and get upon that big rock and throw stones at things +in the water," said Oak. + +"All right," said Ab. + +And the two slid, one after the other, down the great tree trunks and ran +rapidly to the base of a huge rock overtopping the river, and with sides +almost perpendicular, but with crevices and projections which enabled the +expert youngsters to ascend it with ease. There was a little plateau upon +its top a few yards in area and, once established there, the boys were +safe from prowling beasts. And this was the manner of the first meeting +of two who were destined to grow to manhood together, to be good +companions and have full young lives, howbeit somewhat exciting at times, +and to affect each other for joy and sorrow, and good and bad, and all +that makes the quality of being. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +A GREAT ENTERPRISE. + +What always happens when two boys not yet fairly in their 'teens meet, at +first aggressively, and then, each gradually overcoming this apprehension +of the other, decide upon a close acquaintance and long comradeship? +Their talk is firmly optimistic and they constitute much of the world. As +for Ab and Oak, when there had come to them an ease in conversation, +there dawned gradually upon each the idea that, next to himself, the +other was probably the most important personage in the world, fitting +companion and confederate of a boy who in an incredibly short space of +time was going to become a man and do things on a tremendous scale. +Seated upon the rock, a point of ease and vantage, they talked long of +what two boys might do, and so earnest did they become in considering +their possible great exploits that Ab demanded of Oak that he go with him +to his home. This was a serious matter. It was a no slight thing for a +boy of that day, allowed a playground within certain limits adjacent to +his cave home, to venture far away; but this in Oak's life was a great +occasion. It was the first time he had ever met and talked with a boy of +his age, and he became suddenly reckless, assenting promptly to Ab's +proposal. They ran along the forest paths together toward Ab's cave, +clucking in their queer language and utilizing in that short journey most +of the brief vocabulary of the day in anticipatory account of what they +were going to do. + +Ab's father and mother rather approved of Oak. They even went so far as +to consent that Ab might pay a return visit upon the succeeding day, +though it was stipulated that the father--and this was a demand the +mother made--should accompany the boy upon most of the journey. One-Ear +knew Oak's father very well. Oak's father, Stripe-Face, was a man of +standing in the widely-scattered community. Stripe-Face was so called +because in a casual, and, on his part, altogether uninvited encounter +with a cave bear when he was a young man, a sweep of the claws of his +adversary had plowed furrows down one cheek, leaving scars thereafter +which were livid streaks. One-Ear and Stripe-Face were good friends. +Sometimes they hunted together; they had fought together, and it was +nothing out of the way, and but natural, that Ab and Oak should become +companions. So it came that One-Ear went across the forest with his boy +the next day and visited the cave of Stripe-Face, and that the two young +cubs went out together buoyant and in conquering mood, while the grown +men planned something for their own advantage. Certainly the boys matched +well. A finer pair of youngsters of eight or nine years of age could +hardly be imagined than these two who sallied forth that afternoon. They +send very fine boys nowadays to our great high schools in the United +States, and to Rugby and Eaton and Harrow in England, but never went +forth a finer pair to learn things. No smattering of letters or lore of +any printed sort had these rugged youths, but their eyes were piercing as +those of the eagle, the grip of their hands was strong, their pace was +swift when they ran upon the ground and their course almost as rapid when +they swung along the treetops. They were self-possessed and ready and +alert and prepared to pass an examination for admission to any university +of the time; that is, to any of Nature's universities, where +matriculation depended upon prompt conception of existing dangers and the +ways of avoiding them, and of all adroitness in attainments which gave +food and shelter and safety. Eh! but they were a gallant pair, these two +young gentlemen who burst forth, owning the world entirely and feeling a +serene confidence in their ability, united, to maintain their rights. And +their ambitions soon took a definite turn. They decided that they must +kill a horse! + +The wild horse of the time, already referred to as esteemed for his +edible qualities, was, in the opinion of the cave people, but of moderate +value otherwise. He was abundant, ranging in herds of hundreds along the +pampas of the great Thames valley, and furnished forth abundant food for +man as well as the wild beasts, when they could capture him. His skin, +though, was not counted of much worth. Its short hair afforded little +warmth in cloak or breech-clout, and the tanned pelt became hard and +uncomfortable when it dried after a wetting. Still, there were various +uses for this horse's hide. It made fine strings and thongs, and the +beast's flesh, as has been said, was a staple of the larder. The first +great resolve of Ab and Oak, these two gallant soldiers of fortune, was +that, alone and unaided, they would circumvent and slay one of these wild +horses, thereby astonishing their respective families, at the same time +gaining the means for filling the stomachs of those families to +repletion, and altogether covering themselves with glory. + +Not in a day nor in a week were the plans of these youthful warriors and +statesmen matured. The wild horse had long since learned that the +creature man was as dangerous to it as were any of the fierce four-footed +animals which hunted it, and its scent was good and its pace was swift +and it went in herds and avoided doubtful places. Not so easy a task as +it might seem was that which Ab and Oak had resolved upon. There must be +some elaborate device to attain their end, but they were confident. They +had noted often what older hunters did, and they felt themselves as good +as anybody. They plotted long and earnestly and even made a mental +distribution of their quarry, deciding what should be done with its skin +and with its meat, far in advance of any determination upon a plan for +its capture and destruction. They were boys. + +There was no objection from the parents. They knew that the boys must +learn to become hunters, and if the two were not now capable of taking +care of themselves in the wood, then they were but disappointing +offspring. Consent secured, the boys acted entirely upon their own +responsibility, and, to make their subsequent plans clearer, it may be +well to explain a little more of the geography of the region. The cave of +Ab was on the north side of the stream, where the rocky banks came close +together with a little beach at either side, and the cave of Oak was +perhaps a mile to the westward, on the same side of the stream and with +very similar surroundings. On the south side of the river, opposite the +high banks between the two caves, the land was a prairie valley reaching +far away. On the north side as well there was at one place a little +valley, but it reached back only a few hundred yards from the river and +was surrounded by the forest-crowned hills. The close standing oaks and +beeches afforded, in emergency, a highway among their ranches, and along +this pathway the boys were comparatively safe. Either could climb a tree +at any time, and of the animals that were dangerous in the treetops there +were but few; in fact, there was only one of note, a tawny, cat-like +creature, not numerous, and resembling the lynx of the present day. +Almost in the midst of the little plain or valley, on the north side of +the river, rose a clump of trees, and in this the two boys saw means +afforded them for a realization of their hopes. The wild horses fed +daily in the valley to the north, as in the greater one to the south of +the river. But there also, in the high grass, as upon the south, +sometimes lurked the great beasts of prey, and to be far away from a tree +upon the plain was an unsafe thing for a cave man. From the forest edge +to the clump of trees was not more than two minutes' rush for a vigorous +boy and it was this fact which suggested to the youths their plan of +capture of the horse. + +The homes of the cave men were located, when possible, where the refuge +of safety overhung closely the river's bank, and where the non-climbing +animals must pass along beneath them, but, even at that period of few men +and abundant animal life, there had developed an acuteness among the +weaker beasts, and they had learned to avoid certain paths that had +proved fatal to their brethren. They were numerous in the plains and +comparatively careless there, relying upon their speed to escape more +dangerous wild beasts, but they passed rarely beneath the ledges, where a +weighty rock dropped suddenly meant certain death. It was not a task +entirely easy for the cave men to have meat with regularity, flush as was +the life about them. New devices must be resorted to, and Ab and Oak were +about to employ one not infrequently successful. + +The clam of the period, particularly the clam along this reach of the +upper Thames, was a marvel in his make-up. He was as large as he was +luscious, as abundant as he was both and was a great feature in the food +supply of the time. Not merely was he a feature in the food supply, but +in a mechanical way, and the first object sought by the boys, after their +plan had been agreed upon, was the shell of the great clam. They had no +difficulty in securing what they wanted, for strewn all about each cave +were the big shells in abundance. Sharp-edged, firm-backed, one of these +shells made an admirable little shovel, something with which to cut the +turf and throw up the soil, a most useful implement in the hands of the +river haunting people. The idea of the youngsters was simply this: Their +rendezvous should be at that point in the forest nearest the clump of +trees standing solitary in the valley below. They would select the safest +hours and then from the high ground make a sudden dash to the tree clump. +They would be watchful, of course, and seek to avoid the class of animals +for whom boys made admirable luncheon. Once at the clump of trees and +safely ensconced among the branches, they could determine wisely upon the +next step in their adventure. They were very knowing, these young men, +for they had observed their elders. What they wanted to do, what was the +end and aim of all this recklessness, was to dig a pit in this rich +valley land close to the clump of trees, a pit say some ten feet in +length by six feet in breadth and seven or eight feet in depth. That +meant a gigantic labor. Gillian, of "The Toilers of the Sea," assigned to +himself hardly a greater task. These were boys of the cave kind and must, +perforce, conduct themselves originally. As to the details of the plan, +well, they were only vague, as yet, but rapidly assuming a form more +definite. + +The first thing essential for the boys was to reach the clump of trees. +It was just before noon one day when they swung together on a tree branch +sweeping nearly to the ground, and at a point upon the hill directly +opposite the clump. This was the time selected for their first dash. They +studied every square yard of the long grass of the little valley with +anxious eyes. In the distance was feeding a small drove of wild horses +and, farther away, close by the river side, upreared occasionally what +might be the antlers of the great elk of the period. Between the boys and +the clump of trees there was no movement of the grass, nor any sign of +life. They could discern no trace of any lurking beast. + +"Are you afraid?" asked Ab. + +"Not if we run together." + +"All right," said Ab; "let's go it with a rush." + +The slim brown bodies dropped lightly to the ground together, each of the +boys clasping one of the clamshells. Side by side they darted down the +slope and across through the deep grass until the clump of trees was +reached, when, like two young apes, they scrambled into the safety of the +branches. + +The tree up which they had clambered was the largest of the group and of +dense foliage. It was one of the huge conifers of the age, but its +branches extended to within perhaps thirty feet of the ground, and from +the greatest of these side branches reached out, growing so close +together as to make almost a platform. It was but the work of a half hour +for these boys, with their arboreal gifts, to twine additional limbs +together and to construct for themselves a solid nest and lookout where +they might rest at ease, at a distance above the greatest leap of any +beast existing. In this nest they curled themselves down and, after much +clucking debate, formulated their plan of operation. Only one boy should +dig at a time, the other must remain in the nest as a lookout. + +Swift to act in those days were men, because necessity had made it a +habit to them, and swifter still, as a matter of course, were impulsive +boys. Their tree nest fairly made, work, they decided, must begin at +once. The only point to be determined upon was regarding the location of +the pit. There was a tempting spread of green herbage some hundred feet +to the north and east of the tree, a place where the grass was high but +not so high as it was elsewhere. It had been grazed already by the +wandering horses and it was likely that they would visit the tempting +area again. There, it was finally settled, should the pit be dug. It was +quite a distance from the tree, but the increased chances of securing a +wild horse by making the pit in that particular place more than offset, +in the estimation of the boys, the added danger of a longer run for +safety in an emergency. The only question remaining was as to who should +do the first digging and who be the first lookout? There was a violent +debate upon this subject. + +"I will go and dig and you shall keep watch," said Oak. + +"No, I'll dig and you shall watch," was Ab's response. "I can run faster +than you." + +Oak hesitated and was reluctant. He was sturdy, this young gentleman, but +Ab possessed, somehow, the mastering spirit. It was settled finally that +Ab should dig and Oak should watch. And so Ab slid down the tree, +clamshell in hand, and began laboring vigorously at the spot agreed upon. + +It was not a difficult task for a strong boy to cut through tough grass +roots with the keen edge of the clamshell. He outlined roughly and +rapidly the boundaries of the pit to be dug and then began chopping out +sods just as the workman preparing to garnish some park or lawn begins +his work to-day. Meanwhile, Oak, all eyes, was peering in every +direction. His place was one of great responsibility, and he recognized +the fact. It was a tremendous moment for the youngsters. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +A DANGEROUS VISITOR. + +It was not alone necessary for the plans of Ab and Oak that there should +be made a deep hole in the ground. It was quite as essential for their +purposes that the earth removed should not be visible upon the adjacent +surface. The location of the pit, as has been explained, was some yards +to the northeast of the tree in which the lookout had been made. A few +yards southwest of the tree was a slight declivity and damp hollow, for +from that point the land sloped, in a reed-grown marsh toward the river. +It was decided to throw into this marsh all the excavated soil, and so, +when Ab had outlined the pit and cut up its surface into sods, he carried +them one by one to the bank and cast them down among the reeds where the +water still made little puddles. In time of flood the river spread out +into a lake, reaching even as far as here. The sod removed, there was +exposed a rectangle of black soil, for the earth was of alluvial deposit +and easy of digging. Shellful after shellful of the dirt did Ab carry +from where the pit was to be, trotting patiently back and forth, but the +work was wearisome and there was a great waste of energy. It was Oak who +gave an inspiration. + +"We must carry more at a time," he called out. And then he tossed down to +Ab a wolfskin which had been given him by his father as a protection on +cold nights and which he had brought along, tied about his waist, quite +incidentally, for, ordinarily, these boys wore no clothing in warm +weather. Clothing, in the cave time, appertained only to manhood and +womanhood, save in winter. But Oak had brought the skin along because he +had noticed a vast acorn crop upon his way to and from the rendezvous and +had in mind to carry back to his own home cave some of the nuts. The pelt +was now to serve an immediately useful purpose. + +Spreading the skin upon the grass beside him, Ab heaped it with the dirt +until there had accumulated as much as he could carry, when, gathering +the corners together, he struggled with the enclosed load manfully to the +bank and spilled it down into the morass. The digging went on rapidly +until Ab, out of breath and tired, threw down the skin and climbed into +the treetop and became the watchman, while Oak assumed his labor. So they +worked alternately in treetop and upon the ground until the sun's rays +shot red and slanting from the west. Wiser than to linger until dusk had +too far deepened were these youngsters of the period. The clamshells were +left in the pit. The lookout above declared nothing in sight, then slid +to the ground and joined his friend, and another dash was made to the +hill and the safety of its treetops. It was in great spirits that the +boys separated to seek their respective homes. They felt that they were +personages of consequence. They had no doubt of the success of the +enterprise in which they had embarked, and the next day found them +together again at an early hour, when the digging was enthusiastically +resumed. + +Many a load of dirt was carried on the second day from the pit to the +marsh's edge, and only once did the lookout have occasion to suggest to +his working companion that he had better climb the tree. A movement in +the high grass some hundred yards away had aroused suspicion; some wild +animal had passed, but, whatever it was, it did not approach the clump of +trees and work was resumed at once. When dusk came the moist black soil +found in the pit had all been carried away and the boys had reached, to +their intense disgust, a stratum of hard packed gravel. That meant +infinitely more difficult work for them and the use of some new utensil. + +There was nothing daunting in the new problem. When it came to the mere +matter of securing a tool for digging the hard gravel, both Ab and Oak +were easily at home. The cave dwellers, haunting the river side for +centuries, had learned how to deal with gravel, and when Ab returned to +the scene the next day he brought with him a sturdy oaken stave some six +feet in length, sharpened to a point and hardened in the fire until it +was almost iron-like in its quality. Plunged into the gravel as far as +the force of a blow could drive it, and pulled backward with the leverage +obtained, the gravel was loosened and pried upward either in masses which +could be lifted out entire, or so crumbled that it could be easily dished +out with the clamshell. The work went on more slowly, but not less +steadily nor hopefully than on the days preceding, and, for some time, +was uninterrupted by any striking incident. The boys were becoming +buoyant. They decided that the grassy valley was almost uninfested by +things dangerous. They became reckless sometimes, and would work in the +pit together. As a rule, though, they were cautious--this was an inherent +and necessary quality of a cave being--and it was well for them that it +was so, for when an emergency came only one of them was in the pit, while +the other was aloft in the lookout and alert. + +It was about three o'clock one afternoon when Ab, whose turn it chanced +to be, was working valiantly in the pit, while Oak, all eyes, was perched +aloft. Suddenly there came from the treetop a yell which was no boyish +expression of exuberance of spirits. It was something which made Ab leap +from the excavation as he heard it and reach the side of Oak as the +latter came literally tumbling down the bole of the tree of watching. + +"Run!" Oak said, and the two darted across the valley and reached the +forest and clambered into safe hiding among the clustering branches. +Then, in the intervals between his gasping breath, Oak managed to again +articulate a word: + +"Look!" he said. + +Ab looked and, in an instant, realized how wise had been Oak's alarming +cry and how well it was for them that they were so distant from the clump +of trees so near the river. What he saw was that which would have made +the boys' fathers flee as swiftly had they been in their children's +place. Yet what Ab looked upon was only a waving, in sinuous regularity, +of the rushes between the tree clump and the river and the lifting of a +head some ten or fifteen feet above the reed-tops. What had so alarmed +the boys was what would have disturbed a whole tribe of their kinsmen, +even though they had chanced to be assembled, armed to the teeth with +such weapons as they then possessed. What they saw was not of the common. +Very rarely indeed, along the Thames, had occurred such an invasion. The +father of Oak had never seen the thing at all, and the father of Ab had +seen it but once, and that many years before. It was the great serpent of +the seas! + +Safely concealed in the branches of a tree overlooking the little valley, +the boys soon recovered their normal breathing capacity and were able to +converse again. Not more than a couple of minutes, at the utmost, had +passed between their departure from their place of labor and their +establishment in this same tree. The creature which had so alarmed them +was still gliding swiftly across the morass between the lowland and the +river. It came forward through the marsh undeviatingly toward the tree +clump, the tall reeds quivering as it passed, but its approach indicated +by no sound or other token of disturbance. The slight bank reached, there +was uplifted a great serpent head, and then, without hesitation, the +monster swept forward to the trees and soon hung dangling from the +branches of the largest one, its great coils twined loosely about trunk +and limb, its head swinging gently back and forth just below the lower +branch. It was a serpent at least sixty feet in length, and two feet or +more in breadth at its huge middle. It was queerly but not brilliantly +spotted, and its head was very nearly that of the anaconda of to-day. +Already the sea-serpent had become amphibious. It had already acquired +the knowledge it has transmitted to the anaconda, that it might leave the +stream, and, from some vantage point upon the shore, find more surely a +victim than in the waters of the sea or river. This monster serpent was +but waiting for the advent of any land animal, save perhaps those so +great as the mammoth or the great elk, or, possibly, even the cave +bear or the cave tiger. The mammoth was, of course, an impossibility, +even to the sea-serpent. The elk, with its size and vast antlers, was, to +put it at the mildest, a perplexing thing to swallow. The rhinoceros was +dangerous, and as for the cave bear and the cave tiger, they were +uncomfortable customers for anything alive. But there were the cattle, +the aurochs and the urus, and the little horses and deer, and wild hog +and a score of other creatures which, in the estimation of the +sea-serpent, were extremely edible. A tidbit to the serpent was a man, but +he did not get one in half a century. + +Not long did the boys remain even in a harborage so distant. Each fled +homeward with his story. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS. + +It was with scant breath, when they reached their respective caves, that +the boys told the story of the dread which had invaded the marsh-land. +What they reported was no light event and, the next morning, their +fathers were with them in the treetop at the safe distance which the +wooded crest afforded and watching with apprehensive eyes the movements +of the monster settled in the rugged valley tree. There was slight +movement to note. Coiled easily around the bole, just above where the +branches began, and resting a portion of its body upon a thick, extending +limb, its head and perhaps ten or fifteen feet of its length swinging +downward, the great serpent still hung awaiting its prey, ready to launch +itself upon any hapless victim which might come within its reach. That +its appetite would soon be gratified admitted of little doubt. Profiting +by the absence of the boys, who while at work made no effort to conceal +themselves, groups of wild horses were already feeding in the lowlands, +and the elk and wild ox were visible here and there. The group in the +treetop on the crest realized that it had business on hand. The +sea-serpent was a terror to the cave people, and when one appeared to +haunt the river the word was swiftly spread, and they gathered to +accomplish its end if possible. With warnings to the boys they left +behind them, the fathers sped away in different directions, one up, the +other down, the river's bank, Stripe-Face to seek the help of some of the +cave people and One-Ear to arouse the Shell people, as they were called, +whose home was beside a creek some miles below. Into the home of the +little colony One-Ear went swinging a little later, demanding to see the +head man of the fishing village, and there ensued an earnest conversation +of short sentences, but one which caused immediate commotion. To the hill +dwellers the rare advent of a sea-serpent was comparatively a small +matter, but it was a serious thing to the Shell folk. The sea-serpent +might come up the creek and be among them at any moment, ravaging their +community. The Shell people were grateful for the warning, but there were +few of them at home, and less than a dozen could be mustered to go with +One-Ear to the rendezvous. + +They were too late, the hardy people who came up to assail the serpent, +because the serpent had not waited for them. The two boys roosting in the +treetop on the height had beheld what was not pleasant to look upon, for +they had seen a yearling of the aurochs enveloped by the thing, which +whipped down suddenly from the branches, and the crushed quadruped had +been swallowed in the serpent's way. But the dinner which might suffice +it for weeks had not, in all entirety, the effect upon it which would +follow the swallowing of a wild deer by its degenerate descendants of the +Amazonian or Indian forests. + +The serpent did not lie a listless mass, helplessly digesting the product +of the tragedy upon the spot of its occurrence, but crawled away slowly +through the reeds, and instinctively to the water, into which it slid +with scarce a splash, and then went drifting lazily away upon the current +toward the sea. It had been years since one of these big water serpents +had invaded the river at such a distance from its mouth and never came +another up so far. There were causes promoting rapidly the extinction of +their dreadful kind. + +Three or four days were required before Ab and Oak realized, after what +had taken place, that there were in the community any more important +personages than they, and that they had work before them, if they were to +continue in their glorious career. When everyday matters finally asserted +themselves, there was their pit not yet completed. Because of their +absence, a greater aggregation of beasts was feeding in the little +valley. Not only the aurochs, the ancient bison, the urus, the progenitor +of the horned cattle of to-day, wild horse and great elk and reindeer +were seen within short distances from each other, but the big, hairy +rhinoceros of the time was crossing the valley again and rioting in its +herbage or wallowing in the pools where the valley dipped downward to the +marsh. The mammoth with its young had swung clumsily across the area of +rich feed, and, lurking in its train, eyeing hungrily and bloodthirstily +the mammoth's calf, had crept the great cave tiger. The monster cave bear +had shambled through the high grass, seeking some small food in default +of that which might follow the conquest of a beast of size. The uncomely +hyenas had gone slinking here and there and had found something worthy +their foul appetite. All this change had come because the two boys, being +boys and full of importance, had neglected their undertaking for about a +week and had talked each in his own home with an air intended to be +imposing, and had met each other with much dignity of bearing, at their +favorite perching-place in the treetop on the hillside. When there came +to them finally a consciousness that, to remain people of magnitude in +the world, they must continue to do something, they went to work bravely. +The change which had come upon the valley in their brief absence tended +to increase their confidence, for, as thus exhibited, early as was the +age, the advent of the human being, young or old, somehow affected all +animate nature and terrified it, and the boys saw this. Not that the +great beasts did not prey upon man, but then, as now, the man to the +great beast was something of a terror, and man, weak as he was, knew +himself and recognized himself as the head of all creation. The mammoth, +the huge, thick-coated rhinoceros, sabre-tooth, the monstrous tiger, or +the bear, or the hyena, or the loping wolf, or short-bodied and vicious +wolverine were to him, even then, but lower creatures. Man felt himself +the master of the world, and his children inherited the perception. + +Work in the pit progressed now rapidly and not a great number of days +passed before it had attained the depth required. The boy at work was +compelled, when emerging, to climb a dried branch which rested against +the pit's edge, and the lookout in the tree exercised an extra caution, +since his comrade below could no longer attain safety in a moment. But +the work was done at last, that is, the work of digging, and there +remained but the completion of the pitfall, a delicate though not a +difficult matter. Across the pit, and very close together, were laid +criss-crosses of slender branches, brought in armfuls from the forest; +over these dry grass was spread, thinly but evenly, and over this again +dust and dirt and more grass and twigs, all precautions being observed to +give the place a natural appearance. In this the boys succeeded very +well. Shrewd must have been the animal of any sort which could detect the +trap. Their chief work done, the boys must now wait wisely. The place was +deserted again and no nearer approach was made to the pitfall than the +treetops of the hillside. There the boys were to be found every day, +eager and anxious and hopeful as boys are generally. There was not +occasion for getting closer to the trap, for, from their distant perch, +its surface was distinctly visible and they could distinguish if it had +been broken in. Those were days of suppressed excitement for the two; +they could see the buffalo and wild horses moving here and there, but +fortune was still perverse and the trap was not approached. Before its +occupation by them, the place where they had dug had appeared the +favorite feeding-place; now, with all perversity, the wild horses and +other animals grazed elsewhere, and the boys began to fear that they had +left some traces of their work which revealed it to the wily beasts. On +one day, for an hour or two, their hearts were in their mouths. There +issued from the forest to the westward the stately Irish elk. It moved +forward across the valley to the waters on the other side, and, after +drinking its fill, began feeding directly toward the tree clump. It +reached the immediate vicinity of the pitfall and stood beneath the +trees, fairly outlined against the opening beyond, and affording +to the almost breathless couple a splendid spectacle. A magnificent +creature was the great elk of the time of the cave men, the Irish elk, as +those who study the past have named it, because its bones have been found +so frequently in what are now the preserving peat bogs of Ireland. But +the elk passed beyond the sight of the watchers, and so their bright +hopes fell. + +The crispness of full autumn had come, one morning, when Ab and Oak met +as usual and looked out across the valley to learn if anything had +happened in the vicinity of the pitfall. The hoar frost, lying heavily on +the herbage, made the valley resemble a sea of silver, checkered and +spotted all over darkly. These dark spots and lines were the traces of +such animals as had been in the valley during the night or toward early +morning. Leading everywhere were heavy trails and light ones, telling the +story of the night. But very little heed to these things was paid by the +ardent boys. They were too full of their own affairs. As they swung into +place together upon their favorite limb and looked across the valley, +they uttered a simultaneous and joyous shout. Something had taken place +at the pitfall! + +All about the trap the surface of the ground was dark and the area of +darkness extended even to the little bank of the swamp on the riverside. +Careless of danger, the boys dropped to the ground and, spears in hand, +ran like deer toward the scene of their weeks of labor. Side by side they +bounded to the edge of the excavation, which now yawned open to the sky. +They had triumphed at last! As they saw what the pitfall held, they +yelled in unison, and danced wildly around the opening, in the very +height of boyish triumph. The exultation was fully justified, for the +pitfall held a young rhinoceros, a creature only a few months old, but so +huge already that it nearly filled the excavation. It was utterly +helpless in the position it occupied. It was wedged in, incapable of +moving more than slightly in any direction. Its long snout, with its +sprouting pair of horns, was almost level with the surface of the ground +and its small bright eyes leered wickedly at its noisy enemies. It +struggled clumsily upon their approach, but nothing could relieve the +hopelessness of its plight. + +All about the pitfall the earth was plowed in furrows and beaten down by +the feet of some monstrous animal. Evidently the calf was in the company +of its mother when it fell a victim to the art of the pitfall diggers. It +was plain that the mother had spent most of the night about her young in +a vain effort to release it. Well did the cave boys understand the signs, +and, after their first wild outburst of joy over the capture, a sense of +the delicacy, not to say danger, of their situation came upon them. It +was not well to interfere with the family affairs of the rhinoceros. +Where had the mother gone? They looked about, but could see nothing to +justify their fears. Only for a moment, though, did their sense of safety +last; hardly had the echo of their shouting come back from the hillside +than there was a splashing and rasping of bushes in the swamp and the +rush of some huge animal toward the little ascent leading to the valley +proper. There needed no word from either boy; the frightened couple +bounded to the tree of refuge and had barely begun clambering up its +trunk than there rose to view, mad with rage and charging viciously, the +mother of the calf rhinoceros. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +SABRE-TOOTH AND RHINOCEROS. + +The rhinoceros of the Stone Age was a monstrous creature, an animal +varying in many respects from either species of the animal of the present +day, though perhaps somewhat closely allied to the huge double-horned and +now nearly extinct white rhinoceros of southern Africa. But the brute of +the prehistoric age was a beast of greater size, and its skin, instead of +being bare, was densely covered with a dingy colored, crinkly hair, +almost a wool. It was something to be dreaded by most creatures even in +this time of great, fierce animals. It turned aside for nothing; it was +the personification of courage and senseless ferocity when aroused. +Rarely seeking a conflict, it avoided none. The huge mammoth, a more +peaceful pachyderm, would ordinarily hesitate before barring its path, +while even the cave tiger, fiercest and most dreaded of the carnivora of +the time, though it might prey upon the young rhinoceros when opportunity +occurred, never voluntarily attacked the full-grown animal. From that +almost impervious shield of leather hide, an inch or more in thickness, +protected further by the woolly covering, even the terrible strokes of +the tiger's claws glanced off with but a trifling rending, while one +single lucky upward heave of the twin horns upon the great snout would +pierce and rend, as if it were a trifling obstacle, the body of any +animal existing. The lifting power of that prodigious neck was something +almost beyond conception. It was an awful engine of death when its +opportunity chanced to come. On the other hand, the rhinoceros of this +ancient world had but a limited range of vision, and was as dull-witted +and dangerously impulsive as its African prototype of today. + +But short-sighted as it was, the boys clambering up the tree were near +enough for the perception of the great beast which burst over the +hummock, and it charged directly at them, the tree quivering when the +shoulder of the monster struck it as it passed, though the boys, already +in the branches, were in safety. Checking herself a little distance +beyond, the rhinoceros mother returned, snorting fiercely, and began +walking round and round the calf imprisoned in the pitfall. The boys +comprehended perfectly the story of the night. The calf once ensnared, +the mother had sought in vain to rescue it, and, finally, wearied with +her exertion, had retired just over the little descent, there to wallow +and rest while still keeping guard over her imprisoned young. The +spectacle now, as she walked around the trap, was something which would +have been pitiful to a later race of man. The beast would get down upon +her knees and plow the dirt about the calf with her long horns. She would +seek to get her snout beneath its body sidewise, and so lift it, though +each effort was necessarily futile. There was no room for any leverage, +the calf fitted the cavity. The boys clung to their perches in safety, +but in perplexity. Hours passed, but the mother rhinoceros showed no +inclination to depart. It was three o'clock in the afternoon when she +went away to the wallow, returning once or twice to her young before +descending the bank, and, even when she had reached the marsh, snorting +querulously for some time before settling down to rest. + +The boys waited until all was quiet in the marsh, and, as a matter of +prudence, for some time longer. They wanted to feel assured that the +monster was asleep, then, quietly, they slid down the tree trunk and, +with noiseless step, stole by the pitfall and toward the hillside. A few +yards further on their pace changed to a run, which did not cease until +they reached the forest and its refuge, nor, even there, did they linger +for any length of time. Each started for his home; for their adventure +had again assumed a quality which demanded the consideration of older +heads and the assistance of older hands. It was agreed that they should +again bring their fathers with them--by a fortunate coincidence each knew +where to find his parent on this particular day--and that they should +meet as soon as possible. It was more than an hour later when the two +fathers and two sons, the men armed with the best weapons they possessed, +appeared upon the scene. So far as the watchers from the hillside could +determine, all was quiet about the clump of trees and the vicinity of the +pitfall. It was late in the afternoon now and the men decided that the +best course to pursue would be to steal down across the valley, kill the +imprisoned calf and then escape as soon as possible, leaving the mother +to find her offspring dead; reasoning that she would then abandon it. +Afterward the calf could be taken out and there would be a feast of cave +men upon the tender food and much benefit derived in utilization of +the tough yet not, at its age, too thick hide of the uncommon quarry. +There was but one difficulty in the way of carrying out this enterprise: +the wind was from the north and blew from the hunters toward the river, +and the rhinoceros, though lacking much range of vision, was as acute of +scent as the gray wolves which sometimes strayed like shadows through the +forest or the hyenas which scented from afar the living or the dead. +Still, the venture was determined upon. + +The four descended the hill, the two boys in the rear, treading with the +lightness of the tiger cat, and went cautiously across the valley and +toward the tree trunk. Certainly no sound they made could have reached +the ear of the monster wallowing below the bank, but the wind carried to +its nostrils the message of their coming. They were not half way across +the valley when the rhinoceros floundered up to the level and charged +wildly along the course of the wafted scent. There was a flight for the +hillside, made none too soon, but yet in time for safety. Walking around +in circles, snorting viciously, the great beast lingered in the vicinity +for a time, then went back to its imprisoned calf, where it repeated the +performance of earlier in the day and finally retired again to its hidden +resting-place near by. It was dusk now and the shadows were deepening +about the valley. + +The men, well up in the tree with the boys, were undetermined what to do. +They might steal along to the eastward and approach the calf from another +direction without disturbing the great brute by their scent. But it was +becoming darker every moment and the region was a dangerous one. In the +valley and away from the trees they were at a disadvantage and at night +there were fearful things abroad. Still, they decided to take the risk, +and the four, following the crest of the slight hill, moved along its +circle southeastward toward the river bank, each on the alert and each +with watchful eyes scanning the forest depths to the left or the valley +to the right. Suddenly One-Ear leaped back into the shadow, waved his +hand to check the advance of those behind him, then pointed silently +across the valley and toward the clump of trees. + +Not a hundred yards from the pitfall the high grass was swaying gently; +some creature was passing along toward the pitfall and a thing of no +slight size. Every eye of the quartet was strained now to learn what +might be the interloper upon the scene. It was nearly dark, but the eyes +of the cave men, almost nocturnal in their adaptation as they were, +distinguished a long, dark body emerging from the reeds and circling +curiously and cautiously around the pitfall; nearer and nearer it +approached the helpless prisoner until perhaps twenty feet distant from +it. Here the thing seemed to crouch and remain quiescent, but only for a +little time. Then resounded across the valley a screaming roar, so fierce +and raucous and death-telling and terrifying that even the hardened +hunters leaped with affright. At the same moment a dark object shot +through the air and landed on the back of the creature in the shallow +pit. The tiger was abroad! There was a wild bleat of terror and agony, a +growl fiercer and shorter than the first hoarse cry of the tiger, and, +then, for a moment silence, but only for a moment. Snorts, almost as +terrible in their significance as the tiger's roar, came from the +marsh's edge. A vast form loomed above the slight embankment and there +came the thunder of ponderous feet. The rhinoceros mother was charging +the great tiger! + +There was a repetition of the fierce snorts, with the wild rush of the +rhinoceros, another roar, the sound of which reechoed through the valley, +and then could be dimly seen a black something flying through the air and +alighting, apparently, upon the back of the charging monster. There was a +confusion of forms and a confusion of terrifying sounds, the snarling +roar of the great tiger and half whistling bellow of the great pachyderm, +but nothing could be seen distinctly. That a gigantic duel was in +progress the cave men knew, and knew, as well, that its scene was one +upon which they could not venture. The clamor had not ended when the +darkness became complete and then each father, with his son, fled swiftly +homeward. + +Early the next morning, the four were together again at the same point of +safety and advantage, and again the frost-covered valley was a sea of +silver, this time unmarred by the criss-crosses of feeding or hunting +animals. There was no sign of life; no creature of the forest or the +plain was so daring as to venture soon upon the battlefield of the +rhinoceros and the cave tiger. Cautiously the cave men and their sons +made their way across the valley and approached the pitfall. What was +revealed to them told in a moment the whole story. The half-devoured body +of the rhinoceros calf was in the pit. It had been killed, no doubt, by +the tiger's first fierce assault, its back broken by the first blow of +the great forearm, or its vertebrae torn apart by the first grasp of the +great jaws. There were signs of the conflict all about, but that it had +not come to a deadly issue was apparent. Only by some accident could the +rhinoceros have caught upon its horns the agile monster cat, and only by +an accident even more remote could the tiger have reached a vital part of +its huge enemy. There had been a long and weary battle--a mother creature +fighting for her young and the great flesh-eater fighting for his prey. +But the combatants had assuredly separated without the death of either, +and the bereaved rhinoceros, knowing her young one to be dead, had +finally left the valley, while the tiger had returned to its prey and fed +its fill. But there was much meat left. There were, in the estimation of +the cave people, few more acceptable feasts than that obtainable from the +flesh of a young rhinoceros. The first instinct of the two men was to +work fiercely with their flint knives and cut out great lumps of meat +from the body in the pit. Hardly had they begun their work, when, as +by common impulse, each clambered out from the depression suddenly, and +there was a brief and earnest discussion. The cave tiger, monarch of the +time, was not a creature to abandon what he had slain until he had +devoured it utterly. Gorged though he might be, he was undoubtedly in +hiding within a comparatively short distance. He would return again +inevitably. He might be lying sleeping in the nearest clump of bushes! It +was possible that his appetite might come upon him soon again and that he +might appear at any moment. What chance then for the human beings who had +ventured into his dining-room? There was but one sensible course to +follow, and that was instant retreat. The four fled again to the hillside +and the forest, carrying with them, however, the masses of flesh already +severed from the body of the calf. There was food for a day or two for +each family. + +And so ended the first woodland venture of these daring boys. For days +the vicinity of the little valley was not sought by either man or youth, +since the tiger might still be lurking near. When, later, the youths +dared to visit the scene of their bold exploit, there were only bones in +the pitfall they had made. The tiger had eaten its prey and had gone to +other fields. In later autumn came a great flood down the valley, rising +so high that the father of Oak and all his family were driven temporarily +from their cave by the water's influx and compelled to seek another +habitation many miles away. Some time passed before the comrades met +again. + +As for Ab, this exploit might be counted almost as the beginning of his +manhood. His father--and fathers had even then a certain paternal +pride--had come to recognize in a degree the vigor and daring of his son. +The mother, of course, was even more appreciative, though to her firstborn +she could give scant attention, as Ab had the small brother in the cave +now and the little sister who was still smaller, but from this time the +youth became a person of some importance. He grew rapidly, and the sinewy +stripling developed, not increasing strength and stature and rounding +brawn alone, for he had both ingenuity and persistency of purpose, +qualities which made him rather an exception among the cave boys of his +age. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +DOMESTIC MATTERS. + +Attention has already been called to the fact that the family of Ab were +of the aristocracy of the region, and it should be added that the +interior of One-Ear's mansion corresponded with his standing in the +community. It was a fine cave, there was no doubt about that, and Red-Spot +was a notable housekeeper. As a rule, the bones remaining about the +fire after a meal were soon thrown outside--at least they were never +allowed to accumulate for more than a month or two. The beds were +excellent, for, in addition to the mass of leaves heaped upon the earth +which formed a resting-place for the family, there were spread the skins +of various animals. The water privileges of the establishment were +extensive, for there was the river in front, much utilized for drinking +purposes. There were ledges and shelves of rock projecting here and there +from the sides of the cave, and upon these were laid the weapons and +implements of the household, so that, excepting an occasional bone upon +the earthen floor, or, perhaps, a spattering of red, where some animal +had been cut up for roasting, the place was very neat indeed. The fact +that the smoke from the fire could, when the wind was right, ascend +easily through the roof made the residence one of the finest within a +large district of the country. As to light, it cannot be said that the +house was well provided. The fire at night illuminated a small area and, +in the daytime, light entered through the doorway, and, to an extent, +through the hole in the cave's top, as did also the rains, but the light +was by no means perfect. The doorway, for obvious reasons, was narrow and +there was a huge rock, long ago rolled inside with much travail, which +could on occasion be utilized in blocking the narrow passage. Barely room +to squeeze by this obstruction existed at the doorway. The sneaking but +dangerous hyena had a keen scent and was full of curiosity. The monster +bear of the time was ever hungry and the great cave tiger, though rarer, +was, as has been shown, a haunting dread. Great attention was paid to +doorways in those days, not from an artistic point of view exactly, but +from reasons cogent enough in the estimation of the cave men. But the +cave was warm and safe and the sharp eyes of its inhabitants, accustomed +to the semi-darkness, found slight difficulty in discerning objects in +the gloom. Very content with their habitation were all the family and +Red-Spot particularly, as a chatelaine should, felt much pride in her +surroundings. + +It may be added that the family of One-Ear was a happy one. His life with +Red-Spot was the sequence of what might be termed a fortunate marriage. +It is true that standards vary with times, and that the demeanor of the +couple toward each other was occasionally not what would be counted the +index of domestic felicity in this more artificial and deceptive age. It +was never fully determined whether One-Ear or Red-Spot could throw a +stone ax with the greater accuracy, although certainly he could hurl one +with greater force than could his wife. But the deftness of each in +eluding such dangerous missiles was about the same, and no great harm had +at any time resulted from the effects of momentary ebullitions of anger, +followed by action on the part of either. There had not been at any time +a scandal in the family. The pair were faithful to each other. Society +was somewhat scattered in those days, and the cave twain, anywhere, were +generally as steadfast as the lion and the lioness. It was centuries +later, too, before the cave men's posterity became degenerate enough or +prosperous enough, or safe enough, to be polygamous, and, so far as the +area of the Thames valley or even the entire "Paris basin," as it is +called, was concerned, monogamy held its own very fairly, from the +shell-beds of the earliest kitchen-middens to the time of the bronze ax +and the dawn of what we now call civilization. + +There were now five members in this family of the period, One-Ear, +Red-Spot, Ab, Bark and Beech-Leaf, the two last named being Ab's younger +brother and little more than baby sister. The names given them had come +in the same accidental way as had the name of Ab. The brother, when very +small, had imitated in babyish way the barking of some wolfish creature +outside which had haunted the cave's vicinity at night time, and so the +name of Bark, bestowed accidentally by Ab himself, had become the +youngster's title for life. As to Beech-Leaf, she had gained her name in +another way. She was a fat and joyous little specimen of a cave baby and +not much addicted to lying as dormant as babies sometimes do. The +bearskin upon which her mother laid her had not infrequently proven too +limited an area for her exploits and she would roll from it into the +great bed of beech leaves upon which it was placed, and become fairly +lost in the brown mass. So often had this hilarious young lady to be +disinterred from the beech leaf bed, that the name given her came +naturally, through association of ideas. Between the birth of Ab and that +of his younger brother an interval of five years had taken place, the +birth of the sister occurring three or four years later. So it came that +Ab, in the absence of his father and mother, was distinctly the head of +the family, admonitory to his brother, with ideas as to the physical +discipline requisite on occasion, and, in a rude way, fond of and +protective toward the baby sister. + +There was a certain regularity in the daily program of the household, +although, with reference to what was liable to occur outside, it can +hardly be said to have partaken of the element of monotony. The work of +the day consisted merely in getting something to eat, and in this work +father and mother alike took an active part, their individual duties +being somewhat varied. In a general way One-Ear relied upon himself for +the provision of flesh, but there were roots and nuts and fruits, in +their season, and in the gathering of these Red-Spot was an admitted +expert. Not that all her efforts were confined to the fruits of the soil +and forest, for she could, if need be, assist her husband in the pursuit +or capture of any animal. She was not less clever than he in that +animal's subsequent dissection, and was far more expert in its cooking. +In the tanning of skins she was an adept. So it chanced that at this time +the father and mother frequently left the cave together in the morning, +their elder son remaining as protector of the younger inmates. When +occasionally he went with his parents, or was allowed to venture forth +alone, extra precautions were taken as to the cave's approaches. Just +outside the entrance was a stone similar to the one on the inside, and +when the two young children were left unguarded this outside barricade +was rolled against what remained of the entrance, so that the small +people, though prisoners, were at least secure from dangerous animals. +Of course there were variations in the program. There was that degree of +fellowship among the cave men, even at this early age, to allow of an +occasional banding together for hunting purposes, a battle of some sort +or the surrounding and destruction of some of the greater animals. At +such times One-Ear would be absent from the cave for days and Ab and his +mother would remain sole guardians. The boy enjoyed these occasions +immensely; they gave him a fine sense of responsibility and importance, +and did much toward the development of the manhood that was in him, +increasing his self-reliance and perfecting him in the art of winning his +daily bread, or what was daily bread's equivalent at the time in which he +lived. It was not in outdoor and physical life alone that he grew. There +was something more to him, a combination of traits somewhere which made +him a little beyond and above the mere seeker after food. He was never +entirely dormant, a sleeper on the skins and beech leaves, even when in +the shelter of the cave, after the day's adventures. He reasoned +according to such gifts as circumstances had afforded him and he had the +instinct of devising. An instinct toward devising was a great thing to +its possessor in the time of the cave people. + +We know very well to-day, or think we know, that the influence of the +mother, in most cases, dominates that of the father in making the future +of the man-child. It may be that this comes because in early life the +boy, throughout the time when all he sees or learns will be most clear in +his memory until he dies, is more with the woman parent than with the +man, who is afield; or, it may be, there is some criss-cross law of +nature which makes the man ordinarily transmit his qualities to the +daughter and the woman transmit hers to the son. About that we do not +know yet. But it is certain that Ab was more like his mother than his +father, and that in these young days of his he was more immediately under +her influence. And Red-Spot was superior in many ways to the ordinary +woman of the cave time. + +It was good for the boy that he was so under the maternal dominion, and +that, as he lingered about the cave, he aided in the making of threads of +sinew or intestine, or looked on interestedly as his mother, using the +bone needle, which he often sharpened for her with his flint scraper, +sewed together the skins which made the garments of the family. The +needle was one without an eye, a mere awl, which made holes through which +the thread was pushed. As the growing boy lounged or labored near his +mother, alternately helpful or annoying, as the case might be, he learned +many things which were of value to him in the future, and resolved upon +brave actions which should be greatly to his credit. He was but a cub, a +young being almost as unreasoning in some ways as the beasts of the wood, +but he had his hopes and vanities, as has even the working beaver or the +dancing crane, and from the long mother-talks came a degree of +definiteness of outline to his ambitions. He would be the greatest hunter +and warrior in all the region! + +The cave mother easily understood her child's increasing daringness and +vigor, and though swift to anger and strong of hand, she could not but +feel a pride in and tell her tales to the boy beside her. After a time, +when the family of Oak returned to the cave above and the boys were much +together again, the mother began to see less of her son. The influence of +the days spent by her side remained with the boy, however, and much that +he learned there was of value in his later active life. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +OLD MOK, THE MENTOR. + +It was at about this time, the time when Ab had begun to develop from +boyhood into strong and aspiring youth, that his family was increased +from five to six by the addition of a singular character, Old Mok. This +personage was bent and seemingly old, but he was younger than he looked, +though he was not extremely fair to look upon. He had a shock of grizzled +hair, a short, stiff, unpleasant beard, and the condition of one of his +legs made him a cripple of an exaggerated type. He could hobble about and +on great occasions make a journey of some length, but he was practically +debarred from hunting. The extraordinary curvature of his twisted leg +was, as usual in his time, the result of an encounter with some wild +beast. The limb curved like a corkscrew and was so much shorter than the +other leg that the man was really safe only when the walls of a cave +enclosed him. But if his legs were weak his brain and arms were not. In +that grizzled head was much intelligence and the arms were those of a +great climber. His toes were clasping things and he was at home in a +treetop. But he did not travel much. There was no need. Old Mok had +special gifts, and they were such as made him a desirable friend among +the cave men. He had, in his youth, been a mighty hunter and had so +learned that he could tell wonderfully the ways of beasts and swimming +things and the ways of slaying or eluding them. Best of all, he was such +a fashioner of weapons as the valley had rarely known, and, because of +this, was in great request as a cared-for inmate of almost any cave which +hit his fancy. After his crippling he had drifted from one haven to +another, never quite satisfied with what he found, and now he had come to +live, as he supposed, with his old friend, One-Ear, until life should +end. Despite his harshness of appearance--and neither of the two could +ever afterward explain it--there was something about the grim old man +which commended him to Ab from the very first. There was an occasional +twinkle in the fierce old fellow's eye and sometimes a certain cackle in +his clucking talk, which betokened not unkindliness toward a healthy +youngster, and the two soon grew together, as often the young and old may +do. + +Though but what might be called in one sense a dependent, the crippled +hunter had a dignity and was arbitrary in the expression of his views. +Never once, through all the thousands of years which have passed since he +hobbled here and there, has lived an armorer more famous among those who +knew him best. No fashioner of sword, or lance, or coat of mail or plate, +in the far later centuries, had better reputation than had Mok with his +friends and patrons for the making of good weapons, though it may be that +his clientele was less numerous by hundreds to one than that of some +later manufacturer of a Toledo blade. He might be living partly as a +dependent, but he could do almost as he willed. Who should have standing +if it were not accorded to the most gifted chipper of flint and carver of +mammoth tooth in all the region from where the little waters came down to +make a river, to where the blue, broad stream, blending with friendly +currents, was lost in what is now the great North Sea? + +A boy and an old man can come together closely, and that has, through all +the ages, been a good thing for each. The boy learns that which enables +him to do things and the man is happy in watching the development of one +of his own kind. Helping and advising Ab, and sometimes Oak as well, Old +Mok did not discourage sometimes reckless undertakings. In those days +chances were accepted. So when any magnificent scheme suggested itself to +the two youths, Ab at once sought his adviser and was not discountenanced. + +It was a great night in the cave when Ab brought home two fluffy gray +bundles not much larger than kittens and tied them in a corner with +thongs of sinew, sinew so tough and stringy that it could not easily be +severed by the sharp teeth which were at once applied to it. The fluffy +gray bundles were two young wolves, and were, for Ab, a great possession. +They were not even brother and sister, these cubs, and had been gallantly +captured by the two courageous rangers, Ab and Oak. For some time the +boys had noted lurking shadows about a rugged height close by the river, +some distance below the cave of Ab, and had resolved upon a closer +investigation. A particularly ugly brute was the wolf of the cave man's +time, but one which, when not in pack, was unlikely to assail two +well-armed and sturdy youths in daylight; and the result of much cautious +spying was that they found two dens, each with young in them, and at a +time when the old wolves were away. In one den Ab seized upon two of the +snarling cubs and Oak did the same in the other, and then the raiders +fled with such speed as was in them, until they were at a safe distance +from the place where things would not go well with them should the robbed +parents return. Once in safe territory, each exchanged a cub for one +seized by the other and then each went home in triumph. Ab was especially +delighted. He was determined to feed his cubs with the utmost care and to +keep them alive and growing. He was full of the fancy and delighted in +it, but he had assumed a great responsibility. + +[Illustration: AB SEIZED UPON TWO OF THE SNARLING CUBS AND OAK DID THE +SAME] + +The cubs were tied in a corner of the cave and at once commanded the +attention and unbounded admiration of Bark and Beech-Leaf. The young lady +especially delighted in the little beasts and could usually be found +lying in the corner with them, the baby wolves learning in time to play +with her as if she were a wolf-suckled cub herself. Bark had almost the +same relations with the little brutes and Ab looked after them most +carefully. Even the father and mother became interested in the antics of +the young children and young wolves and the cubs became acknowledged, if +not particularly respected, members of the family. But Ab's dream was too +much for sudden realization. Not all at once could the wild thing become +a tame one. As the cubs grew and their teeth became longer and sharper, +there was an occasional conflict and the arms of Bark and Beech-Leaf were +scarred in consequence, until at last Ab, though he protested hardly, was +compelled to give up his pets. Somehow, he was not in the mood for +killing the half grown beasts, and so he simply turned them loose, but +they did not, as he had thought they would, flee to the forest. They had +known almost no life except that of the cave, they had got their meat +there and, at night, the twain were at the doorway whining for food. To +them were tossed some half-gnawed bones and they received them with +joyous yelps and snarls. Thenceforth they hung about the cave and +retained, practically, their place in the family, oddly enough showing +particular animosity to those of their own kind who ventured near the +place. One day, the female was found in the cave's rear with four little +whelps lying beside her, and that settled it! The family petted the young +animals and they grew up tamer and more obedient than had been their +father and mother. Protected by man, they were unlikely to revert to +wildness. Members of the pack which grew from them were, in time, +bestowed as valued gifts among the cave men of the region and much came +of it. The two boys did a greater day's work than they could comprehend +when they raided the dens by the river's side. + +But there was much beside the capture of wolf cubs to occupy the +attention of the boys. They counted themselves the finest bird hunters in +the community and, to a certain extent, justified the proud claim made. +No youths could set a snare more deftly or hurl a stone more surely, and +there was much bird life for them to seek. The bustard fed in the vast +nut forests, the capercailzie was proud upon the moors, where the +heath-cock was as jaunty, and the willow grouse and partridge were wise in +covert to avoid the hungry snowy owl. Upon the river and lagoons and +creeks the swan and wild goose and countless duck made constant clamor, +and there were water-rail and snipe along the shallows. There were eggs +to be found, and an egg baked in the ashes was a thing most excellent. It +was with the waterfowl that the boys were most successful. The ducks +would in their feeding approach close to the shores of the river banks or +the little islands and would gather in bunches so near to where the boys +were hidden that the young hunters, leaping suddenly to their feet and +hurling their stones together, rarely failed to secure at least a single +victim. There were muskrats along the banks and there was a great beaver, +which was not abundant, and which was a mighty creature of his kind. Of +muskrats the boys speared many--and roasted muskrat is so good that it is +eaten by the Indians and some of the white hunters in Canada to-day--but +the big beaver they did not succeed in capturing at this stage of their +career. Once they saw a seal, which had come up the river from the sea, +and pursued it, running along the banks for miles, but it proved as +elusive as the great beaver. + +But, as a matter of course, it was upon land that the greatest sport was +had. There were the wild hogs, but the hogs were wary and the big boars +dangerous, and it was only when a litter of the young could be pounced +upon somewhere that flint-headed spears were fully up to the emergency. +On such occasions there was fine pigsticking, and then the atmosphere in +the caves would be made fascinating with the odor of roasting suckling. +There is a story by a great and gentle writer telling how a Chinaman +first discovered the beauties of roast pig. It is an admirable tale and +it is well that it was written, but the cave man, many tens of thousands +of years before there was a China, yielded to the allurements of young +pig, and sought him accordingly. + +The musk-ox, which still mingled with the animals of the river basin, was +almost as difficult of approach as in arctic wilds to-day, as was a small +animal, half goat, half antelope, which fed upon the rocky hillsides or +wherever the high reaches were. There were squirrels in the trees, but +they were seldom caught, and the tailless hare which fed in the river +meadows was not easily approached and was swift as the sea wind in its +flight, swifter than a sort of fox which sought it constantly. But the +burrowing things were surer game. There were martens and zerboas, and +marmots and hedgehogs and badgers, all good to eat and attainable to +those who could dig as could these brawny youths. The game once driven to +its hole, the clamshell and the sharpened fire-hardened spade-stick were +brought into use and the fate of the animal sought was rarely long in +doubt. It is true that the scene lacked one element very noticeable when +boys dig out any animal to-day. There was not the inevitable and +important dog, but the youths were swift of sight and quick of hand, and +the hidden creature, once unearthed, seldom escaped. One of the prizes of +those feats of excavation was the badger, for not only was it edible, but +its snow-white teeth, perforated and strung on sinew, made necklaces +which were highly valued. + +The youths did not think of attacking many of the dangerous brutes. They +might have risked the issue with a small leopard which existed then, or +faced the wildcat, but what they sought most was the wolverine, because +it had fur so long and oddly marked, and because it was braver than other +animals of its size and came more boldly to some bait of meat, affording +opportunity for fine spear-throwing. And, apropos of the wolverine, the +glutton, as it is called in Europe, it is something still admired. It is +a vicious, bloodthirsty, unchanging and, to the widely-informed and +scientifically sentimental, lovable animal. It is vicious and +bloodthirsty because that is its nature. It is lovable because, through +all the generations, it has come down just the same. The cave man knew it +just as it is now; the early Teuton knew it when "hides" of land were the +rewards of warriors. The Roman knew it when he made forays to the far +north for a few centuries and learned how sharp were the blades of the +Rhine-folk and the Briton. The Druid and the Angle and Jute and Saxon +knew it, and it is known to-day in all northern Europe and Asia and +America, in fact, in nearly all the northern temperate zone. The +wolverine is something wonderful; it laughs at the ages; its bones, found +side by side with those of the cave hyena, are the same as those found in +its body as it exists to-day. It is an anomaly, an animal which does not +advance nor retrograde. + +The two big boys grew daily in the science of gaining food and grew more +and more of importance in their respective households. Sometimes either +one of them might hunt alone, but this was not the rule. It was safer for +two than one, when the forest was invaded deeply. But not all their time +was spent in evading or seeking the life of such living things as they +might discover. They had a home life sometimes as entertaining as the +life found anywhere outside. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +DOINGS AT HOME. + +Those were happy times in the cave, where Ab, developing now into an +exceedingly stalwart youth, found the long evenings about the fire far +from monotonous. There was Mok, the mentor, who had grown so fond of him, +and there was most interesting work to do in making from the dark flint +nodules or obsidian fragments--always eagerly seized upon when discovered +by the cave people in their wanderings--the spearheads and rude knives +and skin scrapers so essential to their needs. The flint nodule was but a +small mass of the stone, often somewhat pear-shaped. Though apparently a +solid mass, composed of the hardest substance then known, it lay in what +might be called a series of flakes about a center, and, in wise hands, +these flakes could be chipped or pried away unbroken. The flake, once +won, was often slightly concave on the outside and convex on the other, +but the core of the stone was something more equally balanced in +formation and, when properly finished, made a mighty spearhead. For the +heavy axes and mallets, other stones, such as we now call granite, +redstone or quartose grit, were often used, but in the making of all the +weapons was required the exercise of infinite skill and patience. To make +the flakes symmetrical demanded the nicest perception and judgment of +power of stroke, for, with each flake gained, there resulted a new form +to the surface of the stone. The object was always to secure a flake with +a point, a strong middle ridge and sides as nearly edged as possible. And +in the striking off of these flakes and their finishing others of the +cave men were to old Mok as the child is to the man. + +Ab hung about the old man at his work and was finally allowed to help +him. If, at first, the boy could do nothing else, he could, with his +flint scraper, work industriously at the smoothing of the long spear +shafts, and when he had learned to do well at this he was at last allowed +to venture upon the stone chipping, especially when into old Mok's +possession had come a piece of flint the quality of which he did not +quite approve and for the ruining of which in the splitting he cared but +little. + +There were disasters innumerable when the boy began and much bad stone +was spoiled, but he had a will and a good eye and hand, and it came, in +time, that he could strike off a flake with only a little less of +deftness than his teacher and that, even in the more delicate work of the +finer chipping to complete the weapon, he was a workman not to be +despised. He had an ambition in it all and old Mok was satisfied with +what he did. + +The boy was always experimenting, ever trying a new flint chipper or +using a third stone to tap delicately the one held in the hand to make +the fracture, or wondering aloud why it would not be well to make this +flint knife a little thinner, or that spearhead a trifle heavier. He was +questioning as he worked and something of a nuisance with it all, but old +Mok endured with what was, for him, an astonishing degree of patience, +and would sometimes comment grumblingly to the effect that the boy could +at least chip stone far better than some men. And then the veteran would +look at One-Ear, who was, notoriously, a bad flint worker,--though, a +weapon once in his grasp, there were few could use it with surer eye or +heavier hand--and would chuckle as he made the comment. As for One-Ear, +he listened placidly enough. He was glad a son of his could make good +weapons. So much the better for the family! + +As times went, Ab was a tolerably good boy to his mother. Nearly all +young cave males were good boys until the time came when their thews and +sinews outmatched the strength of those who had borne them, and this, be +it said, was at no early age, for the woman, hunting and working with the +man, was no maternal weakling whose buffet was unworthy of notice. A blow +from the cave mother's hand was something to be respected and avoided. +The use of strength was the general law, and the cave woman, though she +would die for her young, yet demanded that her young should obey her +until the time came when the maternal instinct of first direction blended +with and was finally lost in pride over the force of the being to whom +she had given birth. So Ab had vigorous duties about the household. + +As has been told already, Red-Spot was a notable housekeeper and there +was such product of the cave cooking as would make happy any gourmand of +to-day who could appreciate the quality of what had a most natural +flavor. Regarding her kitchen appliances Red-Spot had a matron's +justifiable pride. Not only was there the wood fire, into which, held on +long, pointed sticks, could be thrust all sorts of meat for the somewhat +smoky broiling, and the hot coals and ashes in which could be roasted the +clams and the clay-covered fish, but there was the place for boiling, +which only the more fortunate of the cave people owned. Her growing son +had aided much in the attainment of this good housewife's fond desire. + +With much travail, involving all the force the cave family could muster +and including the assistance of Oak's father and of Oak himself, who +rejoiced with Ab in the proceedings, there had been rolled into the cave +a huge sandstone rock with a top which was nearly flat. Here was to be +the great pot, sometimes used as a roasting place, as well, which only +the more pretentious of the caves could boast. On the middle of the big +stone's uppermost surface old Mok chipped with an ax the outline of a +rude circle some two feet in diameter. This defined roughly the size of +the kettle to be made. Inside the circle, the sandstone must be dug out +to a big kettle's proper depth, and upon the boy, Ab, must devolve most +of this healthful but not over-attractive labor. + +The boy went at the task gallantly, in the beginning, and pecked away +with a stone chisel and gained a most respectable hollow within a day or +two, but his enthusiasm subsided with the continuity of much effort with +small result. He wanted more weight to his chisel of flint set firmly in +reindeer's horn, and a greater impact to the blows into which could not +be put the force resulting from a swing of arm. He thought much. Then he +secured a long stick and bound his chisel strongly to it at one end, the +top of the chisel resting against a projecting stub of limb, so that it +could not be driven upward. To the other end of the stick he bound a +stone of some pounds in weight and then, holding the shaft with both +hands, lifted it and let the whole drop into the depression he had +already made. The flint chisel bit deeply under the heavy impact and the +days were few before Ab had dug in the sandstone rock a cavity which +would hold much meat and water. There was an unconscious celebration when +the big kettle was completed. It was nearly filled with water, and into +the water were flung great chunks of the meat of a reindeer killed that +day. Meanwhile, the cave fire had been replenished with dry wood and +there had been formed a wide bed of coals, upon which were cast numerous +stones of moderate size, which soon attained a shining heat. A sort of +tongs made of green withes served to remove the stones, one after +another, from the mass of coal, and drop them in with the meat and water. +Within a little time the water was fairly boiling and soon there was a +monster stew giving forth rich odors and ready to be eaten. And it was +not allowed to get over-cool after that summoning fragrance had once +extended throughout the cave. There was a rush for the clam shells which +served for soup dishes or cups, there was spearing with sharpened sticks +for pieces of the boiled meat, and all were satisfied, though there was +shrill complaint from Bark, whose turn at the kettle came late, and much +clamor from chubby Beech-Leaf, who was not yet tall enough to help +herself, but who was cared for by the mother. It may be that, to some +people of to-day, the stew would be counted lacking in quality of +seasoning, but an opinion upon seasoning depends largely upon the stomach +and the time, and, besides, it may be that the dirt clinging to the +stones cast into the water gave a certain flavor as fine in its way as +could be imparted by salt and pepper. + +Old Mok, observing silently, had decidedly approved of Ab's device for +easier digging into sandstone than was the old manner of pecking away +with a chisel held in the hand. He was almost disposed now to admit the +big lad to something like a plane of equality in the work they did +together. He became more affable in their converse, and the youth was, in +the same degree, delighted and ambitious. They experimented with the +stick and weight and chisel in accomplishing the difficult work of +splitting from boulders the larger fragments of stone from which weapons +were to be made, and learned that by heavy, steady pressure of the +breast, thus augmented by heavy weight, they could fracture more evenly +than by blow of stone, ax or hammer. They learned that two could work +together in stone chipping and do better work than one. Old Mok would +hold the forming weapon-head in one hand and the horn-hafted chisel in +another, pressing the blade close against the stone and at just such +angle as would secure the result he sought, while Ab, advised as to the +force of each succeeding stroke, tapped lightly upon the chisel's head. +Woe was it for the boy if once he missed his stroke and caught the old +man's fingers! Very delicate became the chipping done by these two +artists, and excellent beyond any before made were the axes and +spearheads produced by what, in modern times, would have been known under +the title of "Old Mok & Co." + +At this time, too, Ab took lessons in making all the varied articles of +elk or reindeer horn and the drinking cups from the horns of urus and +aurochs. Old Mok even went so far as to attempt teaching the youth +something of carving figures upon tusks and shoulder blades, but in this +art Ab never greatly excelled. He was too much a creature of action. The +bone needles used by Red-Spot in making skin garments he could form +readily enough and he made whistles for Bark and Beech-Leaf, but his +inclinations were all toward larger things. To become a fighter and a +hunter remained his chief ambition. + +Rather keen, with light snows but nipping airs, were the winters of this +country of the cave men, and there were articles of food essential to +variety which were, necessarily, stored before the cold season came. +There were roots which were edible and which could be dried, and there +were nuts in abundance, beyond all need. Beechnuts and acorns were +gathered in the autumn, the children at this time earning fully the right +of home and food, and the stores were heaped in granaries dug into the +cave's sides. Should the snow at any time fall too deeply for +hunting--though such an occurrence was very rare--or should any other +cause, such, for instance, as the appearance of the great cave tiger in +the region, make the game scarce and hunting perilous, there was the +recourse of nuts and roots and no danger of starvation. There was no fear +of suffering from thirst. Man early learned to carry water in a pouch of +skin and there were sometimes made rock cavities, after the manner of the +cave kettle, where water could be stored for an emergency. Besieging wild +beasts could embarrass but could not greatly alarm the family, for, with +store of wood and food and water, the besieged could wait, and it was not +well for the flesh-seeking quadruped to approach within a long +spear-thrust's length of the cavern's narrow entrance. + +The winter following the establishment of Ab's real companionship with +Old Mok, as it chanced, was not a hard one. There fell snow enough for +tracking, but not so deeply as to incommode the hunter. There had been a +wonderful nut-fall in the autumn and the cave was stored with such +quantity of this food that there was no chance of real privation. The ice +was clean upon the river and through the holes hacked with stone axes +fish were dragged forth in abundance upon the rude bone and stone hooks, +which served their purpose far better than when, in summer time, the line +was longer and the fish escaped so often from the barbless implements. It +was a great season in all that made a cave family's life something easy +and complacent and vastly promotive of the social amenities and the +advancement of art and literature--that is, they were not compelled to +make any sudden raid on others to assure the means of subsistence, and +there was time for the carving of bones and the telling of strange +stories of the past. The elders declared it one of the finest winters +they had ever known. + +And so Old Mok and Ab worked well that winter and the youth acquired such +wisdom that his casual advice to Oak when the two were out together was +something worth listening to because of its confidence and ponderosity. +Concerning flint scraper, drill, spearhead, ax or bone or wooden haft, +there was, his talk would indicate, practically nothing for the boy to +learn. That was his own opinion, though, as he grew older, he learned to +modify it greatly. With his adviser he had made good weapons and some +improvements; yet all this was nothing. It was destined that an +accidental discovery should be his, the effect of which would be to +change the cave man's rank among living things. But the youth, just now, +was greatly content with himself. He was older and more modest when he +made his great discovery. + +It was when the fire blazed out at night, when all had fed, when the +tired people lay about resting, but not ready yet for sleep, and the +story of the day's events was given, that Old Mok's ordinarily still +tongue would sometimes loosen and he would tell of what happened when he +was a boy, or of the strange tales which had been told him of the time +long past, the times when the Shell and Cave people were one, times when +there were monstrous things abroad and life was hard to keep. To all +these legends the hearers listened wonderingly, and upon them afterward +Ab and Oak would sometimes speculate together and question as to their +truth. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +OLD MOK'S TALES. + +It was worth while listening to Old Mok when he forgot himself and talked +and became earnestly reminiscent in telling of what he had seen or had +heard when he was young. One day there had been trouble in the cave, for +Bark, left in charge, had neglected the fire and it had "gone out," and +upon the return of his parents there had been blows and harsh language, +and then much pivotal grinding together of dry sticks before a new flame +was gained, and it was only after the odor of cooked flesh filled the +place and strong jaws were busy that the anger of One-Ear had abated and +the group became a comfortable one. Ab had come in hungry and the value of +fire, after what had happened, was brought to his mind forcibly. He laid +himself down upon the cave's floor near Old Mok, who was fashioning a +shaft of some sort, and, as he lay, poked his toes at Beechleaf, who +chuckled and gurgled as she rolled about, never for a moment relinquishing +a portion of the slender shin bone of a deer, upon the flesh of which the +family had fed. It was a short piece but full of marrow, and the child +sucked and mumbled away at it in utmost bliss. Ab thought, somehow, of how +poor would have been the eating with the meat uncooked, and looked at his +hands, still reddened--for it was he who had twisted the stick which made +the fire again. "Fire is good!" he said to Mok. + +The old man kept his flint scraper going for a moment or two before he +answered; then he grunted: + +"Yes, it's good if you don't get burned. I've been burned," and he thrust +out an arm upon which appeared a cicatrice. + +Ab was interested. "Where did you get that?" he queried. + +"Far from here, far beyond the black swamp and the red hills that are +farther still. It was when I was strong." + +"Tell me about it," said the youth. + +"There is a fire country," answered Old Mok, "away beyond the swamp and +woods and the place of the big rocks. It is a wonderful place. The fire +comes out of the ground in long sheets and it is always the same. The rain +and the snow do not stop it. Do I not know? Have I not seen it? Did I not +get this scar going too near the flame and stumbling and falling against a +hot rock almost within it? There is too much fire sometimes!" + +The old man continued: "There are many places of fire. They are to the +east and south. Some of the Shell People who have gone far down the river +have seen them. But the one where I was burned is not so far away as they; +it is up the river to the northwest." + +And Ab was interested and questioned Old Mok further about the strange +region where flames came from the ground as bushes grow, and where snow or +water did not make them disappear. He was destined, at a later day, to be +very glad that he had learned the little that was told him. But to-night +he was intent only on getting all the tales he could from the veteran +while he was in the mood. "Tell about the Shell People," he cried, "and +who they are and where they came from. They are different from us." + +"Yes, they are different from us," said Old Mok, "but there was a time, I +have heard it told, when we were like them. The very old men say that +their grandfathers told them that once there were only Shell People +anywhere in this country, the people who lived along the shores and who +never hunted nor went far away from the little islands, because they were +afraid of the beasts in the forests. Sometimes they would venture into the +wood to gather nuts and roots, but they lived mostly on the fish and +clams. But there came a time when brave men were born among them who said +they would have more of the forest things, and that they would no longer +stay fearfully upon the little islands. So they came into the forest and +the Cave Men began. And I think this story true." + +"I think it is true," Old Mok continued, "because the Shell People, you +can see, must have lived very long where they are now. Up and down the +creek where they live and along other creeks there lie banks of earth +which are very long and reach far back. And this is not really earth, but +is all made up of shells and bones and stone spearheads and the things +which lie about a Shell Man's place. I know, for I have dug into these +long banks myself and have seen that of which I tell. Long, very long, +must the Shell People have lived along the creeks and shores to have made +the banks of bones and shells so high." + +And Old Mok was right. They talk of us as the descendants of an Aryan +race. Never from Aryan alone came the drifting, changing Western being of +to-day. But a part of him was born where bald plains were or where were +olive trees and roses. All modern science, and modern thoughtfulness, and +all later broadened intelligence are yielding to an admission of the fact +that he, though of course commingling with his visitors of the ages, was +born and changed where he now exists. The kitchen-midden--the name given +by scientists to refuse from his dwelling places--the kitchen-middens of +Denmark, as Denmark is to-day, alone, regardless of other fields, suffice +to tell a wondrous story. Imagine a kitchen-midden, that is to say the +detritus of ordinary living in different ages, accumulated along the side +of some ancient water course, having for its dimensions miles in length, +extending hundreds of yards back from the margin of this creek, of tens +and tens of thousands of years ago, and having a depth of often many feet +along this water course. Imagine this vast deposit telling the history of +a thousand centuries or more, beginning first with the deposit of clams +and mussel shells and of the shells of such other creatures as might +inhabit this river seeking its way to the North Sea. Imagine this deposit +increasing year after year and century by century, but changing its +character and quality as it rose, and the base is laid for reasoning. + +At first these creatures who ranged up and down the ancient Danish creek +and devoured the clams and periwinkles must have been, as one might say, +but little more than surely anthropoid. Could such as these have migrated +from the Asiatic plateaus? + +The kitchen-middens tell the early story with greater accuracy than could +any writer who ever lifted pen. Here the creek-loving, ape-like creatures +ranged up and down and quelled their appetites. They died after they had +begotten sons and daughters; and to these sons and daughters came an added +intelligence, brought from experience and shifting surroundings. The +kitchen-middens give graphic details. The bottom layer, as has been said, +is but of shells. Above it, in another layer, counting thousands of years +in growth, appear the cracked bones of then existing animals and appear +also traces of charred wood, showing that primitive man had learned what +fire was. And later come the rudely carved bones of the mammoth and woolly +rhinoceros and the Irish elk; then come rude flint instruments, and later +the age of smoothed stone, with all its accompanying fossils, bones and +indications; and so on upward, with a steady sweep, until close to the +surface of this kitchen-midden appear the bronze spear, the axhead and the +rude dagger of the being who became the Druid and who is an ancestor whom +we recognize. From the kitchen-midden to the pinnacle of all that is great +to-day extends a chain not a link of which is weak. + +"They tell strange stories, too, the Shell People," Old Mok continued, +"for they are greater story-tellers than the Cave Men are, more of them +being together in one place, and the old men always tell the tales to the +children so that they are never forgotten by any of the people. They say +that once huge things came out of the great waters and up the creeks, such +as even the big cave tiger dare not face. And the old men say that their +grandfathers once saw with their own eyes a monster serpent many times as +large as the one you two saw, which came swimming up the creek and seized +upon the river horses there and devoured them as easily as the cave bear +would a little deer. And the serpent seized upon some of the Cave People +who were upon the water and devoured them as well, though such as they +were but a mouthful to him. And this tale, too, I believe, for the old +Shell Men who told me what their grandfathers had seen were not of the +foolish sort." + +"But of another sort of story they have told me," Mok continued, "I think +little. The old men tell of a time when those who went down the river to +the greater river and followed it down to the sea, which seems to have no +end, saw what no man can see to-day. But they do not say that their +grandfathers saw these things. They only say that their grandfathers told +of what had been told them by their grandfathers farther back, of a story +which had come down to them, so old that it was older than the great trees +were, of monstrous things which swam along the shores and which were not +serpents, though they had long necks and serpent heads, because they had +great bodies which were driven by flippers through the water as the beaver +goes with his broad feet. And at the same time, the old story goes, were +great birds, far taller than a man, who fed where now the bustards and the +capercailzie are. And these tales I do not believe, though I have seen +bones washed from the riversides and hillsides by the rains which must +have come from creatures different from those we meet now in the forests +or the waters. They are wonderful story-tellers, the old men of the Shell +People." + +"And they tell other strange stories," continued the old man. "They say +that very long ago the cold and ice came down, and all the people and +animals fled before it, and that the summer was cold as now the winter is, +and that the men and beasts fled together to the south, and were there for +a long time, but came back again as the cold and ice went back. They say, +too, that in still later times, the fireplaces where the flames came out +of great cracks in the earth were in tens of places where they are in one +now, and that, even in the ice time, the flames came up, and that the ice +was melted and then ran in rivers to the sea. And these things I do not +believe, for how can men tell of what there was so long ago? They are but +the gabblings of the old, who talk so much." + +Many other stories the veteran told, but what most affected Ab was his +account of the vale of fire. He hoped to see it sometime. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +AB'S GREAT DISCOVERY. + +It may be that never in what was destined to be a life of many changes was +Ab happier than in this period of his lusty boyhood and early manhood, +when there was so much that was new, when he was full of hope and +confidence and of ambition regarding what a mighty hunter and great man he +would become in time. As the years passed he was not less indefatigable in +his experiments, and the day came when a marvelous success followed one of +them, although, like most inventions, it was suggested in the most trivial +and accidental manner. + +It chanced one afternoon that Ab, a young man of twenty now, had returned +early from the wood and was lying lazily upon the sward near the cave's +entrance, while, not far away, Bark and the still chubby Beechleaf were +rolling about. The boy was teasing the girl at times and then doing +something to amuse or awe her. He had found a stiff length of twig and was +engaged in idly bending the ends together and then letting them fly apart +with a snap, meanwhile advancing toward and threatening with the impact +the half-alarmed but wholly delighted Beechleaf. Tired of this, at last, +Bark, with no particular intent, drew forth from the pouch in his skin +cloak a string of sinew, and drawing the ends of the strong twig somewhat +nearly together, attached the cord to each, thus producing accidentally a +petty bow of most rotund proportions. He found that the string twanged +joyously, and, to the delight of Beechleaf, kept twanging it for such time +as his boyish temperament would allow a single occupation. Then he picked +from the ground a long, slender pencil of white wood, a sliver, perhaps, +from the making of a spear shaft, and began strumming with it upon the +taut sinew string. This made a twang of a new sort, and again the boy and +girl were interested temporarily. But, at last, even this variation of +amusement with the new toy became monotonous, and Bark ceased strumming +and began a series of boyish experiments with his plaything. He put one +end of the stick against the string and pushed it back until the other end +would press against the inside of the twig, and the result would be a +taut, new figure in wood and string which would keep its form even when +laid upon the ground. Bark made and unmade the thing a time or two, and +then came great disaster. He had drawn the little stick, so held in the +way we now call arrowwise, back nearly to the point where its head would +come inside the bent twig and there fix itself, when the slight thing +escaped his hands and flew away. + +The quiet of the afternoon was broken by a piercing childish yell which +lacked no element of earnestness. Ab leaped to his feet and was by the +youngsters in a moment. He saw the terrified Beechleaf standing, screaming +still, with a fat arm outheld, from which dangled a little shaft of wood +which had pierced the flesh just deeply enough to give it hold. Bark stood +looking at her, astonished and alarmed. Understanding nothing of the +circumstances, and supposing the girl's hurt came from Bark's careless +flinging of sticks toward her, Ab started toward his brother to administer +one of those buffets which were so easy to give or get among cave +children. But Bark darted behind a convenient tree and there shrieked out +his innocence of dire intent, just as the boy of to-day so fluently +defends himself in any strait where castigation looms in sight. He told of +the queer plaything he had made, and offered to show how all had happened. + +Ab was doubtful but laughing now, for the little shaft, which had scarcely +pierced the skin of Beechleaf's arm had fallen to the ground and that +young person's fright had given way to vengeful indignation and she was +demanding that Bark be hit with something. He allowed the sinner to give +his proof. Bark, taking his toy, essayed to show how Beechleaf had been +injured. He was the most unfortunate of youths. He succeeded but too well. +The mimic arrow flew again and the sound that rang out now was not the cry +of a child. It was the yell of a great youth, who felt a sudden and +poignant hurt, and who was not maintaining any dignity. Had Bark been as +sure of hand and certain of aim as any archer who lived in later centuries +he could not have sent an arrow more fairly to its mark than he sent that +admirable sliver into the chest of his big brother. For a second the +culprit stood with staring eyes, then dropped his toy and flew into the +forest with a howl which betokened his fear of something little less than +sudden death. + +Ab's first impulse was to pursue his sinful younger brother, but, after +the first leap, he checked himself and paused to pluck away the thing +which, so light the force that had impelled it, had not gone deeply in. He +knew now that Bark was really blameless, and, picking up the abandoned +plaything, began its examination thoughtfully and curiously. + +The young man's instinct toward experiment exhibited itself as usual and +he put the splinter against the string and drew it back and let it fly as +he had seen Bark do--that promising sprig, by the way, being now engaged +in peering from the wood and trying to form an estimate as to whether or +not his return was yet advisable. Ab learned that the force of the bent +twig would throw the sliver farther than he could toss it with his hand, +and he wondered what would follow were something like this plaything, the +device of which Bark had so stumbled upon, to be made and tried on a +greater scale. "I'll make one like it, only larger," he said to himself. + +The venturesome but more or less diplomatic Bark had, by this time, +emerged from the wood and was apprehensively edging up toward the place +where Ab was standing. The older brother saw him and called to him to come +and try the thing again and the youngster knew that he was safe. Then the +two toyed with the plaything for an hour or two and Ab became more and +more interested in its qualities. He had no definite idea as to its +possibilities. He thought only of it as a curious thing which should be +larger. + +The next day Ab hacked from a low-limbed tree a branch as thick as his +finger and about a yard in length, and, first trimming it, bent it as Bark +had bent the twig and tied a strong sinew cord across. It was a not +discreditable bow, considering the fact that it was the first ever made, +though one end was smaller than the other and it was rough of outline. +Then Ab cut a straight willow twig, as long nearly as the bow, and began +repeating the experiments of the day before. Never was man more astonished +than this youth after he had drawn the twig back nearly to its head and +let it go! + +So drawn by a strong arm, the shaft when released flew faster and farther +than the maker of what he thought of chiefly as a thing of sport had +imagined could be possible. He had long to search for the headless arrow +and when he found it he went away to where were bare open stretches, that +he might see always where it fell. Once as he sent it from the string it +struck fairly against an oak and, pointless as it was, forced itself +deeply into the hard brown bark and hung there quivering. Then came to the +youth a flash of thought which had its effect upon the ages: "What if +there had been a point to the flying thing and it had struck a reindeer or +any of the hunted animals?" + +He pulled the shaft from the tree and stood there pondering for a moment +or two, then suddenly started running toward the cave. He must see Old +Mok! + +The old man was at work and alone and the young man told him, somewhat +excitedly, why he had thus come running to him. The elder listened with +some patience but with a commiserating grin upon his face. He had heard +young men tell of great ideas before, of a new and better way of digging +pits, or of fishing, or making deadfalls for wild beasts. But he listened +and yielded finally to Ab's earnest demand that he should hobble out into +the open and see with his own eyes how the strung bow would send the +shaft. They went together to an open space, and again and again Ab showed +to his old friend what the new thing would do. With the second shot there +came a new light into the eyes of the veteran hunter and he bade Ab run to +the cave and bring back with him his favorite spear. The young man was +back as soon as strong legs could bring him, and when he burst into the +open he found Mok standing a long spear's cast from the greatest of the +trees which stood about the opening. + +"Throw your spear at the tree," said Mok. "Throw strongly as you can." + +Ab hurled the spear as the Zulu of later times might hurl his assagai, as +strongly and as well, but the distance was overmuch for spear throwing +with good effect, and the flint point pierced the wood so lightly that the +weight of the long shaft was too great for the holding force and it sank +slowly to the ground and pulled away the head. A wild beast struck by the +spear at such distance would have been sorely pricked, but not hurt +seriously. + +"Now take the plaything," said Old Mok, "and throw the little shaft at the +tree with that." + +Ab did as he was told, and, poor marksman with his new device, of course +missed the big tree repeatedly, broad as the mark was, but when, at last, +the bolt struck the hard trunk fairly there was a sound which told of the +sharpness of the blow and the headless shaft rebounded back for yards. Old +Mok looked upon it all delightedly. + +"It may be there is something to your plaything," he said to the young +man. "We will make a better one. But your shaft is good for nothing. We +will make a straighter and stronger one and upon the end of it will put a +little spearhead, and then we can tell how deeply it will go into the +wood. We will work." + +For days the two labored earnestly together, and when they came again into +the open they bore a stronger bow, one tapered at the end opposite the +natural tapering of the branch, so that it was far more flexible and +symmetrical than the one they had tried before. They had abundance of ash +and yew and these remained the good bow wood of all the time of archery. +And the shaft was straight and bore a miniature spearhead at its end. The +thought of notching the shaft to fit the string came naturally and +inevitably. The bow had its first arrow. + +An old man is not so easily affected as a young one, nor so hopeful, but +when the second test was done the veteran Mok was the wilder and more +delighted of the two who shot at the tree in the forest glade. He saw it +all! No longer could the spear be counted as the thing with which to do +most grievous hurt at a safe distance from whatever might be dangerous. +With the better bow and straighter shaft the marksmanship improved; even +for these two callow archers it was not difficult to hit at a distance of +a double spear's cast the bole of the huge tree, two yards in width at +least. And the arrow whistled as if it were a living thing, a hawk seeking +its prey, and the flint head was buried so deeply in the wood that both +Mok and Ab knew that they had found something better than any weapon the +cave men had ever known! + +There followed many days more of the eager working of the old man and the +young one in the cave, and there was much testing of the new device, and +finally, one morning, Ab issued forth armed with his ax and knife, but +without his spear. He bore, instead, a bow which was the best and +strongest the two had yet learned to fashion, and a sheaf of arrows slung +behind his back in a quiver made of a hollow section of a mammoth's leg +bone which had long been kicked about the cave. The two workers had +drilled holes in the bone and passed thongs through and made a wooden +bottom to the thing and now it had found its purpose. The bow was rude, as +were the arrows, and the archer was not yet a certain marksman, though he +had practiced diligently, but the bow was stiff, at least, and the arrows +had keen heads of flint and the arms of the hunter were strong as was the +bow. + +There was a weary and fruitless search for game, but late in the afternoon +the youth came upon a slight, sheer descent, along the foot of which ran a +shallow but broad creek, beyond which was a little grass-grown valley, +where were feeding a fine herd of the little deer. They were feeding in +the direction of the creek and the wind blew from them to the hunter, so +that no rumor of their danger was carried to them on the breeze. Ab +concealed himself among the bushes on the little height and awaited what +might happen. The herd fed slowly toward him. + +As the deer neared the creek they grouped themselves together about where +were the greenest and richest feeding-places, and when they reached the +very border of the stream they were gathered in a bunch of half a hundred, +close together. They were just beyond a spear's cast from the watcher, but +this was a test, not of the spear, but of the bow, and the most +inexperienced of archers, shooting from where Ab was hidden, must strike +some one of the beasts in that broad herd. Ab sprang to his feet and drew +his arrow to the head. The deer gathered for a second in affright, +crowding each other before the wild bursting away together, and then the +bow-string twanged, and the arrow sang hungrily, and there was the swift +thud of hundreds of light feet, and the little glade was almost silent. It +was not quite silent, for, floundering in its death struggles, was a +single deer, through which had passed an arrow so fiercely driven that its +flint head projected from the side opposite that which it had entered. + +[Illustration: AB SPRANG TO HIS FEET, AND DREW HIS ARROW TO THE HEAD] + +Half wild with triumph was the youth who bore home the arrow-stricken +quarry, and not much more elated was he than the old man, who heard the +story of the hunt, and who recognized, at once far more clearly than the +younger one, the quality of the new weapon which had been discovered; the +thing destined to become the greatest implement both of chase and warfare +for thousands of years to come, and which was to be gradually improved, +even by these two, until it became more to them than they could yet +understand. + +But the lips of each of the two makers of the bow were sealed for the +time. Ab and Old Mok cherished together their mighty secret. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +A LESSON IN SWIMMING. + +Ab and Oak, ranging far in their hunting expeditions, had, long since, +formed the acquaintance of the Shell People, and had even partaken of +their hospitality, though there was not much to attract a guest in the +abodes of the creek-haunters. Their homes were but small caves, not much +more than deep burrows, dug here and there in the banks, above high water +mark, and protected from wild beasts by the usual heaped rocks, leaving +only a narrow passage. This insured warmth and comparative safety, but the +homes lacked the spaciousness of the caves and caverns of the hills, and +the food of fish and clams and periwinkles, with flesh and fruit but +seldom gained, had little attraction for the occasional cave visitor. Ab +and Oak would sometimes traffic with the Shell People, exchanging some +creature of the land for a product of the water, but they made brief stay +in a locality where the food and odors were not quite to their accustomed +taste. Yet the settlement had a slight degree of interest to them. They +had noted the buxom quality of some of the Shell maidens, and the two had +now attained an age when a bright-eyed young person of the other sex was +agreeable to look upon. But there had been no love passages. Neither of +the youths was yet so badly stricken. + +There came an autumn morning when Ab and Oak, who had met at daybreak, +determined to visit the Shell People and go with them upon a fishing +expedition. The Shell People often fished from boats, and the boats were +excellent. Each consisted of four or five short logs of the most buoyant +wood, bound firmly together with tough withes, but the contrivance was +more than a simple raft, because, at the bow, it had been hewed to a +point, and the logs had been so chosen that each curved upward there. It +had been learned that the waves sometimes encountered could so more easily +be cleft or overridden. None of these boats could sink, and the man of the +time was quite at home in the water. It was fun for the young men whose +tale is told here to go with the Shell People and assist in spearing fish +or drawing them from the river's depths upon rude hooks, and the Shell +People did not object, but were rather proud of the attendance of +representatives of the hillside aristocracy. + +The morning was one to make men far older than these two most confident +and full of life. The season was late, though the river's waters were not +yet cold. The mast had already begun to fall and the nuts lay thickly +among the leaves. Every morning, and more regularly than it comes now, +there was a spread of glistening hoar frost upon the lowlands and the +little open lands in the forest and upon every spot not tree-protected. At +such times there appeared to the eyes of the cave people the splendor of +nature such as we now can hardly comprehend. It came most strikingly in +spring and autumn, and was something wonderful. The cave men, probably, +did not appreciate it. They were accustomed to it, for it was part of the +record of every year. Doubtless there came a greater vigor to them in the +keen air of the hoar frost time, doubtless the step of each was made more +springy and each man's valor more defined in this choice atmosphere. +Temperate, with a wonderful keenness to it, was the climate of the cave +region in the valley of the present Thames. Even in the days of the cave +men, the Gulf Stream, swinging from the equator in the great warm current +already formed, laved the then peninsula as it now laves the British +Isles. The climate, as has been told, was almost as equable then as now, +but with a certain crispness which was a heritage from the glacial epoch. +It was a time to live in, and the two were merry on their journey in the +glittering morning. + +The young men idled on their way and wasted an hour or two in vain +attempts to approach a feeding deer nearly enough for effective +spear-throwing. They were late when, after swimming the creek, they +reached the Shell village and there learned that the party had already +gone. They decided that they might, perhaps, overtake the fishermen, and +so, with the hunter's easy lope, started briskly down the river bank. They +were not destined to fish that day. + +Three or four miles had been passed and a straight stretch of the river +had been attained, at the end of which, a mile away, could be seen the +boats of the Shell People, to be lost to sight a moment later as they +swept around a bend. But there was something else in sight. Perched +comfortably upon a rock, the sides of which were so precipitous that they +afforded a foothold only for human beings, was a young woman of the Shell +People who had before attracted Ab's attention and something of his +admiration. She was fishing diligently. She had been left by the fishing +party, to be taken up on their return, because, in the rush of waters +about the base of the rock, was a haunt of a small fish esteemed +particularly, and because the girl was one of the little tribe's adepts +with hook and line She raised her eyes as she heard the patter of +footsteps upon the shore, but did not exhibit any alarm when she saw the +two young men. The ordinary young woman of the Shell People did not worry +when away from land. She could swim like an otter and dive like a loon, +and of wild beasts she had no fear when she was thus safely bestowed away +from the death-harboring forest. The maiden on the rock was most serene. + +[Illustration: THE YOUNG MEN CALLED TO HER BUT SHE MADE NO ANSWER. SHE BUT +FISHED AWAY DEMURELY] + +The young men called to her, but she made no answer. She but fished away +demurely, from time to time hauling up a flashing finny thing, which she +calmly bumped on the rock and then tossed upon the silvery heap, which had +already assumed fair dimensions, close behind her. As Ab looked upon the +young fisherwoman his interest in her grew rapidly and he was silent, +though Oak called out taunting words and asked her if she could not talk. +It was not this young woman, but another, who had most pleased Oak among +the girls of the Shell People. + +It was not love yet with Ab, but the maiden interested him. He held no +defined wish to carry her away to a new home with him, but there arose a +feeling that he wanted to know her better. There might,--he didn't +know--be as good wives among the Shell maidens as among the well-running +girls of the hills. + +"I'll swim to the rock!" he said to his companion, and Oak laughed loudly. + +Short time elapsed between decision and action in those days, and hardly +had Ab spoken when he flung his fur covering into the hands of Oak, and, +clad only in the clout about his hips, dropped, with a splash, into the +water. All this time the girl had been eyeing every motion closely. As the +little waves rose laughingly about the man, she descended lightly from her +perch and slid into the stream as easily and silently as a beaver might +have done. And then began a chase. The girl, finding mid-current swiftly, +was a full hundred yards ahead as Ab came fairly in her wake. + +A splendid swimmer was the stalwart young man of the hills. He had been in +and out of water almost daily since early childhood, and, though there had +never been a test, was confident that, among all the Shell People, there +was none he could not overtake, despite what he had heard and knew of +their wonderful cleverness in the water. Were not his arms and legs longer +and stronger than theirs and his chest deeper? He felt that he could +outswim easily any bold fisherman among them, and as for this girl, he +would overtake her very quickly and draw her to the bank, and then there +would be an interview of much enjoyment, at least to him. His strong arm +swept the water back, and his strong legs, working with them, drove his +body forward swiftly toward the brown object not very far ahead. Along the +bank ran the laughing and shouting Oak. + +Yard by yard, Ab's mighty strokes brought him nearer the object of his +pursuit. She was swimming breast forward, as was he--for that was his only +way--she with a dog-like paddling stroke, and often she turned her head to +look backward at the man. She did not, even yet, appear affrighted, and +this Ab wondered at, for it was seldom that a girl of the time, thus +hunted, was not, and with reason, terrified. She, possibly, understood +that the chase did not involve a real abduction, for she and her pursuer +had often met, but there was, at least, reason enough for avoiding too +close contact on this day. She swam on steadily, and, as steadily, Ab +gained upon her. + +Down the long stretch of tumbling river, sweeping eastward between hill +and slope and plain and woodland, went the chase, while the panting and +cheering Oak, strong-legged and enduring as he was, barely kept pace with +the two heads he could see bobbing, not far apart now, in the tossing +waters. Ab had long since forgotten Oak. He had forgotten how it was that +he came to be thus swimming in the river. His thought was only what now +made up an overmastering aim. He must reach and seize upon the girl before +him! + +Closer and closer, though she as much as he was aided by the swift +current, the young man approached the girl. The hundred yards had lessened +into tens and he could plainly see now the wake about her and the +occasional up-flip of her brown heels as she went high in her stroke. He +now felt easily assured of her and laughed to himself as he swept his arms +backward in a fiercer stroke and came so close that he could discern her +outline through the water. It was but a matter of endurance, he chuckled +to himself. How could a woman outswim a man like him? + +It was just at the time when this thought came that Ab saw the Shell girl +lift her head and turn it toward him and laugh--laugh recklessly, almost +in his very face, so close together were they now. And then she taught him +something! There was a dip such as the otter makes when he seeks the +depths and there was no longer a girl in sight! But this was only a +demonstration, made in sheer audacity and blithesome insolence, for the +brown head soon appeared again some yards ahead and there was another +twist of it and another merry laugh. Then the neat body turned upon its +side, and with quick outdriving legstrokes and the overhand and underhand +pulling-forward which modern swimmers partly know, the girl shot ahead +through the tiny white-capped waves and away from the swimmer so close +behind her, as to-day the cutter leaves the scow. From the river bank came +a wild yelp, the significance of which, if analyzed, might have included +astonishment and great delight and brotherly derision. Oak was having a +great day of it! He was the sole witness of a swimming-match the like of +which was rare, and he was getting even with his friend for various +assumptions of superiority in various doings. + +Unexhausted and sturdy and stubborn, Ab was not the one to abandon his +long chase because of this new phase of things. He inhaled a great breath +and made the water foam with his swift strokes, but as well might a wild +goose chase a swallow on the wing as he seek to overtake that brown streak +on the water. It was wonderful, the manner in which that Shell girl swam! +She was like the birds which swim and dive and dip, and know of nothing +which they fear if only they are in the water far enough away from where +there is the need of stalking over soil and stone. It was not that the +Shell girl was other than at home on land. She was quite at home there and +reasonably fleet, but the creek and river had so been her element from +babyhood that the chase of the hill man had been, from the start, a sheer +absurdity. + +Ab lifted himself in the waters and gazed upon the dark spot far away, +and, piqued and maddened, put forth all the swimming strength there was +left in his brawny body. It seemed for a brief time that he was almost +equal to the task of gaining upon what was little more than a dot upon the +surface far ahead. But his scant prospect of success was only momentary. +The trifling spot in the distant drifts of the river seemed to have +certain ideas of its own. The speed of its course in the water did not +abate and, in a moment, it was carried around the bend, and lost to sight. +Ab drifted to the turn and saw, below, a girl clambering into safety among +the rafts of the fishing Shell People. What she would tell them he did not +know. That was not a matter to be much considered. + +There was but one thing to be done and that was to reach the land and +return to a life more strictly earthly and more comfortable. There is +nothing like water for overcoming a young man's fancy for many things. Ab +swam now with a somewhat tired and languid stroke to the shore, where Oak +awaited him hilariously. They almost came to blows that afternoon, and +blows between such as they might have easily meant sudden death. But they +were not rivals yet and there was much to talk of good-naturedly, after +some slight outflamings of passion on the part of Ab, and the two men were +good friends again. + +The sum of all the day was that there had been much exercise and fun, for +Oak at least. Ab had not caught the Shell girl, manfully as he had +striven. Had he caught her and talked with her upon the river bank it +might have changed the current of his life. With a man so young and sturdy +and so full of life the laughing fancy of a moment might have changed into +a stronger feeling and the swimming girl might have become a woman of the +cave people, one not quite so equal by heritage to the task of breeding +good climbing and running and fighting and progressive beings as some girl +of the hills. + +It matters little what might have happened had the outcome of the day's +effort been the reverse of what it was. This is but the account of the +race and what the sequel was when Ab swam so far and furiously and well. +It was his first flirtation. It was yet to come to him that he should be +really in love in the cave man's way. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +THE MAMMOTH AT BAY. + +It was late autumn, and a light snow covered the ground, when one day a +cave man, panting for breath, came running down the river bank and paused +at the cave of One-Ear. He had news, great news! He told his story +hurriedly, and then was taken into the cave and given meat, while Ab, +seizing his weapons, fled downward further still toward the great +kitchen-midden of the Shell People. Just as ages and ages later, not far +from the same region, some Scottish runner carried the fiery cross, Ab ran +exultingly with the news it was his to bring. There must be an immediate +gathering, not only of the cave men, but of the Shell People as well, and +great mutual effort for great gain. The mammoths were near the point of +the upland! + +The runner to the cave of One-Ear was a hunter living some miles to the +north, upon a ledge of a broad forest-covered plateau terminating on the +west in a slope which ended in a precipice with more than a hundred feet +of sheer descent to the valley below. On rare occasions a herd of mammoths +invaded the forest and worked itself toward the apex of the plateau, and +then word went all over the region, for it was an event in the history of +the cave men. If but a sufficient force could be suddenly assembled, food +in abundance for all was almost certainly assured. The prize was something +stupendous, but prompt action was required, and there might be tragedies. +As bees hum and gather when their hive is disturbed, so did the Shell +People when Ab burst in upon them and delivered his message. There was +rushing about and a gathering of weapons and a sorting out of men who +should go upon the expedition. But little time was wasted. Within half an +hour Ab was straining back again up the river toward his own abode, while +behind him trailed half a hundred of the Shell People, armed in a way +effective enough, but which, in the estimation of the cave men, was +preposterous. The spears of the Shell People had shafts of different wood +and heads of different material from those of the cave men, and they used +their weapons in a different manner. Accustomed to the spearing of fish or +of an occasional water beast, like a small hippopotamus, which still +existed in the rivers of the peninsula, they always threw their +spears--though the cave people were experts with this as well--and, as a +last resource in close conflict, they used no stone ax or mace, but simply +ran away, to throw again from a distance, or to fly again, as conditions +made advisable. But they were brave in a way--it was necessary that all +who would live must have a certain animal bravery in those days--and +their numbers made them essential in the rare hunting of the mammoth. + +When the company reached the home of Ab they found already assembled there +a score of the hill men, and, as the word had gone out in every direction, +it was found, when the rendezvous was reached, which was the cave of +Hilltop, the man living near the crest of the plateau, and the one who had +made the first run down the river, that there were more than a hundred, +counting all together, to advance against the herd and, if possible, drive +the great beasts toward the precipice. Among this hundred there was none +more delighted than Ab and Oak, for, of course, these two had found each +other in the group, and were almost like a brace of dogs whining for the +danger and the hunt. + +Not lightly was an expedition against a herd of mammoths to be begun, even +by a hundred well-armed people of the time of the cave men. The mammoth +was a monster beast, with perhaps somewhat less of sagaciousness than the +modern elephant, but with a temper which was demoniacal when aroused, and +with a strength which nothing could resist. He could be slain only by +strategy. Hence the everlasting watch over the triangular plateau and the +gathering of the cave and river people to catch him at a disadvantage. +But, even with a drove feeding near the slope which led to the precipice, +the cave men would have been helpless without the introduction of other +elements than their weapons and their clamor. The mammoth paid no more +attention to the cave man with a spear than to one of the little wild +horses which fed near him at times. The pygmy did not alarm him, but did +the pygmy ever venture upon an attack, then it was likely to be seized by +the huge trunk and flung against rock or tree, to fall crushed and +mangled, or else it was trodden viciously under foot. From one thing, +though, the mammoth, huge as he was, would flee in terror. He could not +face the element of fire, and this the cave men had learned to their +advantage. They could drive the mammoth when they dare not venture to +attack him, and herein lay their advantage. + +Under direction of the veteran hunter, Hilltop, who had discovered the +whereabouts of the drove, preparations were made for the dangerous +advance, and the first thing done was the breaking off of dry roots of the +overturned pitch pines, and gathering of knots of the same trees, with +limbs attached, to serve as handles. These roots and knots, once lighted, +would blaze for hours and made the most perfect of natural torches. +Lengths of bark of certain other trees when bound together and lighted at +one end burned almost as long and brightly as the roots and knots. Each +man carried an unlighted torch of one kind or another, in addition to his +weapons, and when this provision was made the band was stretched out in a +long line and a silent advance began through the forest. The herd of +mammoths was composed of nineteen, led by a monster even of his kind, and +men who had been watching them all night and during the forenoon said that +the herd was feeding very near the edge of the wood, where it ended on the +slope leading to the precipice. There was ice upon the slope and there +were chances of a great day's hunting. To cut off the mammoths, that is, +to extend a line across the uprising peninsula where they were feeding, +would require a line of not more than about five hundred yards in length, +and as there were more than a hundred of the hunters, the line which could +be formed would be most effective. Lighted punk, which preserved fire and +gave forth no odor to speak of, was carried by a number of the men, and +the advance began. + +It had been an exhilarating scene when the cave men and Shell People first +assembled and when the work of gathering material for the torches was in +progress. So far was the gathering from the present haunt of the game that +caution had been unnecessary, and there was talk and laughter and all the +open enjoyment of an anticipated conquest. The light snow, barely covering +the ground, flashed in the sun, and the hunters, practically impervious to +the slight cold, were almost prankish in their demeanor. Ab and Oak +especially were buoyant. This was the first hunt upon the rocky peninsula +of either of them, and they were delighted with the new surroundings and +eager for the fray to come. All about was talk and laughter, which became +general with any slight physical disaster which came to one among the +hunters in the climbing of some tree for a promising dead branch or +finding a treacherous hollow when assailing the roots of some upturned +pine. It was a brisk scene and a lively one, that which occurred that +crisp morning in late autumn when the wild men gathered to hunt the +mammoth. All was brightness and jollity and noise. + +Very different, in a moment, was the condition when the hunters entered +the forest and, extended in line, began their advance toward the huge +objects of their search. The cave man, almost a wild beast himself in some +of his ways, had, on occasion, a footfall as light as that of any animal +of the time. The twig scarcely crackled and the leaf scarcely rustled +beneath his tread, and when the long line entered the wood the silence of +death fell there, for the hunters made no sound, and what slight sound the +woodland had before--the clatter of the woodpeckers and jays--was hushed +by their advance. So through the forest, which was tolerably close, the +dark line swept quietly forward until there came from somewhere a sudden +signal, and with a still more cautious advance and contraction of the line +as the peninsula narrowed the quarry was brought in sight of all. + +Close to the edge of the slope, and separated by a slight open space from +the forest proper, was an evergreen grove, in which the herd of monster +beasts was feeding. A great bull, with long up-curling tusks, loomed above +them all, and was farthest away in the grove. The hunters, hidden in the +forest, lay voiceless and motionless until the elders decided upon a plan +of attack, and then the word was passed along that each man must fire his +torch. + +All along the edge of the wood arose the flashing of little flames. These +grew in magnitude until a line of fire ran clear across the wood, and the +mammoths nearest raised their trunks and showed signs of uneasiness. Then +came a signal, a wild shout, and at once, with a yell, the long line burst +into the open, each man waving his flaming torch and rushing toward the +grove. + +There was a chance--a slight one--that the whole herd might be stampeded, +but this had rarely happened within the memory of the oldest hunter. The +mammoth, though subject to panic, did not lack intelligence and when in a +group was conscious of its strength. As that yell ascended, the startled +beasts first rushed deeper into the grove and then, as the slope beyond +was revealed to them, turned and charged blindly, all save one, the great +tusker, who was feeding at the grove's outer verge. They came on, great +mountains of flesh, but swerved as they met the advancing line of fire and +weaved aimlessly up and down for a moment or two. Then a huge bull, stung +by a spear hurled by one of the hunters and frantic with fear, plunged +forward across the line and the others followed blindly. Three men were +crushed to death in their passage and all the mammoths were gone save the +big bull, who had started to rejoin his herd but had not reached it in +time. He was now raging up and down in the grove, bewildered and +trumpeting angrily. Immediately the hunters gathered closer together and +made their line of fire continuous. + +The mammoth rushed out clear of the trees and stood looming up, a +magnificent creature of unrivaled size and majesty. His huge tusks shone +out whitely against the mountain of dark shaggy hair. His small eyes +blazed viciously as he raised his trunk and trumpeted out what seemed +either a hoarse call to his herd or a roar of agony over his strait. He +seemed for a moment as if about to rush upon the dense line of his +tormentors, but the flaming faggots dashed almost in his face by the +reckless and excited hunters daunted him, and, as a spear lodged in his +trunk, he turned with almost a shriek of pain and dashed into the grove +again. Close at his heels bounded the hundred men, yelling like demons and +forgetting all danger in the madness of the chase. Right through the grove +the great beast crashed and then half turned as he came to the open slope +beyond. Running beside him was a daring youth trying in vain to pierce him +in the belly with his flint-headed spear, and, as the mammoth came for the +moment to a half halt, his keen eyes noted the pygmy, his great trunk shot +downward and backward, picked up the man and hurled him yards away against +the base of a great tree, the body as it struck being crushed out of all +semblance to man and dropping to the earth a shapeless lump. But the fire +behind and about the desperate mammoth seemed all one flame now, countless +spears thrown with all the force of strong arms were piercing his tough +hide, and out upon the slope toward the precipice the great beast plunged. +Upon his very flanks was the fire and about him all the stinging danger +from the half-crazed hunters. He lunged forward, slipped upon the smooth +glacial floor beneath him, tried to turn again to meet his thronging foes +and face the ring of flame, and then, wavering, floundering, moving +wonderfully for a creature of his vast size, but uncertain as to foothold, +he was driven to the very crest of the ledge, and, scrambling vainly, +carrying away an avalanche of ice, snow and shrubs, went crashing to his +death, a hundred feet below! + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +THE FEAST OF THE MAMMOTH. + +To the right and left of the precipice the fall to the plain below was +more gradual, and with exultant yells, the cave and Shell men rushed in +either direction, those venturing nearest the sheer descent going down +like monkeys, clinging as they went to shrubs and vines, while those who +ran to where the drop was a degree more passable fairly tumbled downward +to the plain. In an incredibly short space of time absolute silence +prevailed in and about the grove where the scene had lately been so +fiercely stirring. In the valley below there was wildest clamor. + +It was a great occasion for the human beings of the region. There was no +question as to the value of the prize the hunters had secured. Never +before in any joint hunting expedition, within the memory of the oldest +present, had followed more satisfactory result. The spoil was well worth +the great effort that had been made; in the estimation of the time, +perhaps worth the death of the hunters who had been killed. The huge beast +lay dead, close to the base of the cliff. One great, yellow-white, curved +tusk had been snapped off and showed itself distinct upon the grass some +feet away from the mountain of flesh so lately animated. The sight was one +worth looking upon in any age, for, in point of grandeur of appearance, +the mammoth, while not as huge as some of the monsters of reptilian times, +had a looming impressiveness never surpassed by any beast on the earth's +surface. Though prone and dead he was impressive. + +But the cave and Shell men were not so much impressed as they were +delighted. They had come into possession of food in abundance and there +would be a feast of all the people of the region, and, after that, +abundant meat in many a hut and cave for many a day. The hunters were +noisy and excited. A group pounced upon the broken tusk--for a mammoth +tusk, or a piece of one, was a prize in a cave dwelling--and there was +prospect of a struggle, but grim voices checked the wrangle of those who +had seized upon this portion of the spoil and it was laid aside, to be +apportioned later. The feast was the thing to be considered now. + +Again swift-footed messengers ran along forest paths and swam streams and +thridded wood and thicket, this time to assemble, not the hunters alone, +but with them all members of households who could conveniently and safely +come to the gathering of the morrow, when the feast of the mammoth would +be on. The messengers dispatched, the great carcass was assailed, and keen +flint knives, wielded by strong and skillful hands, were soon separating +from the body the thick skin, which was divided as seemed best to the +leaders of the gathering, Hilltop, the old hunter, for his special +services, getting the chief award in the division. Then long slices of the +meat were cut away, fires were built, the hunters ate to repletion and +afterward, with a few remaining awake as guards, slept the sleep of the +healthy and fully fed. Not in these modern days would such preliminary +consumption of food be counted wisest preparation for a feast on the +morrow, but the cave and Shell men were alike independent of affections of +the stomach or the liver, and could, for days in sequence, gorge +themselves most buoyantly. + +The morning came crisp and clear, and, with the morning, came from all +directions swiftly moving men and women, elated and hungry and expectant. +The first families and all other families of the region were gathering for +the greatest social function of the time. The men of various households +had already exerted themselves and a score or two of fires were burning, +while the odor of broiling meat was fragrant all about. Hunter husbands +met their broods, and there was banqueting, which increased as, hour after +hour, new groups came in. The families of both Ab and Oak were among those +early in the valley, Beechleaf and Bark, wide-eyed and curious, coming +upon the scene as a sort of advance guard and proudly greeting Ab. All +about was heard clucking talk and laughter, an occasional shout, and ever +the cracking of stone upon the more fragile thing, as the monster's +roasted bones were broken to secure the marrow in them. + +There was hilarity and universal enjoyment, though the assemblage, almost +by instinct, divided itself into two groups. The cave men and the Shell +men, while at this time friendly, were, as has been indicated, unlike in +many tastes and customs and to an extent unlike in appearance. The cave +man, accustomed to run like the deer along the forest ways, or to avoid +sudden danger by swift upward clambering and swinging along among +treetops, was leaner and more muscular than the Shell man, and had in his +countenance a more daring and confident expression. The Shell man was +shorter and, though brawny of build, less active of movement. He had spent +more hours of each day of his life in his rude raft-boat, or in walking +slowly with poised spear along creek banks, or, with bent back, digging +for the great luscious shell-fish which made a portion of his food, than +he had spent afoot and on land, with the smell of growing things in his +nostrils. The flavor of the water was his, the flavor of the wood the cave +man's. So it was that at the feast of the mammoth the allies naturally and +good-naturedly became somewhat grouped, each person according to his kind. +When hunger was satisfied and the talking-time came on, those with objects +and impulses the same could compare notes most interestedly. Constantly +the number of the feasters increased, and by mid-day there was a company +of magnitude. Much meat was required to feed such a number, but there were +tons of meat in a mammoth, enough to defy the immediate assaults of a much +greater assemblage than this of exceedingly healthy people. And the smoke +from the fires ascended and these rugged ones ate and were happy. + +But there came a time in the afternoon when even such feasters as were +assembled on this occasion became, in a measure, content, when this one +and that one began to look about, and when what might be called the social +amenities of the period began. Veterans flocked together, reminiscent of +former days when another mammoth had been driven over this same cliff; the +young grouped about different firesides, and there was talk of feats of +strength and daring and an occasional friendly grapple. Slender, sinewy +girls, who had girls' ways then as now, ate together and looked about +coquettishly and safely, for none had come without their natural +guardians. Rarely in the history of the cave men had there been a +gathering more generally and thoroughly festive, one where good eating had +made more good fellowship. Possibly--for all things are relative--there +has never occurred an affair of more social importance within the +centuries since. Human beings, dangerous ones, were merry and trusting +together, and the young looked at each other. + +Of course Ab and Oak had been eating in company. They had risked +themselves dangerously in the battle on the cliff, had escaped injury and +were here now, young men of importance, each endowed with an appetite +corresponding with the physical exertion of which he was capable and which +he never hesitated to make. The amount either of those young men had eaten +was sufficient to make a gourmand, though of grossest Roman times, fairly +sick with envy, and they were still eating, though, it must be confessed, +with modified enthusiasm. Each held in his hand a smoking lump of flesh +from some favored portion of the mammoth and each rent away an occasional +mouthful with much content. Suddenly Ab ceased mastication and stood +silent, gazing intently at a not unpleasing object a few yards distant. + +Two girls stood together near a fire about which were grouped perhaps a +dozen people. The two were eating, not voraciously, but with an apparent +degree of interest in what they were doing, for they had not been among +the early arrivals. It was upon these two that Ab's wandering glance had +fallen and had been held, and it was not surprising that he had become so +interested. Either of the couple was fitted to attract attention, though a +pair more utterly unlike it would be difficult to imagine. One was slight +and the other the very reverse, but each had striking characteristics. + +They stood there, the two, just as two girls so often stand to-day, the +hand of one laid half-caressingly upon the hip of the other. The beaming, +broad one was chattering volubly and the slender one listening carelessly. +The talking of the heavier girl was interrupted evenly by her mumbling at +a juicy strip of meat. Her hunger, it was clear, had not yet been +satisfied, and it was as clear, too, that her companion had yet an +appetite. The slender one was, seemingly, not much interested in the +conversation, but the other chattered on. It was plain that she was a most +contented being. She was symmetrical only from the point of view of +admirers of the heavily built. She had very broad hips and muscular arms +and was somewhat squat of structure. It is hesitatingly to be admitted of +this young lady that, sturdy and prepossessing, from a practical point of +view, as she might be to the average food-winning cave man, she lacked a +certain something which would, to the observant, place her at once in good +society. She was an exceedingly hairy young woman. She wore the usual +covering of skins, but she would have been well-draped, in moderately +temperate weather, had the covering been absent. Either for fashion's sake +or comfort, not much weight of foreign texture in addition to her own +hirsute and, to a certain extent, graceful, natural garb, was needed. She +was a female Esau of the time, just a great, good-hearted, strong and +honest cave girl, of the subordinate and obedient class which began +thousands of years before did history, one who recognized in the girl who +stood beside her a stronger and dominating spirit, and who had been +received as a trusted friend and willing assistant. It is so to-day, even +among the creatures which are said to have no souls, the dogs especially. +But the girl had strength and a certain quick, animal intelligence. She +was the daughter of a cave man living not far from the home of old +Hilltop, and her name was Moonface. Her countenance was so broad and +beaming that the appellation had suggested itself in her jolly childhood. + +Very different from Moonface was the slender being who, having eaten a +strip of meat, was now seeking diligently with a splinter for the marrow +in the fragment of bone her father had tossed toward her. Her father was +Hilltop, the veteran of the immediate region and the hero of the day, and +she was called Lightfoot, a name she had gained early, for not in all the +country round about was another who could pass over the surface of the +earth with greater swiftness than could she. And it was upon Lightfoot +that Ab was looking. + +The young woman would have been fair to look upon, or at least +fascinating, to the most world-wearied and listless man of the present +day. She stood there, easily and gracefully, her arms and part of her +breast, above, and her legs from about the knees, below, showing clearly +from beneath her covering of skins. Her deep brown hair, knotted back with +a string of the tough inner bark of some tree, hung upon the middle of her +flat, in-setting back. She was not quite like any of the other girls about +her. Her eyes were larger and softer and there was more reflection and +variety of expression in them. Her limbs were quite as long as those of +any of her companions and the fingers and toes, though slenderer, were +quite as suggestive of quick and strong grasping capabilities, but there +was, with all the proof of springiness and litheness, a certain rounding +out. The strip of hair upon her legs below the knees was slight and +silken, as was also that upon her arms. Yet, undoubted leader in society +as her appearance indicated, quite aside from her father's standing, there +was in her face, with all its loftiness of air, a certain blithesomeness +which was almost at variance with conditions. She was a most lovable young +woman--there could be no question about that--and Ab had, as he looked +upon her for the first time, felt the fact from head to heel. He thought +of her as like the leopard tree-cat, most graceful creature of the wood, +so trim was she and full of elasticity, and thought of her, too, as he +looked in her intelligent face, as higher in another way. He was somewhat +awed, but he was courageous. He had, so far in life, but sought to get +what he wanted whenever it was in sight. Now he was nonplussed. + +Presently Lightfoot raised her eyes and they met those of Ab. The young +people looked at each other steadily for a moment and then the glance of +the girl was turned away. But, meanwhile, the man had recovered himself. +He had been eating, absent-mindedly, a well-cooked portion of a great +steak of the mammoth's choicest part. He now tore it in twain and watched +the girl intently. She raised her eyes again and he tossed her a half of +the smoking flesh. She saw the movement, caught the food deftly in one +hand as it reached her, and looked at Ab and laughed. There was no mock +modesty. She began eating the choice morsel contentedly; the two were, in +a manner, now made formally acquainted. + +The young man did not, on the instant, pursue his seeming advantage, the +result of an impulsive bravery requiring a greater effort on his part than +the courage he had shown in conflict with many a beast of the forest. He +did not talk to the young woman. But he thought to himself, while his +blood bubbled in his veins, that he would find her again; that he would +find her in the wood! She did not look at him more, for her people were +clustering about her and this was a great occasion. + +Ab was recalled to himself by a hoarse exclamation. Oak was looking at him +fiercely. There was no other sound, but the young man stood gazing fixedly +at the place where the girl had just been lost amid the group about her. +And Ab knew instinctively, as men have learned to know so well in all the +years, from the feeling which comes to them at such a time, that he had a +rival, that Oak also had seen and loved this slender creature of the +hillside. + +There was a division of the mammoth flesh and hide and tusks. Ab struggled +manfully for a portion of one of the tusks, which he wanted for Old Mok's +carving, and won it at last, the elders deciding that he and Oak had +fought well enough upon the cliff to entitle them to a part of the honor +of the spoil, and Oak opposing nothing done by Ab, though his looks were +glowering. Then, as the sun passed toward the west, all the people +separated to take the dangerous paths toward their homes. Ab and Oak +journeyed away together. Ab was jubilant, though doubtful, while the face +of Oak was dark. The heart of neither was light within him. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +THE COMRADES. + +Drifting away in various directions toward their homes the Cave and Shell +People still kept in groups, by instinct. Social functions terminated +before dark and guests going and coming kept together for mutual +protection in those days of the cave bear and other beasts. But on the day +of the Feast of the Mammoth there was somewhat less than the usual +precaution shown. There were vigorous and well-armed hunters at hand by +scores, and under such escort women and children might travel after dusk +with a degree of safety, unless, indeed, the great cave tiger, +Sabre-Tooth, chanced to be abroad, but he was more rarely to be met than +others of the wild beasts of the time. When he came it was as a +thunderbolt and there were death and mourning in his trail. The march +through the forest as the shadows deepened was most watchful. There was a +keen lookout on the part of the men, and the women kept their children +well in hand. From time to time, one family after another detached itself +from the main body and melted into the forest on the path to its own cave +near at hand. Thus Hilltop and his family left the group in which were Ab +and Oak, and glances of fire followed them as they went. The two girls, +Lightfoot and Moonface, had walked together, chattering like crows. They +had strung red berries upon grasses and had hung them in their hair and +around their necks, and were fine creatures. Lightfoot, as was her wont, +laughed freakishly at whatever pleased her, and in her merry mood had an +able second in her sturdy companion. There were moments, though, when even +the irrepressible Lightfoot was thoughtful and so quiet that the girl who +was with her wondered. The greater girl had been lightly touched with that +unnamable force which has changed men and women throughout all the ages. +The picture of Ab's earnest face was in her mind and would not depart. She +could not, of course, define her own mood, nor did she attempt it. She +felt within herself a certain quaking, as of fear, at the thought of him, +and yet, so she told herself again and again, she was not afraid. All the +time she could see Ab's face, with its look of longing and possession, but +with something else in it, when his eyes met hers, which she could not +name nor understand. She could not speak of him, but Moonface had upon her +no such stilling influence. + +"They look alike," she said. + +Lightfoot assented, knowing the girl meant Ab and Oak. "But Ab is taller +and stronger," Moonface continued, and Lightfoot assented as +indifferently, for, somehow, of the two she had remembered definitely one +only. She became daring in her reflections: "What if he should want to +carry me to his cave?" and then she tried to run away from the thought and +from anything and everybody else, leaping forward, outracing and leaving +all the company. She reached her father's cave far ahead of the others and +stood, laughing, at the entrance, as the family and Moonface, a guest for +the night, came trotting up. + +And Ab, the buoyant and strong, was not himself as he journeyed with the +homeward-pressing company. His mood changed and he dropped away from Oak +and lagged in the rear of the little band as it wound its way through the +forest. Slight time was needed for others to recognize his mood, and he +was strong of arm and quick of temper, as all knew well, and, so, he was +soon left to stalk behind in independent sulkiness. He felt a weight in +his breast; a fiery spot burned there. He was fierce with Oak because Oak +had looked at Lightfoot with a warm light in his eyes. He! when he should +have known that Ab was looking at her! This made rage in his heart; and +sadness came, too, because he was perplexed over the girl. "How can I get +her?" he mumbled to himself, as he stalked along. + +Meanwhile, at the van of the company there was noise and frolic. Assembled +in force, they were for the hour free from dread of the haunting terror of +wild beasts, and, satisfied with eating, the Cave and Shell People were in +one of the merriest moods of their lives, collectively speaking. The young +men were especially jubilant and exuberant of demeanor. Their sport was +rough and dangerous. There were scuffling and wrestling and the more +reckless threw their stone axes, sometimes at each other, always, it is +true, with warning cries, but with such wild, unconscious strength put in +the throwing that the finding of a living target might mean death. Ab, +engrossed in thoughts of something far apart from the rude sport about +him, became nervously impatient. Like the girl, he wanted to escape from +his thoughts, and bounding ahead to mingle with the darting and swinging +group in front, he was soon the swift and stalwart leader in their +foolishly risky sport, the center of the whole commotion. One muscled man +would hurl his stone hatchet or strong flint-headed spear at a green tree +and another would imitate him until a space in advance was covered and the +word given for a rush, when all would race for the target, each striving +to reach it first and detach his own weapon before others came. It was a +merry but too careless contest, with a chance of some serious happening. +There followed a series of these mad games and the oldsters smiled as they +heard the sound of vigorous contest and themselves raced as they could, to +keep in close company with the stronger force. + +Ab had shown his speed in all his playing. Now he ran to the front and +plucked out his spear, a winner, then doubled and ran back beside the +pathway to mingle with the central body of travelers, having in mind only +to keep in the heart and forefront of as many contests as possible. There +was more shouting and another rush from the main body and, bounding aside +from all, he ran to get the chance of again hurling his spear as well. A +great oak stood in the middle of the pathway and toward it already a spear +or two had been sent, all aimed, as the first thrower had indicated, at a +white fungus growth which protruded from the tree. It was a matter of +accuracy this time. Ab leaped ahead some yards in advance of all and +hurled his spear. He saw the white chips fly from the side of the fungus +target, saw the quivering of the spear shaft with the head deep sunken in +the wood, and then felt a sudden shock and pain in one of his legs. He +fell sideways off the path and beneath the brushwood, as the wild band, +young and old, swept by. He was crippled and could not walk. He called +aloud, but none heard him amid the shouting of that careless race. He +tried to struggle to his feet, but one leg failed him and he fell back, +lying prone, just aside from the forest path, nearly weaponless and the +easy prey of the wild beasts. What had hurt him so grievously was a spear +thrown wildly from behind him. It had, hurled with great strength, struck +a smooth tree trunk and glanced aside, the point of the spear striking the +young man fairly in the calf of the leg, entering somewhat the bone +itself, and shocking, for the moment, every nerve. The flint sides had cut +a vein or two and these were bleeding, but that was nothing. The real +danger lay in his helplessness. Ab was alone, and would afford good eating +for those of the forest who, before long, would be seeking him. The scent +of the wild beast was a wonderful thing. The man tried to rise, then lay +back sullenly. Far in the distance, and growing fainter and fainter, he +could hear the shouts of the laughing spear-throwers. + +The strong young man, thus left alone to death almost inevitable, did not +altogether despair. He had still with him his good stone ax and his long +and keen stone knife. He would, at least, hurt something sorely before he +was eaten, he thought grimly to himself. And then he pressed leaves +together on the cut upon his leg, and laid himself back upon the leaves +and waited. + +He did not have to wait long. He had not thought to do so. How full the +woods were of blood-scenting and man-eating things none knew better than +he. His ear, keen and trained, caught the patter of a distant approach. +"Wolves," he said to himself at first, and then "Hyenas," for the step was +puzzling. He was perplexed. The step was regular, and it was not in the +forest on either side, but was coming up the path. A terror came upon him +and he had crawled deeper into the shades, when he noted that the steps +first ceased, and then that they wandered searchingly and uncertainly. +Then, loud and strong, rang out a voice, calling his name, and it was the +voice of Oak! He could not answer for a moment, and then he cried out +gladly. + +Oak had, in the forward-rushing group, seen Ab's hurt and fall, but had +thought it a trifling matter, since no outcry came from those behind, and +so had kept his course away and ahead with the rest. But finally he had +noted the absence of Ab and had questioned, and then--first telling some +of his immediate companions that they were to lag and wait for him--had +started back upon a run to reach the place where he had last seen his +friend. It was easy now to arrange wet leaves about Ab's crippling, but +little more than temporary, wound. The two, one leaning upon the other and +hobbling painfully, and each with weapons in hand, contrived, at last, to +reach Oak's lingering and grumbling contingent. Ab was helped along by two +instead of one then, and the rest was easy. When the pathway leading to +home was reached, Oak accompanied his friend, and the two passed the night +together. + +Ab, once on his own bed, with Oak couched beside him, was surprised to +find, not merely that his physical pain was going, but that the greater +one was gone. The weight and burning had left his breast and he was no +longer angry at Oak. He thought blindly but directly toward conclusions. +He had almost wanted to kill Oak, all because each saw the charm of and +wanted the possession of a slender, beautiful creature of their kind. Then +something dangerous had happened to him, and this same Oak, his friend, +the man he had wished to kill, had come back and saved his life. The sense +which we call gratitude, and which is not unmingled with what we call +honor, came to this young cave man then. He thought of many things, +worried and wakeful as he was, and perhaps made more acute of perception +by the slight, exciting fever of his wound. + +He thought of how the two, he and Oak, had planned and risked together, of +their boyish follies and failures and successes, and of how, in later +years, Oak had often helped him, of how he had saved Oak's life once in +the river swamp, where quicksands were, of how Oak had now offset even +that debt by carrying him away from certain ending amid wild beasts. No +one--and of the cave men he knew many--no one in all the careless, merry +party had missed him save Oak. He doubtless could not have told himself +why it was, but he was glad that he could repay it all and have the +balance still upon his side. He was glad that he had the secret of the bow +and arrow to reveal. That should be Oak's! So it came that, late that +night, when the fire in the cave had burned low and when one could not +wisely speak above a whisper, Ab told Oak the story of the new weapon, of +how it had been discovered, of how it was to be used and of all it was for +hunters and fighters. Furthermore, he brought his best bow and best arrows +forth, and told Oak they were his and that they would practice together in +the morning. His astonished and delighted companion had little to say over +the revelation. He was eager for the morning, but he straightened out his +limbs upon the leafy mattress and slept well. So, somewhat later, did the +half-feverish Ab. + +Morning came and the cave people were astir. There was brief though hearty +feeding and then Ab and Oak and Old Mok, to whom Ab had said much aside, +went away from the cave and into the forest. There Oak was taught the +potency of the new weapon, its deadly quality and the safety of distance +it afforded its user. It was a great morning for all three, not excepting +the stern and critical old teacher, when they thus met together in the +wood and the secret of what two had found was so transmitted to another. +As for Oak, he was fairly aflame with excitement. He was far from slow of +mind and he recognized in a moment the enormous advantage of the new way +of killing either the things they ate, or the things they dreaded most. He +could scarcely restrain his eagerness to experiment for himself. Before +noon had come he was gone, carrying away the bow and the good arrows. As +he disappeared in the wood Ab said nothing, but to himself he thought: + +"He may have all the bows and arrows he can make, but I will have +Lightfoot myself!" + +Ab and Mok started for the cave again, Ab, bow in hand and with ready +arrow. There was a patter of feet upon leaves in the wood beside them and +then the arrow was fitted to the string, while Old Mok, strong-armed if +weak-legged, raised aloft his spear. The two were seeking no conflict with +wild beasts today and were but defensive and alert. They were puzzled by +the sound their quick ears caught. "Patter, patter," ever beside them, but +deep in the forest shade, came the sound of menacing followers of some +sort. + +There was tension of nerves. Old Mok, sturdy and unconsciously fatalistic, +was more self-contained than the youth at his side, bow-armed and with +flint ax and knife ready for instant use. At last an open space was +reached across which ran the well-worn path. Now the danger must reveal +itself. The two men emerged into the glade, and, a moment later, there +bounded into it gamboling and full of welcome, the wolf cubs, which had +played about the cave so long, who were now detached from their own kind +and preferred the companionship of man. There was laughter then, and a +more careless demeanor with the weapon borne. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +LOVE AND DEATH. + +Different from his former self became this young forester, Ab. He was +thinking of something other than wild beasts and their pursuit. +Instinctively, the course of his hunting expeditions tended toward the +northwest and soon the impulse changed to a design. He must look upon +Lightfoot again! Henceforth he haunted the hill region, and never keener +for quarry or more alert for the approach of some dangerous animal was the +eye of this woodsman than it was for the appearance somewhere of a slender +figure of a cave girl. Neither game nor things to dread were numerous in +the vicinity of the home of Hilltop, for there one of the hardiest and +wisest among hunters had occupied his cave for many years, and wild beasts +learn things. So it chanced that Lightfoot could wander farther afield +than could most girls of the time. Ab knew all this well, for the quality +of expert and venturesome old Hilltop was familiar to all the cave men +throughout a wide stretch of country. So Ab, somewhat shamefaced to his +own consciousness, hunted in a region not the best for spoil, and looked +for a girl who might appear on some forest path, moderately safe from the +rush of any of the hungry man-eaters of the wood. + +But not all the time of this wild lover was wasted in haunting the +possible idling-places of the girl he wanted so. With love there had come +to him such sense and thoughtfulness as has come with earnest love to +millions since. What could he do with Lightfoot should he gain her? He was +but a big, young fighting man and hunter, still sleeping, almost nightly, +on one of the leaf beds in his father's cave. With a wife of his own he +must have a cave of his own. Compared with his first impulses toward the +girl, this was a new train of thought, and, as we recognize it to-day, a +nobler one. He wanted to care for his own. He wanted a cave fit for the +reception of such a woman as this, to him, the sweetest and proudest of +all beings, Lightfoot, daughter of old Hilltop, of the wooded highlands. + +Far up the river, far beyond the home of Oak's father and beyond the +shining marshlands and the purple heather reaches which made the foothills +pleasant, extended to the river's bank a promontory, bold and picturesque +and clad heavily with the best of trees. It was a great stretch of land, +where, in some of nature's grim work, the earth had been up-heaved and +there had been raised good soil for giant forests, and at the same time +been made broad caverns to become future habitations of the creature known +as man. But the trees bore nuts and fruits, and such creatures as found +food in nuts and fruits, and, later, such as loved rich herbage, came to +the forest in great numbers, and then followed such as fed upon these +again, all the flesh eaters, to whom man was, as any other living thing, +to be seized upon and devoured. The promontory, so rich in game and nuts +and fruits, was, at the same time, the most dangerous in all the region +for human habitation. There were deep, dry caves within its limits, but in +none of them had a cave man yet ventured to make his home. It was toward +this promontory that the young man in love turned his eyes. Because others +had feared to make a home in this lone, high region should he also fear? +There was food there in plenty and if there were chance of fighting in +plenty, so much the better! Was he not strong and fleet; had he not the +best of spears and axes? Above all, had he not the new weapon which made +man far above the beasts? Here was the place for a home which should be +the best in all this region of the cave men. Here game and food of all +kinds would be most abundant. The situation would demand a brave man and a +woman scarcely less courageous, but would not he and the girl he was +determined to bring there meet all occasion? His mind was fixed. + +Ab found a cave, one clean and dry and opening out upon a slight treeless +area, and this he, lover-like, improved for the woman he had resolved to +bring there, arranging carefully the interior of which must be a home. He +had fancies such as lovers have exhibited from since the time when the +plesiosaurus swashed away in the strand of a warm sea a hollow nursery for +the birth and first tending of the young of his odd kind, up to the later +time when men have squandered fortunes on the sleeping rooms of women they +have loved. He toiled for many days. With his ax he chipped away the +cavern's sharp protuberances at each side, and with the stone chips from +the walls and with what he brought from outside, he made the floor white +and clean and nearly level. He built a fireplace and chipped into a huge +stone, which, fortunately, lay inside the cave, a hollow for holding +drinking water, or for the boiling of meat. He built up a passage-way at +the entrance, allowing something but not too much more than his own width, +as the gauge for measurement of its breadth. He brought into the cave a +deep carpet of leaves and made a wide bed in one corner and this he +covered with furred skins, for many skins Ab owned in his own right. Then, +with a thick fragment of tough branch as a lever, he rolled a big stone +near the cave's entrance and left it ready to be occupied as a home. The +woman was still lacking. + +There came a day when Ab, impatient after his searching and waiting, but +yet resolute, had killed a capercailzie--the great grouse-like bird of the +time, the descendants of which live to-day in northern forests--and had +built a fire and feasted, and then, instinctively careful, had climbed to +the first broad, low branch of an enormous tree and there adjusted himself +to sleep the sleep of one who has eaten heartily. He lay with the big +branch for a bed, supported on either side by green, upspringing twigs, +and slept well for an hour or two and then awoke, lazy and listless, but +with much good to him from the repast and rest. It was not yet very late +in the afternoon and the sun still shone kindly upon him, as upon a whole +world of rejoicing things. Something like a reflection of the life of the +morning was beginning to manifest itself, as is ever the way where forests +and wild things are. The wonderful noise of wood life was renewed. As the +young man awakened, he felt in every pulse the thrilling powers of +existence. Everything was fair to look upon. His ears took in the sound of +the voices of birds, already beginning vesper songs, though the afternoon +was yet so early as scarcely to hint of evening, and the scent from a +thousand plants and flowers, permeating and intoxicating, reached his +senses as he lounged sprawlingly upon his safe bed aloft. + +It was attractive, the scene which Ab looked upon. The forest was in all +the glory of summer and nesting and breeding things were happy. There was +the fullness of the being of trees and plants and of all birds and beasts. +There was a soft commingling of sounds which told of the life about, the +effect of which was, somehow, almost drowsy in the blending of all +together. The great ferns waved gently along the hollows as the slight +breeze touched them. They were queer, those ferns. They were not quite so +slender and tapering and gothic as the ferns we see to-day. They were a +trifle more lush and ragged, and their tips were sometimes almost rounded. +But Ab noted little of fern or bird. It was only the general sensuousness +that was upon him. The smell of the pines was a partial tonic to the +healthy, half-awakened man, and, though he lay back upon the rugged wooden +bed and half dozed again, nature had aroused him a trifle beyond the point +of relapse into absolute, unknowing slumber. There was coming to him a +sharpness of perception which affected the quiescence of his enjoyment. He +rose to a sitting posture and looked about him. At once his eyes flashed, +every nerve and muscle became tense and the blood leaped turbulently in +his veins. He had seen that for which he had come into this region, the +girl who had so reached his rude, careless heart. Lightfoot was very near +him! + +The girl, all unconscious, was sitting upon the trunk of a fallen tree +which lay close beside a creek. There was an abundance of small pebbles +upon the little strand and the young lady was absent-mindedly engaged in +an occupation in which, to the observer, she took some interest, while +she, no doubt, was really thinking of something else. She sat there, +slender, beautiful and excelling, in her way, the belle of the period, +merely amusing herself. Her toes were charming toes. There could be no +debate on that point, for, while long and strong and flexible, they had a +certain evenness and symmetry. They were being idly employed just now. At +the creek's edge, half imbedded in the ground, uprose the crest of a +granite stone. Picking up pebble after pebble in her admirable toes, +Lightfoot was engaged in throwing them, one after another, at the +outstanding point of granite, utilizing in the performance only those toes +and the brown leg below the knee. She did exceedingly well and hit the +red-brown target often. Ab, hot-headed and fierce lover in the tree top, +looked on admiringly. How perfect of form was she; how bright the face! +and then, forgetting himself, he cried aloud and slid from the branch as +easily and swiftly as any serpent and started running toward the girl. He +must have her! + +With his cry, the girl leaped to her feet, and as he reached the ground, +recognized him on the instant. She knew in the same instant that they had +felt together and that it was not by accident that he was near her. She +had felt as he; so far as a woman may feel with a man; but maidens are +maidens, and sweet lightness dreads force, and a modified terror came upon +her. She paused for a moment, then turned and ran toward the upland +forest. + +Not a moment hesitating or faltering as affected by the girl's action was +the young man who had tumbled from the tree bed. The blood dancing within +him and the great natural impulse of gaining what was greatest to him in +life controlled him now. He was hot with fierce lovingness. He ran well, +but he did not run better than the graceful thing before him. + +Even for the critical being of the great cities of to-day, the one who +"manages" races of all sorts, it would have been worth while to see this +race in the forest. As the doe leaps, scarcely touching the ground, ran +Lightfoot. As the wolf or hound runs, less swift for the moment, but +tireless, ran the man behind her. Yet of all the men in the cave region, +this flying girl wanted most this man to take her! It was the maidenly +force-dreading instinct alone which made her run. + +Ab, dogged and enduring, lost no space as the race led away toward the +hill and home of the fleet thing ahead of him. There were miles to be +covered, and therein he had hope. They were on the straight path to +Hilltop's cave, though there were divergent, curving side paths almost as +available; but to avoid her pursuer, the fugitive could take none of +these. There were cross-cuts everywhere. In leaving the direct path she +would but lose ground. To reach soon enough by straight, clean running the +towering wooded hill in which was her father's cave seemed the only hope +of the half-unwilling fugitive. + +There were descents and ascents in the long chase and plateaus where the +running was on level ground. Straining forward, gaining little, but +confident of overtaking the girl, Ab, deep-chested and physically +untroubled, pressed onward, when he noted that the girl made a sudden +spurt and bounded forward with a speed not shown before, while, at the +same time, she swerved from the right of the path. + +It was not Ab who had made her swerve. Some new alarm had come to her. She +was about to reach and, as Ab supposed, pass one of the inletting paths +entering almost at right angles from the left. She did not pass it. She +leaped into it in evident terror and then, breaking out from the wood on +the right, came another form and one surely in swift following. Ab knew +the figure well. Oak was the new pursuer! + +The awful rage which rose in the heart of Ab as he saw what was happening +is what can no more be described than one can tell what a tiger in the +jungle thinks. He saw another--the other his friend--pursuing and +intending to take what he wanted to be his and what had become to him more +than all else in the world; more than much eating and the skins of things +to keep him warm, more than a mammoth's tooth to carve, more than the +glorious skin of the great cave tiger, the possession of which made a rude +nobility, more than anything and all else! He leaped aside from the path. +He knew well the other path upon which were running Oak and Lightfoot. He +knew that he could intercept them, because, though the running was not so +good, the distance to be covered was much less, for to him path running +was a light matter. In the wood he ran as easily and leaped as well and +attained a point almost as quickly as the beasts. There was a stress of +effort and, as the shadows deepened, he burst in upon the cross path where +he knew were the fleeing Lightfoot and following Oak. He had thought to +head them off, but Ab was not the only man who was swift of foot in the +cave country. They passed, almost as he bounded from the forest. He saw +them close together not many yards ahead of him and, with a shout of rage, +bent himself in swift and terrible pursuit again. + +It was all plain to Ab now as he flew along, unnoted by the two ahead of +him. He knew that Oak had, like him, determined to own Lightfoot, and had +like him, been seeking her. Only chance had made the chase thus cross +Oak's path; but that made no difference. There must be a grim meeting +soon. Ab could see that the endurance of the wonderfully fleet-footed +woman was not equal to that of the man so near her. She would soon be +overtaken. Before her rose the hill, not a mile in its slope, where were +her father's cave, and safety. He knew that she had not the strength to +breast it fleetly enough for covert. And, as he looked, he saw the girl +turn a frightened face toward her close pursuer and knew that she saw him +as well. Her pace slackened for a moment as this revelation came to her, +and he felt, somehow, that in him she recognized comparative protection. +Then she recovered herself and bent all the power she had toward the +ascent. But Oak had been gaining steadily, and now, with a sudden rush, he +reached her and grasped her, the woman shrieking wildly. A moment later Ab +rushed in upon them with a shout. Instinctively Oak released the girl, for +in the cry he heard that which meant menace and immediate danger. As +Lightfoot felt herself free she stood for a moment or two without a +movement, with wide-open eyes, looking upon what was happening before her. +Then she bounded away, not looking backward as she ran. + +[Illustration: AB STOOD THERE WEAPONLESS, A CREATURE WANDERING OF MIND] + +The two men stood there glaring at each other, Oak perched, and yet not +perched, so broad and perfect was his foothold, on the crest of a slight +shelf of the downward slope. There stood the two men, poised, the one +above, the other below, two who had been as close together from childhood +as all the attributes of mind and body might allow, and yet now as far +apart as human beings may be. They were beautiful in a way, each in his +murderous, unconscious posing for the leap. The sun hit the blue ax of Oak +and made it look a gray. The raised ax of Ab, which was of a lighter +colored stone, was in the shade and its yellowness was darkened into +brown. The spectacle lasted for but a second. As Oak leaped Ab bounded +aside and they stood upon a level, a tiny plateau, and there was fierce, +strong fencing. One could not note its methods; even the keen-eyed +wolverine, crouching low upon an adjacent monster limb, could never have +followed the swift movements of these stone axes. The dreadful play was +brief. The clash of stone together ceased as there came a duller sound, +which told that stone had bitten bone. Oak, slightly the higher of the +two, as they stood thus in the fray, leaned forward suddenly, his arms +aloft, while from his hand dropped the blue ax. He floundered down +uncouthly and grasped the beech leaves with his hands, and then lay still. +Ab stood there weaponless, a creature wandering of mind. His yellow ax had +parted from his hand, sunk deeply into the skull of Oak, and he looked +upon it curiously and vacantly. He was not sane. He stepped forward and +pulled the ax away and lifted it to a level with his eyes and went to +where the sunlight shone. The ax was not yellow any more. Meanwhile a girl +was flitting toward her home and the shadows of the waning day were +deepening. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +A RACE WITH DREAD. + +Ab looked toward the forest wherein Lightfoot had fled and then looked +upon that which lay at his feet. It was Oak--there were the form and +features of his friend--but, somehow, it was not Oak. There was too much +silence and the blood upon the leaves seemed far too bright. His rage +departed, and he wanted Oak to answer and called to him, but Oak did not +answer. Then came slowly to him the idea that Oak was dead and that the +wild beasts would that night devour the dead man where he lay. The thought +nerved him to desperate, sudden action. He leaped forward, he put his arms +about the body and carried it away to a hollow in the wooded slope. He +worked madly, doing some things as he had seen the cave people do at other +buryings. He placed the weapons of Oak beside him. He took from his belt +his own knife, because it was better than that of Oak, and laid it close +to the dead man's hand, and then, first covering the body with beech +leaves, he worked frantically upon the overhanging soil, prying it down +with a sharp-pointed fragment of limb, and tossing in upon all as heavy +stones as he could lift, until a great cairn rose above the hunter who +would hunt no more. + +Panting with his efforts, Ab sat himself down upon a rock and looked upon +the monument he had raised. Again he called to Oak, but there was still no +answer. The sun had set, evening shadows thickened around him. Then there +came upon the live man a feeling as dreadful as it was new, and, with a +yell, which was almost a shriek, he leaped to his feet and bounded away in +fearful flight. + +He only knew this, that there was something hurt his inside of body and +soul, but not the inside of him as it had been when once he had eaten +poisonous berries or when he had eaten too much of the little deer. It was +something different. It was an awful oppression, which seemed to leave his +body, in a manner, unfeeling but which had a great dread about it and +which made him think and think of the dead man, and made him want to run +away and keep running. He had always run far that day, but he was not +tired now. His legs seemed to have the hard sinews of the stag in them but +up toward the top of him was something for them to carry away as fast and +far as possible from somewhere. He raced from the dense woodland down into +the broad morass to the west--beyond which was the rock country--and into +which he had rarely ventured, so treacherous its ways. What cared he now! +He made great leaps and his muscles and sinews responded to the thought of +him. To cross that morass safely required a touch on tussocks and an +upbounding aside, a zig-zag exhibition of great strength and knowingness +and recklessness. But it was unreasoning; it was the instinct begotten of +long training and, now, of the absence of all nervousness. Each taut toe +touched each point of bearing just as was required above the quagmire, +and, all unperceiving and uncaring, he fled over dirty death as easily as +he might have run upon some hardened woodland pathway. He did not think +nor know nor care about what he was doing. He was only running away from +the something he had never known before! Why should he be running now? He +had killed things before and not cared and had forgotten. Why should he +care now? But there was the something which made him run. And where was +Oak? Would Oak meet him again and would they hunt together? No, Oak would +not come, and he, this Ab, had made it so! He must run. No one was +following him--he knew that--but he must run! + +The marsh was passed, night had fallen, but he ran on, pressing into the +bear and tiger haunted forest beyond. Anything, anything, to make him +forget the strange feeling and the thing which made him run! He plunged +into a forest path, utterly reckless, wanting relief, a seeker for +whatever might come. + +In that age and under such conditions as to locality it was inevitable +that the creature, man, running through such a forest path at night, must +face some fierce creature of the carnivora seeking his body for food. Ab, +blinded of mood, cared not for and avoided not a fight, though it might be +with the monster bear or even the great tiger. There was no reason in his +madness. He was, though he knew it not, a practical suicide, yet one who +would die fighting. What to him were weight and strength to-night? What to +him were such encounters as might come with hungry four-footed things? It +would but relieve him were some of the beasts to try to gain his life and +eat his body. His being seemed valueless, and as for the wild beasts--and +here came out the splendid death-facing quality of the cave man--well, it +would be odd if there were not more deaths than one! But all this was +vague and only a minor part of thought. + +Sometimes, as if to invite death, he yelled as he ran. He yelled whenever +in his fleeting visions he saw Oak lying dead again. So ran the man who +had killed another. + +There was a growl ahead of him, a sudden breaking away of the bushes, and +then he was thrown back, stunned and bleeding, because a great paw had +smitten him. Whatever the beast might be, it was hungry and had found what +seemed easy prey. There was a difference, though, which the animal,--it +was doubtless a bear--unfortunately for him, did not comprehend, between +the quality of the being he proposed to eat just now and of other animals +included in his ordinary menu. But the bear did not reason; he but plunged +forward to crush out the remaining life of the runner his great paw had +driven back and down and then to enjoy his meal. + +The man was little hurt. His skin coat had somewhat protected him and his +sinewy body had such toughness that the hurling of it backward for a few +feet was not anything involving a fatality. Very surely and suddenly had +been thrust upon him now the practical lesson of being or dying, and it +was good for the half-crazed runner, for it cleared his mind. But it made +him no less desperate or careless. With strength almost maniacal he leaped +at what he would have fled from at any other time, and, swinging his ax +with the quickness of light, struck tremendously at the great lowering +head. He yelled again as he felt stone cut and crash into bone, though +himself swept aside once more as a great paw, sidestruck, hurled him into +the bushes. He bounded to his feet and saw something huge and dark and +gasping floundering in the pathway. He thought not but ran on panting. By +some strange freak of forest fortune abetting might the man wandering of +mind had driven his ax nearly to the haft into the skull of his huge +assailant. It may be that never before had a cave man, thus armed, done so +well. The slayer ran on wildly, and now weaponless. + +Soon to the runner the scene changed. The trees crowded each other less +closely and there was less of denned pathway. There came something of an +ascent and he breasted it, though less swiftly, for, despite the impelling +force, nature had claims, and muscles were wearying of their work. Fewer +and fewer grew the trees. He knew that he was where there was now a sweep +of rocky highlands and that he was not far from the Fire Country, of which +Old Mok had so often told him. He burst into the open, and as he came out +under the stars, which he could see again, he heard an ominous whine, too +near, and a distant howl behind him. A wolf pack wanted him. + +He shuddered as he ran. The life instinct was fully awakened in him now, +as the dread from which he had run became more distant. Had he heard that +close whine and distant howl before he fairly reached the open he would +have sought a treetop for refuge. Now it was too late. He must run ahead +blindly across the treeless space for such harborage as might come. Far +ahead of him he could see light, the light of fire, reaching out toward +him through the darkness. He was panting and wearied, but the sounds +behind him were spur enough to bring the nearly dead to life. He bowed his +head and ran with such effort as he had never made before in all his wild +and daring existence. + +The wolves of the time, greater, swifter and fiercer than the gaunt gray +wolves of northern latitudes and historic times, ran well, but so did +contemporaneous man run well, and the chase was hard. With his life to +save, Ab swept panting over the rocky ground with a swiftness begotten of +the grand last effort of remaining strength, running straight toward the +light, while the wolf pack, now gathered, hurled itself from the wood +behind and followed swiftly and relentlessly. Ever before the man shone +the light more brightly; ever behind him became more distinct the sound +made by the following pack. It was a dire strait for the running man. He +was no longer thinking of what he had lately done. He ran. + +[Illustration: WITH A GREAT LEAP HE WENT AT AND THROUGH THE CURLING CREST +OF THE YELLOW FLAME] + +The light he had seen extended as he neared it into what looked like a +great fence of flame lying across his way. There were gaps in the fence +where the flame, still continuous, was not so high as elsewhere. He did +not hesitate. He ran straight ahead. Closer and closer behind him crowded +the pursuing wolves, and straight at the flame he ran. There was one +chance in many, he thought, and he took it without hesitation. Close +before him now loomed the wall of flame. Close behind him slavering jaws +were working in anticipation, and there was a strain for the last rush. +There was no alternative. Straight at the fire wall where it was lowest +rushed Ab, and with a great leap he went at and through the curling crest +of the yellow flame! + +The man had found safety! There was a moment of heat and then he knew +himself to be sprawling upon green turf. A little of the strength of +desperation was still with him and he bounded to his feet and looked +about. There were no wolves. Beside him was a great flat rock, and he +clambered upon this, and then, over the crest of the flames could see +easily enough the glaring eyes of his late pursuers. They were running up +and down, raging for their prey, but kept from him beyond all peradventure +by the fire they could not face. Ab started upright on the rock panting +and defiant, a splendid creature erect there in the firelight. + +Soon there came to the man a more perfect sense of his safety. He shouted +aloud to the flitting, snarling creatures, which could not harm him now; +he stooped and found jagged stones, which he sent whirling among them. +There was a savage satisfaction in it. + +Suddenly the man fell to the ground, fairly groaning with exhaustion. +Nature had become indignant and the time for recuperation had been +reached. The wearied runner lay breathing heavily and was soon asleep. The +flames which had afforded safety gave also a grateful warmth in the chill +night, and so it was that scarcely had his body touched the ground when he +became oblivious to all about him, only the heaving of the broad chest +showing that the man lying fairly exposed in the light was a living thing. +The varying wind sometimes carried the sheet of flame to its utmost extent +toward him, so that the heat must have been intense, and again would carry +it in an opposite direction while the cold air swept down upon the +sleeping man. Nothing disturbed him. Inured alike to heat and cold, Ab +slept on, slept for hours the sleep which follows vast strain and +endurance in a healthy human being. Then the form lying on the ground +moved restlessly and muttered exclamations came from the lips. The man was +dreaming. + +For as the sleeper lay there--he remembered it when he awoke and wondered +over it many times in after years--Oak sprang through the flames, as he +himself had done, and soon lay panting by his side. The lapping of the +fire, the snapping and snarling of the wolves beyond and the familiar +sound of Oak's voice all mingled confusedly in his ears, and then he and +Oak raced together over the rough ground, and wrestled and fought and +played as they had wrestled and fought and played together for years. And +the hours passed and the wind changed and the flames almost scorched him +and Ab started up, looking about him into the wild aspect of the Fire +Country; for the night had passed and the sun had risen and set again +since the exhausted man had fallen upon the ground and become unconscious. + +Ab rolled instinctively a little away from the smoky sheets of flame and, +sitting up, looked for Oak. He could not see him. He ran wildly around +among the rocks looking for him and despairingly called aloud his name. +The moment his voice had been hoarsely lifted, "Oak!" the memory of all +that had happened rushed upon him. He stood there in the red firelight a +statue of despair. Oak was dead; he had killed Oak, and buried him with +his own hands, and yet he had seen Oak but a minute ago! He had bounded +through the flames and had wrestled and run races with Ab, and they had +talked together, and yet Oak must be lying in the ground back there in the +forest by the little hill. Oak was dead. How could he get out of the +ground? Fear clutched at Ab's heart, his limbs trembled under him. He +whimpered like a lost and friendless hound and crouched close to the +hospitable fire. His brain wavered under the stress of strange new +impressions. He recalled some mutterings of Old Mok about the dead, that +they had been seen after it was known that they were deep in the ground, +but he knew it was not good to speak or think of such things. Again Ab +sprang to his feet. It would not do to shut his eyes, for then he saw +plainly Oak in his shallow hole in the dark earth and the face Ab had +hurried to cover first when he was burying his friend, there under the +trees. And so the night wore away, sleep coming fitfully from time to +time. Ab could not explore his retreat in the strange firelight nor run +the risks of another night journey across the wild beasts' chosen country. +He began to be hungry, with the fierce hunger of brute strength, sharpened +by terrific labors, but he must wait for the morning. The night seemed +endless. There was no relief from the thoughts which tortured him, but, at +last, morning broke, and in action Ab found the escape he had longed for. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +THE FIRE COUNTRY. + +It was light now and the sun shone fairly on Ab's place of refuge. As his +senses brought to him full appreciation he wondered at the scene about +him. He was in a glade so depressed as to be a valley. About it, to the +east and north and west, in a wavering, tossing wall, rose the uplifting +line of fire through which he had leaped, though there were spaces where +the height was insignificant. On the south, and extending till it circled +a trifle to east, rose a wall of rock, evidently the end of a +forest-covered promontory, for trees grew thickly to its very edge and +their green branches overhung its sheer descent. Coming from some crevice +of the rocks on the east, and tumbling downward through the valley, was a +riotous brook, which disappeared through some opening at the west. Within +this area, thus hemmed in by fire and rock, appeared no living thing save +the birds which sang upon the bushes beside the small stream's banks and +the butterflies which hung above the flowers and all the insect world +which joined in the soft, humming chorus of the morning. It was something +that Ab looked upon with delighted wonder, but without understanding. What +he saw was not a marvel. It was but the result of one of many upheavals at +a time when the earth's cooled shell was somewhat thinner than now and +when earthquakes, though there were no cities to overthrow, at least made +havoc sometimes by changing the face of nature. There had come a great +semi-circular crack in the earth, near and extending to the line of the +sheer rock range. The natural gas, the product of the vegetation of +thousands of centuries before, had found a chance to escape and had poured +forth into the outer world. Something, perhaps a lightning stroke and a +flaming tree, perhaps some cave man making fire and consumed on the +instant when he succeeded, had ignited the sheet of rising gas, and the +result was the wall of flame. It was all natural and commonplace, for the +time. There were other upleaping flame sheets in the surrounding region +forever burning--as there are in northern Asia to-day--but Ab knew of +these fires only from Old Mok's tales. He stood wonderstruck at what he +saw about him. + +But this man in the valley was young and very strong, with tissues to be +renewed, and the physical man within him clamored and demanded. He must +eat. He ran forward and around, anxiously observant, and soon learned that +at the western end of the valley, where the little creek tumbled through a +rocky cut into a lower level, there was easy exit from the +fire-encompassed and protected area. He clambered along the creek's rough, +descending side. He emerged upon an easier slope and then found it +possible to climb the hillside to the plane of the great wood. There must, +he thought, be food of some sort, even for a man with only Oak's knife in +his possession! There was the forest and there were nuts. He was in the +forest soon, among the gray-trunked, black-mottled beeches and the rough +brown oaks. He found something of what he sought, the nuts lying under +shed leaves, though the supply was scant. But nuts, to the cave man, made +moderately good food, supplying a part of the sustenance he required, and +Ab ate of what he could find and arose from the devouring search and +looked about him. + +He was weaponless, save for the knife, and a flint knife was but a thing +for closest struggle. He longed now for his ax and spear and the strong +bow which could hurt so at a distance. But there was one sort of weapon to +be had. There was the club. He wandered about among the tops of fallen +trees and wrenched at their dried limbs, and finally tore one away and +broke off, later, with a prying leverage, what made a rough but available +club for a cave man's purposes. It was much better than nothing. Then +began a steady trot toward what should be fair life again. There were +vague paths through the forest made by wild beasts. As he moved the man +thought deeply. + +He thought of the fire-wall, and could not with all his reasoning +determine upon the cause of its existence, and so abandoned the subject as +a thing, the nub of which was unreachable. That was the freshest object in +his mind and the first to be mentally disposed of. But there were other +subjects which came in swift succession. As he went along with a dog's +gait he was not in much terror, practically weaponless as he was. His eye +was good and he was going through the forest in the daylight. He was +strong enough, club in hand, to meet the minor beasts. As for the others, +if any of them appeared, there were the trees, and he could climb. So, as +he trotted he could afford to think. + +And he thought much that day, this perplexed man, our grandfather with so +many "greats" before the word. He had nothing to divert him even in the +selection of the course toward his cave. He noted not where the sun stood, +nor in what direction the tiny head-waters of the rivulets took their +course, nor how the moss grew on the trees. He traveled in the wood by +instinct, by some almost unexplainable gift which comes to the thing of +the woods. The wolf has it; the Indian has it; sometimes the white man of +to-day has it. + +As he went Ab engaged in deeper and more sustained thought than ever +before in all his life. He was alone; new and strange scenes had enlarged +his knowledge and swift happenings had made keener his perceptions. For +days his entire being had been powerfully affected by his meeting with +Lightfoot at the Feast of the Mammoth and the events which had followed +that meeting in such swift succession. The tragedy of Oak's death had +quickened his sensibilities. Besides, what had ensued latest had been what +was required to make him in a condition for the divination of things. The +wise agree that much stimulant or much deprivation enables the brain +convolutions to do their work well, though deprivation gets the cleaner +end. The asceticism of Marcus Aurelius was productive of greater results +than the deep drinking of any gallant young Roman man of letters of whom +he was a patron. The literature of fasting thinkers is something fine. Ab, +after exerting his strength to the utmost for days, had not eaten of +flesh, and the strong influences to which he was subjected were exerted +upon a man still, practically, fasting. For a time, the rude and +earth-born child of the cave was lifted into a region of comparative +sentiment and imagination. It was an experience which affected materially +all his later life. + +Ever to the trotting man came the feelings which must follow fierce love +and deadly action and vague remorse and fear of something indefinable. He +saw the face and form of Lightfoot; he saw again the struggle, +death-ending, with the friend of youth and of mutual growing into manhood. +He remembered dimly the half insane flight, the leaps across the dreaded +morass and, more distinctly, the chase by the wolves. The aspect of the +Fire Country and of all that followed his awakening was, of course, yet +fresh in his mind. He was burdened. + +Ever uprising and oppressing above all else was the memory of the man he +had killed and buried, covering the face first, so that it might not look +at him. Was Oak really dead? he asked himself again! Had not he, Ab, as +soon as he slept again, seen, alive and well, the close friend of his? He +clung to the vision. He reasoned as deeply as it was in him to reason. + +As he struggled in his mind to obtain light there came to him the fancy of +other things dimly related to the death mystery which had perplexed him +and all his kind. There must be some one who made the river rise and fall +or the nut-bearing forest be either fruitful or the hard reverse. Who and +what could it be? What should he do, what should all his friends do in the +matter of relation to this unknown thing? + +With this day and hour did not come really the beginning of Ab's thought +upon the subject of what was, to him and those he knew, the supernatural. +He had thought in the past--he could not help it--of the shadow and the +echo. He remembered how he and Oak had talked about the echo, and how they +had tried to get rid of the thing which had more than once called back to +them insolently across the valley. Every word they shouted this hidden +creature would mockingly repeat and there was no recourse for them. They +had once fully armed themselves and, in a burst of desperate bravery, had +resolved to find who and what the owner of this voice was and have, at +least, a fight. They had crossed the valley and ranged about the woodland +whence the voice seemed to have come, but they never found what they +sought! + +The shadow which pursued them on sunny afternoons had puzzled them in +another way. Very persistent had been the flat, black, earth-clinging and +distorted thing which followed them so everywhere. What was this black, +following thing, anyhow, this thing which swung its unsubstantial body +around as one moved but which ever kept its own feet at the feet of the +pursued, wherever there was no shade, and which lay there beside one so +persistently? + +But the echoes and the shadows were nothing as compared with the things +which came to one at night. What were those creatures which came when a +man was sleeping? Why did they escape with the dawn and appear again only +when he was asleep and helpless, at least until he awoke fairly and seized +his ax? + +The sun rose high and dropped slowly down toward the west, where the far +ocean was, and the shadows somewhat lengthened, but it was still light +along the forest pathways and the untiring man still hurried on. He was +now close to his country and becoming careless and at ease. But his +imagination was still busy; he could not free himself of memory. There +came to him still the vision of the friend he had buried, hiding his face +first of all. The frenzy of his wish for knowing rushed again upon him. +Where was Oak now? he demanded of himself and of all nature. "Where is +Oak?" he yelled to the familiar trees beside his path. But the trees, even +to the cave man, so close to them in the economy of wild life, so like +them in his naturalness, could give no answer. + +So the cave man struggled in his dim, uncertain way with the eternal +question: "If a man die shall he live again?" So the human mind still +struggles, after thousands of centuries have contributed to its +development. A wall more impassable than the wall of flame Ab had so +lately looked upon still rises between us and those who no longer live. We +reach out for some knowledge of those who have died, and go almost into +madness because we can grasp nothing. Silence unbroken, darkness +impenetrable ever guard the mystery of death. In the long ages since the +cave man ran that day, love and hope have in faith erected, beyond the +grim barriers of blackness and despair, fair pavilions of promise and +consolation, but to the stern examiners of physical fact and reality there +has come no news from beyond the walls of silence since. We clamor +tearfully for some word from those who are dead, but no answer comes. So +Ab groped and strove alone in the forest, in his youth and ignorance, and +in the youth and ignorance of our race. + +Upon the pathway along the river's bank Ab emerged at last. All was +familiar to him now. There, by the clump of trees in the flat below, was +the place where he and Oak had dug the pit when they were but mere boys +and had learned their first important lessons in sterner woodcraft. Soon +came in sight, as he ran, the entrance to the cave of his own family. He +was home again. But he was not the one who had left that rude habitation +three days before. He had gone away a youth. He had come back one who had +suffered and thought. He came back a man. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +THE WOOING OF LIGHTFOOT. + +Lightfoot, when Ab seized Oak, had fled away from the two infuriated men, +as the hare runs, and had sped into the forest. She had the impetus of new +fear now and ran swiftly as became her name, never looking behind her, nor +did she slacken her pace, though panting and exhausted, until she found +herself approaching the cave where lived her playmate, Moonface, not more +than an hour's run from her own home. + +The fleeing girl was fortunate in stumbling upon her friend as soon as she +came into the open space about the cave. Moonface was enjoying herself +lazily that afternoon. She was leaning back idly in a swing of vines to +which she had braided a flexible back, and was blinking somnolently in the +sunshine as the visitor leaped from the wood. Moonface recognized her +friend, gave a quavering cry of delight and came slipping and rolling +recklessly to the ground to meet her. Lightfoot uttered no word. She stood +breathless, and was rather carried than led by Moonface to an easy seat, +moss-padded, upon twisted tree roots, which was that young lady's ordinary +resting-place. Upon this seat the two sank, one overcome with past fear +and present fatigue, and the other with an all-absorbing and demanding +curiosity. It was beyond the ordinary scope of the self-restraining forces +in Moonface to await with calm the recovery of Lightfoot's breath and +powers of conversation. She pinched and shook her friend and demanded, +half-crying but impatiently, some explanation. It was a great hour for +Moonface, the greatest in her life. Here was her friend and dictator +panting and terrified like some weak, hunted-down thing of the wood. It +was a marvel. At last Lightfoot spoke: + +"They are fighting at the foot of the hill!" she said, and Moonface at +once guessed the whole story, for she was not blind, this wide-mouthed +creature. + +"Why did you run away?" she asked. + +"I ran because I was scared. One of them must be dead before this time. I +am glad I am alive myself," Lightfoot gasped. Then the girl covered her +face with her hands as she recalled Ab's face, distorted by passion and +murderous hate, and Oak's equally maddened look as, before the onrush, he +had grasped her so firmly that the marks of his fingers remained blue upon +her arms and slender waist and neck. + +Then Lightfoot, slow to regain her composure, told tremblingly the story +of all that had occurred, finding comfort in the unaffrighted look upon +the face, as well as in the reassuring talk, of her easy-going, +unimaginative and cheerful and faithful companion. She remained as a guest +at the cave overnight and the next forenoon, when she took her way for +home, she was accompanied by Moonface. Gradually, as the hours passed, +Lightfoot regained something of her usual frame of mind and a little of +her ordinary manner of careless light-heartedness, but when home had been +reached and the girls had rested and eaten and she heard Moonface telling +anew for her the story of the flight in the wood, while her father, +Hilltop, and her two strapping brothers listened with interest, but with +no degree of excitement, she felt again the wild alarm and horror and +uncertainty which had affected her when first she fled from what was to +her so dreadful. She crept away from the cave door near which the others +sat enjoying the balmy midsummer afternoon, beckoning to one of her +brothers to follow her, as the big fellow did unquestioningly, for +Lightfoot had been, almost from young girlhood, the dominant force in the +family, even the strong father, though it was contrary to the spirit of +the time, admiring and yielding to his one daughter without much comment. +The great, hulking youth, well armed and ready for any adventure, joined +her, nothing both, and the two disappeared, like shadows, in the depths of +the forest. + +Lightfoot had been the housekeeper in the cave of Hilltop, the cave of the +greatest hunter of the region, young despite the years which had +encompassed him, and father of two boys who were fine specimens of the +better men of the time. They were splendid whelps, and this slim thing, +whom they had cared for as she grew, dominated them easily, though the age +was not one of vast family affection, while chivalry, of course, did not +exist. Hilltop's wife had died two years before, and Lightfoot, with +unconscious force, had taken her mother's place. There was none other with +woman's ways to help the men in the rock-guarded home on the windy hill. +Hilltop had not been altogether unthinking all this time. He had often +looked upon his daughter's friend, the jolly, swart and well-fed Moonface, +and had much approved of her, but, today, as he listened to her story, he +did not pay such attention as was demanded by the interest of the theme. +An occasional death, though it were the killing of one cave man by +another, was not a matter of huge importance. He was not inflamed in any +way by what he heard, but as he looked and listened to the comfortable +young person who was speaking, the idea, hastened it may be by some loving +and domestic instinct, grew slowly in his brain that she might make for +him as excellent a mate as any other of the "good matches" to be found in +the immediately surrounding country. He was a most directly reasoning +person, this Hilltop, best of hunters and generally respected on the +forest ridges. After the thought once dawned upon him, it grew and grew, +and an idea fairly developed in Hilltop's mind meant action. His +fifty-five years of age had hardly cooled and had certainly not nearly +approached to freezing the blood in his outstanding veins. He had a suit +to make, and make at once. That he might have no interruption he bade +Stone-Arm, his remaining son, who sat on a rock near by, and who had +listened, open-mouthed, to the recital of Moonface, to seek his brother +and Lightfoot in the forest path. There might be beasts abroad and two men +were better than one, said this crafty father-hunter-lover. + +The boy, clever tracker as a red Indian or Australian trailer, soon found +the path his brother and Lightfoot had taken and joined them. As he +listened to what they were saying he was glad he had been sent to follow +them. They were hastening toward the valley. The trees were beginning to +cast long shadows when the three came to where the more abrupt hillside +reached the slope and where the torn ground, broken limbs and twigs and +deep-indented footprints in the soil gave glaring evidence to the eye of +yesterday's struggle. But, aside from all this, there was something else. +There was a carpet of yellowish-brown leaves, at the edge of the circle of +fray, where a man had fallen. On the clean stretch of evenly rain-packed +leaves there were spots from which the scarlet had but lately faded into +crimson. There was a place where the surface was disturbed and sunken a +little. All three knew that a man had died there. + +The two young men and their sister stood together uttering no word. The +men were amazed. The woman half comprehended all. She did not hesitate a +moment. Guided by a sure instinct, Lightfoot reached, without thought or +conscious search, the spot of unnatural earth which reared itself so near +to them, the spot where was fresh stone-covered soil and where a man was +buried. The pile of stones, newly heaped upon the moist earth, told their +story. + +Someone was buried there, but whom? Was it Oak or Ab? + +"Shall I dig?" said Stone-Arm, making ready for the task, while Branch, +his elder brother, prepared for work as well. + +"No! No!" cried Lightfoot. "He is buried deep and the stones are over him. +It will be night soon and the wolves and hyenas would be here before we +could get away. Let it be. Someone is there, but the one who killed him +has buried him. He will come back!" The two boys were silent, and +Lightfoot led the way toward home. When the three reached the cave of +Hilltop the sun was setting. Something had happened at the cave, but there +arises at this point no stern demand for going into details. Hilltop, +brave man, was no laggard in wooing, and Moonface was not a nervous young +person. When the other members of the household reached the cave Moonface +was already installed as mistress. There would be no reprisals from an +injured family. The girl had lived with her ancient father, whom she had +half-supported and who would, possibly, be transplanted to Hilltop's cave +for such pottering life as he was still capable of during the rest of his +existence. The new regime was fairly established. + +The arrangement suited Lightfoot well enough. This astounding stepmother +had been her humble but faithful friend. Lightfoot was a ruling woman +spirit wherever she was, and she knew it, though she bowed at all times to +the rule of strength as the only law. Nevertheless she knew how to get her +own way. With Moonface, everything was easy for her and she found it +rather pleasant than otherwise to find the other young woman made suddenly +a permanent resident of the cave in which she had been born and had lived +all her life. As the two girls met, and the situation was curtly announced +by Hilltop, their faces were worth the seeing. There was alarm and +hopefulness upon the countenance of Moonface, sudden astonishment and +indignation, and then reflection, upon the face of Lightfoot. After a few +moments of thought both girls laughed cheerfully. + +The story of the newly found grave made but little impression upon the +group and Lightfoot, the only one of the household who thought much about +it, thought silently. To her the single question was: "Who lay there?" +There was nothing strange to the others of the family in the thought that +one man should have killed another, and no one attached blame to or +proposed punishment of the slayer. Sometimes after such a happening, the +cave man who had slain another might have a rock rolled suddenly upon him +from a height, or in passing a thicket have the flint head of a spear +driven through him, but this was only the deed, perhaps, of an enraged +father or brother, not in any sense a matter of course in the way of +justice, and even such attempt at reprisal was not the rule. + +But in the bosom of Lightfoot was a weight like a stone. It was as heavy, +she thought, as one of the stones on the bare ground over the body of the +man who lay there in the dark earth, because he had run after her. Who was +it? It might be Ab! And all through the night the girl tossed uneasily on +her bed of leaves, as she did for nights to come. + +As for Moonface, who shall say what that rotund and hairy young person +thought when the family had settled down to the changed order of things +and she had adjusted herself to the duties of a matron in her new home? +She was not less broadly buoyant and beaming, but who can tell that, when +she noted Lightfoot's burning look and thoughtful mien, Moonface did not +sometimes think of the two young men who, but yesterday, had rejoiced in +such strength and vigor and charm of power and who were so good to look +upon? She was a wife now, but to another sort of man. Even the feminine +among writers of erotic novels have not yet revealed what the young moon +thinks when she "holds the old moon in her arms." Anyhow, Hilltop was a +defense and a great provider of food. He was a fine figure of a man, too. + +[Illustration: THE GIRL COWERED BEHIND A REFUGE OF LEAVES AND BRANCHES] + +Lightfoot was not much in the cave now. She lingered about the open space +or wandered in the near wood. A woman's instinct told her to be out-doors +all the time she could. A man would seek her, but with the thought came an +awful dread. Which man? One afternoon she saw something. + +Two gray forms flitted across an open space in the forest near the cave, +and in a moment the girl was in a treetop. What followed was the +unexpected. Close behind the gray things came a man, fully armed, +straight, eager and alert and silent in his wood surroundings, with eyes +roving over and searching all the open space about the cave of Hilltop. +The man was Ab. + +The girl gave a shriek of delight, then, alarmed at the sound she had +made, cowered behind a refuge of leaves and branches. She was happy beyond +all her experience before. The question which had been in all her thoughts +was answered! It was Oak, not Ab, who lay in the ground on the hillside. +And, even as she realized this fully, there was a swift upward scramble +and the young cave man was beside her on the limb. There was no running +away this time. The girl's face told its story well enough, so well that +Ab, still lately doubting, though resolved, knew that his fitting mate +belonged to him. There came to them the happiness which ever comes to +lovers, be they man or bird or beast, and then came swift conclusion. He +told her she must go with him at once, told her of the new cave and of all +he had done, but the girl, well aware of the dangers of the beast-haunted +region where the new home had been selected, was thoroughly alarmed. Then +Ab told her of the little flying spears which Old Mok had made for him, +and about the wonderful bow which sent them to their mark, and the girl +was reassured and soon began to feel exceedingly brave and proud of her +lover and his prowess. + +No need of carrying off a girl by force or craft on this occasion, for +Hilltop had fully recognized Ab's strength and quality. The two went to +the cave together and there was eating and then, later, two skin-clad +human beings, a man and a woman, went away together through the forest. +Their journey was a long one and a careful lookout was necessary as they +hurried along a pathway of the strange country. But the cave was reached +at last, just as the sun burned red and gave a rosy glow to everything. + +Silently the two came into the open space in front of what was to be their +fortress and abode. Solid was the rock about the entrance and narrow the +blocked opening. Smoke curled in a pretty spiral upward from where +smoldered the fire Ab had made the day before. Lightfoot looked upon it +all and laughed joyously, though tremblingly, for she had now given +herself to a man and he had brought her to his place of living. + +As for the man, he looked down upon the girl delightedly. His pulse beat +fast. He put his arm about her and together they entered the cave. There +was a marriage but no ceremony. Just as robins mate when they have met or +as the buck and doe, so faithful man and wife became these two. + +Darkness fell, the fire at the cave entrance flashed up fiercely and Ab +and Lightfoot were "at home." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +THE HONEYMOON. + +The sun shone brilliantly, birds were singing and the balsam firs gave +forth their morning incense as Ab and Lightfoot issued from their cave. +They had eaten heartily, and came out buoyant and delighted with the +world which was theirs. The chattering of the waterfowl along the river +reached their ears faintly, the leaves were moved by a gentle breeze, +there was a hum of insects in the air and the very pulse of living could +be felt. Ab carried his new weapon proudly, hungering for the love and +admiration of this girl of his, and eager to show her its powers and to +exhibit his own skill. At his back hung his quiver of mammoth bone. His +bow, unstrung, was in his hand. In front of the cave was a bare area of +many yards in extent, then came a few scattering trees and, at a distance +of perhaps two hundred yards, the forest began. Across the open space of +ground, with its great mass of branches crushed together not far from the +cave's mouth, had fallen one of the gigantic conifers' of the time, and +was there gradually decaying, its huge limbs and bole, disintegrating, +and dry as punk, affording, close at hand, a vast fuel supply, the +exceptional value of which Ab had recognized when making his selection of +a home. Near the edge of the little clearing made by nature, Ab seated +himself upon a log, and drawing Lightfoot down to a seat beside him, +began enthusiastically to make clear the marvels of the weapon he had +devised and which he and Old Mok had developed into something startling +in its possibilities. + +All details of the explanation made by the earnest young hunter, it is +probable, Lightfoot did not comprehend. She looked proudly at him, +fingering the flint pointed arrows curiously, yet seemed rather intent +upon the man than the wood and stone. But when he pointed at a great knot +in a tree near them and bent his bow and sent an arrow fairly into the +target, and when, even with her strength, Lightfoot could not pull the +arrow out, she was wild with admiration and excitement. She begged to be +taught how to use, herself, this wonderful new weapon, for she recognized +as readily as could anyone its adaptation to the use of one of inferior +strength. The delighted lover was certainly as desirous as she that she +should some day become an expert. He handed her the bow, retaining, slung +over his shoulder, fortunately, as it developed, the bone quiver full of +Old Mok's best arrows. He taught her, first, how to bend and string the +bow. There were failures and successes, and there was much laughter from +the merry-hearted Lightfoot. Finally, it happened that Ab was not just +content with the quality of the particular arrow which he had selected +for Lightfoot's use. He had taken a slender one with a clean flint head, +but something about the notch had not quite suited him. With a thin, hard +stone scraper, carried in a pouch of his furry garb, he began rasping and +filing at this notch to make it better fit the string of tendons, while +Lightfoot, with the bow still strung, stood beside him. At last, tired of +holding the thing in her hands, she passed it over her head and one +shoulder and stood there jauntily, with both hands free, while the man +scraped away with the one little flake of flint in his possession, and, +as he worked, paused from time to time note how well he was rounding the +notch in the end of the slight hardwood shaft. It was just as he was +holding up to her eyes the arrow, now made almost an ideal one, according +to his fancy, when there came to the ears of the two a sound, distinct, +ominous and implying to them deadly peril, a sound such that, though +nerves spoke and muscles acted, they were very near the momentary +paralysis which sometimes come from sudden fearful shock. From close +beside them came the half grunt and half growl of the great cave bear! + +With the instinct born of generations, each leaped independently toward +the nearest tree, and, with the unconscious strength and celerity which +comes to even wild animals with the dread of death at hand, each +clambered to a treetop before a word was spoken. Scarcely had either left +the ground before there was a rush into the open glade of a huge brown +hairy form, and this was instantly followed by another. As Ab and +Lightfoot climbed far amid the branches and looked down, they saw +upreared at the base of each tree the figure of one of the monsters whose +hungry exclamations they knew so well. They had been careless, these two +lovers, especially the man. He had known well, but for the moment had +forgotten how beast-infested was the immediate area about his new home, +and now had come the consequence of his thoughtlessness. He and his wife +had been driven to the treetops within a few yards of their own +hearthstone, leaving their weapons inside their cave! + +Alarmed and panting, after settling down to a firm seat far aloft, each +looked about to see what had become of the other. Each was at once +reassured as to the present, and each became much perplexed as to the +future. The cave bear, like his weaker and degenerate descendant, the +grizzly of to-day, had the quality of persistence well developed, and +both Ab and Lightfoot knew that the siege of their enemies would be +something more than for the moment. The trees in which they perched were +very close to the wood, but not so close that the forest could be reached +by passing from branch to branch. Their two trees were not far from each +other, but their branches did not intermingle. There was a distinct +opening between them. The tree up which Lightfoot had scrambled was a +great fir towering high above the strong beech in which Ab had found his +safety. Branches of the fir hung down until between their ends and Ab's +less lofty covert there were but a few yards of space. Still, one trying +to reach the beech from the lofty fir would find an unpleasantly wide +gap. + +Each of the creatures in the tree was unarmed. Ab still bore the quiver +full of admirable arrows, and across the breast of Lightfoot still hung +the strong bow which she had slung about her in such blithesome mood. +Soon began an exceedingly earnest conversation. Ab, eager to reach again +the fair creature who now belonged to him, was half frantic with rage, +and Lightfoot was far from her usual mood of careless gaiety. The two +talked and considered, though but to little purpose, and, finally, after +weary hours, the night came on. It was a trying situation. Man and woman +were in equal danger. The bears were hungry--and the cave bear knew his +quarry. The beasts beneath were not disposed to leave the prey they had +imprisoned aloft. The night grew, but either Ab or Lightfoot, looking +down, could see the glare of small, hungry eyes. There was gentle talk +between the two, for this was a great strait and, in straits, souls, be +they prehistoric, historic or of to-day, always come closer together. +Very much more loving lovers, even, than they were before, became the two +perched aloft that night. It was a comfort for the wedded pair to call to +each other through the darkness. After a time, however, muscles grew lax +with the continued strain. Weariness clouded the spirits of the couple +and almost overcame them and only the thing which has always, in great +stress, given the greatest strength in this world--the love of male and +female--sustained them. They stood the test pretty well. To sleep in a +tree top was an easy thing for them, with the precautions, simple and +natural, of the time. Each plaited a withe of twigs with which to be tied +to the tree or limb, and resting in the hollow nest where some great limb +joined the bole, slept as sleep tired children, until the awakening of +nature awoke these who were nature's own. When Ab awoke, he had more on +his mind than Lightfoot, for he was the one who must care for the two. He +blinked and wondered where he was. Then he remembered all, suddenly. He +looked across anxiously at a slender brown thing lying asleep, coiled so +close to the bole of the tree to which she was bound that she seemed +almost a part of it. Then he looked down, and, after what he saw, thought +very seriously. The bears were there! He looked up at the bright sky and +all about him, and inhaled all the fragrance of the forest, and felt +strong, and that he knew what he should do. He called aloud. + +The girl awoke, frightened. She would have fallen had she not been bound +to the tree. Gradually, the full meaning of the situation dawned upon her +and she began to cry. She was hungry, her limbs were stiffened by her +bands, and there was death below. But there, close to her, was the Man. +His voice gradually reassured her. He was becoming angry now, almost +raging. Here he was, the lord of a cave, independent and master as much +as any other man whom he knew, perched in one tree while his bride of a +day was in the top of another, yet kept apart from her by the brutes +below! + +He had decided what to do, and now he talked to Lightfoot with all the +frankness of the strong male who felt that he had another to care for, +and who realized his responsibility and authority together. As the +strength and decided personality of the young man came to her through his +voice, the young woman drew her scanty fur robe about her and checked her +tears. She became comparatively calm and reasonable. + +The tree in which Lightfoot had found refuge had many long slender +branches lowering toward the giant beech into which the man had made his +retreat. Ab argued that it was possible--barely possible--for Lightfoot's +compact, agile, slender body to be launched in just the right way from +one of the branches of the taller tree, and, swinging in its descent +across the space between the two, lodge among the branches of the beech +with him. Strong arms ready to clasp her as she came and to withstand the +shock and to hold her safely he promised and, to enforce his plea, he +pointed out that, unless they thus took their fate in hand, there was +starvation awaiting them as they were, while carrying out his plan, if +any accident befell, there was only swift though dreadful death to reckon +with. There was one chance for their lives and that chance must be taken. +Ab called to his young wife: + +"Crawl out upon a branch above me, swing down from it, swing hard and +throw yourself to me. I will catch you and hold you. I am strong." + +The woman, with all faith in the man, still demurred. It was a great +test, even for the times and the occasion. But hunger was upon her and +she was cold and was, naturally, very brave. She lowered herself and +climbed down and reached an out-extending limb, and there, across the +gap, she saw Ab with his strong legs twined about the uprearing branch +along which he laid, with giant brown arms stretched out confidently and +with eyes steadily regarding her, eyes which had love and longing and a +lot of fight in them. She walked out along the limb, holding herself +safely by a firm hand-hold on the limb above, until the one her bare feet +rested upon swayed and tipped uncertainly. Then came her time of trial of +nerve and trust. Suddenly she stooped, caught the lower limb with her +hands and then swung beneath it, hanging by her hands alone, and, hand +over hand, passed herself along until she reached almost its end. Then +she began swaying back and forth. She was but a few yards above Ab now, +dangling in mid-air, while, below her, the two hungry bears had rushed +together and were looking upward with red, anticipating eyes, the ooze +coming from their mouths. The moment was awful. Soon she must be a +mangled thing devoured by frightful beasts, or else a woman with a life +renewed. She looked at Ab, and, with courage regained, prepared for the +great effort which must end all or gain a better lease of life. + +She swung back and forth, each drawing up and outreach and flexible +motion of her arms giving more momentum to the sway and conserving force +for the launch of herself she was about to make. The desperation and +strength of a wood-wise creature, so bravely combined, alone enabled her +to obey Ab's hoarse command. + +Ab, with his arms outreaching in their strength, feeling the fierce eyes +of the hungry bears below boring into his very heart, leaned forward and +upward as the swing of the woman reached its climax. With a cry of +warning, the woman launched herself and shot downward and forward, like a +bolt to its mark, a very desirable lump of femininity as appearing in +mid-air, but one somewhat forcible in its alighting. + +Ab was strong, but when that girl landed fairly in his brawny arms, as +she did beautifully, it was touch and go, for a fraction of a second, +whether both should fall to the ground together or both be saved. He +caught her deftly, but there was a great shock and swing and then, with a +vast effort, there came recovery and the man drew himself, shaking, back +to the support of the branch from which he had been almost wrenched away, +at the same time placing beside him the object he had just caught. + +There was absolute silence for a moment or two between these +unconventional lovers to whom had come escape from a hard situation. They +were drawing deep breaths and recovering an equilibrium. There they sat +together on the strong branch, each of them as secure and, for the +moment, as perfectly at home as if lying on a couch in the cave. Each of +them was panting and each of them rejoicing. It was unlikely that upon +their trained, robust nerves the life-endangering episode of a moment +could have a more than passing effect. They sat so together for some +minutes with arms entwined, still drawing deep breaths, and, a little +later, began to laugh chucklingly, as breath came to be spared for such +exhibition if human feeling. Gradually, the indrawing and expelling of +the glorious air shortened. The two had regained their normal condition +and Ab's face lengthened and the lines upon it became more distinct. He +was all himself again, but in no dallying mood. He gave a triumphant +whoop which echoed through the forest, shook his clenched hand savagely +at the brutes below and reached toward Lightfoot for the bow which hung +about her shoulders. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +MORE OF THE HONEYMOON. + +The brown, downy woman knew, on the instant, what was her husband's mood +and immediate intent when he thus shouted and took into his own keeping +again the stiff bow which hung about her shoulders. She knew that her +lord was not merely in a glad, but that he was also in a vengeful frame +of mind, that he wanted from her what would enable him to kill things, +and that, equipped again, he was full of the spirit of fight. She knew +that, of the four animals grouped together, two huge creatures of the +ground and two slighter ones perched in a tree top, the chances were that +the condition of those below had suddenly become the less preferable. + +The bow was about Ab's shoulders instantly, and then this preposterous +young gentleman of the period turned to the woman and laughed, and caught +her in one of his arms a little closer, and drew her up against him and +laid his cheek against her own for a moment and drew it away and laughed +again. The kiss, it is believed, had not fully developed itself in the +cave man's time, but there were substitutes. Then, releasing her, he said +gleefully and chucklingly, "follow me;" and they clambered down the bole +of the beech together until they reached the biggest and very lowest limb +of all. It was perhaps twenty feet above the ground. A little below their +dangling feet the hungry bears, hitherto more patient, now, with their +expected prey so close at hand, becoming desperately excited, ran about, +frothing and foaming and red-eyed, uprearing themselves in awful +nearness, at times, in their eagerness to reach the prey which they had +so awaited and which, to their intelligence, seemed about falling into +their jaws. They had so driven into trees before, and finally consumed +exhausted cave men and women. As bears went, they were doubtless logical +animals. They could not know that there had come into possession of this +particular pair of creatures of the sort they had occasionally eaten, a +trifling thing of wood and sinew string and flint point, which was +destined henceforth to make a decided change in the relative condition of +the biped and quadruped hunters of the time. How could they know that +something small and sharp would fly down and sting them more deeply than +they had ever been stung before, that it would sting so deeply that their +arteries might be cut, or their hearts pierced and that then they must +lie down and die? The well-thrown spear had been, in other ages, a vast +surprise to the carnivora of the period, but there was something yet to +learn. + +When they had reached the huge branch so near the ground both Ab and +Lightfoot were for a moment startled and lifted their feet instinctively, +but it was only for a moment in the case of the man. He knew that he was +perfectly safe and that he had with him an engine of death. He selected +his best and strongest arrow, he fitted it carefully to the string and +then, as his mother had done years before above the hyena which sought +her child, he reached one foot down as far as he could, and swung it back +and forth tantalizingly, just above the larger of the hungry beasts +below. The monster, fierce with hunger and the desire for prey, roared +aloud and upreared himself by the tree trunk and tore the bark with his +strong claws, throwing back his great head as he looked upward at the +quarry so near him and yet just beyond his reach. This was the man's +opportunity. Ab drew back the arrow till the flint head rested close by +his out-straining hand and the tough wood of the bow creaked under the +thrust of his muscled arm. Then he released the shaft. So close together +were man and bear that archer's skill of aim was not required. The brown +target could not be missed. The arrow struck with a tear and the flint +head drove through skin and tissue till its point protruded at the back +of the great brute's neck. The bear fell suddenly backward, then rose +again and reached blindly at its neck with its huge fore-paws, while from +where the arrow had entered the blood came out in spurts. Suddenly the +bear ceased its appalling roars and started for the cave. There had come +to it the instinct which makes such great beasts seek to die alone. It +rushed at the narrow entrance but its course was scarcely noted by the +couple in the tree. The other bear, the female, was seeking to reach them +in no less savage mood than had animated her stricken mate. + +Not often, when the cave man first learned the use of the bow, came to +him such fortune with a first strong shot as that which had so come to +Ab. Again he selected a good arrow, again shot his strongest and best, +but the shaft only buried itself in the shoulder and served but to drive +to absolute madness the raging creature thus sorely hurt. The forest +echoed with the roaring of the infuriated animal, and as she reared +herself clambering against the tree the tough fiber was rended away in +great slivers, and the man and woman were glad that the trunk was thick +and that they owned a natural citadel. Again and again did Ab discharge +his arrows and still fail to reach a vital part of the terror below. She +fairly bristled with the shafts. It was inevitable that she must die, but +when the last shot had sped she was still infuriate and, apparently, as +strong as ever. The archer looked down upon her with some measure of +despondency in his face, but by no means with despair. He and his bride +must wait. That was all, and this he told to Lightfoot. That intelligent +and reliable young helpmate of a few hours, who had looked upon what had +occurred with an awed admiration, did not exhibit any depression. Her +husband, fortunate Benedict, had produced a great effect upon her by his +feat. She felt herself something like a queen. Had she known enough and +had the fancies of the Ruth of some thousands of decades later she would +have told him how completely thenceforth his people were her people and +his gods her gods. + +The she bear became finally somewhat quieted; she tore less angrily at +the tree and made less of the terrible clamor which had for the moment +driven from the immediate region all the inmates of the wood, for none +save the cave tiger cared to be in the immediate neighborhood of the cave +bear. Her roars changed into roaring growls, and she wandered +staggeringly about. At last she started blindly and weakly toward the +forest, and just as she had passed beneath its shadow, paused, weaved +back and forth for a moment, and then fell over heavily. She was dead. + +Not an action of the beast had escaped the eyes of Ab. Well he knew the +ways of wounded things. As the bear toppled over he gave utterance to a +whoop and, with a word to the girl beside him, slid lightly to the +ground, she following him at once. It was very good to be upon the earth +again. Ab stamped with his feet and stretched his arms, and the woman +danced upon the grass and laughed gleefully. But this was only for a +moment or so. Ab started toward the cave, and as he reached the entrance, +gave a great cry of rage and dismay. Lightfoot ran to his side and even +her ready laugh failed her when she looked upon his perplexed and stormy +countenance and saw what had happened. The rump of the monster he bear +was what she looked upon. The beast, in his instinctive effort to crawl +into some dark place to die, had fairly driven himself into the cave's +entrance, dislodging some of the stones Ab had placed there, had wedged +himself in firmly, and had died before he could extricate his great +carcass. The two human beings were homeless and, with all the arrows +gone, weaponless, in the midst of a region so dangerously infested that +any movement afoot was but inviting death. They were hungry, too, for +many hours had passed since they had tasted food. It was not matter of +surprise that even the stout-hearted cave man stood aghast. + +The occasion for Ab's alarm was fully verified. From the spot where the +cave bear lay at the forest's edge came a sharp, snapping growl. The +lurking hyenas had found the food, and a long, inquiring howl from +another direction told that the wolves had scented it and were gathering. +For the instant Ab was himself almost helpless with fear. The woman was +simply nerveless. Then the man, so accustomed to physical danger, +recovered himself. He sprang forward, seized a stout fragment of limb +which might serve as a sort of weapon, and, turning to the woman, said +only the one word "fire." + +Lightfoot understood and life came to her again. None in all the region +could make a fire more swiftly than she. Her quick eye detected just the +base she wanted in a punkish fragment of wood and the harder and pointed +bit of limb to be used in making the friction. In a time scarcely worth +the noting the point was whirling about and burning into the wooden base, +twirling with a skill and velocity not comprehensible by us to-day, for +the cave people had perfected wonderfully this greatest manual art of the +time, and Lightfoot, muscular and enduring, was, as already said, in this +thing the cleverest among the clever. Ab, with ready club in hand, +advanced cautiously toward the point at the wood's edge where lay the +body of the bear. He paused as he came near enough to see what was +happening. Four great hyenas were tearing eagerly at the flesh of the +dead brute, and behind them, deeper in the wood, were shining eyes, and +Ab knew that the wolf pack was gathering. The bear consumed, the man and +woman, without defense, would surely be devoured. It was a desperate +strait, but, though he was weaponless, there was the cave man's great +resort, the fire, and there might be a chance for life. To seek the tree +tops would be dangerous even now, and once ensconced in such harborage, +only starvation was awaiting. He moved back noiselessly, with as little +apparent motion as possible, for he did not want to attract the attention +of the gleaming eyes in the distance, until he came near Lightfoot again, +and then he abandoned caution of movement and began tearing frantically +at the limbs and debris of the great dead conifer, and to build a +semicircular fence in front of the cave entrance. He did the swift work +of half a score of men in his desperation and anxiety, his great strength +serving him well in his compelling strait. + +Meanwhile the stick twirled and rasped in the hands of the brown woman +seated on the ground, and at last a tiny thread of smoke arose. The +continued friction had done its work. Deft himself at fire-making, Ab +knew just what was wanted at this moment and ran to his wife's side with +punk from the dead tree, rubbed to a powder in his hard hands. The +powder, poured gently down upon the point where the increasing heat had +brought the gleam of fire, burst, almost at once, into a little flame. +What followed was simple and easy. Dry twigs made the slight flame a +greater one and then, at a dozen different points, the wall which Ab had +built was fired. They were safe, for the time at least. Behind them was +the uprearing rock in which was the cave and before them, almost +encircling them completely, was the ring of fire which no wild beast +would cross. At one end, close to the rock, a space had been left by Ab, +that he and Lightfoot might, through it, reach the vast store of fuel +which lay there ready to the hand and so close that there was no danger +in visiting it. Hardly had the flame extended itself along the slight +wooden barrier than the whole wood and clearing resounded with terrifying +sounds. The wolf pack had increased until strong enough to battle with +the hyenas for the remainder of the feast in the wood, and their fight +was on. + +The feeling of terror had passed away from this young bride and groom, +with the assurance of present safety, and Ab felt the need of eating. +"There is meat," he said, as he pointed toward the haunches of the bear, +half-protruding from the rock, "and there is fire. The fire will cook the +meat, and, besides, we are safe. We will eat!" + +The bridegroom of but a day or two said this somewhat grandiloquently, +but he was not disposed to be vain or grandiloquent a little later. He +put his hand to the belt of his furry garb and found no sharp flint knife +there! It had been lost in his late tree clambering. He put his hand into +the pouch of his cloak and found only the flint skin scraper, the scraper +with which he had improved the arrow's notch, though it was not +originally intended for such use. It was all that remained to him of +weapon or utensil. But it would cut or tear, though with infinite effort, +and the man, to reassure the woman, laughed, and assailed the brown +haunch before him. Even with his strength, it was difficult for Ab to +penetrate the tough skin of the bear with an implement intended for +scraping, not for cutting, and it was only after he had finally cut, or +rather dug, away enough to enable him to get his fingers under the skin +and tear away an area of it by sheer main strength that the flesh was +made available. That end once attained, there followed a hard transverse +digging with the scraper, a grasp about tissue of strong, impressed +fingers, and a shred of flesh came away. It was tossed at once to a young +person who, long twig in hand, stood eagerly waiting. She caught the +shred as she had caught the fine bit of mammoth when first she and Ab had +met, and it was at once impaled and thrust into the flames. It was +withdrawn, it is to be feared, a trifle underdone, and then it +disappeared, as did other shreds of excellent bear's meat which came +following. It was a sight for a dyspeptic to note the eating of this +belle-matron of the region on this somewhat exceptional occasion. + +Strip after strip did Ab tear away and toss to his wife until the +expression on her face became a shade more peaceful and then it dawned +upon him that she was eating and that he was not. There was clamor in his +stomach. He sprang away from the bear, gave Lightfoot the scraper and +commanded her to get food for him as he had done for her. The girl +complied and did as well as had done the man in digging away the meat. He +ate as she had done, and, at last, partly gorged and content, allowed her +to take her place at the fire and again eat to his serving. He had shown +what, from the standard of the time, must be counted as most gallant and +generous and courteous demeanor. He had thought a little of the woman. + +A tiny rill of cold water trickled down on one side of the outer door of +their cave. With this their thirst was slaked, and they ate and ate. The +shadows lengthened and Ab replenished again and again the fire. From the +semicircle of forest all about came the sound of footsteps rustling in +the leaves. But the two people inside the fire fence, hungry no longer, +were content. Ab talked to his wife: + +"The fire will keep the man-eating things away," he said. "I ran not long +ago with things behind me, and I would have been eaten had I not come +upon a ring of fire like the one we have made. I leaped it and the eaters +could not reach me. But, for the fire I leaped there was no wood. It came +out of a crack in the ground. Some day we will go there and I will show +you that thing which is so strange." + +The woman listened, delighted, but, at last, there was a nodding of the +head. She lay back upon the grass a sleepy being. Ab looked at her and +thought deeply. Where was safety? As they were, one of them must be awake +all the time to keep the fire replenished. Until he could enter the cave +again he must be weaponless. Only the fire could protect the two. They +had heat and food and nothing to fear for the moment, but they must +fairly eat their way into a safety which would be permanent! + +He kept the fire alight far into the darkness, and then, piling the fuel +high all along the line of defense, he aroused the sleeping woman and +told her she must keep the flames bright while he slept in his turn. She +was just the wife for such an emergency as this, and rose uncomplainingly +to do her part of the guarding work. From the forest all about came +snarling sounds or threatening growls, and eyes blazed in the somber +depths beneath the trees. There were hungry things out there and they +wanted to eat a man and woman, but fire they feared. The woman was not +afraid. + +After hours had passed the man awoke and took the woman's place and she +slept in his stead. Morning came and the sounds from the forest died away +partly, but the man and woman knew of the fierce creatures still lurking +there. They knew what was before them. They must delve and eat their way +into the cave as soon as possible. + +Ab scraped at the bear's huge body with his inefficient bit of flint and +dug away food in abundance, which he heaped up in a little red mound +inside the fire, but the bear was a monstrous beast and it was a long way +from tail to head. The days of the honeymoon passed with a degree of +travail, for there was no moment when one of the two must not be awake +feeding the guarding fire or digging at the bear. They ate still heartily +on the second day but it is simple, truthful history to admit that on the +sixth day bear's meat palled somewhat on the happy couple. To have eaten +thirty quails in thirty days or, at a pinch, thirty quails in two days +would have been nothing to either of them, but bear's meat eaten as part +of what might be called a tunneling exploit ceased, finally, to possess +an attractive flavor. There was a degree of shade cast by all these +obtrusive circumstances across this honeymoon, but there came a day and +hour when the bear was largely eaten, and fairly dug away as to much of +the rest of him, and then, quite suddenly, his head and fore-quarters +toppled forward into the cave, leaving the passage free, and when Ab and +Lightfoot followed, one shouting and the other laughing, one coming again +to his fortress and his weapons and his power, and the other to her +hearth and duties. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +THE FIRE COUNTRY AGAIN. + +The sun rose brightly the next morning and when Ab, armed and watchful, +rolled the big stone away and passed the smoldering fire and issued from +the cave into the open, the scene he looked upon was fair in every way. +Of what had been left of the great bear not a trace remained. Even the +bones had been dragged into the forest by the ravening creatures who had +fed there during the night. There were birds singing and there were no +enemies in sight. Ab called to Lightfoot and the two went forth together, +loving and brave, but no longer careless in that too interesting region. + +And so began the home life of these two people. It was, in its way and +relatively, as sweet and delicious as the first home life of any loving +and appreciating man and woman of to-day. The two were very close, as the +conditions under which they lived demanded. They were the only human +beings within a radius of miles. The family of the cave man of the time +was serenely independent, each having its own territory, and depending +upon itself for its existence. And the two troubled themselves about +nothing. Who better than they could daily win the means of animal +subsistence? + +Ab taught Lightfoot the art of cracking away the flakes of the flint +nodules and of the finer chipping and rasping which made perfect the +spear and arrowheads, and never was pupil swifter in the learning. He +taught her, too, the use of his new weapon, and in all his life he did no +wiser thing! It was not long before she became easily his superior with +the bow, so far as her strength would allow, and her strength was far +from insignificant. Her arrows flew with greater accuracy than his, +though the buzzing shaft had not as yet, and did not have for many +centuries later, the "gray goose" feather which made the doing of its +mission far more certain. Lightfoot brought to the cave the capercailzie +and willow grouse and other birds which were good things for the larder, +and Ab looked on admiringly. Even in their joint hunting, when there was +a half rivalry, he was happy in her. Somehow, the arrow sang more merrily +when it flew from Lightfoot's bow. + +Better than Ab, too, could the young wife do rare climbing when in a nest +far out upon some branch were eggs good for roasting and which could be +reached only by a light-weight. And she learned the woods about them +well, and, though ever dreading when alone, found where were the trees +from which fell the greatest store of nuts and where, in the mud along +the river's side, her long and highly educated toes could reach the clams +which were excellent to feed upon. + +But never did the hunter leave the cave without a fear. Ever, even in the +daytime, was there too much rustling among the leaves of the near forest. +Ever when day had gone was there the sound of padded feet on the sward +about the cave's blocked entrance. Ever, at night, looking out through +the narrow space between the heaped rocks, could the two inside the cave +see fierce and blazing eyes and there would come to them the sound of +snarls and growls as the beasts of different quality met one another. Yet +the two cared little for these fearful surroundings of the darkness. They +were safe enough. In the morning there were no signs of the lurking +beasts of prey. They were somewhere near, though, and waiting, and so Ab +and Lightfoot had the strain of constant watchfulness upon them. + +It may be that because of this ever present peril the two grew closer +together. It could not well be otherwise with human beings thus bound and +isolated and facing and living upon the rest of nature, part of it +seeking always their own lives. They became a wonderfully loving couple, +as love went in that rude time. Despite the too wearing outlook imposed +upon them, because they were in so dangerous a locality, they were very +happy. Yet, one day, came a difference and a hurt. + +Oak, apparently forgotten by others, was remembered by Ab, though never +spoken of. Sometimes the man had tossed upon his bed of leaves and had +muttered in his sleep, and the one word he had most often spoken in this +troubled dreaming was the name of Oak. Early in their married life +Lightfoot, to whom the memory of the dead man, so little had she known +him, was a far less haunting thing than to her husband, had suddenly +broken a silence, saying "Where is Oak?" There was no answer, but the +look of the man of whom she had asked the question was such that she was +glad to creep from his sight unharmed. Yet once again, months later, she +forgot herself and mocked Ab when he had been boastful over some exploit +of strength and courage and when he had seemed to say that he knew no +fear. She, but to tease him, sprang up with a face convulsed and +agonized, and with staring eyes and hands opening and shutting, had cried +out "Oak! Oak!" as she had seen Ab do at night. Her mimic terror was +changed on the moment into reality. With a shudder and then with a glare +in his eyes the man leaped toward her, snatching his great ax from his +belt and swinging it above her head. The woman shrieked and shrank to the +ground. The man whirled the weapon aloft and then, his face twitching +convulsively, checked its descent. He may, in that moment, have thought +of what followed the slaying of the other who had been close to him. +There was no death done, but, thenceforth, Lightfoot never uttered aloud +the name of Oak. She became more sedate and grave of bearing. + +The episode was but a passing, though not a forgotten one in the lives of +the two. The months went by and there were tranquil hours in the cave as, +at night, the weapons were shaped, and Lightfoot boasted of the +arrowheads she had learned to make so well. Sometimes Old Mok would be +rowed up the river to them by the sturdy and venturesome Bark, who had +grown into a particularly fine youth and who now cared for nothing more +than his big brother's admiration. Between Old Mok and Lightfoot, to Ab's +great delight, grew up the warmest friendship. The old man taught the +woman more of the details of good arrow-making and all he knew of +woodcraft in all ways, and the lord of the place soon found his wife +giving opinions with an air of the utmost knowledge and authority. +Whatever came to him from her and Old Mok pleased him, and when she told +him of some of the finer points of arrow-making he stretched out his +brawny arms and laughed. + +But there came, in time, a shade upon the face of the man. The incident +of the talk of Oak may have brought to his mind again more freshly and +keenly the memory of the Fire Country. There he had found safety and +great comfort. Why should not he and Lightfoot seize upon this home and +live there? It was a wonderful place and warm, and there were forests at +hand. He became so absorbed in his own thoughts on this great theme that +the woman who was his could not understand his mood, but, one day, he +told her of what he had been thinking and of what he had resolved upon. +"I am going to the Fire Country," he said. + +Armed, this time with spear and ax and bow and arrow, and with food +abundant in the pouch of his skin garb, Ab left the cave in which +Lightfoot was now to stay most of the time, well barricaded, for that she +was to hunt afar alone in such a region was not even to be thought of. +What thoughts came to the man as he traversed again the forest paths +where he had so pondered as he once ran before can be but guessed at. +Certainly he had learned no more of Oak. + +Lightfoot, left alone in the cave, became at once a most discreet and +careful personage, for one of her buoyant and daring temperament. She had +often taken risks since her marriage, but there was always the chance of +finding within the sound of her voice her big mate, Ab, should danger +overtake her. She remained close to the cave, and when early dusk came +she lugged the stone barriers into place and built a night-fire within +the entrance. The fierce and hungry beasts of the wood came, as usual, +lurking and sniffing harshly about the entrance, and when she ventured +there and peered outside she saw the wicked and leering eyes. Alone and a +little alarmed, she became more vengeful than she would have been with +the big, careless Ab beside her. She would have sport with her bow. The +advantage of the bow is that it requires no swing of space for its work +as is demanded of the flung spear. An arrow may be sent through a mere +loophole with no probable demerit as to what it will accomplish. So the +woman brought her strongest bow--and far beyond the rough bow of Ab's +first make was the bow they now possessed--and gathered together many of +the arrows she could make so well and use so well, and, thus equipped, +went again to the cave's entrance, and through the space between the +heaped rocks of the doorway sent toward the eyes of wolf, or cave hyena, +shafts to which they were unaccustomed, but which, somehow, pierced and +could find mid-body quite as well as the cave man's spear. There was a +certain comfort in the work, though it could not affect her condition in +one way or another. It was only something of a gain to drive the eyes +away. + +And Ab reached the Fire Valley again. He found it as comfortable and +untenanted as when the leap through the ring of flame had saved his life. +He clambered up the creek and wandered along its banks, where the grass +was green because of the warmth about, and studied all the qualities of +the naturally defended valley. "I will make my home here," he said. +"Lightfoot shall come with me." + +The man returned to his cave and his lonely mate again and told her of +the Fire Country. He said that in the Fire Valley they would be safer and +happier, and told her how he had found an opening underneath the cliff +which they could soon enlarge into a cave to meet all wants. Not that a +cave was really needed in a fire valley, but they might have one if they +cared. And Lightfoot was glad of the departure. + +The pair gathered their belongings together and there was the long +journey over again which Ab had just accomplished. But it was far +different from either journey that he had made. There with him was his +wife, and he was all equipped and was to begin a new sort of life which +would, he felt, be good. Lightfoot, bearing her load gallantly, was not +less jubilant. As a matter of plain fact, though Lightfoot had been happy +in the cave in the forest, she had always recognized certain of its +disadvantages, as had, in the end, her fearless husband. It is, in a +general way, vexatious to live in a locality where, as soon as you leave +your hearthstone, you incur, at least, a chance of an exciting and +uncomfortable episode and then lodgment in the maw of some imposing +creature of the carnivora. Lightfoot was quite ready to seek with Ab the +Fire Valley of which he had so often told her. She was a plucky young +matron, but there were extremes. + +There were no adventures on the journey worth relating. The Fire Valley +was reached at nightfall and the two struggled weariedly up the rugged +path beside the creek which issued from the valley's western end. As they +reached the level Ab threw down his burden, as did Lightfoot, and as the +woman's eyes roved over the bright scene, she gave a great gasp of +delight. "It is our home!" she cried. + +They ate and slept in the light and warmth of surrounding flames, and +when the day came they began the work of enlarging what was to be their +cave. But, though they worked earnestly, they did not care so much for +the prospective shelter as they might have done. What a cave had given +was warmth and safety. Here they had both, out of doors and under the +clear sky. It was a new and glorious life. Sometimes, though happy, the +woman worked a little wearily, and, not long after the settlement of the +two in their new home, a child was born to them, a son, robust and +sturdy, who came afterward to be known as Little Mok. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +A GREAT STEP FORWARD. + +There came to Ab and Lightfoot that comfort which comes with laboring for +something desired. In all that the two did amid their pleasant +surroundings life became a greater thing because its dangers were so +lessened and its burdens lightened. But they were not long the sole human +beings in the Fire Valley. There was room for many and soon Old Mok took +up his permanent abode with them, for he was most contented when with Ab, +who seemed so like a son to him. A cave of his own was dug for Mok, +where, with his carving and his making of arrows and spearheads, he was +happy in his old age. Soon followed a hegira which made, for the first +time, a community. The whole family of Ab, One-Ear, Red-Spot and Bark and +Beech-leaf and the later ones, all came, and another cave was made, and +then old Hilltop was persuaded to follow the example and come with +Moonface and Branch and Stone Arm, his big sons, and the group, thus +established and naturally protected, feared nothing which might happen. +The effect of daily counsel together soon made itself distinctly felt, +and, under circumstances so different, many of the old ways were departed +from. Half a mile to the south the creek, which made a bend adown its +course, tumbled into the river and upon the river were wild fowl in +abundance and in its depths were fish. The forest abounded in game and +there were great nut-bearing trees and the wild fruits in their season. +Wild bees hovered over the flowers in the open places and there were +hoards of wild honey to be found in the hollows of deadened trunks or in +the high rock crevices. A great honey-gatherer, by the way, was +Lightfoot, who could climb so well, and who, furthermore, had her own +fancy for sweet things. It was either Bark or Moonface who usually +accompanied her on her expeditions, and they brought back great store of +this attractive spoil. The years passed and the community grew, not +merely in numbers, but intelligence. Though always an adviser with Old +Mok, Ab's chief male companion in adventure was the stanch Hilltop, who +was a man worth hunting with. Having two such men to lead and with a +force so strong behind them the valley people were able to cope with the +more dangerous animals venturesomely, and soon the number of these was so +decreased that even the children might venture a little way beyond the +steep barriers which had been raised where the flame circle had its gaps. +The opening to the north was closed by a high stone wall and that along +the creek defended as effectively, in a different way. They were having +good times in the valley. + +At first, the home of all was in the caves dug in the soft rock of the +ledge, for of those who came to the novel refuge there was, for a season, +none who could sleep in the bright light from the never-waning flames. +There came a time, though, when, in midsummer, Ab grumbled at the heat +within his cave and he and Lightfoot built for themselves an outside +refuge, made of a bark-covered "lean-to" of long branches propped against +the rock. Thus was the first house made. The habitation proved so +comfortable that others in the valley imitated it and soon there was a +hive of similar huts along the foot of the overhanging precipice. When +the short, sharp winter came, all did not seek their caves again, but the +huts were made warmer by the addition to their walls of bark and skins, +and cave dwelling in the valley was finally abandoned. There was one +exception. Old Mok would not leave his warm retreat, and, as long as he +lived, his rock burrow was his home. + +There came also, as recruits, young men, friends of the young men of the +valley, and the band waxed and waned, for nothing could at once change +the roving and independent habits of the cave men. But there came +children to the mothers, the broad Moonface being especially to the fore +in this regard, and a fine group of youngsters played and straggled up +and down the creek and fought valiantly together, as cave children +should. The heads of families were friendly, though independent. Usually +they lived each without any reference to anyone else, but when a great +hunt was on, or any emergency called, the band came together and fought, +for the time, under Ab's tacitly admitted leadership. And the young men +brought wives from the country round. + +The area of improvement widened. Around the Fire Village the zone of +safety spread. The roar of the great cave tiger was less often heard +within miles of the flaming torches of the valley so inhabited. There +grew into existence something almost like a system of traffic, for, from +distant parts, hitherto unknown, came other cave men, bringing skins, or +flints, or tusks for carving, which they were eager to exchange for the +new weapon and for instruction in its uses. Ab was the first chieftain, +the first to draw about him a clan of followers. The cave men were taking +their first lesson in a slight, half unconfessed obedience, that first +essential of community life where there is yet no law, not even the +unwritten law of custom. + +Running in and out among the children, sometimes pummeled by them, were a +score or two of gray, four-footed, bone-awaiting creatures, who, though +as yet uncounted in such relation, were destined to furnish a factor in +man's advancement. They were wolves and yet no longer wolves. They had +learned to cling to man, but were not yet intelligent enough or taught +enough to aid him in his hunting. They were the dogs of the future, the +four-footed things destined to become the closest friends of men of +future ages, the descendants of the four cubs Ab and Oak had taken from +the dens so many years before. + +It was humanizing for the children, this association of such a number +together, though they ran only a little less wildly than those who had +heretofore been born in the isolated caves. There came more of an average +of intelligence among them, thus associated, though but little more +attention was paid them than the cave men had afforded offspring in the +past. There had come to Ab after Little Mok two strong sons, Reindeer and +Sure-Aim, very much like him in his youth, but of them, until they +reached the age of help and hunting, he saw little. Lightfoot regarded +them far more closely, for, despite the many duties which had come upon +her, there never disappeared the mother's tenderness and watchfulness. +And so it was with Moonface, whose brood was so great, and who was like a +noisy hen with chickens. So existed the hovering mother instinct with all +the women of the valley, though then the mothers fished and hunted and +had stirring events to distract them from domesticity and close affection +almost as much as had the men. + +From this oddly formed community came a difference in certain ways of +doing certain things, which changed man's status, which made a revolution +second only to that made by the bow and for which even men of thought +have not accounted as they should have done, with the illustration before +them in our own times of what has followed so swiftly the use of steam +and, later, of electricity. Men write of and wonder at the strange gap +between what are called the Paleolithic and the Neolithic ages, that is, +between the ages when the spearheads and ax and arrowheads were of stone +chipped roughly into shape, and the age of stone even-edged and smoothly +polished. There was really no gap worth speaking of. The Paleolithic age +changed as suddenly into the Neolithic as the age of horse power changed +into that of steam and electricity, allowance being always made for the +slower transmission of a new intelligence in the days when men lived +alone and when a hundred years in the diffusion of knowledge was as a +year to-day. + +One day Ab went into Old Mok's cave grumbling. "I shot an arrow into a +great deer," he said, "and I was close and shot it with all my force, but +the beast ran before it fell and we had far to carry the meat. I tore the +arrow from him and the blood upon the shaft showed that it had not gone +half way in. I looked at the arrow and there was a jagged point uprising +from its side. How can a man drive deeply an arrow which is so rough? Are +you getting too old to make good spears and arrows, Mok?" And the man +fumed a little. Old Mok made no reply, but he thought long and deeply +after Ab had left the cave. Certainly Ab must have good arrows! Was there +any way of bettering them? And, the next day, the crippled old man might +have been seen looking for something beside the creek where it found its +exit from the valley. There were stones ground into smoothness tossed up +along the shore and the old man studied them most carefully. Many times +he had bent over a stream, watching, thinking, but this time he acted. He +noted a small sandstone block against which were rasping stones of harder +texture, and he picked this from the tumbling current and carried it to +his cave. Then, pouring a little water upon a depression in the stone's +face, he selected his best big arrowhead and began rubbing it upon the +wet sandstone. It was a weary work, for flint and sandstone are different +things and flint is much the harder, but there came a slow result. +Smoother and smoother became the chipped arrowhead, and two days +later--for all the waking hours of two days were required in the weary +grinding--Old Mok gave to Ab an arrow as smooth of surface and keen of +edge as ever flew from bow while stone was used. And not many years +passed--as years are counted in old history--before the smoothed stone +weaponhead became the common property of cave men. The time of chipped +stone had ended and that of smoothed stone had begun. There was no space +between them to be counted now. One swiftly became the other. It was a +matter of necessity, this exhibition of enterprise and sense by the early +man in the prompt general utilization of a new discovery. And not alone +in the improvements in means which came when men of the hunting type were +so gathered in a community were the bow and the smoothed implements, +though these were the greatest of the discoveries of the epoch. The +fishermen who went to the river were not content with the raft-like +devices of the aquatic Shell People and learned, in time, that hollowed +logs would float and that, with the aid of fire and flint axes, a great +log could be hollowed. And never a Phoenician ship-builder, never a +Fulton of the steamer, never a modern designer of great yachts, stood +higher in the estimation of his fellows than stood the expert in the +making of the rude boats, as uncouth in appearance as the river-horse +which sometimes upset them, but from which men could, at least, let down +their lines or dart their spears to secure the fish in the teeming +waters. And the fishermen had better spears and hooks now, for comparison +was necessarily always made among devices, and bone barbs and hooks were +whittled out from which the fish no longer often floundered. There came, +in time, the making of rude nets, plaited simply from the tough marsh +grasses, but they served the purpose and lessened somewhat the gravity of +the great food question. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +FACING THE RAIDER. + +One day, at noon, a man burst, panting, through the wide open entrance to +the Fire Valley. His coat of skin was rent and hung awry and, as all +could see when he staggered down the pathway, the flesh was torn from one +cheek and arm, and down his leg on one side was the stain of dried blood. +He was exhausted from his hurt and his run and his talk was, at first, +almost unmeaning. He was met by some of the older and wiser among those +who saw him coming and to their questions answered only by demanding Ab, +who came at once. The hard-breathing and wounded man could only utter the +words "Big tiger," when he pitched forward and became unconscious. But +his words had been enough. Well understood was it by all who listened +what a raid of the cave tiger meant, and there was a running to the +gateway and soon was raised the wall of ready stone, upbuilt so high that +even the leaping monster could not hope to reach its summit. Later the +story of the wounded, but now conscious and refreshed runner, was told +with more of detail and coherence. + +The messenger brought out what he had to tell gaspingly. He had lost much +blood and was faint, but he told how there had taken place something +awful in the village of the Shell Men. It was but little after dusk the +night before when the Shell Men were gathered together in merrymaking +after good fishing and lucky gathering of what there was to eat along the +shores of the shell fish and the egg-laying turtles and the capture of a +huge river-horse. It had been, up to midnight, one of the greatest and +most joyous meetings the Shell People had joined in for many years. They +were close-gathered and prosperous and content, and though there was +daily turmoil and risk of death upon the water and sometimes as great +risk upon the land, yet the village fringing the waters had grown, and +the midden--the "kitchen-midden" of future ages--had raised itself +steadily and now stretched far up and down the creek which was a river +branch and far backward from the creek toward the forest which ended with +the uplands. They had learned to dread the forest little, the water +people, but from the forest now came what made for each in all the +village a dread and horror. The cave tiger had been among them! + +The Shell People had gathered together upon the sward fronting their line +of shallow caves and one of them, the story-teller and singer, was +chanting aloud of the river-horse and the great spoil which was theirs, +when there was a hungry roar and the yell or shriek of all, men or women +not too stricken by fear to be unable to utter sound, and then the leap +into their midst of the cave tiger! Perhaps the story-teller's chant had +called the monster's attention to him, perhaps his attitude attracted it; +whatever may have been the influence, the tiger seized the singer and +leaped lightly into the open beyond the caves and, as lightly, with long +bounds, into the blackness of the forest beyond. + +There was a moment of awe and horror and then the spirit of the brave +Shell Men asserted itself. There was grasping of weapons and an +outpouring in pursuit of the devourer. Easy to follow was the trail, for +a monster beast carrying a man cannot drop lightly in his leaps. There +was a brief mile or two traversed, though hours were consumed in the +search, and then, as morn was breaking, the seekers came upon what was +left of the singer. It was not much and it lay across the forest pathway, +for the cave tiger did not deign to hide his prey. There came a half +moaning growl from the forest. That growl meant lurking death. Then the +seekers fled. There was consultation and a resolve to ask for help. So +the runner, the man stricken down by a casual stroke in the tiger's rush, +but bravest among his tribe, had come to the Fire Valley. + +To the panting stranger Ab had not much to say. He saw to it that the man +was refreshed and cared for and that the deep scars along his side were +dressed after the cave man's fashion. But through the night which +followed the great cave leader pondered deeply. Why should men thus live +and dread the cave tiger? Surely men were wiser than any beast! This one +monster must, anyhow, be slain! + +But little it mattered to all surrounding nature that the strong man in +the Fire Valley had resolved upon the death of the cave tiger. The tiger +was yet alive! There was a difference in the pulse of all the woodland. +There was a hush throughout the forest. The word, somehow, went to every +nerve of all the world of beasts, "Sabre-Tooth is here!" Even the huge +cave bear shuffled aside as there came to him the scent of the invader. +The aurochs and the urus, the towering elk, the reindeer and the lesser +horned and antlered things fled wildly as the tainted air brought to them +the tale of impending murder. Only the huge rhinoceros and mammoth stood +their ground, and even these were terror-stricken with regard for their +guarded young whenever the tiger neared them. The rhinoceros stood then, +fierce-fronted and dangerous, its offspring hovering by its flanks, and +the mammoths gathered in a ring encircling their calves and presenting an +outward range of tusks to meet the hovering devourer. The dread was all +about. The forest became seemingly nearly lifeless. There was less +barking and yelping, less reckless playfulness of wild creatures, less +rustling of the leaves and pattering along the forest paths. There was +fear and quiet, for Sabre-Tooth had come! + +The runner, refreshed and strengthened by food and sleep, appeared before +Ab in the morning and told his story more in detail and got in return the +short answer: "We will go with you and help you and your people. Tigers +must be killed!" + +Rarely before had man gone out voluntarily to hunt the great cave tiger. +He had, sometimes in awful strait, defended himself against the monster +as best he could, but to seek the encounter where the odds were so great +against him was an ugly task. Now the man-slayer was to be the pursued +instead of the pursuer. It required courage. The vengeful wounded man +looked upon Ab with a grim, admiring regard. "You fear not?" he said. + +There was bustling in the valley and soon a stalwart dozen men were armed +with bow and spear and the journey was taken up toward the Shell Men's +home. The village was reached at mid-day and as the little troop emerged +from the forest the death wail fell upon their ears. "The tiger has come +again!" exclaimed the runner. + +It was true. The tiger had come again! Once more with his stunning roar +he had swept through the village and had taken another victim, a woman, +the wife of one of the head men. Too benumbed by fear, this time, to act +at once, the Shell Men had not pursued the great brute into the darkness. +They had but ventured out in the morning and followed the trail and found +that the tiger had carried the woman in very nearly the same direction as +he had borne the man and that what remained from his gorging of the night +lay where his earlier feast had been. It was the first tragedy almost +repeated. + +The little group of Fire Valley folk entered the village and were +received with shouts from the men, while from the throats of the women +still rose the death wail. There were more people about the huts than Ab +had ever seen there and he recognized at once among the group many of the +cave men from the East, strong people of his own kind. As the wounded +runner had gone to the Fire Valley, so another had been sent to the East, +to call upon another group for aid, and the Eastern cave people, under +the leadership of a huge, swarthy man called Boarface, had come to learn +what the strait was and to decide upon what degree of help they could +afford to give. Between these Eastern and the Western cave men there was +a certain coldness. There was no open enmity, though at some time in the +past there had been family battles and memories of feuds were still +existent. But Ab and Boarface met genially and there was not a trace of +difference now. Boarface joined readily in the council which was held and +decided that he would aid in the desperate hunt, and certainly his aid +was not to be despised when his followers were looked upon. They were a +stalwart lot. + +The way was taken by the gathered fighting men toward where, across the +forest path, lay part of a woman. As the place was neared the band +gathered close together and there were outpointing spears, just as the +mammoths' tusks outpointed when the beasts guarded their young from the +thing now hunted. But there came no attack and no sound from the forest. +The tiger must be sleeping. Beneath a huge tree bordering the pathway lay +what remained of the woman's body. Fifty feet above, and almost directly +over this dreadful remnant of humanity, shot out a branch as thick as a +man's body. There was consultation among the hunters and in this Ab took +the lead, while Boarface and the Shell Men who had come to help assented +readily. No need existed for the risk of an open fight with this great +beast. Craft must be used and Ab gave forth his swift commands. + +The Fire Valley leader had seen to it that his company had brought what +he needed in his effort to kill the tiger. There were two great tanned, +tough urus hides. There were lengths of rhinoceros hide, cut thickly, +which would endure a strain of more than the weight of ten brawny men. +There was one spear, with a shaft of ash wood at least fifteen feet in +length and as thick as a man's wrist. Its head was a blade of hardest +flint, but the spear was too heavy for a man's hurling. It had been made +for another use. + +There was little hesitation in what was done, for Ab knew well the +quality of the work he had in hand. He unfolded his plan briefly and then +he himself climbed to the treetop and out upon the limb, carrying with +him the knotted strip of rhinoceros hide. In the pouch of his skin +garment were pebbles. He reached a place on the big limb overhanging the +path and dropped a pebble. It struck the earth a yard or two away from +what remained of the woman's body and he shouted to those below to drag +the mangled body to the spot where the pebble had hit the earth. They +were about to do so when from the forest on one side of the path came a +roar, so appalling in every way that there was no thought of anything +among most of the workers save of sudden flight. The tiger was in the +wood and very near and a scent had reached him. There was a flight which +left upon the ground beneath the tree branches only old Hilltop and the +rough Boarface and some dozen sturdy followers, these about equally +divided between the East and the West men of the hills. There was swift +and sharp work then. + +The tiger might come at any moment, and that meant death to one at least. +But those who remained were brave men and they had come far to encompass +this tiger's ending. They dragged what remained of the tiger's prey to +where the pebble had hit the earth. Ab, clinging and raging aloft, afar +out upon the limb, shouted to Hilltop to bring him the spear and the urus +skins, and soon the sturdy old man was beside him. Then, about two deep +notches in the huge shaft, thongs were soon tied strongly, and just below +its middle were attached the bag-shaped urus skins. Near its end the +rhinoceros thong was knotted and then it was left hanging from the limb +supported by this strong rope, while, three-fourths of the way down its +length, dangled on each side the two empty bags of hide. Short orders +were given, and, directed by Boarface, one man after another climbed the +tree, each with a weight of stones carried in his pouch, and each +delivering his load to old Hilltop, who, lying well out upon the limb, +passed the stones to Ab, who placed them in the skin pouches on either +side the suspended and threatening spear. The big skin pouches on either +side were filling rapidly, when there came from the forest another roar, +nearer and more appalling than before, and some of the workers below fled +panic-stricken. Ab shouted and frothed and foamed as the men ran. Old +Hilltop slid down the tree, ax in hand, followed by the dark Boarface, +and one or two of the men below were captured and made to work again. +Soon all the work which Ab had in mind was done. Above the path, just +over what remained of the woman, hung the great spear, weighted with half +a thousand pounds of stone and sure to reach its mark should the tiger +seek its prey again. The branch was broad and the line of rhinoceros skin +taut, and Ab's flint knife was keen of edge. Only courage and calmness +were needed in the dread presence of the monster of the time. Neither the +swarthy Boarface nor the gaunt Hilltop wanted to leave him, but Ab forced +them away. + +Not long to wait had the cave man, but the men who had been with him were +already distant. The shadows were growing long now, but the light was +still from the sunshine of the early afternoon. The man lying along the +limb, knife in hand, could hear no sound save the soft swish of leaves +against each other as the breeze of later day pushed its way through the +forest, or the alarmed cries of knowing birds who saw on the ground +beneath them a huge thing slip along with scarce a sound from the impact +of his fearfully clawed but padded feet as he sought the meal he had +prepared for himself. The great beast was approaching. The great man +aloft was waiting. + +Into the open along the path came the tiger, and Ab, gripping the limb +more firmly, looked down upon the thing so closely and in daylight for +the first time in his life. Ab was certainly brave, and he was calm and +wise and thinking beyond his time, but when he saw plainly this beast +which had slipped so easily and silently from the forest, safe though he +was upon his perch, he was more than startled. The thing was so huge and +with an aspect so terrible to look upon! + +The great cat's head moved slowly from side to side; the baleful eyes +blazed up and down the pathway and the tawny muzzle was lifted to catch +what burden there might be on the air. The beast seemed satisfied, +emerging fairly into the sunlight. Immense of size but with the graceful +lankness of the tigers of to-day, Sabre-Tooth somewhat resembled them, +though, beside him, the largest inmate of the Indian jungle would appear +but puny. The creature Ab looked upon that day so long ago was beautiful, +in his way. He was beautiful as is the peacock or the banded rattlesnake. +There were color contrasts and fine blendings. The stripes upon him were +wonderfully rich, and as he came creeping toward the body, he was as +splendid as he was dreadful. + +With every nerve strained, but with his first impulse of something like +terror gone, Ab watched the devourer beneath him while his sharp flint +knife, hard gripped, bore lightly against the taut rhinoceros-hide rope. +The tiger began his ghastly meal but was not quite beneath the suspended +spear. Then came some distant sound in the forest and he raised his head +and shifted his position. + +[Illustration: UPON THE STRONG SHAFT OF ASH THE MONSTER WAS IMPALED] + +He was fairly under the spear now. The knife pressed firmly against the +rawhide was drawn back and forth noiselessly but with effectiveness. +Suddenly the last tissue parted and the enormously weighted spear fell +like a lightning-stroke. The broad flint head struck the tiger fairly +between the shoulders, and, impelled by such a weight, passed through his +huge body as if it had met no obstacle. Upon the strong shaft of ash the +monster was impaled. There echoed and reechoed through the forest a roar +so fearful that even the hunters whom Ab had sent far away from the scene +of the tragedy clambered to the trees for refuge. The struggles of the +pierced brute were tremendous beyond description, but no strength could +avail it now; it had received its death wound and soon the great tiger +lay still, as harmless as the squirrel, frightened and hidden in his +nest. In wild triumph Ab slid to the ground and then the long cry to +summon his party went echoing through the wood. When the others found him +he had withdrawn the spear and was already engaged, flint knife in hand, +in stripping from the huge body the glorious robe it wore. + +There was excitement and rejoicing. The terror had been slain! The Shell +People were frantic in their exultation. Meanwhile Ab had called upon his +own people to assist him and the wonderful skin of the tiger was soon +stretched out upon the ground, a glorious possession for a cave man. + +"I will have half of it," declared Boarface, and he and Ab faced each +other menacingly. "It shall not be cut," was the fierce retort. "It is +mine. I killed the tiger!" + +Strong hands gripped stone axes and there was chance of deadly fray then +and there, but the Shell People interfered and the Shell People excelled +in number, and were a potent influence for peace. Ab carried away the +splendid trophy, but as Boarface and his men departed, there were black +faces and threatening words. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +LITTLE MOK. + +Among all the children of Ab--and remarkable it was for the age--the best +loved was Little Mok, the eldest son. When the child, strong and joyous, +was scarcely two years old, he fell from a ledge off the cliff where he +had climbed to play, and both his legs were broken. Strange to say he +survived the accident in that time when the law of the survival of the +fittest was almost invariable in its sternest and most purely physical +demonstration. The mother love of Lightfoot warded off the last pitiless +blow of nature, although the child, a hopeless cripple, never after +walked. The name Little Mok was naturally given him, and before long the +child had won the heart, as well as the name, of the limping old maker of +axes, spearheads and arrows. + +The closer ties of family life, as we know them now, existed but in their +outlines to the cave man. The man and woman were faithful to each other +with the fidelity of the higher animals and their children were cared for +with rough tenderness in their infancy. The time of absolute dependence +was made very short, though, and children very early were required to +find some of their own food, and taught by necessity to protect +themselves. But Little Mok, unable to take up for himself the burden of +an independent existence, was not slain nor left to die of neglect as +might have been another child thus crippled in the time in which he +lived. He, once spared, grew into the wild hearts of those closest to him +and became the guarded and cherished one of the rude home of Ab and +Lightfoot, and to him was thus given the continuous love and care which +the strong-limbed boys and girls of the family lost and never missed. + +It was a strange thing for the time. The child had qualities other than +the negative ones of helplessness and weakness with which to bind to him +the hearts of those around him, but the primary fact of his entire +dependence upon them was what made him the center of the little circle of +untaught, untamed cave people who lived in the Fire Valley. He may have +been the first child ever so cherished from such impulse. + +From his mother the child inherited a joyous disposition which nothing +could subdue. Often on the return home from some little expedition on +which it had been practicable to take him, sitting on Lightfoot's +shoulder, or on the still stronger arm of old One-Ear, his silent, +somewhat brooding grandfather, the little brown boy made the woods ring +with shrill bird calls, or the mimicry of animals, and ever his laughter +filled the spaces in between these sounds. Other children flocked around +the merry youngster, seeking to emulate his play of voice and the +oldsters smiled as they saw and heard the joyous confusion about the tiny +reveler. The excursions to the river were Little Mok's chief delight from +his early childhood. He entered into the preparations for them with a +zest and keen enjoyment born of the presence of an adventurous spirit in +a maimed body, and when the fishing party left the Fire Camp it was +incomplete if Little Mok was not carried lightly at the van, the life and +joy of the occasion. + +No one ever forgot the day when Little Mok, then about six years old, +caught his first fish. His joy and pride infected all as he exhibited his +prize and boasted of what he would catch in the river next, and when, on +the return, Old Mok saluted him as the "Great Fisherman," the elf's +elation became too great for any expression. His little chest heaved, his +eyes flashed, and then he wriggled from Lightfoot's arms into the lap of +Old Mok, snuggled down into the old man's furs and hid his face there; +and the two understood each other. + +It was soon after this great event of the first fish-catching that +Red-Spot, Ab's mother, died. She had never quite adapted herself to the +new life in the Fire Valley, and after a time she began to grow old very +fast. At last a fever attacked her and the end of her patient, busy life +came. After her death One-Ear was much in Old Mok's cave, the two had so +long been friends. There with them the crippled boy was often to be +found. He was not always gay and joyous. Sometimes he lay for days on his +bed of leaves at home, in weakness and pain, silent and unlike himself. +Then when Lightfoot's care had given him back a little strength, he would +beg to be taken to Old Mok's cave. There he could sleep, he said, away +from the noise and the lights of the outside world, and finally he +claimed and was allowed a nest of his own in the warmest and darkest nook +of Old Mok's den, where he slept every night, and sometimes a good part +of the day, when one of his times of pain and weakness was upon him. Here +during many a long hour of work, experiment and argument, the wide eyes +and quick ears of Little Mok saw and heard, while Ab, Mok and One-Ear +bent over their work at arrowhead or spear point, and talked of what +might be done to improve the weapons upon which so much depended. Here, +when no one else remained in the weary darkness of night and the half +light of stormy days Old Mok beguiled the time with stories, and +sometimes in a hoarse voice even attempted to chant to his little hearer +snatches of the wild singing tales of the Shell People, for the Shell +People had a sort of story song. + +Once, when Lightfoot sat by Old Mok's fire, she told them of the time +when she and Ab found themselves outside their cave, unarmed, with a bear +to be eaten through before they could get into their door, and Little Mok +surprised his mother and Old Mok by an outburst of laughter at the tale. +He had a glimmering of humor, and saw the droll side of the adventure, a +view which had not occurred to Lightfoot, nor to Ab. The little lad, of +the world, yet not in it, saw vaguely the surprises, lights and shades +and contrasts of existence, and sometimes they made him laugh. The laugh +of the cave man was not a common event, and when it came was likely to be +sober and sardonic, at least it was so when not simply an evidence of +rude health and high animal spirits. Humor is one of the latest, as it is +one of the most precious, grains shaken out of Time's hour-glass, but +Little Mok somehow caught a tiny bit of the rainbow gift, long before its +time in the world, and soon, with him, it was to disappear for centuries +to come. + +One day when Little Mok was brought back from an expedition to the river, +he told Old Mok how he had sat long on the bank, too tired to fish, and +had just rested and feasted his eyes on the wood, the stream, the small +darting creatures in it, the birds, and the animals which came to drink. +Describing a herd of reindeer which had passed near him, Little Mok took +up a piece of Old Mok's red chalkstone and on the wall of the cave drew a +picture of the animal. The veteran stared in surprise. The picture was +wonderfully life-like in grasp and detail. The child owned that great +gift, the memory of sight, and his hand was cunning. Encouraged by his +success, the boy drew on, delighting Old Mok with his singular fidelity +and skill. Then came hours and days of sketching and etching in the old +man's cave. The master was delighted. He brought out from their hiding +places his choicest pieces of mammoth tusk or teeth of the river-horse +for Little Mok's etchings and carvings. And, as time passed, the young +artist excelled the old one, and became the pride and boast of his friend +and teacher. Sometimes the little lad would work far into the night, for +he could not pause when he had begun a thing until it was complete--but +then he would sleep in his warm nest until noon the next day, crawling +out to cook a bit of meat for himself at the nearest fire, or sharing Old +Mok's meal, as was more convenient. + +While everything else in the Fire Valley was growing, developing and +flourishing, Little Mok's frail body had ever grown but slowly, and about +the beginning of his twelfth year there appeared a change in him. He +became permanently weak and grew more and more helpless day by day. His +cherished excursions to the river, even his little journeys on old +One-Ear's strong arm to the cliff top, from whence he could see the whole +world at once, had all to be abandoned. + +When the winter snows began to whirl in the air Little Mok was lying +quietly on his bed, his great eyes looking wistfully up at Lightfoot, who +in vain taxed her limited skill and resources to tempt him to eat and +become more sturdy. She hovered over him like a distressed mother bird +over its youngling fallen from the nest, but, with all her efforts, she +could not bring back even his usual slight measure of health and strength +to the poor Little Mok. Ab came sometimes and looked sadly at the two and +then walked moodily away, a great weight on his breast. Old Mok was +always at work, and yet always ready to give Little Mok water or turn his +weary little frame on its rude bed, or spread the furs over the wasted +body, and always Lightfoot waited and hoped and feared. + +And at last Little Mok died, and was buried under the stones, and the +snow fell over the lonely cairn under the fir trees outside the Fire +Valley where his grave was made. + +Lightfoot was silent and sad, and could not smile nor laugh any more. She +longed for Little Mok, and did not eat or sleep. One night Ab, trying to +comfort her, said, "You will see him again." + +"What do you mean?" cried Lightfoot. And Ab only answered, "You will see +him; he will come at night. Go to sleep, and you will see him." + +But Lightfoot could not sleep yet and for many a night her eyes closed +only when extreme fatigue compelled sleep toward the morning. + +And at last, after many days and nights, Lightfoot, when asleep, saw +Little Mok. Just as in life, she saw him, with all his familiar looks and +motions. But he did not stay long. And again and again she saw him, and +it comforted her somewhat because he smiled. There had come to her such a +heartache about him, lying out there under the snow and stones, with no +one to care for him, that the smile warmed her heavy heart and she told +Ab that she had seen Little Mok, only whispering it to him--for it was +not well, she knew, to talk about such things--and she whispered to Ab, +too, her anguish that Little Mok only came at night, and never when it +was day, but she did not complain. She only said: "I want to see him in +the daytime." + +And Ab could think of nothing to say. But that made him think more and +more. He felt drawn closer to Lightfoot, his wife, no longer a young +girl, but the mother of Little Mok, who was dead, and of all his +children. + +In his mind arose, vaguely obscure, yet persistent, the idea that brute +strength and vigor, keen senses and reckless bravery were not, after all, +the sole qualities that make and influence men. Old Mok, crippled and +disabled for the hunt and defense, was nevertheless a power not to be +despised, and Little Mok, the helpless child, had been still strong +enough to win and keep the love of all the stalwart and rough cave +people. Ab was sorry for Lightfoot. When in the spring the forlorn mother +held in her arms a baby girl a little brightness came into her eyes +again, and Ab, seeing this, was glad, but neither Ab nor Lightfoot ever +forgot their eldest and dearest, Little Mok. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +THE BATTLE OF THE BARRIERS. + +While Ab had been occupied by home affairs trouble for him and his people +had been brewing. By no means unknown to each other before the tiger hunt +were Ab and Boarface. They had hunted together and once Boarface, with +half a dozen companions, had visited the Fire Valley and had noted its +many attractions and advantages. Now Boarface had gone away angry and +muttering, and he was not a man to be thought of lightly. His rage over +the memory of Ab's trophy did not decrease with the return to his own +region. Why should this cave man of the West have sole possession of that +valley, which was warm and green throughout the winter and where the wild +beasts could not enter? Why had he, this Ab, been allowed to go away with +all the tiger's skin? Brooding enlarged into resolve and Boarface +gathered together his relations and adherents. "Let us go and take the +Fire Valley of Ab," he said to them, and, gradually, though objections +were made to the undertaking of an enterprise so fraught with danger, the +listeners were persuaded. + +"There are other fires far down the river," said one old man. "Let us go +there, if it is fire we most need, and so we will not disturb nor anger +Ab, who has lived in his valley for many years. Why battle with Ab and +all his people?" + +But Boarface laughed aloud: "There are many other earth fires," he said. +"I know them well, but there is no other fire which chances to make a +flaming fence about a valley close to the great rocks, and which has +water within the space it surrounds and which makes a wall against all +the wild beasts. We will fight and win the valley of Ab." + +And so they were led into the venture. They sought, too, the aid of the +Shell People in this raid, but were not successful. The Shell People were +not unfriendly to those of the Fire Valley, and had not Ab been really +the one to kill the tiger? Besides, it was not wise for the waterside +dwellers to engage in any controversy between the forest factions, for +the hill people had memories and heavy axes. A few of the younger and +more adventurous joined the force of Boarface, but the alliance had no +tribal sanction. Still, the force of the swarthy leader of the Eastern +cave men was by no means insignificant. It contained good fighting men, +and, when runners had gone far and wide in the Eastern country, there +were gathered nearly ten score of hunters who could throw the spear or +wield the ax and who were not fearful of their lives. The band led by +Boarface started for the Fire Country, intending to surprise the people +in the valley. They moved swiftly, but not so swiftly as a fleet young +man from the Shell People who preceded them. He was sent by the elders a +day before the time fixed for the assault, and so Ab learned all about +the intended raid. Then went forth runners from the valley; then the +matron Lightfoot's eyes became fiery, since Ab was threatened; then old +Hilltop looked carefully over his spears, and poised thoughtfully his +great stone ax; then Moonface smote her children and gathered together +certain weapons, and then Old Mok went into his cave and stayed there, +working at none knew what. + +They came from all about, the Western cave men, for never in the valley +had food or shelter been refused to any and the Eastern cave men were not +loved. Many a quarrel over game had taken place between the raging +hunters of the different tribes, and many a bloody single-handed +encounter had come in the depths of the forest. The band was not a large +one, the Eastern men being far more numerous, but the outlook was not as +fine as it might be for the advancing Boarface. The force assembled +inside the valley was, in point of numbers, but little more than half his +own, but it was entrenched and well-armed, and there were those among the +defenders whom it was not well to meet in fight. But Boarface was +confident and was not dismayed when his force crept into the open only to +find the ordinary valley entrance barred and all preparations made for +giving him a welcome of the warmer sort. There was what could not be +thoroughly barricaded in so brief a time, the entrance where the brook +issued at the west. This pass must be forced, for the straight, uprising +wall between the flames and across the opening to the north was something +relatively unassailable. It was too narrow and too high and sheer and +there were too many holes in the wall through which could be sent those +piercing arrows which the Western cave men knew how to use so well. The +battle must be up along the bed of the little creek. The water was low at +this season, so low that a man might wade easily anywhere, and there had +been erected only a slight barrier, enough to keep wild beasts away, for +Ab had never thought of invasion by human beings. The creek tumbled +downward, through passages, between straight-sided, ruggedly built stone +heaps, with spaces between wide enough to admit a man, but not any great +beast of prey. There was no place where, by a man, the wall could not +easily be mounted and, above, there was no really good place of vantage +for the defenders. + +So the invading force, concealment of action being no longer necessary, +ranged themselves along the banks of the creek to the west of the valley +and prepared for a rush. They had certain chances in their favor. They +were strong men, who knew how to use their weapons well, and they were in +numbers almost as two to one. Meanwhile, inside the valley, where the +approach and plans of the enemy had been seen and understood, there had +gone on swiftly, under Ab's stern direction, such preparation for the +fray as seemed most adequate with the means at hand. + +The great advantage possessed was that the defenders, on firm footing +themselves, could meet men climbing, and so, a little further up the +creek than the beast-opposing wall, had been thrown up what was little +more than a rude platform of rock, wide and with a broad expanse of top, +on which all the valley's force might cluster in an emergency. Upon this +the people were to gather, defending the first pass, if they could, by +flights of spears and arrows and here, at the end, to win or lose. This +was the general preparation for the onslaught, but there had been +precautions taken more personal and more involving the course of the most +important of the people of the valley. + +At the left of the gorge, where must come the invaders, the rock rose +sheerly and at one place extended outward a shelf, high up, but reached +easily from the Fire Valley side. There were consultations between Ab and +the angry and anxious and almost tearful Lightfoot. That charming lady, +now easily the best archer of the tribe, had developed at once into a +fighting creature and now demanded that her place be assigned to her. +With her own bow, and with arrows in quantity, it was decided that she +should occupy the ledge and do all she could. Upon the ledge was +comparative safety in the fray, and Ab directed that she should go there. +Old Hilltop said but little. It was understood, almost as a matter of +course, that he would be upon the barrier and there face, with Ab, the +greatest issue. The old man was by no means unsatisfactory to look upon +as he moved silently about and got ready the weapons he might have to +use. Gaunt, strong-muscled and resolute, he was worthy of admiration. +Ever following him with her eyes, when not engaged in the chastisement of +one of her swart brood, was Moonface, for Moonface had long since learned +to regard her grizzled lord with love as well as much respect. + +There were other good fighting men and other women beside these mentioned +who would do their best, but these few were the dominant figures. +Meanwhile, Boarface and his strong band had decided upon their plan of +attack and would soon rush up the bed of the shallow stream with all the +bravery and ferocity of those who were accustomed to face death lightly +and to seize that which they wanted. + +The invaders came clambering up the creek's course, openly and with +menacing and defiant shouts, for any concealment was now out of the +question. They had but few bows and could, under the conditions, send no +arrow flight which would be of avail, but they had thews and sinews and +spears and axes. As they came with such rush as men might make up a +tumbling waterway with slipping pebbles beneath the feet and forced +themselves one by one between the heaped stone piles and fairly in front +of the barrier there was a discharge of arrows and more than one man, +impaled by a stone-headed shaft, fell, to dabble feebly in the water, and +did not rise again. But there came a time in the fight when the bow must +be abandoned. + +The assault was good and the demeanor of the men behind the barrier was +good as well. Not more gallant was one group than the other for there +were splendid fighters in both ranks. The boasted short sword of the +Romans, in times effeminate, as compared with these, afforded not in its +wielding a greater test of personal courage than the handling of the +flint-headed spear or the stone knife or chipped ax. There, all along the +barrier, was the real grappling of man and man, with further existence as +the issue. + +The invaders, losing many of their number, for arrows flew steadily and a +mass so large could not easily be missed even by the most bungling of +those strong archers, swept upward to the barrier and then was a +muscular, deadly tumult worth the seeing. To the south and nearest the +side where Lightfoot was perched with her bow and great bunch of arrows +Ab stood in front, while to his right and near the other end of the rude +stone rampart was stationed old Hilltop, and he hurled his spears and +slew men as they came. The fight became simply a death struggle, with the +advantage of position upon one side and of numbers on the other. And Ab +and Boarface were each seeking the other. + +So the struggle lasted for a long half hour, and when it ended there were +dead and dying men upon the barrier, while the waters of the creek were +reddened by the blood of the slain assailants. The assault now ebbed a +little. Neither Ab nor Hilltop had been injured in the struggle. As the +invaders pressed close Ab had noted the whish of an arrow now and then +and the hurt to one pressing him closely, and old Hilltop had heard the +wild cries of a woman who hovered in his rear and hurled stones in the +faces of those who strove to reach him. And now there came a lull. + +Boarface had recognized the futility of scaling, under such conditions, a +steep so well defended and had thought of a better way to gain his end +and crush Ab and his people. He had heard the story of Ab's first advent +into the valley when, chased by the wolves, he leaped through the flame, +and there came an inspiration to him! What one man had done others could +do, and, with picked warriors of his band, he made a swift detour, while, +at the same time, the main body rushed desperately upon the barrier +again. + +What had been good fighting before was better now. Lives were lost, and +soon all arrows were spent and all spears thrown, and then came but the +dull clashing of stone axes. Ab raged up and down, and, ever in the +front, faced the oncoming foe and slew as could slay the strong and +utterly desperate. More than once his life was but a toy of chance as men +sprang toward him, two or three together, but ever at such moment there +sang an arrow by his head and one of his assailants, pierced in throat or +body, fell back blindly, hampering his companions, whose heads Ab's great +ax was seeking fiercely. And, all the time, nearer the northern end of +the barrier, old Hilltop fought serenely and dreadfully. There were many +dead men in the pools of the creek between the barrier and the entrance +to the valley. And about Ab ever sang the arrows from the rocky shelf. + +There was wild clamor, the clash of weapons and the shouting of +battle-crazed men but there was not enough to drown the sound of a scream +which rose piercingly above the din. Ab recognized the voice of Lightfoot +and raised his eyes to see the woman, regardless of her own safety, +standing upright and pointing up the valley. He knew that something +meaning life and death was happening and that he must go. He leaped +backward and a huge Western cave man sprang to his place, to serve as +best he could. + +Not a moment too soon had that shrill cry reached the ears of the +fighting man. He ran backward, shouting to a score of his people to +follow him as he ran, and in an instant recognized that he had been +outwitted, at least for the moment, by the vengeful Boarface. As he +rushed to the east toward the wall of flame he saw a dark form pass +through its crest in a flying leap. There were others he knew would +follow. His own feat of long ago was being repeated by Boarface and his +chosen group of best men! + +It was not Boarface who leaped and it was hard for a gallant youth of the +Eastern cave men that he had strength and daring and had dashed ahead in +the assault, for he had scarcely touched the ground when there sank +deeply into his head a stone ax, impelled by the strongest arm of all +that region, and he was no more among things alive. Ab had reached the +fire wall with the speed of a great runner while, close behind him, came +his eager following. + +The forces could see each other clearly enough now, and those on the +outside outnumbered those on the inside again by two to one. But those +leaping the flames could not alight poised ready for a blow, and there +were adroit and vengeful axmen awaiting them. There was a momentary pause +for planning among the assailants, and then it was that Ab fumed over his +own lack of foresight. His chosen band who were with him now were all +bowmen, and about the shoulder and chest of each was still slung his +weapon, but there were no more arrows. Each quiverful had been shot away +early in the fight and then had come the spear and ax play. But what a +chance for arrows now, with that threatening band preparing for the rush +and leap together, and, while out of reach of spear or ax, within easy +reach of the singing little shafts! Oh, for the shafts now, those slender +barbed things which were hurled in his new way! And, even as he thus +raged, there came a feeble shout from down the valley behind him and he +saw something very good! + +Limping, with effort, but resolutely forward, was a bent old man, bearing +encircled within his long arms a burden which Ab himself could not have +carried for any distance without stress and labored breathing. The lean +old Mok's arms were locked about a monster sheaf of straight flint-headed +arrows, a sheaf greater in size than ever man had looked upon before. The +crippled veteran had not been idle in his cave. He had worked upon the +store of shafts and flintheads he had accumulated, and here was the +result in a great emergency! + +The old man cast his sheaf upon the ground and then sank down, somewhat +totteringly, beside it. There needed no shout of command from Ab to tell +those about him what to do. There was one combined yell of sudden +exultation, a rush together for the shafts and a swift filling of empty +quivers. It was but the work of a moment or two. Then something promptly +happened. The great fellows, though acting without orders, shot almost +"all together," as the later English archers did, and so close just +across the flame wall was the opposing group that the meanest archer in +all the lot could scarcely fail to reach a living target, and stronger +arms drew back those arrows than were the arms of those who drew +bowstring in the battles of mediaeval history. With the first deadly +flight came a scattering outside and men lay tossing upon the ground in +their death agony. There was no cessation to the shot, though Boarface +sought fiercely to rally his followers, until all had fled beyond the +range of the bowmen. Upon the ground were so many dead that the numbers +of the two forces were now more nearly equal. But Boarface had brave +followers. They ranged themselves together at a safe distance and then +started for the flame wall with a rush, to leap it all together. + +There was another arrow-flight as the onslaught came, and more men went +down, but the charge could not be stopped. Over the low flame-crests shot +a great mass of bodies, there to meet that which was not good for them. +The struggle was swift and deadly, but the forces were almost evenly +matched now and the insiders had the advantage. Boarface and Ab met face +to face in the melee and each leaped toward the other with a yell. There +was to be a fight which must be excellent, for two strong leaders were +meeting and there were many lives at stake. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +OLD HILLTOP'S LAST STRUGGLE. + +Even as he leaped the flames, the desperate Boarface hurled at Ab a +fragment of stone, which was a thing to be wisely dodged, and the invader +was fairly on his feet and in position to face his adversary as the axes +came together. More active, more powerful, it may be, and certainly more +intelligent, was Ab than Boarface, but the leader of the assailants had +been a raider from early youth and knew how to take advantage. In those +fierce days to attain the death of an enemy, in any way, was the +practical end sought in a conflict. Close behind Boarface had leaped a +youth to whom the leader had given his commands before the onrush and +who, as he found his feet upon the valley's sward, sought, not an +adversary face to face, but circled about the two champions, seeking only +to get behind the leaping Ab while Boarface occupied his sole attention. +The young man bore a great stone-headed club, a dreadful weapon in such +hands as his. The men struck furiously and flakes spun from the heavy +axes, but Boarface was being slowly driven back when there descended upon +Ab's shoulder a blow which swerved him and would certainly have felled a +man with less heaped brawn to meet the impact. At the same instant +Boarface made a fierce downward stroke and Ab leaped aside without +parrying or returning it, for his arm was numbed. Another such blow from +the new assailant and his life was lost, yet he dare not turn. That would +be his death. And now Boarface rushed in again and as the axes came +together called to his henchman to strike more surely. + +And just then, just as it seemed to Ab the end was near, he heard behind +him the sharp twang of the bowstring which had sounded so sweetly at the +valley's other end and, with a groan, there pitched down upon the sward +beside him a writhing man whose legs drew back and forth in agony and who +had been pierced by an arrow shot fiercely and closely from behind and +driven in between his shoulder blades. He knew what it must mean. The arm +which had drawn that arrow to its head was that of a slight, strong +creature who was not a man. Lightfoot, wild with love and anxiety, had +shot past Old Mok just as he laid down his bundle of arrows, and, when +she saw her husband's peril, had leaped forward with arrow upon string +and slain his latest assailant in the nick of time. Now, with arrow +notched again and a face ablaze with murderous helpfulness, she hovered +near, intent only upon sending a second shaft into the breast of +Boarface. + +But there was no need. Unhampered now, Ab rushed in upon his enemy and +rained such blows as only a giant could have parried. Boarface fought +desperately, but it was only man to man, and he was not the equal of the +maddened one before him. His ax flew from his hand as his wrist was +broken by Ab's descending weapon, and the next moment he fell limply and +hardly moved, for a second blow had sunk the stone weapon so deeply in +his head that the haft was hidden in his long hair. + +It was all over in a moment now. As Ab turned with a shout of triumph +there was a swift end to the little battle. There were brief encounters +here and there, but the Eastern men were leaderless and less +well-equipped than their foes, and though they fought as desperately as +cornered wolves, there was no hope for them. Three escaped. They fled +wildly toward the flame and leaped over and through its flickering yellow +crest and there was no pursuit. It was not a time for besieged men to be +seeking useless vengeance. There came wild yells from the lower end of +the valley where the greater fight was on. With a cry Ab gathered his men +together and the victorious band ran toward the barrier again, there with +overwhelming force to end the struggle. Ever, in later years, did Ab +regret that his fight with Boarface had not ended sooner. To save an old +hero he had come too late. + +Boarface, when taking with him a strong band to the upper end of the +valley, had still left a supposably overwhelming force to fight its way +up and over the barrier. Ab away from the scene of struggle, old Hilltop +assumed command. He was a fit man for such death-facing steadfastness as +was here required. + +Never had Ab been able to persuade Lightfoot's father to use or even try +the new weapon, the bow and arrow. He had no tender feeling toward modern +innovations. He had a clear eye and strong arm, and the ax and spear were +good enough for him! He recognized Ab's great qualities, but there were +some things that even a well-regarded son-in-law could not impose upon +any elder family male. Among these was this twanging bow with its light +shaft, better fitted for a child's plaything than for real work among +men. As for him, give him a heavy spear, with the blade well set in +thongs, or a heavy ax, with the head well clinched in the sinew-bound +wooden haft. There was rarely miss or failure to the spear-thrust or the +ax-stroke. And now, in proof of the soundness of his old-fashioned +belief, he staked ruggedly his life. There were few spears left. There +were only axes on either side. And there stood old Hilltop upon the +barrier, while beside him and all across stood men as brave if not quite +as sturdy or as famous. + +In the rear of the line, noisy, sometimes fierce and sometimes weeping, +were the women, whose skill was only a little less than that of the males +and who were even more ruthless in all feeling toward the enemy. And +still easily chief among these, conspicuous by her noisy and uncaring +demeanor of mingled alarm and vengefulness, was the raging Moonface. She +rushed up close beside her husband's defending group and still hurled +stones and hurled them most effectively. They went as if from a catapult, +and more than one bone or head was broken that day by those missiles from +the arm of this squat savage wife and mother. But the men below were +outnumbering and brave, and now, maddened by different emotions, the lust +of conquest, the murderous anger over slain companions and, underlying +all, the thought of ownership of this fair and warm and safe place of +home, were resolute in their attack. They had faith in their leader, +Boarface, and expected confidently every moment an onslaught to aid +them from above. And so they came up the watery slope, one pressing +blood-thirstily behind the other with an earnestness none but men as +strong and well equipped and as brave or braver could hope to withstand. +The closing struggle was desperate. + +Hilltop stood to the front, between two rocks some few yards apart, over +which bubbled the shallow creek, and between which was the main upward +entrance to the valley. He stood upon a rock almost as flat as if some +expert engineer of ages later had planed its surface and then adjusted it +to a level, leaving the shallow waters tumbling all about it. The rock +out-jutted somewhat on the slope and there must necessarily be some +little climb to face the aged defender. On either side was a stretch of +down-running, gradually-sloping waterfall, full of great boulders, +embarrassing any straight rush of a group together, but, between and +upward, sprang swart men, and facing them on either side of old Hilltop +beyond the rocks were the remainder of the mass of cave men upon whom he +depended for making good the defense of the whole barrier. Beside him, in +the center of the battle, were the two creatures in the world upon whom +he could most depend, his stalwart and splendid sons, Strong-Arm and +Branch. With them, as gallant if not as strong as his great brother, +stood braced the eager Bark. They were ready, these young men, but, as it +chanced, there could be, at the beginning of the strong clamber of the +foe, only one man to first meet them. All were behind this man at the +front, for the flat rock came to something like a point. He stood there, +hairy and bare except for the skin about his hips, and with only an ax in +his hand, but this did not matter so much as it might have done, for only +axes were borne by the up-clambering assailants. The throwing of an ax +was a little matter to the sharp-eyed and flexile-muscled cave men. Who +could not dodge an ax was better out of the way and out of the world. A +meeting such as this impending must be a matter only of close personal +encounter and fencing with arm and wooden handle and flint-head of edge +and weight. + +There was a clash of stone together, and, one after another, strong +creatures with cloven skulls toppled backward, to fall into the babbling +creek, their blood helping to change its coloring. Leaping from side to +side across his rock, along each edge of which the water rushed, old +Hilltop met the mass of enemies, while those who passed were brained by +his great sons or by those behind. But the forces were unequal and the +plane in front was not steep enough nor the water deep enough to prevent +something like an organized onslaught. With fearful regularity, uplifted +and thrown aside occasionally in defense to avoid a stroke, the ax of +Hilltop fell and there was more and more fine fighting and fine dying. On +either side were men doing scarcely less stark work. Hilltop's two sons, +on either side of him now, as the assailants, crowded by those behind, +pressed closer, fully justified their parentage by what they did, and +Bark was like a young tiger. But the onslaught was too strong. There were +too many against too few. There were loud cries, a sudden impulse and, +though axes rose and fell and more men tumbled backward into the water, +the rock was swept upon and won and the old man stood alone amid his +foes, his sons having been carried backward by the pressure of the mass. +There was sullen battling on the upper level, but there was no fray so +red as that where Hilltop, old as he was, swung his awful ax among the +close crowding throng of enemies about him. Four fell with skulls cleanly +split before a giant of the invaders got behind the gray defender of the +pass. Then an ax came crashing down and old Hilltop pitched forward, dead +before he fell into the cool waters of the pool below. + +There was a yell of exultation from the upward-climbing Eastern cave men +as they saw the most dangerous of their immediate enemies go down, but, +before the echoes had come back, the sound was lost in that which came +from the height above them. It was loud and threatening, but not the yell +of their own kind. + +There had come sweeping down the valley the victors in the fight at the +Eastern end. Ab, with the lust of battle fully upon him as he heard the +wild shriek of Moonface, who had seen her husband fall, was a creature as +hungry for blood as any beast of all the forest, and his followers were +scarce less terrible. Swift and dreadful was the encounter which +followed, but the issue was not doubtful for a moment. The barrier's +living defenders became as wild themselves as were these conquering +allies. The fight became a massacre. Flying hopelessly up the valley, the +remnant, only some twenty, of the Eastern cave men ran into the vacant +big cave for refuge and there, barricaded, could keep their pursuers at +bay for the time at least. + +There was no immediate attack made upon the remnant of the assailants who +had thus sought refuge. They were safely imprisoned, and about the cave's +entrance there lay down to eat and rest a body of vengeful men of twice +their number. The struggle was over, and won, but there was little +happiness in the Fire Valley which had been so well defended. + +Moonface, wildly fighting, had seen her husband's death. With the rush of +Ab's returning force which changed the tide of battle she had been swept +away, shrieking and seeking to force herself toward the rock whereon old +Hilltop had so well demeaned himself. Now there emerged from one side a +woman who spoke to none but who clambered down the rough waterway and +waded into the little pool below the rock and stooped and lifted +something from the water. It was the body of the brave old hunter of the +hills. With her arms clutched about it the woman began the clamber upward +again, shaking her head dumbly, when rude warriors, touched somehow, +despite the coarse texture of their being, came wading in to assist her +with the ghastly burden. She emerged with it upon the level and laid it +gently down upon the grass, but still uttered no word until her children +gathered and the weeping Lightfoot came to her and put her arms about +her, and then from the uncouth creature's eyes came a flood of tears and +a gasp which broke the tension, and the death wail sounded through the +valley. The poor, affectionate animal was a little nearer herself again. + +There were dead men lying beside the flames at the Eastern end of the +valley, and these were brought by the men and tossed carelessly into the +pools below where lay so many others of the slain. There were storm +clouds gathering and all the valley people knew what must happen soon. +The storm clouds burst; the little creek, transformed suddenly into a +torrent by the fall of water from the heights above, swept the dead men +away together to the river and so toward the sea. Of all the invading +force there remained alive only the three who had re-leaped the flames +and those imprisoned in the cave. + +There was council that night between Ab and his friends and, as the +easiest way of disposing of the prisoners in the cave, it was proposed to +block the entrance and allow the miserable losers in battle to there +starve at their leisure. But the thoughtful Old Mok took Ab aside and +said: + +"Why not let them live and work for us? They will do as you say. This was +the place they wanted. They can stay and make us stronger." + +And Ab saw the reason of all this and the hungry, imprisoned men were +given the alternative of death or obedient companionship. They did not +hesitate long. The warmth of the valley and its other advantages were +what they had come for and they had no narrow views outside the food and +fuel question. The valley was good. They accepted Ab's authority and came +out and fed and, with their wives and children, who were sent for, became +of the valley people. + +This place of refuge and home and fortress was acquiring an importance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +OUR VERY GREAT GRANDFATHER. + +And the years passed. One still afternoon in autumn a gray, hairy man, a +man approaching old age, but without weakness of arm or stiffness of +joint, as yet, sat on the height overlooking the village. He looked in +tranquil comfort, now down into the little valley, and now across it into +the wood beyond, where the sun was approaching the treetops. He had come +to the hill with the mere instinct of the old hunter seeking to be +completely out of doors, but he had brought work with him and was +engaged, when not looking thoughtfully far away, in finishing a huge bow, +the spring of which he occasionally tested. Every motion showed the +retained possession of tremendous strength as well as the knowledge of +its use to most advantage. A very hale old man was Ab, the great hunter +and head of the people of the Fire Valley. + +A few yards away from Ab, leaning against the trunk of a beech, stood +Lightfoot, her quick glance roving from place to place and as keen, +seemingly, as ever. These two were still most content when together, and +it was well for each that they had in the same degree withstood what the +years bring. The woman had, perhaps, changed less than the man. Her hair +was still dark and her step had not grown heavy. She had changed in face +and expression rather than in form. There had grown in her eyes and about +her mouth the indefinable lines and tokens, pathetic and sweet, of care, +of sorrow, of suffering and of quiet gladness, in short, of motherhood. + +As twilight came on the woods rang with the shouts and laughter of a +party of young men who were coming home from some forest trip. Ab, +looking down the valley, over the flashing flame, into the forest hills, +in whose deep shade lay Little Mok, old Hilltop and Ab's mother, could +see the lusty youths in the village, running, leaping, wrestling and +throwing spears, axes and stones in competition. A strange oppression +came upon him and he thought of Oak lying in the ground alone on the +hillside, miles away. Ab felt, even now, the strong, helpful arm of his +friend around him, just as it was in the evening journey from the Feast +of the Mammoth homeward, when he had been rescued from almost certain +death by Oak. A lump rose in the throat of the man of many battles and +many trials. He shook himself, as if to shake off the memory that plagued +him. Oak came not often to trouble Ab's peace now, and when he came it +was always at night. Morning never found him near the Fire Village. + +The young hunters, rioting like the young men in the valley, were passing +now. Ab looked upon them thoughtfully. He felt dimly a desire to speak to +them, to tell them something about the hurts they might avoid, and how +hard it was to have a great, heavy load on one's chest at times--all +one's life--but the cave man was, as to the emotions, inarticulate. Ab +could no more have spoken his half defined feelings than the tree could +cry out at the blow of the ax. + +The woman left the beech tree and approached the man and touched his arm. +His eyes turned upon her kindly and after she had seated herself beside +him, there was laughing talk, for Lightfoot was declaring her desperate +condition of hunger and demanding that he return to the valley with her. +She examined his bow critically and had an opinion to express, for so +fine a shot as she might surely talk a little about so manful a thing as +the making of the weapon. And as the sun sank lower and the valley fell +into shadow, the two descended together, a pair who, after all, had +reason to be glad that they had lived. + +And the children these two left were bold and strong and dominant by +nature, and maintained the family leadership as the village grew. With +later generations came trouble vast and dire to the people of the land, +but it was not the part of this proud and seasoned and well-weaponed +group to flee like wild beasts when came drifting to the Westward the +first feeble vanguard of the Aryan overflow. The vanguard was overthrown; +its men made serfs and its women mothers. Other cave men in other regions +might escape to the Northward as the wave increased, there to become +frost-bitten Lapps or the "Skrallings" of the Norsemen, the Eskimo of +to-day, but not so the people of the great Fire Valley or their stern and +sturdy vassals for half a hundred miles about. No child's play was it for +those of another and still rude civilization to meet them in their +fastnesses, and the end of the struggle--for this region at least--was, +not a conquest, but a blending, a blending good for each of the two +forces. + +And as the face of Nature changed with the ages, as the later glacial +cold wavered and fluctuated and forced back and forth migrations of man +and beast, still the first-formed group retained coherence, retained it +beyond great natural cataclysms, retained it to historic ages, to wield +long the smoothed stone weapons, and, afterward, the bronze axes, and to +diverge in many branches of contentious defenders and invaders, to become +Iberian and Gaul and Celt and Saxon, to fight family against family, and +to commingle again in these later times. + +Upon the beach the other day, watching the waves lap toward her, sat a +woman, cultured, very beautiful and wise in woman's way and among the +fairest and the best of all earth can produce. There are many such as +she. Barely longer ago than the other day, as time is counted, a rugged +man, gentle as resolute and noble, became the enshrined hero of a vast +republic, when he struck from slave limbs the shackles of four million +people. In an insular home across the sea, interested still in the +world's affairs, is an old man vigorous in his octogenarianism, a power, +though out of power, a figure to be a monument in personal history, a +great man. But a few years ago the whole world stood with bowed head +while into the soil he loved was lowered the coffin of one who has bound +the nations together in sympathy for _Les Miserables_ of the earth. In a +home on the continent broods watchfully a bald-headed giant in cavalry +boots, one who has dictated arbitrarily, as premier, the policy of the +empire he has largely made. The woman upon the sands, the great +liberator, the man wonderful even in old age, the heart-stirring writer, +the man of giant personality physical and mental, have had reason to +boast alike a strain of the blood of Ab and Lightfoot. In the veins of +each has danced the transmitted product of the identical corpuscles which +coursed in the veins of those two who first found a home in the Fire +Valley. Strong was primitive man; adroit, patient and faithful was +primitive woman; he, the strongest, she, the fairest and cleverest of the +time, could protect their offspring, breed and care for great children of +similar powers and so insure a lasting race. Thus has the good blue blood +come down. This is not romance, this is not fancy; this is but faithful +history. + +THE END + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Ab, by Stanley Waterloo + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF AB *** + +This file should be named 7stab10.txt or 7stab10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7stab11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7stab10a.txt + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, Andy Schmitt, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Story of Ab + A Tale of the Time of the Cave Man + +Author: Stanley Waterloo + +Release Date: August, 2005 [EBook #8644] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on July 29, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF AB *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, Andy Schmitt, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration: GREAT TRUNK SHOT DOWNWARD AND BACKWARD PICKED UP THE MAN +AND HURLED HIM YARDS AWAY] + + + + + THE STORY OF AB + + A TALE OF THE TIME OF THE CAVE MAN + + BY + + STANLEY WATERLOO + + 1905 + + + Author of "A Man and a Woman," "An Odd Situation," etc. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +This is the story of Ab, a man of the Age of Stone, who lived so long ago +that we cannot closely fix the date, and who loved and fought well. + +In his work the author has been cordially assisted by some of the ablest +searchers of two continents into the life history of prehistoric times. +With characteristic helpfulness and interest, these already burdened +students have aided and encouraged him, and to them he desires to express +his sense of profound obligation and his earnest thanks. + +Once only does the writer depart from accepted theories of scientific +research. After an at least long-continued study of existing evidence and +information relating to the Stone Ages, the conviction grew upon him that +the mysterious gap supposed by scientific teachers to divide Paleolithic +from Neolithic man never really existed. No convulsion of nature, no new +race of human beings is needed to explain the difference between the +relics of Paleolithic and Neolithic strugglers. Growth, experiment, +adaptation, discovery, inevitable in man, sufficiently account for all +the relatively swift changes from one form of primitive life to another +more advanced, from the time of chipped to that of polished implements. +Man has been, from the beginning, under the never resting, never +hastening, forces of evolution. The earth from which he sprang holds the +record of his transformations in her peat-beds, her buried caverns and +her rocky fastnesses. The eternal laws change man, but they themselves do +not change. + +Ab and Lightfoot and others of the cave people whose story is told in the +tale which follows the author cannot disown. He has shown them as they +were. Hungry and cold, they slew the fierce beasts which were scarcely +more savage than they, and were fed and clothed by their flesh and fur. +In the caves of the earth the cave men and their families were safely +sheltered. Theirs were the elemental wants and passions. They were +swayed by love, in some form at least, by jealousy, fear, revenge, and by +the memory of benefits and wrongs. They cherished their young; they +fought desperately with the beasts of their time, and with each other, +and, when their brief, turbulent lives were ended, they passed into +silence, but not into oblivion. The old Earth carefully preserved their +story, so that we, their children, may read it now. + +S. W. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER. + +I. THE BABE IN THE WOODS. + +II. MAN AND HYENA. + +III. A FAMILY DINNER. + +IV. AB AND OAK. + +V. A GREAT ENTERPRISE. + +VI. A DANGEROUS VISITOR. + +VII. THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS. + +VIII. SABRE-TOOTH AND RHINOCEROS. + +IX. DOMESTIC MATTERS. + +X. OLD MOK, THE MENTOR. + +XI. DOINGS AT HOME. + +XII. OLD MOK'S TALES. + +XIII. AB'S GREAT DISCOVERY. + +XIV. A LESSON IN SWIMMING. + +XV. A MAMMOTH AT BAY. + +XVI. THE FEAST OF THE MAMMOTH. + +XVII. THE COMRADES. + +XVIII. LOVE AND DEATH. + +XIX. A RACE WITH DREAD. + +XX. THE FIRE COUNTRY. + +XXI. THE WOOING OF LIGHTFOOT. + +XXII. THE HONEYMOON. + +XXIII. MORE OF THE HONEYMOON. + +XXIV. THE FIRE COUNTRY AGAIN. + +XXV. A GREAT STEP FORWARD. + +XXVI. FACING THE RAIDER. + +XXVII. LITTLE MOK. + +XXVIII. THE BATTLE OF THE BARRIERS. + +XXIX. OLD HILLTOP'S LAST STRUGGLE. + +XXX. OUR VERY GREAT GRANDFATHER. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +BY SIMON HARMON VEDDER + +"HIS GREAT TRUNK SHOT DOWNWARD AND BACKWARD, PICKED UP THE MAN, AND +HURLED HIM YARDS AWAY" + +MAP + +"AB SEIZED UPON TWO OF THE SNARLING CUBS, AND OAK DID THE SAME" + +"AB SPRANG TO HIS FEET, AND DREW HIS ARROW TO THE HEAD" + +"THE YOUNG MEN CALLED TO HER, BUT SHE MADE NO ANSWER. SHE BUT FISHED AWAY +DEMURELY" + +"AB STOOD THERE WEAPONLESS, A CREATURE WANDERING OF MIND" + +"WITH A GREAT LEAP HE WENT AT AND THROUGH THE CURLING CREST OF THE YELLOW +FLAME!" + +"THE GIRL COWERED BEHIND A REFUGE OF LEAVES AND BRANCHES" + +"UPON THE STRONG SHAFT OF ASH THE MONSTER WAS IMPALED" + + + + +THE STORY OF AB. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +THE BABE IN THE WOODS. + +Drifted beech leaves had made a soft, clean bed in a little hollow in a +wood. The wood was beside a river, the trend of which was toward the +east. There was an almost precipitous slope, perhaps a hundred and fifty +feet from the wood, downward to the river. The wood itself, a sort of +peninsula, was mall in extent and partly isolated from the greater forest +back of it by a slight clearing. Just below the wood, or, in fact, almost +in it and near the crest of the rugged bank, the mouth of a small cave +was visible. It was so blocked with stones as to leave barely room for +the entrance of a human being. The little couch of beech leaves already +referred to was not many yards from the cave. + +On the leafy bed rolled about and kicked up his short legs in glee a +little brown babe. It was evident that he could not walk yet and his lack +of length and width and thickness indicated what might be a babe not more +than a year of age, but, despite his apparent youth, this man-child +seemed content thus left alone, while his grip on the twigs which had +fallen into his bed was strong, as he was strong, and he was breaking +them delightedly. Not only was the hair upon his head at least twice as +long as that of the average year-old child of today, but there were downy +indications upon his arms and legs, and his general aspect was a swart +and rugged one. He was about as far from a weakly child in appearance as +could be well imagined and he was about as jolly a looking baby, too, as +one could wish to see. He was laughing and cooing as he kicked about +among the beech leaves and looked upward at the blue sky. His dress has +not yet been alluded to and an apology for the negligence may be found in +the fact that he had no dress. He wore nothing. He was a baby of the time +of the cave men; of the closing period of the age of chipped stone +instruments; the epoch of mild climate; the ending of one great animal +group and the beginning of another; the time when the mammoth, the +rhinoceros, the great cave tiger and cave bear, the huge elk, reindeer +and aurochs and urus and hosts of little horses, fed or gamboled in the +same forests and plains, with much discretion as to relative distances +from each other. + +It was some time ago, no matter how many thousands of years, when the +child--they called him Ab--lay there, naked, upon his bed of beech +leaves. It may be said, too, that there existed for him every chance for +a lively and interesting existence. There was prospect that he would be +engaged in running away from something or running after something during +most of his life. Times were not dull for humanity in the age of stone. +The children had no lack of things to interest, if not always to amuse, +them, and neither had the men and women. And this is the truthful story +of the boy Ab and his playmates and of what happened when he grew to be a +man. + +It is well to speak here of the river. The stream has been already +mentioned as flowing to the eastward. It did not flow in that direction +regularly; its course was twisted and diverted, and there were bays and +inlets and rapids between precipices, and islands and wooded peninsulas, +and then the river merged into a lake of miles in extent, the waters +converging into the river again. So it was that the banks in one place +might form a height and in another merge evenly into a densely wooded +forest or a wide plain. It was so, too, that these conditions might exist +opposite each other. Thus the woodland might face the plain, or the +precipice some vast extending marsh. + +To speak further of this river it may be mentioned, incidentally, that +to-day its upper reaches still exist and that the relatively small stream +remaining is called the Thames. Beside and across it lies the greatest +city in the world and its mouth is upon what is called the English +Channel. At the time when the baby, Ab, slept that afternoon in his nest +in the beech leaves this river was not called the Thames, it was only +called the Running Water, to distinguish it from the waters of the coast. +It did not empty into the British Channel, for the simple and sufficient +reason that there was no such channel at the time. Where now exists that +famous passage which makes islands of Great Britain, where, tossed upon +the choppy waves, the travelers of the world are seasick, where Drake and +Howard chased the Great Armada to the Northern seas and where, to-day, +the ships of the nations are steered toward a social and commercial +center, was then good, solid earth crowned with great forests, and the +present little tail end of a river was part of a great affluent of the +Rhine, the German river famous still, but then with a size and sweep +worth talking of. Then the Thames and the Elbe and Weser, into which +tumbled a thousand smaller streams, all went to feed what is now the +Rhine, and that then tremendous river held its course through dense +forests and deep gorges until it reached broad plains, where the North +Sea is to-day, and blended finally with the Northern Ocean. + +The trees which stood upon the bank of the great river, or which could be +seen in the far distance beyond the marsh or plain, were not all the same +as now exist. There was still a distinctive presence of the towering +conifers, something such as are represented in the redwood forests of +California to-day, or, in other forms, in some Australian woods. There +was a suggestion of the fernlike but gigantic age of growth of the +distant past, the past when the earth's surface was yet warm and its air +misty, and there was an exuberance of all plant and forest growth, +something compared with which the growth in the same latitude, just now, +would make, it may be, but a stunted showing. It is wonderful, though, +the close resemblance between most of the trees of the cave man's age, so +many tens of thousands of years ago, and the trees most common to the +temperate zone to-day. The peat bogs and the caverns and the strata of +deposits in a host of places tell truthfully what trees grew in this +distant time. Already the oak and beech and walnut and butternut and +hazel reared their graceful forms aloft, and the ground beneath their +spreading branches was strewn with the store of nuts which gave a portion +of food for many of the beasts and for man as well. The ash and the yew +were there, tough and springy of fiber and destined in the far future to +become famous in song and story, because they would furnish the wood from +which was made the weapon of the bowman. The maple was there with all its +symmetry. There was the elm, the dogged and beautiful tree-thing of +to-day, which so clings to life and nourishes in the midst of unwholesome +city surroundings and makes the human hive so much the better. There were +the pines, the sycamore, the foxwood and dogwood, and lime and laurel and +poplar and elder and willow, and the cherry and crab apple and others of +the fruit-bearing kind, since so developed that they are great factors in +man's subsistence now. It was a time of plenty which was riotous. There +remained, too, a vestige of the animal as well as of the vegetable life +of the remoter ages. There were strange and dangerous creatures which +came sometimes up the river from its inlet into the ocean. Such events +had been matters of interest, not to say of anxiety, to Ab's ancestors. + +The baby lying there among the beech leaves tired, finally, of its cooing +and twig-snapping and slept the sleep of dreamless early childhood. He +slept happily and noiselessly, but when he at last awoke his demeanor +showed a change. He had nothing to distract him, unless it might be the +breaking of twigs again. He had no toys, and, being hungry, he began to +yell. So far as can be learned from early data, babies, when hungry, have +always yelled. And, of old, as to-day, when a baby yelled, the woman who +had borne it was likely to appear at once upon the scene. Ab's mother +came running lightly from the river bank toward where the youngster lay. +She was worthy of attention as she ran, and this is but a bungling +attempt at a description of her and of her dress. + +It should be explained here, with much care and caution, that the mother +of Ab moved in the best and most exclusive circles of the time. She +belonged to the aristocracy and, it may be added, regarding this fine +lady personally, that she had the weakness of paying much attention to +her dress. She was what might properly be called a leader of society, +though society was at the time somewhat attenuated, families living, +generally, some miles apart, and various obstacles, chiefly in the form +of large, man-eating animals, complicating the matter of paying calls. As +for the calls themselves, they were nearly as often aggressive as social, +and there is a certain degree of difference between the vicious use of a +flint ax and the leaving of a card with a bending lackey. But all this +doesn't matter. The mother of Ab belonged to the very cream of the cream, +and was dressed accordingly. Her garb was elegant but simple; it had, +first, the one great merit, that it could easily be put on or taken off. +It was sustained with but a single knot, a bow-knot--they had learned to +make a bow-knot and other knots in the stone age, for, because of the +manual requirements for living, they were cleverer fumblers with their +fingers than we are now--and the lady here described had tied her knot in +a manner not to be excelled by any other woman in all the fiercely +beast-ranged countryside. + +The gown itself was of a quality to please the eye of the most carping. +It was made from the skins of wolverines, and was drawn in loosely about +the waist by a tied band, but was really sustained by a strip of the skin +which encircled the left shoulder and back and breast. This left the +right arm free from all encumbrance, a matter of some importance, for to +be right-handed was a quality of the cave man as of the man today. We +should have a grudge against them for this carelessness, and should, may +be, form an ambidextrous league, improving upon the past and teaching and +forcing young children to use each hand alike. + +The garment of wolverine skins, sewed neatly together with thread of +sinews, was all the young mother wore. Thus hanging from the shoulder and +fully encircling her, it reached from the waist to about half way down +between the hips and the knees. It was as delightful a gown as ever was +contrived by ambitious modiste or mincing male designer in these modern +times. It fitted with a free and easy looseness and its colors were such +as blended smoothly and kindly with the complexion of its wearer. The fur +of the wolverine was a mixed black and white, but neither black nor white +is the word to use. The black was not black; it was only a swart sort of +color, and the white was not white; it was but a dingy, lighter contrast +to the darker surface beside it. Yet the combination was rather good. +There was enough of difference to catch the eye and not enough of +glaringness to offend it. The mother of Ab would be counted by a wise +observer as the possessor of good taste. Still, dress is a small matter. +There is something to say about the cave mother aside from the mere +description of her gown. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +MAN AND HYENA. + +It is but an act of simple gallantry and justice to assert that the cave +woman had a certain unhampered swing of movement which the modern woman +often lacks. Without any reflection upon the blessed woman of to-day, it +must be said truthfully that she can neither leap a creek nor surmount +some such obstacle as a monster tree trunk with a close approach to the +ease and grace of this mother who came bounding through the forest. There +was nothing unknowing or hesitant about her movements. She ran swiftly +and leaped lightly when occasion came. She was lithe as the panther and +as careless of where her brown feet touched the ground. + +The woman had physical charms. She was of about the average size of +womanhood as we see it embodied now, but her waist was not compressed at +an unseemly angle, and much resembled in its contour that of the Venus of +Milo which has become such a stock example of the healthfully +symmetrical. Her hair was brown and long. It was innocent of knot or coil +or braid, and was transfixed by no abatis of dangerous pins. It was not +parted but was thrown straight backward over the head and hung down +fairly and far between brown shoulders. It was a fine head of hair; there +could be no question about that. It had gloss and color. Captious +critics, reasoning from the standpoint of another age, might think it +needed combing, but that is only a matter of opinion. It was tangled +together in a compact and fluffy mass, and so did not wander into the +woman's eyes, which was a good thing and a great convenience, for bright +eyes and unobstructed vision were required in those lively days. + +The face of this lady showed, at a glance, that no cosmetic had ever been +relied upon to give it an artificial charm. As a matter of fact it would +have been difficult to use cosmetics upon that face in the modern way, +for there was a suggestion of something more than down upon the +countenance, and there were certain irregularities of facial outline so +prominent that such details as the little matter of complexion must be +trifling. The eyes were deep set and small, the nose was short and thick +and possessed a certain vagueness of outline not easy of description. The +upper lip was excessively long and the under lip protruding. The chin was +well defined and firm. The mouth was rather wide, and the teeth were +strong and even, and as white as any ivory ever seen. Such was the face, +and there may be added some details of interest about the figure. The +arms of this fascinating woman were perfectly proportioned. They were +adapted to the times and were very beautiful. Down each of them from +shoulder to elbow ran a strip of short dark hair. From either hand ran +upward to the elbow another strip of hair, and the two, meeting at the +elbow, formed a delightful little tuft reminding one of what is known as +a "widow's peak," or that little point which grows down so charmingly on +an occasional woman's forehead. Her biceps were tremendous, as must +necessarily be the case with a lady accustomed to swing from limb to limb +along the treetops. Her thumb was nearly as long as her fingers, and the +palms of her hands were hard. Her legs were like her arms in their degree +of muscular development and hairy adornment. She had beautiful feet. It +is to be admitted that her heels projected a trifle more than is counted +the ideal thing at the present day, and that her big toe and all the +other toes were very much in evidence, but there is not one woman in +ten thousand now who could as handily pick up objects with her toes as +could the mother of the baby Ab. She was as brown as a nut, with the tan +of a half tropical summer, and as healthy a creature, from tawny head to +backward sloping heel, as ever trod a path in the world's history. This +was the quality of the lady who came so swiftly to learn the nature of +her offspring's trouble. Ladies of that day attended, as a rule, to the +wants of their own children. A wet nurse was a thing unknown and a dry +one as unthought of. This was good for the children. + +The woman made a dive into the little hollow and picked the babe from its +nest of leaves and tossed him up lightly, and at once his crying ceased, +and his little brown arms went around her neck, and he cooed and prattled +in very much the same fashion as does a babe of the present time. He was +content, all in a moment, yet some noise must have aroused him, for, as +it chanced, there was great need that this particular babe at this +particular moment should have awakened and cried aloud for his mother. +This was made evident immediately. As the woman tossed him aloft in her +arms and cuddled him again there came a sound to her ears which made her +leap like some wilder creature of the forest up to a little vantage +ground. She turned her head, and then--you should have seen the woman! + +Very nearly above them swung down one of the branches of a great beech +tree. The mother threw the child into the hollow of her left arm, and +leaped upward a yard to catch the branch with her right hand. So she hung +dangling. Then, instantly, holding him firmly by one arm in her left +hand, she lowered the child between her legs and clasped them about him +closely. And then, had it been your fortune to be born in those times, +you might have seen good climbing. With both her strong arms free, this +vigorous matron ran up the stout beech limb which depended downward from +the great bole of the tree until she was twenty feet above the ground, +and then, lifting herself into a comfortable place, in a moment was +sitting there at ease, her legs and one arm coiled about the big branch +and a smaller upstanding one, while the other arm held the brown babe +close to her bosom. + +This charming lady of the period had reached her perch in the beech tree +top none too soon. Even as she swung herself into place upon the huge +bough, there came rushing across the space beneath, snarling, smelling +and seeking, a brute as foul and dangerous as could be imagined for +mother and son upon the ground. It was of a dirty dun color, mottled and +striped with a lighter but still dingy hue. It had a black, hoggish nose, +but there were fangs in its great jaws. It resembled a huge wolf, save as +to its massiveness and club countenance, It was one of the monster hyenas +of the time, a beast which must have been as dangerous to the men then +living as any animal except the cave tiger and the cave bear. Its +degenerate posterity, as they shuffle uneasily back and forth when caged +to-day, are perhaps not less foul of aspect, but are relatively pygmies. +Doubtless the brute had scented the sleeping babe, and, snarling aloud in +its search, had waked it, inducing the cry which proved the child's +salvation. + +The beast scented immediately the prey above him and leaped upward +ferociously and vainly. Was the woman thus beset thus holding herself +aloft and with her child upon one arm in a state of sickening anxiety? +Hardly! She but encircled the supporting branch the closer, and laughed +aloud. She even poked one bare foot down at the leaping beast, and waved +her leg in provocation. At the same time there was no doubt that she was +beset. Furthermore she was hungry, and so she raised her voice, and sent +out through the forest a strange call, a quavering minor wail, but +something to be heard at a great distance. There was no delay in the +response, for delays were dangerous when cave men lived. The call was +answered instantly and the answering cry was repeated as she called +again, the sound of the reply approaching near and nearer all the time. +All at once the manner of her calling changed; it was an appeal no +longer; it was a conversation, an odd, clucking, penetrating speech in +the shortest of sentences. She was telling of the situation. There was +prompt reply; the voice seemed suddenly higher in the air and then came, +swinging easily from branch to branch along the treetops, the father of +Ab, a person who felt a natural and aggressive interest in what was going +on. + +To describe the cave man it is, it may be, best of all to say that he was +the woman over again, only stronger, longer limbed and deeper chested, +firmer of jaw and more grim of countenance. He was dressed almost as she +was. From his broad shoulder hung a cloak of the skin of some wild beast +but the cord which tied it was a stout one, and in the belt thus formed +was stuck a weapon of such quality as men have rarely carried since. It +was a stone ax; an ax heavier than any battle-ax of mediaeval times, its +haft a scant three feet in length, inclosing the ax through a split in +the tough wood, all being held in place by a taut and hardened mass of +knotted sinews. It was a fearful weapon, but one only to be wielded by +such a man as this, one with arms almost as mighty as those of the +gorilla. + +The man sat himself upon the limb beside his wife and child. The two +talked together in their clucking language for a moment or two, but few +words were wasted. Words had not their present abundance in those days; +action was everything. The man was hungry, too, and wanted to get home as +soon as possible. He had secured food, which was awaiting them, and this +slight, annoying episode of the day must be ended promptly. He clambered +easily up the tree and wrenched off a deadened limb at least two yards in +length, then tumbling back again and passing his wife and child along the +main branch, he swung down to where the leaping beast could almost reach +him. The heavy club he carried gave him an advantage. With a whistling +sweep, as the hyena leaped upward in its ravenous folly, came this huge +club crashing against the thick skull, a blow so fair and stark and +strong that the stunned beast fell backward upon the ground, and then, +down, lightly as any monkey, dropped the cave man. The huge stone ax went +crashing into the brain of the quivering brute, and that was the end of +the incident. Mother and child leaped down together, and the man and +woman went chattering toward their cave. This was not a particularly +eventful day with them; they were accustomed to such things. + +They went strolling off through the beech glades, the strong, hairy, +heavy-jawed man, the muscular but more lightly built woman and the child, +perched firmly and chattering blithely upon her shoulder as they walked, +or, rather, half trotted along the river side and toward the cave. They +were light of foot and light of thought, but there was ever that almost +unconscious alertness appertaining to their time. Their flexible ears +twitched, and turned, now forward now backward, to catch the slightest +sound. Their nostrils were open for dangerous scents, or for the scent of +that which might give them food, either animal or vegetable, and as for +the eyes, well, they were the sharpest existent within the history of the +human race. They were keen of vision at long distance and close at hand, +and ever were they in motion, swiftly turned sidewise this way and that, +peering far ahead or looking backward to note what enemies of the wood +might be upon the trail. So, swiftly along the glade and ever alert, went +the father and mother of Ab, carrying the strong child with them. + +There came no new alarm, and soon the cave was reached, though on the way +there was a momentary deviation from the path, to gather up the nuts and +berries the woman had found in the afternoon while the babe was lying +sleeping. The fruitage was held in a great leaf, a pliant thing pulled +together at the edges, tied stoutly with a strand of tough grass, and +making a handy pouch containing a quart or two of the food, which was the +woman's contribution to the evening meal. As for the father, he had more +to offer, as was evident when the cave was reached. + +The man and woman crept through the narrow entrance and stood erect in a +recess in the rocks twenty feet square, at least, and perhaps fifteen +feet in height. Looking upward one could see a gleam of light from the +outer world. The orifice through which the light came was the chimney, +dug downward with much travail from the level of the land above. Directly +underneath the opening was the fireplace, for men had learned thoroughly +the use of fire, and had even some fancies as to getting rid of smoke. +There were smoldering embers upon the hearth, embers of the hardest of +wood, the wood which would preserve a fire for the greatest length of +time, for the cave man had neither flint and steel nor matches, and when +a fire expired it was a matter of some difficulty to secure a flame +again. On this occasion there was no trouble. The embers were beaten up +easily into glowing coals and twigs and dry dead limbs cast upon them +made soon a roaring flame. As the cave was lighted the proprietor pointed +laughingly to the abundance of meat he had secured. It was food of the +finest sort and in such quantity that even this stalwart being's strength +must have been exceptionally tested in bringing the burden to the cave. +It was something in quality for an epicure of the day and there was +enough of it to make the cave man's family easy for a week, at least. It +was a hind quarter of a wild horse. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +A FAMILY DINNER. + +Despite the hyena and baby incident, the day had been a satisfactory one +for this cave family. Of course, had the woman failed to reach just when +she did the hollow in which her babe was left there would have come a +tragedy in the extinction of a young and promising cave child, and the +two would have been mourning, as even wild beasts mourn for their lost +young. But there was little reversion to past possibilities in the minds +of the cave people. The couple were not worrying over what might have +been. The mother had found food of one sort in abundance, and the +father's fortune had been royal. He had tossed a rock from a precipice a +hundred feet in height down into a passing herd of the little wild +horses, and great luck had followed, for one of them had been killed, and +so this was a holiday in the cave. The man and wife were at ease and had +each an appetite. + +The nuts gathered by the woman were tossed in a heap among the ashes and +live coals were raked upon them, and the popping which followed showed +how well they were being roasted. A sturdy twig, two yards in length and +sharpened at the end, was utilized by the man in cooking the strips of +meat cut from the haunch of the wild horse and very savory were the odors +that filled the cave. There was the faint perfume of the crackling nuts +and there was the fragrant beneficence of the broiling meat. There are no +definite records upon the subject; the chef of to-day can give you no +information on the point, but there is reason to believe that a steak +from the wild horse of the time was something admirable. There is a sort +of maxim current in this age, in civilized rural communities, to the +effect that those quadrupeds are good to eat which "chew the cud or part +the hoof." The horse of to-day is a creature with but one toe to each +leg--we all know that--but the horse of the cave man's time had only +lately parted with the split hoof, and so was fairly edible, even +according to the modern standard. + +The father and mother of Ab were not more than two years past their +honeymoon. They, in their way, were glad that their union had been so +blest and that a lusty man-child was rolling about and crowing and cooing +upon the earthen floor of the cave. They lived from hand to mouth, and +from day to day, and this day had been a good one. They were there +together, man, woman and child. They had warmth and food. The entrance to +the cave was barred so that no monster of the period might enter. They +could eat and sleep with a certainty of the perfect digestion which +followed such a life as theirs and with a certainty of all peace for the +moment. Even the child mumbled heartily, though not yet very strongly, at +the delicious meat of the little horse, and, the meal ended, the two lay +down upon a mass of leaves which made their bed, and the child lay +snuggled and warm within reach of them. The aristocracy of the time had +gone to sleep. + +There was silence in the cave, but, outside, the world was not so still. +The night was not always one of silence in the cave man's time. The hours +of darkness were those when the creature which walked upon two legs was +no longer gliding through the forest with ready club or spear, and when +those creatures which used four legs instead of two, especially the +defenseless, felt more at ease than in the daytime. The grass-eating +animals emerged from the forest into the plateaus and upon the low plains +along the river side and the flesh-eaters began again their hunting. It +was a time of wild life, and of wild death, for out of the abundance much +was taken; there were nightly tragedies, and the beasts of prey were as +glutted as the urus or the elk which fed on the sweet grasses. It was but +a matter of difference in diet and in the manner of doing away with one +life which must be sacrificed to support another. There was liveliness at +night with the queer thing, man, out of the way, and brutes and beasts of +many sorts, taking their chances together, were happier with him absent. +They could not understand him, and liked him not, though the great-clawed +and sharp-toothed ones had a vast desire to eat him. He was a disturbing +element in the community of the plain and forest. + +And, while all this play of life and death went on outside, the three +people, the man, woman and child, in the cave slept as soundly as sleep +the drunken or the just. They were full-fed and warm and safe. No beast +of a size greater than that of a lank wolf or sinewy wildcat could enter +the cave through the narrow entrance between the heaped-up rocks, and of +these, as of any other dangerous beast, there was none which would face +what barred even the narrow passage, for it was fire. Just at the +entrance the all-night fire of knots and hardest wood smoked, flamed and +smoldered and flickered, and then flamed again, and held the passageway +securely. No animal that ever lived, save man, has ever dared the touch +of fire. It was the cave man's guardian. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +AB AND OAK. + +Such were the father and mother of Ab, and such was the boy himself. His +surroundings have not been indicated with all the definiteness desirable, +because of the lack of certain data, but, in a general way, the degree of +his birth, the manner of his rearing and the natural aspects of his +estate have been described. That the young man had a promising future +could not admit of doubt. He was the first-born of an important family of +a great race and his inheritance had no boundaries. Just where the +possessions of the Ab family began or where they terminated no bird nor +beast nor human being could tell. The estates of the family extended from +the Mediterranean to the Arctic Ocean and there were no dividing lines. +Of course, something depended upon the existence or non-existence of a +stronger cave family somewhere else, but that mattered not. And the babe +grew into a sturdy youth, just as grow the boys of today, and had his +friendships and adventures. He did not attend the public schools--the +school system was what might reasonably be termed inefficient in his +time--nor did he attend a private school, for the private schools were +weak, as well, but he did attend the great school of Nature from the +moment he opened his eyes in the morning until he closed them at night. +Of his schoolboy days and his friendships and his various affairs, this +is the immediate story. + +The father and mother of Ab as has, it is hoped, been made apparent, were +strong people, intelligent up to the grade of the time and worthy of +regard in many ways. The two could fairly hold their own, not only +against the wild beasts, but against any other cave pair, should the +emergency arise. They had names, of course. The name of Ab's father was +One-Ear, the sequence of an incident occurring when he was very young, an +accidental and too intimate acquaintance with a species of wildcat which +infested the region and from which the babe had been rescued none too +soon. The name of Ab's mother was Red-Spot, and she had been so called +because of a not unsightly but conspicuous birthmark appearing on her +left shoulder. As to ancestry, Ab's father could distinctly remember his +own grandfather as the old gentleman had appeared just previous to his +consumption by a monstrous bear, and Red-Spot had some vague remembrance +of her own grandmother. + +As for Ab's own name, it came from no personal mark or peculiarity or as +the result of any particular incident of his babyhood. It was merely a +convenient adaptation by his parents of a childish expression of his own, +a labial attempt to say something. His mother had mimicked his babyish +prattlings, the father had laughed over the mimicry, and, almost +unconsciously, they referred to their baby afterward as "Ab," until it +grew into a name which should be his for life. There was no formal early +naming of a child in those days; the name eventually made itself, and +that was all there was to it. There was, for instance, a child living not +many miles away, destined to be a future playmate and ally of Ab, who, +though of nearly the same age, had not yet been named at all. His title, +when he finally attained it, was merely Oak. This was not because he was +straight as an oak, or because he had an acorn birthmark, but because +adjoining the cave where he was born stood a great oak with spreading +limbs, from one of which was dangled a rude cradle, into which the babe +was tied, and where he would be safe from all attacks during the absence +of his parents on such occasions as they did not wish the burden of +carrying him about. "Rock-a-by-baby upon the tree-top" was often a +reality in the time of the cave men. + +Ab was fortunate in being born at a reasonably comfortable stage of the +world's history. He had a decent prospect as to clothing and shelter, and +there was abundance of food for those brave enough or ingenious enough to +win it. The climate was not enervating. There were cold times for the +people of the epoch and, in their seasons, harsh and chilling winds swept +over bare and chilling glaciers, though a semi-tropical landscape was all +about. So suddenly had come the change from frigid cold to moderate +warmth, that the vast fields of ice once moving southward were not thawed +to their utmost depths even when rank vegetation and a teeming life had +sprung up in the now European area, and so it came that, in some places, +cold, white monuments and glittering plateaus still showed themselves +amid the forest and fed the tumbling streams which made the rivers +rushing to the ocean. There were days of bitter cold in winter and sultry +heat in summer. + +It may fairly be borne in mind of this child Ab that he was somewhat +different from the child of to-day, and nearer the quadruped in his +manner of swift development. The puppy though delinquent in the matter of +opening it's eyes, waddles clumsily upon its legs very early in its +career. Ab, of course, had his eyes open from the beginning, and if the +babe of to-day were to stand upright as soon as Ab did, his mother would +be the proudest creature going and his father, at the club, would be +acting intolerable. It must be admitted, though, that neither One-Ear nor +Red-Spot manifested an extraordinary degree of enthusiasm over the +precociousness of their first-born. He was not, for the time, remarkable, +and parents of the day were less prone than now to spoiling children. +Ab's layette had been of beech leaves, his bed had been of beech leaves, +and a beech twig, supple and stinging, had already been applied to him +when he misbehaved himself. As he grew older his acquaintance with it +would be more familiar. Strict disciplinarians in their way, though +affectionate enough after their own fashion, were the parents of +the time. + +The existence of this good family of the day continued without dire +misadventure. Ab at nine years of age was a fine boy. There could be no +question about that. He was as strong as a young gibbon, and, it must be +admitted, in certain characteristics would have conveyed to the learned +observer of to-day a suggestion of that same animal. His eyes were bright +and keen and his mouth and nose were worth looking at. His nose was +broad, with nostrils aggressively prominent, and as for his mouth, it was +what would be called to-day excessively generous in its proportions for a +boy of his size. But it did not lack expression. His lips could quiver at +times, or become firmly set, and there was very much of what might, even +then, be called "manliness" in the general bearing of the sturdy little +cave child. He had never cried much when a babe--cave children were not +much addicted to crying, save when very hungry--and he had grown to his +present stature, which was not very great, with a healthfulness and +general manner of buoyancy all the time. He was as rugged a child of his +age as could be found between the shore that lay long leagues westward of +what is now the western point of Ireland and anywhere into middle Europe. +He had begun to have feelings and hopes and ambitions, too. He had found +what his surroundings meant. He had at least done one thing well. He had +made well-received advances toward a friend; and a friend is a great +thing for a boy, when he is another boy of about the same age. This +friendship was not quite commonplace. + +Ab, who could climb like a young monkey, laid most casually the +foundation for this companionship which was to affect his future life. He +had scrambled, one day, up a tree standing near the cave, and, climbing +out along a limb near its top, had found a comfortable resting-place, and +there upon the swaying bough was "teetering" comfortably, when something +in another tree, further up the river, caught his sharp eye. It was a +dark mass,--it might have been anything caught in a treetop,--but the odd +part of it was that it was "teetering" just as he was. Ab watched the +object for a long time curiously, and finally decided that it must be +another boy, or perhaps a girl, who was swaying in the distant tree. +There came to him a vigorous thought. He resolved to become better +acquainted; he resolved dimly, for this was the first time that any idea +of further affiliation with anyone had come into his youthful mind. Of +course, it must not be understood that he had been in absolute retirement +throughout his young but not uneventful life. Other cave men and women, +sometimes accompanied by their children, had visited the cave of One-Ear +and Red-Spot and Ab had become somewhat acquainted with other human +beings and with what were then the usages of the best hungry society. He +had never, though, become really familiar with anyone save his father and +mother and the children which his mother had borne after him, a boy and a +girl. This particular afternoon a sudden boyish yearning came upon him. +He wanted to know who the youth might be who was swinging in the distant +tree. He was a resolute young cub, and to determine was to act. + +It was rare, particularly in the wooded districts of the country of the +cave men, for a boy of nine to go a mile from home alone. There was +danger lurking in every rod and rood, and, naturally, such a boy would +not be versed in all woodcraft, nor have the necessary strength of arm +for a long arboreal journey, swinging himself along beneath the +intermingling branches of close-standing trees. So this departure was, +for Ab, a venture something out of the common. But he was strong for his +age, and traversed rapidly a considerable distance through the treetops +in the direction of what he saw. Once or twice, though, there came +exigencies of leaping and grasping aloft to which he felt himself +unequal, and then, plucky boy as he was, he slid down the bole of the +tree and, looking about cautiously, made a dash across some little glade +and climbed again. He had traversed little more than half the distance +toward the object he sought when his sharp ears caught the sound of +rustling leaves ahead of him. He slipped behind the trunk of the tree +into whose top he was clambering and then, reaching out his head, peered +forward warily. As he thus ensconced himself, the sound he had heard +ceased suddenly. It was odd. The boy was perplexed and somewhat anxious. +He could but peer and peer and remain absolutely quiet. At last his +searching watchfulness was rewarded. He saw a brown protuberance on the +side of a great tree, above where the branches began, not twoscore yards +distant from him, and that brown protuberance moved slightly. It was +evident that the protuberance was watching him as he was watching it. He +realized what it meant. There was another boy there! He was not +particularly afraid of another boy and at once came out of hiding. The +other boy came calmly into view as well. They sat there, looking at each +other, each at ease upon a great branch, each with an arm sustaining +himself, each with his little brown legs dangling carelessly, and each +gazing upon the other with bright eyes evincing alike watchfulness and +curiosity and some suspicion. So they sat, perched easily, these +excellent young, monkeyish boys of the time, each waiting for the other +to begin the conversation, just as two boys wait when they thus meet +today. Their talk would not perhaps be intelligible to any professor of +languages in all the present world, but it was a language, however +limited its vocabulary, which sufficed for the needs of the men and women +and children of the cave time. It was Ab who first broke the silence: + +"Who are you?" he said. + +"I am Oak," responded the other boy. "Who are you?" + +"Me? Oh, I am Ab." + +"Where do you come from?" + +"From the cave by the beeches; and where do you come from?" + +"I come from the cave where the river turns, and I am not afraid of you." + +"I am not afraid of you, either," said Ab. + +"Let us climb down and get upon that big rock and throw stones at things +in the water," said Oak. + +"All right," said Ab. + +And the two slid, one after the other, down the great tree trunks and ran +rapidly to the base of a huge rock overtopping the river, and with sides +almost perpendicular, but with crevices and projections which enabled the +expert youngsters to ascend it with ease. There was a little plateau upon +its top a few yards in area and, once established there, the boys were +safe from prowling beasts. And this was the manner of the first meeting +of two who were destined to grow to manhood together, to be good +companions and have full young lives, howbeit somewhat exciting at times, +and to affect each other for joy and sorrow, and good and bad, and all +that makes the quality of being. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +A GREAT ENTERPRISE. + +What always happens when two boys not yet fairly in their 'teens meet, at +first aggressively, and then, each gradually overcoming this apprehension +of the other, decide upon a close acquaintance and long comradeship? +Their talk is firmly optimistic and they constitute much of the world. As +for Ab and Oak, when there had come to them an ease in conversation, +there dawned gradually upon each the idea that, next to himself, the +other was probably the most important personage in the world, fitting +companion and confederate of a boy who in an incredibly short space of +time was going to become a man and do things on a tremendous scale. +Seated upon the rock, a point of ease and vantage, they talked long of +what two boys might do, and so earnest did they become in considering +their possible great exploits that Ab demanded of Oak that he go with him +to his home. This was a serious matter. It was a no slight thing for a +boy of that day, allowed a playground within certain limits adjacent to +his cave home, to venture far away; but this in Oak's life was a great +occasion. It was the first time he had ever met and talked with a boy of +his age, and he became suddenly reckless, assenting promptly to Ab's +proposal. They ran along the forest paths together toward Ab's cave, +clucking in their queer language and utilizing in that short journey most +of the brief vocabulary of the day in anticipatory account of what they +were going to do. + +Ab's father and mother rather approved of Oak. They even went so far as +to consent that Ab might pay a return visit upon the succeeding day, +though it was stipulated that the father--and this was a demand the +mother made--should accompany the boy upon most of the journey. One-Ear +knew Oak's father very well. Oak's father, Stripe-Face, was a man of +standing in the widely-scattered community. Stripe-Face was so called +because in a casual, and, on his part, altogether uninvited encounter +with a cave bear when he was a young man, a sweep of the claws of his +adversary had plowed furrows down one cheek, leaving scars thereafter +which were livid streaks. One-Ear and Stripe-Face were good friends. +Sometimes they hunted together; they had fought together, and it was +nothing out of the way, and but natural, that Ab and Oak should become +companions. So it came that One-Ear went across the forest with his boy +the next day and visited the cave of Stripe-Face, and that the two young +cubs went out together buoyant and in conquering mood, while the grown +men planned something for their own advantage. Certainly the boys matched +well. A finer pair of youngsters of eight or nine years of age could +hardly be imagined than these two who sallied forth that afternoon. They +send very fine boys nowadays to our great high schools in the United +States, and to Rugby and Eaton and Harrow in England, but never went +forth a finer pair to learn things. No smattering of letters or lore of +any printed sort had these rugged youths, but their eyes were piercing as +those of the eagle, the grip of their hands was strong, their pace was +swift when they ran upon the ground and their course almost as rapid when +they swung along the treetops. They were self-possessed and ready and +alert and prepared to pass an examination for admission to any university +of the time; that is, to any of Nature's universities, where +matriculation depended upon prompt conception of existing dangers and the +ways of avoiding them, and of all adroitness in attainments which gave +food and shelter and safety. Eh! but they were a gallant pair, these two +young gentlemen who burst forth, owning the world entirely and feeling a +serene confidence in their ability, united, to maintain their rights. And +their ambitions soon took a definite turn. They decided that they must +kill a horse! + +The wild horse of the time, already referred to as esteemed for his +edible qualities, was, in the opinion of the cave people, but of moderate +value otherwise. He was abundant, ranging in herds of hundreds along the +pampas of the great Thames valley, and furnished forth abundant food for +man as well as the wild beasts, when they could capture him. His skin, +though, was not counted of much worth. Its short hair afforded little +warmth in cloak or breech-clout, and the tanned pelt became hard and +uncomfortable when it dried after a wetting. Still, there were various +uses for this horse's hide. It made fine strings and thongs, and the +beast's flesh, as has been said, was a staple of the larder. The first +great resolve of Ab and Oak, these two gallant soldiers of fortune, was +that, alone and unaided, they would circumvent and slay one of these wild +horses, thereby astonishing their respective families, at the same time +gaining the means for filling the stomachs of those families to +repletion, and altogether covering themselves with glory. + +Not in a day nor in a week were the plans of these youthful warriors and +statesmen matured. The wild horse had long since learned that the +creature man was as dangerous to it as were any of the fierce four-footed +animals which hunted it, and its scent was good and its pace was swift +and it went in herds and avoided doubtful places. Not so easy a task as +it might seem was that which Ab and Oak had resolved upon. There must be +some elaborate device to attain their end, but they were confident. They +had noted often what older hunters did, and they felt themselves as good +as anybody. They plotted long and earnestly and even made a mental +distribution of their quarry, deciding what should be done with its skin +and with its meat, far in advance of any determination upon a plan for +its capture and destruction. They were boys. + +There was no objection from the parents. They knew that the boys must +learn to become hunters, and if the two were not now capable of taking +care of themselves in the wood, then they were but disappointing +offspring. Consent secured, the boys acted entirely upon their own +responsibility, and, to make their subsequent plans clearer, it may be +well to explain a little more of the geography of the region. The cave of +Ab was on the north side of the stream, where the rocky banks came close +together with a little beach at either side, and the cave of Oak was +perhaps a mile to the westward, on the same side of the stream and with +very similar surroundings. On the south side of the river, opposite the +high banks between the two caves, the land was a prairie valley reaching +far away. On the north side as well there was at one place a little +valley, but it reached back only a few hundred yards from the river and +was surrounded by the forest-crowned hills. The close standing oaks and +beeches afforded, in emergency, a highway among their ranches, and along +this pathway the boys were comparatively safe. Either could climb a tree +at any time, and of the animals that were dangerous in the treetops there +were but few; in fact, there was only one of note, a tawny, cat-like +creature, not numerous, and resembling the lynx of the present day. +Almost in the midst of the little plain or valley, on the north side of +the river, rose a clump of trees, and in this the two boys saw means +afforded them for a realization of their hopes. The wild horses fed +daily in the valley to the north, as in the greater one to the south of +the river. But there also, in the high grass, as upon the south, +sometimes lurked the great beasts of prey, and to be far away from a tree +upon the plain was an unsafe thing for a cave man. From the forest edge +to the clump of trees was not more than two minutes' rush for a vigorous +boy and it was this fact which suggested to the youths their plan of +capture of the horse. + +The homes of the cave men were located, when possible, where the refuge +of safety overhung closely the river's bank, and where the non-climbing +animals must pass along beneath them, but, even at that period of few men +and abundant animal life, there had developed an acuteness among the +weaker beasts, and they had learned to avoid certain paths that had +proved fatal to their brethren. They were numerous in the plains and +comparatively careless there, relying upon their speed to escape more +dangerous wild beasts, but they passed rarely beneath the ledges, where a +weighty rock dropped suddenly meant certain death. It was not a task +entirely easy for the cave men to have meat with regularity, flush as was +the life about them. New devices must be resorted to, and Ab and Oak were +about to employ one not infrequently successful. + +The clam of the period, particularly the clam along this reach of the +upper Thames, was a marvel in his make-up. He was as large as he was +luscious, as abundant as he was both and was a great feature in the food +supply of the time. Not merely was he a feature in the food supply, but +in a mechanical way, and the first object sought by the boys, after their +plan had been agreed upon, was the shell of the great clam. They had no +difficulty in securing what they wanted, for strewn all about each cave +were the big shells in abundance. Sharp-edged, firm-backed, one of these +shells made an admirable little shovel, something with which to cut the +turf and throw up the soil, a most useful implement in the hands of the +river haunting people. The idea of the youngsters was simply this: Their +rendezvous should be at that point in the forest nearest the clump of +trees standing solitary in the valley below. They would select the safest +hours and then from the high ground make a sudden dash to the tree clump. +They would be watchful, of course, and seek to avoid the class of animals +for whom boys made admirable luncheon. Once at the clump of trees and +safely ensconced among the branches, they could determine wisely upon the +next step in their adventure. They were very knowing, these young men, +for they had observed their elders. What they wanted to do, what was the +end and aim of all this recklessness, was to dig a pit in this rich +valley land close to the clump of trees, a pit say some ten feet in +length by six feet in breadth and seven or eight feet in depth. That +meant a gigantic labor. Gillian, of "The Toilers of the Sea," assigned to +himself hardly a greater task. These were boys of the cave kind and must, +perforce, conduct themselves originally. As to the details of the plan, +well, they were only vague, as yet, but rapidly assuming a form more +definite. + +The first thing essential for the boys was to reach the clump of trees. +It was just before noon one day when they swung together on a tree branch +sweeping nearly to the ground, and at a point upon the hill directly +opposite the clump. This was the time selected for their first dash. They +studied every square yard of the long grass of the little valley with +anxious eyes. In the distance was feeding a small drove of wild horses +and, farther away, close by the river side, upreared occasionally what +might be the antlers of the great elk of the period. Between the boys and +the clump of trees there was no movement of the grass, nor any sign of +life. They could discern no trace of any lurking beast. + +"Are you afraid?" asked Ab. + +"Not if we run together." + +"All right," said Ab; "let's go it with a rush." + +The slim brown bodies dropped lightly to the ground together, each of the +boys clasping one of the clamshells. Side by side they darted down the +slope and across through the deep grass until the clump of trees was +reached, when, like two young apes, they scrambled into the safety of the +branches. + +The tree up which they had clambered was the largest of the group and of +dense foliage. It was one of the huge conifers of the age, but its +branches extended to within perhaps thirty feet of the ground, and from +the greatest of these side branches reached out, growing so close +together as to make almost a platform. It was but the work of a half hour +for these boys, with their arboreal gifts, to twine additional limbs +together and to construct for themselves a solid nest and lookout where +they might rest at ease, at a distance above the greatest leap of any +beast existing. In this nest they curled themselves down and, after much +clucking debate, formulated their plan of operation. Only one boy should +dig at a time, the other must remain in the nest as a lookout. + +Swift to act in those days were men, because necessity had made it a +habit to them, and swifter still, as a matter of course, were impulsive +boys. Their tree nest fairly made, work, they decided, must begin at +once. The only point to be determined upon was regarding the location of +the pit. There was a tempting spread of green herbage some hundred feet +to the north and east of the tree, a place where the grass was high but +not so high as it was elsewhere. It had been grazed already by the +wandering horses and it was likely that they would visit the tempting +area again. There, it was finally settled, should the pit be dug. It was +quite a distance from the tree, but the increased chances of securing a +wild horse by making the pit in that particular place more than offset, +in the estimation of the boys, the added danger of a longer run for +safety in an emergency. The only question remaining was as to who should +do the first digging and who be the first lookout? There was a violent +debate upon this subject. + +"I will go and dig and you shall keep watch," said Oak. + +"No, I'll dig and you shall watch," was Ab's response. "I can run faster +than you." + +Oak hesitated and was reluctant. He was sturdy, this young gentleman, but +Ab possessed, somehow, the mastering spirit. It was settled finally that +Ab should dig and Oak should watch. And so Ab slid down the tree, +clamshell in hand, and began laboring vigorously at the spot agreed upon. + +It was not a difficult task for a strong boy to cut through tough grass +roots with the keen edge of the clamshell. He outlined roughly and +rapidly the boundaries of the pit to be dug and then began chopping out +sods just as the workman preparing to garnish some park or lawn begins +his work to-day. Meanwhile, Oak, all eyes, was peering in every +direction. His place was one of great responsibility, and he recognized +the fact. It was a tremendous moment for the youngsters. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +A DANGEROUS VISITOR. + +It was not alone necessary for the plans of Ab and Oak that there should +be made a deep hole in the ground. It was quite as essential for their +purposes that the earth removed should not be visible upon the adjacent +surface. The location of the pit, as has been explained, was some yards +to the northeast of the tree in which the lookout had been made. A few +yards southwest of the tree was a slight declivity and damp hollow, for +from that point the land sloped, in a reed-grown marsh toward the river. +It was decided to throw into this marsh all the excavated soil, and so, +when Ab had outlined the pit and cut up its surface into sods, he carried +them one by one to the bank and cast them down among the reeds where the +water still made little puddles. In time of flood the river spread out +into a lake, reaching even as far as here. The sod removed, there was +exposed a rectangle of black soil, for the earth was of alluvial deposit +and easy of digging. Shellful after shellful of the dirt did Ab carry +from where the pit was to be, trotting patiently back and forth, but the +work was wearisome and there was a great waste of energy. It was Oak who +gave an inspiration. + +"We must carry more at a time," he called out. And then he tossed down to +Ab a wolfskin which had been given him by his father as a protection on +cold nights and which he had brought along, tied about his waist, quite +incidentally, for, ordinarily, these boys wore no clothing in warm +weather. Clothing, in the cave time, appertained only to manhood and +womanhood, save in winter. But Oak had brought the skin along because he +had noticed a vast acorn crop upon his way to and from the rendezvous and +had in mind to carry back to his own home cave some of the nuts. The pelt +was now to serve an immediately useful purpose. + +Spreading the skin upon the grass beside him, Ab heaped it with the dirt +until there had accumulated as much as he could carry, when, gathering +the corners together, he struggled with the enclosed load manfully to the +bank and spilled it down into the morass. The digging went on rapidly +until Ab, out of breath and tired, threw down the skin and climbed into +the treetop and became the watchman, while Oak assumed his labor. So they +worked alternately in treetop and upon the ground until the sun's rays +shot red and slanting from the west. Wiser than to linger until dusk had +too far deepened were these youngsters of the period. The clamshells were +left in the pit. The lookout above declared nothing in sight, then slid +to the ground and joined his friend, and another dash was made to the +hill and the safety of its treetops. It was in great spirits that the +boys separated to seek their respective homes. They felt that they were +personages of consequence. They had no doubt of the success of the +enterprise in which they had embarked, and the next day found them +together again at an early hour, when the digging was enthusiastically +resumed. + +Many a load of dirt was carried on the second day from the pit to the +marsh's edge, and only once did the lookout have occasion to suggest to +his working companion that he had better climb the tree. A movement in +the high grass some hundred yards away had aroused suspicion; some wild +animal had passed, but, whatever it was, it did not approach the clump of +trees and work was resumed at once. When dusk came the moist black soil +found in the pit had all been carried away and the boys had reached, to +their intense disgust, a stratum of hard packed gravel. That meant +infinitely more difficult work for them and the use of some new utensil. + +There was nothing daunting in the new problem. When it came to the mere +matter of securing a tool for digging the hard gravel, both Ab and Oak +were easily at home. The cave dwellers, haunting the river side for +centuries, had learned how to deal with gravel, and when Ab returned to +the scene the next day he brought with him a sturdy oaken stave some six +feet in length, sharpened to a point and hardened in the fire until it +was almost iron-like in its quality. Plunged into the gravel as far as +the force of a blow could drive it, and pulled backward with the leverage +obtained, the gravel was loosened and pried upward either in masses which +could be lifted out entire, or so crumbled that it could be easily dished +out with the clamshell. The work went on more slowly, but not less +steadily nor hopefully than on the days preceding, and, for some time, +was uninterrupted by any striking incident. The boys were becoming +buoyant. They decided that the grassy valley was almost uninfested by +things dangerous. They became reckless sometimes, and would work in the +pit together. As a rule, though, they were cautious--this was an inherent +and necessary quality of a cave being--and it was well for them that it +was so, for when an emergency came only one of them was in the pit, while +the other was aloft in the lookout and alert. + +It was about three o'clock one afternoon when Ab, whose turn it chanced +to be, was working valiantly in the pit, while Oak, all eyes, was perched +aloft. Suddenly there came from the treetop a yell which was no boyish +expression of exuberance of spirits. It was something which made Ab leap +from the excavation as he heard it and reach the side of Oak as the +latter came literally tumbling down the bole of the tree of watching. + +"Run!" Oak said, and the two darted across the valley and reached the +forest and clambered into safe hiding among the clustering branches. +Then, in the intervals between his gasping breath, Oak managed to again +articulate a word: + +"Look!" he said. + +Ab looked and, in an instant, realized how wise had been Oak's alarming +cry and how well it was for them that they were so distant from the clump +of trees so near the river. What he saw was that which would have made +the boys' fathers flee as swiftly had they been in their children's +place. Yet what Ab looked upon was only a waving, in sinuous regularity, +of the rushes between the tree clump and the river and the lifting of a +head some ten or fifteen feet above the reed-tops. What had so alarmed +the boys was what would have disturbed a whole tribe of their kinsmen, +even though they had chanced to be assembled, armed to the teeth with +such weapons as they then possessed. What they saw was not of the common. +Very rarely indeed, along the Thames, had occurred such an invasion. The +father of Oak had never seen the thing at all, and the father of Ab had +seen it but once, and that many years before. It was the great serpent of +the seas! + +Safely concealed in the branches of a tree overlooking the little valley, +the boys soon recovered their normal breathing capacity and were able to +converse again. Not more than a couple of minutes, at the utmost, had +passed between their departure from their place of labor and their +establishment in this same tree. The creature which had so alarmed them +was still gliding swiftly across the morass between the lowland and the +river. It came forward through the marsh undeviatingly toward the tree +clump, the tall reeds quivering as it passed, but its approach indicated +by no sound or other token of disturbance. The slight bank reached, there +was uplifted a great serpent head, and then, without hesitation, the +monster swept forward to the trees and soon hung dangling from the +branches of the largest one, its great coils twined loosely about trunk +and limb, its head swinging gently back and forth just below the lower +branch. It was a serpent at least sixty feet in length, and two feet or +more in breadth at its huge middle. It was queerly but not brilliantly +spotted, and its head was very nearly that of the anaconda of to-day. +Already the sea-serpent had become amphibious. It had already acquired +the knowledge it has transmitted to the anaconda, that it might leave the +stream, and, from some vantage point upon the shore, find more surely a +victim than in the waters of the sea or river. This monster serpent was +but waiting for the advent of any land animal, save perhaps those so +great as the mammoth or the great elk, or, possibly, even the cave +bear or the cave tiger. The mammoth was, of course, an impossibility, +even to the sea-serpent. The elk, with its size and vast antlers, was, to +put it at the mildest, a perplexing thing to swallow. The rhinoceros was +dangerous, and as for the cave bear and the cave tiger, they were +uncomfortable customers for anything alive. But there were the cattle, +the aurochs and the urus, and the little horses and deer, and wild hog +and a score of other creatures which, in the estimation of the +sea-serpent, were extremely edible. A tidbit to the serpent was a man, but +he did not get one in half a century. + +Not long did the boys remain even in a harborage so distant. Each fled +homeward with his story. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS. + +It was with scant breath, when they reached their respective caves, that +the boys told the story of the dread which had invaded the marsh-land. +What they reported was no light event and, the next morning, their +fathers were with them in the treetop at the safe distance which the +wooded crest afforded and watching with apprehensive eyes the movements +of the monster settled in the rugged valley tree. There was slight +movement to note. Coiled easily around the bole, just above where the +branches began, and resting a portion of its body upon a thick, extending +limb, its head and perhaps ten or fifteen feet of its length swinging +downward, the great serpent still hung awaiting its prey, ready to launch +itself upon any hapless victim which might come within its reach. That +its appetite would soon be gratified admitted of little doubt. Profiting +by the absence of the boys, who while at work made no effort to conceal +themselves, groups of wild horses were already feeding in the lowlands, +and the elk and wild ox were visible here and there. The group in the +treetop on the crest realized that it had business on hand. The +sea-serpent was a terror to the cave people, and when one appeared to +haunt the river the word was swiftly spread, and they gathered to +accomplish its end if possible. With warnings to the boys they left +behind them, the fathers sped away in different directions, one up, the +other down, the river's bank, Stripe-Face to seek the help of some of the +cave people and One-Ear to arouse the Shell people, as they were called, +whose home was beside a creek some miles below. Into the home of the +little colony One-Ear went swinging a little later, demanding to see the +head man of the fishing village, and there ensued an earnest conversation +of short sentences, but one which caused immediate commotion. To the hill +dwellers the rare advent of a sea-serpent was comparatively a small +matter, but it was a serious thing to the Shell folk. The sea-serpent +might come up the creek and be among them at any moment, ravaging their +community. The Shell people were grateful for the warning, but there were +few of them at home, and less than a dozen could be mustered to go with +One-Ear to the rendezvous. + +They were too late, the hardy people who came up to assail the serpent, +because the serpent had not waited for them. The two boys roosting in the +treetop on the height had beheld what was not pleasant to look upon, for +they had seen a yearling of the aurochs enveloped by the thing, which +whipped down suddenly from the branches, and the crushed quadruped had +been swallowed in the serpent's way. But the dinner which might suffice +it for weeks had not, in all entirety, the effect upon it which would +follow the swallowing of a wild deer by its degenerate descendants of the +Amazonian or Indian forests. + +The serpent did not lie a listless mass, helplessly digesting the product +of the tragedy upon the spot of its occurrence, but crawled away slowly +through the reeds, and instinctively to the water, into which it slid +with scarce a splash, and then went drifting lazily away upon the current +toward the sea. It had been years since one of these big water serpents +had invaded the river at such a distance from its mouth and never came +another up so far. There were causes promoting rapidly the extinction of +their dreadful kind. + +Three or four days were required before Ab and Oak realized, after what +had taken place, that there were in the community any more important +personages than they, and that they had work before them, if they were to +continue in their glorious career. When everyday matters finally asserted +themselves, there was their pit not yet completed. Because of their +absence, a greater aggregation of beasts was feeding in the little +valley. Not only the aurochs, the ancient bison, the urus, the progenitor +of the horned cattle of to-day, wild horse and great elk and reindeer +were seen within short distances from each other, but the big, hairy +rhinoceros of the time was crossing the valley again and rioting in its +herbage or wallowing in the pools where the valley dipped downward to the +marsh. The mammoth with its young had swung clumsily across the area of +rich feed, and, lurking in its train, eyeing hungrily and bloodthirstily +the mammoth's calf, had crept the great cave tiger. The monster cave bear +had shambled through the high grass, seeking some small food in default +of that which might follow the conquest of a beast of size. The uncomely +hyenas had gone slinking here and there and had found something worthy +their foul appetite. All this change had come because the two boys, being +boys and full of importance, had neglected their undertaking for about a +week and had talked each in his own home with an air intended to be +imposing, and had met each other with much dignity of bearing, at their +favorite perching-place in the treetop on the hillside. When there came +to them finally a consciousness that, to remain people of magnitude in +the world, they must continue to do something, they went to work bravely. +The change which had come upon the valley in their brief absence tended +to increase their confidence, for, as thus exhibited, early as was the +age, the advent of the human being, young or old, somehow affected all +animate nature and terrified it, and the boys saw this. Not that the +great beasts did not prey upon man, but then, as now, the man to the +great beast was something of a terror, and man, weak as he was, knew +himself and recognized himself as the head of all creation. The mammoth, +the huge, thick-coated rhinoceros, sabre-tooth, the monstrous tiger, or +the bear, or the hyena, or the loping wolf, or short-bodied and vicious +wolverine were to him, even then, but lower creatures. Man felt himself +the master of the world, and his children inherited the perception. + +Work in the pit progressed now rapidly and not a great number of days +passed before it had attained the depth required. The boy at work was +compelled, when emerging, to climb a dried branch which rested against +the pit's edge, and the lookout in the tree exercised an extra caution, +since his comrade below could no longer attain safety in a moment. But +the work was done at last, that is, the work of digging, and there +remained but the completion of the pitfall, a delicate though not a +difficult matter. Across the pit, and very close together, were laid +criss-crosses of slender branches, brought in armfuls from the forest; +over these dry grass was spread, thinly but evenly, and over this again +dust and dirt and more grass and twigs, all precautions being observed to +give the place a natural appearance. In this the boys succeeded very +well. Shrewd must have been the animal of any sort which could detect the +trap. Their chief work done, the boys must now wait wisely. The place was +deserted again and no nearer approach was made to the pitfall than the +treetops of the hillside. There the boys were to be found every day, +eager and anxious and hopeful as boys are generally. There was not +occasion for getting closer to the trap, for, from their distant perch, +its surface was distinctly visible and they could distinguish if it had +been broken in. Those were days of suppressed excitement for the two; +they could see the buffalo and wild horses moving here and there, but +fortune was still perverse and the trap was not approached. Before its +occupation by them, the place where they had dug had appeared the +favorite feeding-place; now, with all perversity, the wild horses and +other animals grazed elsewhere, and the boys began to fear that they had +left some traces of their work which revealed it to the wily beasts. On +one day, for an hour or two, their hearts were in their mouths. There +issued from the forest to the westward the stately Irish elk. It moved +forward across the valley to the waters on the other side, and, after +drinking its fill, began feeding directly toward the tree clump. It +reached the immediate vicinity of the pitfall and stood beneath the +trees, fairly outlined against the opening beyond, and affording +to the almost breathless couple a splendid spectacle. A magnificent +creature was the great elk of the time of the cave men, the Irish elk, as +those who study the past have named it, because its bones have been found +so frequently in what are now the preserving peat bogs of Ireland. But +the elk passed beyond the sight of the watchers, and so their bright +hopes fell. + +The crispness of full autumn had come, one morning, when Ab and Oak met +as usual and looked out across the valley to learn if anything had +happened in the vicinity of the pitfall. The hoar frost, lying heavily on +the herbage, made the valley resemble a sea of silver, checkered and +spotted all over darkly. These dark spots and lines were the traces of +such animals as had been in the valley during the night or toward early +morning. Leading everywhere were heavy trails and light ones, telling the +story of the night. But very little heed to these things was paid by the +ardent boys. They were too full of their own affairs. As they swung into +place together upon their favorite limb and looked across the valley, +they uttered a simultaneous and joyous shout. Something had taken place +at the pitfall! + +All about the trap the surface of the ground was dark and the area of +darkness extended even to the little bank of the swamp on the riverside. +Careless of danger, the boys dropped to the ground and, spears in hand, +ran like deer toward the scene of their weeks of labor. Side by side they +bounded to the edge of the excavation, which now yawned open to the sky. +They had triumphed at last! As they saw what the pitfall held, they +yelled in unison, and danced wildly around the opening, in the very +height of boyish triumph. The exultation was fully justified, for the +pitfall held a young rhinoceros, a creature only a few months old, but so +huge already that it nearly filled the excavation. It was utterly +helpless in the position it occupied. It was wedged in, incapable of +moving more than slightly in any direction. Its long snout, with its +sprouting pair of horns, was almost level with the surface of the ground +and its small bright eyes leered wickedly at its noisy enemies. It +struggled clumsily upon their approach, but nothing could relieve the +hopelessness of its plight. + +All about the pitfall the earth was plowed in furrows and beaten down by +the feet of some monstrous animal. Evidently the calf was in the company +of its mother when it fell a victim to the art of the pitfall diggers. It +was plain that the mother had spent most of the night about her young in +a vain effort to release it. Well did the cave boys understand the signs, +and, after their first wild outburst of joy over the capture, a sense of +the delicacy, not to say danger, of their situation came upon them. It +was not well to interfere with the family affairs of the rhinoceros. +Where had the mother gone? They looked about, but could see nothing to +justify their fears. Only for a moment, though, did their sense of safety +last; hardly had the echo of their shouting come back from the hillside +than there was a splashing and rasping of bushes in the swamp and the +rush of some huge animal toward the little ascent leading to the valley +proper. There needed no word from either boy; the frightened couple +bounded to the tree of refuge and had barely begun clambering up its +trunk than there rose to view, mad with rage and charging viciously, the +mother of the calf rhinoceros. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +SABRE-TOOTH AND RHINOCEROS. + +The rhinoceros of the Stone Age was a monstrous creature, an animal +varying in many respects from either species of the animal of the present +day, though perhaps somewhat closely allied to the huge double-horned and +now nearly extinct white rhinoceros of southern Africa. But the brute of +the prehistoric age was a beast of greater size, and its skin, instead of +being bare, was densely covered with a dingy colored, crinkly hair, +almost a wool. It was something to be dreaded by most creatures even in +this time of great, fierce animals. It turned aside for nothing; it was +the personification of courage and senseless ferocity when aroused. +Rarely seeking a conflict, it avoided none. The huge mammoth, a more +peaceful pachyderm, would ordinarily hesitate before barring its path, +while even the cave tiger, fiercest and most dreaded of the carnivora of +the time, though it might prey upon the young rhinoceros when opportunity +occurred, never voluntarily attacked the full-grown animal. From that +almost impervious shield of leather hide, an inch or more in thickness, +protected further by the woolly covering, even the terrible strokes of +the tiger's claws glanced off with but a trifling rending, while one +single lucky upward heave of the twin horns upon the great snout would +pierce and rend, as if it were a trifling obstacle, the body of any +animal existing. The lifting power of that prodigious neck was something +almost beyond conception. It was an awful engine of death when its +opportunity chanced to come. On the other hand, the rhinoceros of this +ancient world had but a limited range of vision, and was as dull-witted +and dangerously impulsive as its African prototype of today. + +But short-sighted as it was, the boys clambering up the tree were near +enough for the perception of the great beast which burst over the +hummock, and it charged directly at them, the tree quivering when the +shoulder of the monster struck it as it passed, though the boys, already +in the branches, were in safety. Checking herself a little distance +beyond, the rhinoceros mother returned, snorting fiercely, and began +walking round and round the calf imprisoned in the pitfall. The boys +comprehended perfectly the story of the night. The calf once ensnared, +the mother had sought in vain to rescue it, and, finally, wearied with +her exertion, had retired just over the little descent, there to wallow +and rest while still keeping guard over her imprisoned young. The +spectacle now, as she walked around the trap, was something which would +have been pitiful to a later race of man. The beast would get down upon +her knees and plow the dirt about the calf with her long horns. She would +seek to get her snout beneath its body sidewise, and so lift it, though +each effort was necessarily futile. There was no room for any leverage, +the calf fitted the cavity. The boys clung to their perches in safety, +but in perplexity. Hours passed, but the mother rhinoceros showed no +inclination to depart. It was three o'clock in the afternoon when she +went away to the wallow, returning once or twice to her young before +descending the bank, and, even when she had reached the marsh, snorting +querulously for some time before settling down to rest. + +The boys waited until all was quiet in the marsh, and, as a matter of +prudence, for some time longer. They wanted to feel assured that the +monster was asleep, then, quietly, they slid down the tree trunk and, +with noiseless step, stole by the pitfall and toward the hillside. A few +yards further on their pace changed to a run, which did not cease until +they reached the forest and its refuge, nor, even there, did they linger +for any length of time. Each started for his home; for their adventure +had again assumed a quality which demanded the consideration of older +heads and the assistance of older hands. It was agreed that they should +again bring their fathers with them--by a fortunate coincidence each knew +where to find his parent on this particular day--and that they should +meet as soon as possible. It was more than an hour later when the two +fathers and two sons, the men armed with the best weapons they possessed, +appeared upon the scene. So far as the watchers from the hillside could +determine, all was quiet about the clump of trees and the vicinity of the +pitfall. It was late in the afternoon now and the men decided that the +best course to pursue would be to steal down across the valley, kill the +imprisoned calf and then escape as soon as possible, leaving the mother +to find her offspring dead; reasoning that she would then abandon it. +Afterward the calf could be taken out and there would be a feast of cave +men upon the tender food and much benefit derived in utilization of +the tough yet not, at its age, too thick hide of the uncommon quarry. +There was but one difficulty in the way of carrying out this enterprise: +the wind was from the north and blew from the hunters toward the river, +and the rhinoceros, though lacking much range of vision, was as acute of +scent as the gray wolves which sometimes strayed like shadows through the +forest or the hyenas which scented from afar the living or the dead. +Still, the venture was determined upon. + +The four descended the hill, the two boys in the rear, treading with the +lightness of the tiger cat, and went cautiously across the valley and +toward the tree trunk. Certainly no sound they made could have reached +the ear of the monster wallowing below the bank, but the wind carried to +its nostrils the message of their coming. They were not half way across +the valley when the rhinoceros floundered up to the level and charged +wildly along the course of the wafted scent. There was a flight for the +hillside, made none too soon, but yet in time for safety. Walking around +in circles, snorting viciously, the great beast lingered in the vicinity +for a time, then went back to its imprisoned calf, where it repeated the +performance of earlier in the day and finally retired again to its hidden +resting-place near by. It was dusk now and the shadows were deepening +about the valley. + +The men, well up in the tree with the boys, were undetermined what to do. +They might steal along to the eastward and approach the calf from another +direction without disturbing the great brute by their scent. But it was +becoming darker every moment and the region was a dangerous one. In the +valley and away from the trees they were at a disadvantage and at night +there were fearful things abroad. Still, they decided to take the risk, +and the four, following the crest of the slight hill, moved along its +circle southeastward toward the river bank, each on the alert and each +with watchful eyes scanning the forest depths to the left or the valley +to the right. Suddenly One-Ear leaped back into the shadow, waved his +hand to check the advance of those behind him, then pointed silently +across the valley and toward the clump of trees. + +Not a hundred yards from the pitfall the high grass was swaying gently; +some creature was passing along toward the pitfall and a thing of no +slight size. Every eye of the quartet was strained now to learn what +might be the interloper upon the scene. It was nearly dark, but the eyes +of the cave men, almost nocturnal in their adaptation as they were, +distinguished a long, dark body emerging from the reeds and circling +curiously and cautiously around the pitfall; nearer and nearer it +approached the helpless prisoner until perhaps twenty feet distant from +it. Here the thing seemed to crouch and remain quiescent, but only for a +little time. Then resounded across the valley a screaming roar, so fierce +and raucous and death-telling and terrifying that even the hardened +hunters leaped with affright. At the same moment a dark object shot +through the air and landed on the back of the creature in the shallow +pit. The tiger was abroad! There was a wild bleat of terror and agony, a +growl fiercer and shorter than the first hoarse cry of the tiger, and, +then, for a moment silence, but only for a moment. Snorts, almost as +terrible in their significance as the tiger's roar, came from the +marsh's edge. A vast form loomed above the slight embankment and there +came the thunder of ponderous feet. The rhinoceros mother was charging +the great tiger! + +There was a repetition of the fierce snorts, with the wild rush of the +rhinoceros, another roar, the sound of which reechoed through the valley, +and then could be dimly seen a black something flying through the air and +alighting, apparently, upon the back of the charging monster. There was a +confusion of forms and a confusion of terrifying sounds, the snarling +roar of the great tiger and half whistling bellow of the great pachyderm, +but nothing could be seen distinctly. That a gigantic duel was in +progress the cave men knew, and knew, as well, that its scene was one +upon which they could not venture. The clamor had not ended when the +darkness became complete and then each father, with his son, fled swiftly +homeward. + +Early the next morning, the four were together again at the same point of +safety and advantage, and again the frost-covered valley was a sea of +silver, this time unmarred by the criss-crosses of feeding or hunting +animals. There was no sign of life; no creature of the forest or the +plain was so daring as to venture soon upon the battlefield of the +rhinoceros and the cave tiger. Cautiously the cave men and their sons +made their way across the valley and approached the pitfall. What was +revealed to them told in a moment the whole story. The half-devoured body +of the rhinoceros calf was in the pit. It had been killed, no doubt, by +the tiger's first fierce assault, its back broken by the first blow of +the great forearm, or its vertebrae torn apart by the first grasp of the +great jaws. There were signs of the conflict all about, but that it had +not come to a deadly issue was apparent. Only by some accident could the +rhinoceros have caught upon its horns the agile monster cat, and only by +an accident even more remote could the tiger have reached a vital part of +its huge enemy. There had been a long and weary battle--a mother creature +fighting for her young and the great flesh-eater fighting for his prey. +But the combatants had assuredly separated without the death of either, +and the bereaved rhinoceros, knowing her young one to be dead, had +finally left the valley, while the tiger had returned to its prey and fed +its fill. But there was much meat left. There were, in the estimation of +the cave people, few more acceptable feasts than that obtainable from the +flesh of a young rhinoceros. The first instinct of the two men was to +work fiercely with their flint knives and cut out great lumps of meat +from the body in the pit. Hardly had they begun their work, when, as +by common impulse, each clambered out from the depression suddenly, and +there was a brief and earnest discussion. The cave tiger, monarch of the +time, was not a creature to abandon what he had slain until he had +devoured it utterly. Gorged though he might be, he was undoubtedly in +hiding within a comparatively short distance. He would return again +inevitably. He might be lying sleeping in the nearest clump of bushes! It +was possible that his appetite might come upon him soon again and that he +might appear at any moment. What chance then for the human beings who had +ventured into his dining-room? There was but one sensible course to +follow, and that was instant retreat. The four fled again to the hillside +and the forest, carrying with them, however, the masses of flesh already +severed from the body of the calf. There was food for a day or two for +each family. + +And so ended the first woodland venture of these daring boys. For days +the vicinity of the little valley was not sought by either man or youth, +since the tiger might still be lurking near. When, later, the youths +dared to visit the scene of their bold exploit, there were only bones in +the pitfall they had made. The tiger had eaten its prey and had gone to +other fields. In later autumn came a great flood down the valley, rising +so high that the father of Oak and all his family were driven temporarily +from their cave by the water's influx and compelled to seek another +habitation many miles away. Some time passed before the comrades met +again. + +As for Ab, this exploit might be counted almost as the beginning of his +manhood. His father--and fathers had even then a certain paternal +pride--had come to recognize in a degree the vigor and daring of his son. +The mother, of course, was even more appreciative, though to her firstborn +she could give scant attention, as Ab had the small brother in the cave +now and the little sister who was still smaller, but from this time the +youth became a person of some importance. He grew rapidly, and the sinewy +stripling developed, not increasing strength and stature and rounding +brawn alone, for he had both ingenuity and persistency of purpose, +qualities which made him rather an exception among the cave boys of his +age. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +DOMESTIC MATTERS. + +Attention has already been called to the fact that the family of Ab were +of the aristocracy of the region, and it should be added that the +interior of One-Ear's mansion corresponded with his standing in the +community. It was a fine cave, there was no doubt about that, and Red-Spot +was a notable housekeeper. As a rule, the bones remaining about the +fire after a meal were soon thrown outside--at least they were never +allowed to accumulate for more than a month or two. The beds were +excellent, for, in addition to the mass of leaves heaped upon the earth +which formed a resting-place for the family, there were spread the skins +of various animals. The water privileges of the establishment were +extensive, for there was the river in front, much utilized for drinking +purposes. There were ledges and shelves of rock projecting here and there +from the sides of the cave, and upon these were laid the weapons and +implements of the household, so that, excepting an occasional bone upon +the earthen floor, or, perhaps, a spattering of red, where some animal +had been cut up for roasting, the place was very neat indeed. The fact +that the smoke from the fire could, when the wind was right, ascend +easily through the roof made the residence one of the finest within a +large district of the country. As to light, it cannot be said that the +house was well provided. The fire at night illuminated a small area and, +in the daytime, light entered through the doorway, and, to an extent, +through the hole in the cave's top, as did also the rains, but the light +was by no means perfect. The doorway, for obvious reasons, was narrow and +there was a huge rock, long ago rolled inside with much travail, which +could on occasion be utilized in blocking the narrow passage. Barely room +to squeeze by this obstruction existed at the doorway. The sneaking but +dangerous hyena had a keen scent and was full of curiosity. The monster +bear of the time was ever hungry and the great cave tiger, though rarer, +was, as has been shown, a haunting dread. Great attention was paid to +doorways in those days, not from an artistic point of view exactly, but +from reasons cogent enough in the estimation of the cave men. But the +cave was warm and safe and the sharp eyes of its inhabitants, accustomed +to the semi-darkness, found slight difficulty in discerning objects in +the gloom. Very content with their habitation were all the family and +Red-Spot particularly, as a chatelaine should, felt much pride in her +surroundings. + +It may be added that the family of One-Ear was a happy one. His life with +Red-Spot was the sequence of what might be termed a fortunate marriage. +It is true that standards vary with times, and that the demeanor of the +couple toward each other was occasionally not what would be counted the +index of domestic felicity in this more artificial and deceptive age. It +was never fully determined whether One-Ear or Red-Spot could throw a +stone ax with the greater accuracy, although certainly he could hurl one +with greater force than could his wife. But the deftness of each in +eluding such dangerous missiles was about the same, and no great harm had +at any time resulted from the effects of momentary ebullitions of anger, +followed by action on the part of either. There had not been at any time +a scandal in the family. The pair were faithful to each other. Society +was somewhat scattered in those days, and the cave twain, anywhere, were +generally as steadfast as the lion and the lioness. It was centuries +later, too, before the cave men's posterity became degenerate enough or +prosperous enough, or safe enough, to be polygamous, and, so far as the +area of the Thames valley or even the entire "Paris basin," as it is +called, was concerned, monogamy held its own very fairly, from the +shell-beds of the earliest kitchen-middens to the time of the bronze ax +and the dawn of what we now call civilization. + +There were now five members in this family of the period, One-Ear, +Red-Spot, Ab, Bark and Beech-Leaf, the two last named being Ab's younger +brother and little more than baby sister. The names given them had come +in the same accidental way as had the name of Ab. The brother, when very +small, had imitated in babyish way the barking of some wolfish creature +outside which had haunted the cave's vicinity at night time, and so the +name of Bark, bestowed accidentally by Ab himself, had become the +youngster's title for life. As to Beech-Leaf, she had gained her name in +another way. She was a fat and joyous little specimen of a cave baby and +not much addicted to lying as dormant as babies sometimes do. The +bearskin upon which her mother laid her had not infrequently proven too +limited an area for her exploits and she would roll from it into the +great bed of beech leaves upon which it was placed, and become fairly +lost in the brown mass. So often had this hilarious young lady to be +disinterred from the beech leaf bed, that the name given her came +naturally, through association of ideas. Between the birth of Ab and that +of his younger brother an interval of five years had taken place, the +birth of the sister occurring three or four years later. So it came that +Ab, in the absence of his father and mother, was distinctly the head of +the family, admonitory to his brother, with ideas as to the physical +discipline requisite on occasion, and, in a rude way, fond of and +protective toward the baby sister. + +There was a certain regularity in the daily program of the household, +although, with reference to what was liable to occur outside, it can +hardly be said to have partaken of the element of monotony. The work of +the day consisted merely in getting something to eat, and in this work +father and mother alike took an active part, their individual duties +being somewhat varied. In a general way One-Ear relied upon himself for +the provision of flesh, but there were roots and nuts and fruits, in +their season, and in the gathering of these Red-Spot was an admitted +expert. Not that all her efforts were confined to the fruits of the soil +and forest, for she could, if need be, assist her husband in the pursuit +or capture of any animal. She was not less clever than he in that +animal's subsequent dissection, and was far more expert in its cooking. +In the tanning of skins she was an adept. So it chanced that at this time +the father and mother frequently left the cave together in the morning, +their elder son remaining as protector of the younger inmates. When +occasionally he went with his parents, or was allowed to venture forth +alone, extra precautions were taken as to the cave's approaches. Just +outside the entrance was a stone similar to the one on the inside, and +when the two young children were left unguarded this outside barricade +was rolled against what remained of the entrance, so that the small +people, though prisoners, were at least secure from dangerous animals. +Of course there were variations in the program. There was that degree of +fellowship among the cave men, even at this early age, to allow of an +occasional banding together for hunting purposes, a battle of some sort +or the surrounding and destruction of some of the greater animals. At +such times One-Ear would be absent from the cave for days and Ab and his +mother would remain sole guardians. The boy enjoyed these occasions +immensely; they gave him a fine sense of responsibility and importance, +and did much toward the development of the manhood that was in him, +increasing his self-reliance and perfecting him in the art of winning his +daily bread, or what was daily bread's equivalent at the time in which he +lived. It was not in outdoor and physical life alone that he grew. There +was something more to him, a combination of traits somewhere which made +him a little beyond and above the mere seeker after food. He was never +entirely dormant, a sleeper on the skins and beech leaves, even when in +the shelter of the cave, after the day's adventures. He reasoned +according to such gifts as circumstances had afforded him and he had the +instinct of devising. An instinct toward devising was a great thing to +its possessor in the time of the cave people. + +We know very well to-day, or think we know, that the influence of the +mother, in most cases, dominates that of the father in making the future +of the man-child. It may be that this comes because in early life the +boy, throughout the time when all he sees or learns will be most clear in +his memory until he dies, is more with the woman parent than with the +man, who is afield; or, it may be, there is some criss-cross law of +nature which makes the man ordinarily transmit his qualities to the +daughter and the woman transmit hers to the son. About that we do not +know yet. But it is certain that Ab was more like his mother than his +father, and that in these young days of his he was more immediately under +her influence. And Red-Spot was superior in many ways to the ordinary +woman of the cave time. + +It was good for the boy that he was so under the maternal dominion, and +that, as he lingered about the cave, he aided in the making of threads of +sinew or intestine, or looked on interestedly as his mother, using the +bone needle, which he often sharpened for her with his flint scraper, +sewed together the skins which made the garments of the family. The +needle was one without an eye, a mere awl, which made holes through which +the thread was pushed. As the growing boy lounged or labored near his +mother, alternately helpful or annoying, as the case might be, he learned +many things which were of value to him in the future, and resolved upon +brave actions which should be greatly to his credit. He was but a cub, a +young being almost as unreasoning in some ways as the beasts of the wood, +but he had his hopes and vanities, as has even the working beaver or the +dancing crane, and from the long mother-talks came a degree of +definiteness of outline to his ambitions. He would be the greatest hunter +and warrior in all the region! + +The cave mother easily understood her child's increasing daringness and +vigor, and though swift to anger and strong of hand, she could not but +feel a pride in and tell her tales to the boy beside her. After a time, +when the family of Oak returned to the cave above and the boys were much +together again, the mother began to see less of her son. The influence of +the days spent by her side remained with the boy, however, and much that +he learned there was of value in his later active life. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +OLD MOK, THE MENTOR. + +It was at about this time, the time when Ab had begun to develop from +boyhood into strong and aspiring youth, that his family was increased +from five to six by the addition of a singular character, Old Mok. This +personage was bent and seemingly old, but he was younger than he looked, +though he was not extremely fair to look upon. He had a shock of grizzled +hair, a short, stiff, unpleasant beard, and the condition of one of his +legs made him a cripple of an exaggerated type. He could hobble about and +on great occasions make a journey of some length, but he was practically +debarred from hunting. The extraordinary curvature of his twisted leg +was, as usual in his time, the result of an encounter with some wild +beast. The limb curved like a corkscrew and was so much shorter than the +other leg that the man was really safe only when the walls of a cave +enclosed him. But if his legs were weak his brain and arms were not. In +that grizzled head was much intelligence and the arms were those of a +great climber. His toes were clasping things and he was at home in a +treetop. But he did not travel much. There was no need. Old Mok had +special gifts, and they were such as made him a desirable friend among +the cave men. He had, in his youth, been a mighty hunter and had so +learned that he could tell wonderfully the ways of beasts and swimming +things and the ways of slaying or eluding them. Best of all, he was such +a fashioner of weapons as the valley had rarely known, and, because of +this, was in great request as a cared-for inmate of almost any cave which +hit his fancy. After his crippling he had drifted from one haven to +another, never quite satisfied with what he found, and now he had come to +live, as he supposed, with his old friend, One-Ear, until life should +end. Despite his harshness of appearance--and neither of the two could +ever afterward explain it--there was something about the grim old man +which commended him to Ab from the very first. There was an occasional +twinkle in the fierce old fellow's eye and sometimes a certain cackle in +his clucking talk, which betokened not unkindliness toward a healthy +youngster, and the two soon grew together, as often the young and old may +do. + +Though but what might be called in one sense a dependent, the crippled +hunter had a dignity and was arbitrary in the expression of his views. +Never once, through all the thousands of years which have passed since he +hobbled here and there, has lived an armorer more famous among those who +knew him best. No fashioner of sword, or lance, or coat of mail or plate, +in the far later centuries, had better reputation than had Mok with his +friends and patrons for the making of good weapons, though it may be that +his clientele was less numerous by hundreds to one than that of some +later manufacturer of a Toledo blade. He might be living partly as a +dependent, but he could do almost as he willed. Who should have standing +if it were not accorded to the most gifted chipper of flint and carver of +mammoth tooth in all the region from where the little waters came down to +make a river, to where the blue, broad stream, blending with friendly +currents, was lost in what is now the great North Sea? + +A boy and an old man can come together closely, and that has, through all +the ages, been a good thing for each. The boy learns that which enables +him to do things and the man is happy in watching the development of one +of his own kind. Helping and advising Ab, and sometimes Oak as well, Old +Mok did not discourage sometimes reckless undertakings. In those days +chances were accepted. So when any magnificent scheme suggested itself to +the two youths, Ab at once sought his adviser and was not discountenanced. + +It was a great night in the cave when Ab brought home two fluffy gray +bundles not much larger than kittens and tied them in a corner with +thongs of sinew, sinew so tough and stringy that it could not easily be +severed by the sharp teeth which were at once applied to it. The fluffy +gray bundles were two young wolves, and were, for Ab, a great possession. +They were not even brother and sister, these cubs, and had been gallantly +captured by the two courageous rangers, Ab and Oak. For some time the +boys had noted lurking shadows about a rugged height close by the river, +some distance below the cave of Ab, and had resolved upon a closer +investigation. A particularly ugly brute was the wolf of the cave man's +time, but one which, when not in pack, was unlikely to assail two +well-armed and sturdy youths in daylight; and the result of much cautious +spying was that they found two dens, each with young in them, and at a +time when the old wolves were away. In one den Ab seized upon two of the +snarling cubs and Oak did the same in the other, and then the raiders +fled with such speed as was in them, until they were at a safe distance +from the place where things would not go well with them should the robbed +parents return. Once in safe territory, each exchanged a cub for one +seized by the other and then each went home in triumph. Ab was especially +delighted. He was determined to feed his cubs with the utmost care and to +keep them alive and growing. He was full of the fancy and delighted in +it, but he had assumed a great responsibility. + +[Illustration: AB SEIZED UPON TWO OF THE SNARLING CUBS AND OAK DID THE +SAME] + +The cubs were tied in a corner of the cave and at once commanded the +attention and unbounded admiration of Bark and Beech-Leaf. The young lady +especially delighted in the little beasts and could usually be found +lying in the corner with them, the baby wolves learning in time to play +with her as if she were a wolf-suckled cub herself. Bark had almost the +same relations with the little brutes and Ab looked after them most +carefully. Even the father and mother became interested in the antics of +the young children and young wolves and the cubs became acknowledged, if +not particularly respected, members of the family. But Ab's dream was too +much for sudden realization. Not all at once could the wild thing become +a tame one. As the cubs grew and their teeth became longer and sharper, +there was an occasional conflict and the arms of Bark and Beech-Leaf were +scarred in consequence, until at last Ab, though he protested hardly, was +compelled to give up his pets. Somehow, he was not in the mood for +killing the half grown beasts, and so he simply turned them loose, but +they did not, as he had thought they would, flee to the forest. They had +known almost no life except that of the cave, they had got their meat +there and, at night, the twain were at the doorway whining for food. To +them were tossed some half-gnawed bones and they received them with +joyous yelps and snarls. Thenceforth they hung about the cave and +retained, practically, their place in the family, oddly enough showing +particular animosity to those of their own kind who ventured near the +place. One day, the female was found in the cave's rear with four little +whelps lying beside her, and that settled it! The family petted the young +animals and they grew up tamer and more obedient than had been their +father and mother. Protected by man, they were unlikely to revert to +wildness. Members of the pack which grew from them were, in time, +bestowed as valued gifts among the cave men of the region and much came +of it. The two boys did a greater day's work than they could comprehend +when they raided the dens by the river's side. + +But there was much beside the capture of wolf cubs to occupy the +attention of the boys. They counted themselves the finest bird hunters in +the community and, to a certain extent, justified the proud claim made. +No youths could set a snare more deftly or hurl a stone more surely, and +there was much bird life for them to seek. The bustard fed in the vast +nut forests, the capercailzie was proud upon the moors, where the +heath-cock was as jaunty, and the willow grouse and partridge were wise in +covert to avoid the hungry snowy owl. Upon the river and lagoons and +creeks the swan and wild goose and countless duck made constant clamor, +and there were water-rail and snipe along the shallows. There were eggs +to be found, and an egg baked in the ashes was a thing most excellent. It +was with the waterfowl that the boys were most successful. The ducks +would in their feeding approach close to the shores of the river banks or +the little islands and would gather in bunches so near to where the boys +were hidden that the young hunters, leaping suddenly to their feet and +hurling their stones together, rarely failed to secure at least a single +victim. There were muskrats along the banks and there was a great beaver, +which was not abundant, and which was a mighty creature of his kind. Of +muskrats the boys speared many--and roasted muskrat is so good that it is +eaten by the Indians and some of the white hunters in Canada to-day--but +the big beaver they did not succeed in capturing at this stage of their +career. Once they saw a seal, which had come up the river from the sea, +and pursued it, running along the banks for miles, but it proved as +elusive as the great beaver. + +But, as a matter of course, it was upon land that the greatest sport was +had. There were the wild hogs, but the hogs were wary and the big boars +dangerous, and it was only when a litter of the young could be pounced +upon somewhere that flint-headed spears were fully up to the emergency. +On such occasions there was fine pigsticking, and then the atmosphere in +the caves would be made fascinating with the odor of roasting suckling. +There is a story by a great and gentle writer telling how a Chinaman +first discovered the beauties of roast pig. It is an admirable tale and +it is well that it was written, but the cave man, many tens of thousands +of years before there was a China, yielded to the allurements of young +pig, and sought him accordingly. + +The musk-ox, which still mingled with the animals of the river basin, was +almost as difficult of approach as in arctic wilds to-day, as was a small +animal, half goat, half antelope, which fed upon the rocky hillsides or +wherever the high reaches were. There were squirrels in the trees, but +they were seldom caught, and the tailless hare which fed in the river +meadows was not easily approached and was swift as the sea wind in its +flight, swifter than a sort of fox which sought it constantly. But the +burrowing things were surer game. There were martens and zerboas, and +marmots and hedgehogs and badgers, all good to eat and attainable to +those who could dig as could these brawny youths. The game once driven to +its hole, the clamshell and the sharpened fire-hardened spade-stick were +brought into use and the fate of the animal sought was rarely long in +doubt. It is true that the scene lacked one element very noticeable when +boys dig out any animal to-day. There was not the inevitable and +important dog, but the youths were swift of sight and quick of hand, and +the hidden creature, once unearthed, seldom escaped. One of the prizes of +those feats of excavation was the badger, for not only was it edible, but +its snow-white teeth, perforated and strung on sinew, made necklaces +which were highly valued. + +The youths did not think of attacking many of the dangerous brutes. They +might have risked the issue with a small leopard which existed then, or +faced the wildcat, but what they sought most was the wolverine, because +it had fur so long and oddly marked, and because it was braver than other +animals of its size and came more boldly to some bait of meat, affording +opportunity for fine spear-throwing. And, apropos of the wolverine, the +glutton, as it is called in Europe, it is something still admired. It is +a vicious, bloodthirsty, unchanging and, to the widely-informed and +scientifically sentimental, lovable animal. It is vicious and +bloodthirsty because that is its nature. It is lovable because, through +all the generations, it has come down just the same. The cave man knew it +just as it is now; the early Teuton knew it when "hides" of land were the +rewards of warriors. The Roman knew it when he made forays to the far +north for a few centuries and learned how sharp were the blades of the +Rhine-folk and the Briton. The Druid and the Angle and Jute and Saxon +knew it, and it is known to-day in all northern Europe and Asia and +America, in fact, in nearly all the northern temperate zone. The +wolverine is something wonderful; it laughs at the ages; its bones, found +side by side with those of the cave hyena, are the same as those found in +its body as it exists to-day. It is an anomaly, an animal which does not +advance nor retrograde. + +The two big boys grew daily in the science of gaining food and grew more +and more of importance in their respective households. Sometimes either +one of them might hunt alone, but this was not the rule. It was safer for +two than one, when the forest was invaded deeply. But not all their time +was spent in evading or seeking the life of such living things as they +might discover. They had a home life sometimes as entertaining as the +life found anywhere outside. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +DOINGS AT HOME. + +Those were happy times in the cave, where Ab, developing now into an +exceedingly stalwart youth, found the long evenings about the fire far +from monotonous. There was Mok, the mentor, who had grown so fond of him, +and there was most interesting work to do in making from the dark flint +nodules or obsidian fragments--always eagerly seized upon when discovered +by the cave people in their wanderings--the spearheads and rude knives +and skin scrapers so essential to their needs. The flint nodule was but a +small mass of the stone, often somewhat pear-shaped. Though apparently a +solid mass, composed of the hardest substance then known, it lay in what +might be called a series of flakes about a center, and, in wise hands, +these flakes could be chipped or pried away unbroken. The flake, once +won, was often slightly concave on the outside and convex on the other, +but the core of the stone was something more equally balanced in +formation and, when properly finished, made a mighty spearhead. For the +heavy axes and mallets, other stones, such as we now call granite, +redstone or quartose grit, were often used, but in the making of all the +weapons was required the exercise of infinite skill and patience. To make +the flakes symmetrical demanded the nicest perception and judgment of +power of stroke, for, with each flake gained, there resulted a new form +to the surface of the stone. The object was always to secure a flake with +a point, a strong middle ridge and sides as nearly edged as possible. And +in the striking off of these flakes and their finishing others of the +cave men were to old Mok as the child is to the man. + +Ab hung about the old man at his work and was finally allowed to help +him. If, at first, the boy could do nothing else, he could, with his +flint scraper, work industriously at the smoothing of the long spear +shafts, and when he had learned to do well at this he was at last allowed +to venture upon the stone chipping, especially when into old Mok's +possession had come a piece of flint the quality of which he did not +quite approve and for the ruining of which in the splitting he cared but +little. + +There were disasters innumerable when the boy began and much bad stone +was spoiled, but he had a will and a good eye and hand, and it came, in +time, that he could strike off a flake with only a little less of +deftness than his teacher and that, even in the more delicate work of the +finer chipping to complete the weapon, he was a workman not to be +despised. He had an ambition in it all and old Mok was satisfied with +what he did. + +The boy was always experimenting, ever trying a new flint chipper or +using a third stone to tap delicately the one held in the hand to make +the fracture, or wondering aloud why it would not be well to make this +flint knife a little thinner, or that spearhead a trifle heavier. He was +questioning as he worked and something of a nuisance with it all, but old +Mok endured with what was, for him, an astonishing degree of patience, +and would sometimes comment grumblingly to the effect that the boy could +at least chip stone far better than some men. And then the veteran would +look at One-Ear, who was, notoriously, a bad flint worker,--though, a +weapon once in his grasp, there were few could use it with surer eye or +heavier hand--and would chuckle as he made the comment. As for One-Ear, +he listened placidly enough. He was glad a son of his could make good +weapons. So much the better for the family! + +As times went, Ab was a tolerably good boy to his mother. Nearly all +young cave males were good boys until the time came when their thews and +sinews outmatched the strength of those who had borne them, and this, be +it said, was at no early age, for the woman, hunting and working with the +man, was no maternal weakling whose buffet was unworthy of notice. A blow +from the cave mother's hand was something to be respected and avoided. +The use of strength was the general law, and the cave woman, though she +would die for her young, yet demanded that her young should obey her +until the time came when the maternal instinct of first direction blended +with and was finally lost in pride over the force of the being to whom +she had given birth. So Ab had vigorous duties about the household. + +As has been told already, Red-Spot was a notable housekeeper and there +was such product of the cave cooking as would make happy any gourmand of +to-day who could appreciate the quality of what had a most natural +flavor. Regarding her kitchen appliances Red-Spot had a matron's +justifiable pride. Not only was there the wood fire, into which, held on +long, pointed sticks, could be thrust all sorts of meat for the somewhat +smoky broiling, and the hot coals and ashes in which could be roasted the +clams and the clay-covered fish, but there was the place for boiling, +which only the more fortunate of the cave people owned. Her growing son +had aided much in the attainment of this good housewife's fond desire. + +With much travail, involving all the force the cave family could muster +and including the assistance of Oak's father and of Oak himself, who +rejoiced with Ab in the proceedings, there had been rolled into the cave +a huge sandstone rock with a top which was nearly flat. Here was to be +the great pot, sometimes used as a roasting place, as well, which only +the more pretentious of the caves could boast. On the middle of the big +stone's uppermost surface old Mok chipped with an ax the outline of a +rude circle some two feet in diameter. This defined roughly the size of +the kettle to be made. Inside the circle, the sandstone must be dug out +to a big kettle's proper depth, and upon the boy, Ab, must devolve most +of this healthful but not over-attractive labor. + +The boy went at the task gallantly, in the beginning, and pecked away +with a stone chisel and gained a most respectable hollow within a day or +two, but his enthusiasm subsided with the continuity of much effort with +small result. He wanted more weight to his chisel of flint set firmly in +reindeer's horn, and a greater impact to the blows into which could not +be put the force resulting from a swing of arm. He thought much. Then he +secured a long stick and bound his chisel strongly to it at one end, the +top of the chisel resting against a projecting stub of limb, so that it +could not be driven upward. To the other end of the stick he bound a +stone of some pounds in weight and then, holding the shaft with both +hands, lifted it and let the whole drop into the depression he had +already made. The flint chisel bit deeply under the heavy impact and the +days were few before Ab had dug in the sandstone rock a cavity which +would hold much meat and water. There was an unconscious celebration when +the big kettle was completed. It was nearly filled with water, and into +the water were flung great chunks of the meat of a reindeer killed that +day. Meanwhile, the cave fire had been replenished with dry wood and +there had been formed a wide bed of coals, upon which were cast numerous +stones of moderate size, which soon attained a shining heat. A sort of +tongs made of green withes served to remove the stones, one after +another, from the mass of coal, and drop them in with the meat and water. +Within a little time the water was fairly boiling and soon there was a +monster stew giving forth rich odors and ready to be eaten. And it was +not allowed to get over-cool after that summoning fragrance had once +extended throughout the cave. There was a rush for the clam shells which +served for soup dishes or cups, there was spearing with sharpened sticks +for pieces of the boiled meat, and all were satisfied, though there was +shrill complaint from Bark, whose turn at the kettle came late, and much +clamor from chubby Beech-Leaf, who was not yet tall enough to help +herself, but who was cared for by the mother. It may be that, to some +people of to-day, the stew would be counted lacking in quality of +seasoning, but an opinion upon seasoning depends largely upon the stomach +and the time, and, besides, it may be that the dirt clinging to the +stones cast into the water gave a certain flavor as fine in its way as +could be imparted by salt and pepper. + +Old Mok, observing silently, had decidedly approved of Ab's device for +easier digging into sandstone than was the old manner of pecking away +with a chisel held in the hand. He was almost disposed now to admit the +big lad to something like a plane of equality in the work they did +together. He became more affable in their converse, and the youth was, in +the same degree, delighted and ambitious. They experimented with the +stick and weight and chisel in accomplishing the difficult work of +splitting from boulders the larger fragments of stone from which weapons +were to be made, and learned that by heavy, steady pressure of the +breast, thus augmented by heavy weight, they could fracture more evenly +than by blow of stone, ax or hammer. They learned that two could work +together in stone chipping and do better work than one. Old Mok would +hold the forming weapon-head in one hand and the horn-hafted chisel in +another, pressing the blade close against the stone and at just such +angle as would secure the result he sought, while Ab, advised as to the +force of each succeeding stroke, tapped lightly upon the chisel's head. +Woe was it for the boy if once he missed his stroke and caught the old +man's fingers! Very delicate became the chipping done by these two +artists, and excellent beyond any before made were the axes and +spearheads produced by what, in modern times, would have been known under +the title of "Old Mok & Co." + +At this time, too, Ab took lessons in making all the varied articles of +elk or reindeer horn and the drinking cups from the horns of urus and +aurochs. Old Mok even went so far as to attempt teaching the youth +something of carving figures upon tusks and shoulder blades, but in this +art Ab never greatly excelled. He was too much a creature of action. The +bone needles used by Red-Spot in making skin garments he could form +readily enough and he made whistles for Bark and Beech-Leaf, but his +inclinations were all toward larger things. To become a fighter and a +hunter remained his chief ambition. + +Rather keen, with light snows but nipping airs, were the winters of this +country of the cave men, and there were articles of food essential to +variety which were, necessarily, stored before the cold season came. +There were roots which were edible and which could be dried, and there +were nuts in abundance, beyond all need. Beechnuts and acorns were +gathered in the autumn, the children at this time earning fully the right +of home and food, and the stores were heaped in granaries dug into the +cave's sides. Should the snow at any time fall too deeply for +hunting--though such an occurrence was very rare--or should any other +cause, such, for instance, as the appearance of the great cave tiger in +the region, make the game scarce and hunting perilous, there was the +recourse of nuts and roots and no danger of starvation. There was no fear +of suffering from thirst. Man early learned to carry water in a pouch of +skin and there were sometimes made rock cavities, after the manner of the +cave kettle, where water could be stored for an emergency. Besieging wild +beasts could embarrass but could not greatly alarm the family, for, with +store of wood and food and water, the besieged could wait, and it was not +well for the flesh-seeking quadruped to approach within a long +spear-thrust's length of the cavern's narrow entrance. + +The winter following the establishment of Ab's real companionship with +Old Mok, as it chanced, was not a hard one. There fell snow enough for +tracking, but not so deeply as to incommode the hunter. There had been a +wonderful nut-fall in the autumn and the cave was stored with such +quantity of this food that there was no chance of real privation. The ice +was clean upon the river and through the holes hacked with stone axes +fish were dragged forth in abundance upon the rude bone and stone hooks, +which served their purpose far better than when, in summer time, the line +was longer and the fish escaped so often from the barbless implements. It +was a great season in all that made a cave family's life something easy +and complacent and vastly promotive of the social amenities and the +advancement of art and literature--that is, they were not compelled to +make any sudden raid on others to assure the means of subsistence, and +there was time for the carving of bones and the telling of strange +stories of the past. The elders declared it one of the finest winters +they had ever known. + +And so Old Mok and Ab worked well that winter and the youth acquired such +wisdom that his casual advice to Oak when the two were out together was +something worth listening to because of its confidence and ponderosity. +Concerning flint scraper, drill, spearhead, ax or bone or wooden haft, +there was, his talk would indicate, practically nothing for the boy to +learn. That was his own opinion, though, as he grew older, he learned to +modify it greatly. With his adviser he had made good weapons and some +improvements; yet all this was nothing. It was destined that an +accidental discovery should be his, the effect of which would be to +change the cave man's rank among living things. But the youth, just now, +was greatly content with himself. He was older and more modest when he +made his great discovery. + +It was when the fire blazed out at night, when all had fed, when the +tired people lay about resting, but not ready yet for sleep, and the +story of the day's events was given, that Old Mok's ordinarily still +tongue would sometimes loosen and he would tell of what happened when he +was a boy, or of the strange tales which had been told him of the time +long past, the times when the Shell and Cave people were one, times when +there were monstrous things abroad and life was hard to keep. To all +these legends the hearers listened wonderingly, and upon them afterward +Ab and Oak would sometimes speculate together and question as to their +truth. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +OLD MOK'S TALES. + +It was worth while listening to Old Mok when he forgot himself and talked +and became earnestly reminiscent in telling of what he had seen or had +heard when he was young. One day there had been trouble in the cave, for +Bark, left in charge, had neglected the fire and it had "gone out," and +upon the return of his parents there had been blows and harsh language, +and then much pivotal grinding together of dry sticks before a new flame +was gained, and it was only after the odor of cooked flesh filled the +place and strong jaws were busy that the anger of One-Ear had abated and +the group became a comfortable one. Ab had come in hungry and the value of +fire, after what had happened, was brought to his mind forcibly. He laid +himself down upon the cave's floor near Old Mok, who was fashioning a +shaft of some sort, and, as he lay, poked his toes at Beechleaf, who +chuckled and gurgled as she rolled about, never for a moment relinquishing +a portion of the slender shin bone of a deer, upon the flesh of which the +family had fed. It was a short piece but full of marrow, and the child +sucked and mumbled away at it in utmost bliss. Ab thought, somehow, of how +poor would have been the eating with the meat uncooked, and looked at his +hands, still reddened--for it was he who had twisted the stick which made +the fire again. "Fire is good!" he said to Mok. + +The old man kept his flint scraper going for a moment or two before he +answered; then he grunted: + +"Yes, it's good if you don't get burned. I've been burned," and he thrust +out an arm upon which appeared a cicatrice. + +Ab was interested. "Where did you get that?" he queried. + +"Far from here, far beyond the black swamp and the red hills that are +farther still. It was when I was strong." + +"Tell me about it," said the youth. + +"There is a fire country," answered Old Mok, "away beyond the swamp and +woods and the place of the big rocks. It is a wonderful place. The fire +comes out of the ground in long sheets and it is always the same. The rain +and the snow do not stop it. Do I not know? Have I not seen it? Did I not +get this scar going too near the flame and stumbling and falling against a +hot rock almost within it? There is too much fire sometimes!" + +The old man continued: "There are many places of fire. They are to the +east and south. Some of the Shell People who have gone far down the river +have seen them. But the one where I was burned is not so far away as they; +it is up the river to the northwest." + +And Ab was interested and questioned Old Mok further about the strange +region where flames came from the ground as bushes grow, and where snow or +water did not make them disappear. He was destined, at a later day, to be +very glad that he had learned the little that was told him. But to-night +he was intent only on getting all the tales he could from the veteran +while he was in the mood. "Tell about the Shell People," he cried, "and +who they are and where they came from. They are different from us." + +"Yes, they are different from us," said Old Mok, "but there was a time, I +have heard it told, when we were like them. The very old men say that +their grandfathers told them that once there were only Shell People +anywhere in this country, the people who lived along the shores and who +never hunted nor went far away from the little islands, because they were +afraid of the beasts in the forests. Sometimes they would venture into the +wood to gather nuts and roots, but they lived mostly on the fish and +clams. But there came a time when brave men were born among them who said +they would have more of the forest things, and that they would no longer +stay fearfully upon the little islands. So they came into the forest and +the Cave Men began. And I think this story true." + +"I think it is true," Old Mok continued, "because the Shell People, you +can see, must have lived very long where they are now. Up and down the +creek where they live and along other creeks there lie banks of earth +which are very long and reach far back. And this is not really earth, but +is all made up of shells and bones and stone spearheads and the things +which lie about a Shell Man's place. I know, for I have dug into these +long banks myself and have seen that of which I tell. Long, very long, +must the Shell People have lived along the creeks and shores to have made +the banks of bones and shells so high." + +And Old Mok was right. They talk of us as the descendants of an Aryan +race. Never from Aryan alone came the drifting, changing Western being of +to-day. But a part of him was born where bald plains were or where were +olive trees and roses. All modern science, and modern thoughtfulness, and +all later broadened intelligence are yielding to an admission of the fact +that he, though of course commingling with his visitors of the ages, was +born and changed where he now exists. The kitchen-midden--the name given +by scientists to refuse from his dwelling places--the kitchen-middens of +Denmark, as Denmark is to-day, alone, regardless of other fields, suffice +to tell a wondrous story. Imagine a kitchen-midden, that is to say the +detritus of ordinary living in different ages, accumulated along the side +of some ancient water course, having for its dimensions miles in length, +extending hundreds of yards back from the margin of this creek, of tens +and tens of thousands of years ago, and having a depth of often many feet +along this water course. Imagine this vast deposit telling the history of +a thousand centuries or more, beginning first with the deposit of clams +and mussel shells and of the shells of such other creatures as might +inhabit this river seeking its way to the North Sea. Imagine this deposit +increasing year after year and century by century, but changing its +character and quality as it rose, and the base is laid for reasoning. + +At first these creatures who ranged up and down the ancient Danish creek +and devoured the clams and periwinkles must have been, as one might say, +but little more than surely anthropoid. Could such as these have migrated +from the Asiatic plateaus? + +The kitchen-middens tell the early story with greater accuracy than could +any writer who ever lifted pen. Here the creek-loving, ape-like creatures +ranged up and down and quelled their appetites. They died after they had +begotten sons and daughters; and to these sons and daughters came an added +intelligence, brought from experience and shifting surroundings. The +kitchen-middens give graphic details. The bottom layer, as has been said, +is but of shells. Above it, in another layer, counting thousands of years +in growth, appear the cracked bones of then existing animals and appear +also traces of charred wood, showing that primitive man had learned what +fire was. And later come the rudely carved bones of the mammoth and woolly +rhinoceros and the Irish elk; then come rude flint instruments, and later +the age of smoothed stone, with all its accompanying fossils, bones and +indications; and so on upward, with a steady sweep, until close to the +surface of this kitchen-midden appear the bronze spear, the axhead and the +rude dagger of the being who became the Druid and who is an ancestor whom +we recognize. From the kitchen-midden to the pinnacle of all that is great +to-day extends a chain not a link of which is weak. + +"They tell strange stories, too, the Shell People," Old Mok continued, +"for they are greater story-tellers than the Cave Men are, more of them +being together in one place, and the old men always tell the tales to the +children so that they are never forgotten by any of the people. They say +that once huge things came out of the great waters and up the creeks, such +as even the big cave tiger dare not face. And the old men say that their +grandfathers once saw with their own eyes a monster serpent many times as +large as the one you two saw, which came swimming up the creek and seized +upon the river horses there and devoured them as easily as the cave bear +would a little deer. And the serpent seized upon some of the Cave People +who were upon the water and devoured them as well, though such as they +were but a mouthful to him. And this tale, too, I believe, for the old +Shell Men who told me what their grandfathers had seen were not of the +foolish sort." + +"But of another sort of story they have told me," Mok continued, "I think +little. The old men tell of a time when those who went down the river to +the greater river and followed it down to the sea, which seems to have no +end, saw what no man can see to-day. But they do not say that their +grandfathers saw these things. They only say that their grandfathers told +of what had been told them by their grandfathers farther back, of a story +which had come down to them, so old that it was older than the great trees +were, of monstrous things which swam along the shores and which were not +serpents, though they had long necks and serpent heads, because they had +great bodies which were driven by flippers through the water as the beaver +goes with his broad feet. And at the same time, the old story goes, were +great birds, far taller than a man, who fed where now the bustards and the +capercailzie are. And these tales I do not believe, though I have seen +bones washed from the riversides and hillsides by the rains which must +have come from creatures different from those we meet now in the forests +or the waters. They are wonderful story-tellers, the old men of the Shell +People." + +"And they tell other strange stories," continued the old man. "They say +that very long ago the cold and ice came down, and all the people and +animals fled before it, and that the summer was cold as now the winter is, +and that the men and beasts fled together to the south, and were there for +a long time, but came back again as the cold and ice went back. They say, +too, that in still later times, the fireplaces where the flames came out +of great cracks in the earth were in tens of places where they are in one +now, and that, even in the ice time, the flames came up, and that the ice +was melted and then ran in rivers to the sea. And these things I do not +believe, for how can men tell of what there was so long ago? They are but +the gabblings of the old, who talk so much." + +Many other stories the veteran told, but what most affected Ab was his +account of the vale of fire. He hoped to see it sometime. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +AB'S GREAT DISCOVERY. + +It may be that never in what was destined to be a life of many changes was +Ab happier than in this period of his lusty boyhood and early manhood, +when there was so much that was new, when he was full of hope and +confidence and of ambition regarding what a mighty hunter and great man he +would become in time. As the years passed he was not less indefatigable in +his experiments, and the day came when a marvelous success followed one of +them, although, like most inventions, it was suggested in the most trivial +and accidental manner. + +It chanced one afternoon that Ab, a young man of twenty now, had returned +early from the wood and was lying lazily upon the sward near the cave's +entrance, while, not far away, Bark and the still chubby Beechleaf were +rolling about. The boy was teasing the girl at times and then doing +something to amuse or awe her. He had found a stiff length of twig and was +engaged in idly bending the ends together and then letting them fly apart +with a snap, meanwhile advancing toward and threatening with the impact +the half-alarmed but wholly delighted Beechleaf. Tired of this, at last, +Bark, with no particular intent, drew forth from the pouch in his skin +cloak a string of sinew, and drawing the ends of the strong twig somewhat +nearly together, attached the cord to each, thus producing accidentally a +petty bow of most rotund proportions. He found that the string twanged +joyously, and, to the delight of Beechleaf, kept twanging it for such time +as his boyish temperament would allow a single occupation. Then he picked +from the ground a long, slender pencil of white wood, a sliver, perhaps, +from the making of a spear shaft, and began strumming with it upon the +taut sinew string. This made a twang of a new sort, and again the boy and +girl were interested temporarily. But, at last, even this variation of +amusement with the new toy became monotonous, and Bark ceased strumming +and began a series of boyish experiments with his plaything. He put one +end of the stick against the string and pushed it back until the other end +would press against the inside of the twig, and the result would be a +taut, new figure in wood and string which would keep its form even when +laid upon the ground. Bark made and unmade the thing a time or two, and +then came great disaster. He had drawn the little stick, so held in the +way we now call arrowwise, back nearly to the point where its head would +come inside the bent twig and there fix itself, when the slight thing +escaped his hands and flew away. + +The quiet of the afternoon was broken by a piercing childish yell which +lacked no element of earnestness. Ab leaped to his feet and was by the +youngsters in a moment. He saw the terrified Beechleaf standing, screaming +still, with a fat arm outheld, from which dangled a little shaft of wood +which had pierced the flesh just deeply enough to give it hold. Bark stood +looking at her, astonished and alarmed. Understanding nothing of the +circumstances, and supposing the girl's hurt came from Bark's careless +flinging of sticks toward her, Ab started toward his brother to administer +one of those buffets which were so easy to give or get among cave +children. But Bark darted behind a convenient tree and there shrieked out +his innocence of dire intent, just as the boy of to-day so fluently +defends himself in any strait where castigation looms in sight. He told of +the queer plaything he had made, and offered to show how all had happened. + +Ab was doubtful but laughing now, for the little shaft, which had scarcely +pierced the skin of Beechleaf's arm had fallen to the ground and that +young person's fright had given way to vengeful indignation and she was +demanding that Bark be hit with something. He allowed the sinner to give +his proof. Bark, taking his toy, essayed to show how Beechleaf had been +injured. He was the most unfortunate of youths. He succeeded but too well. +The mimic arrow flew again and the sound that rang out now was not the cry +of a child. It was the yell of a great youth, who felt a sudden and +poignant hurt, and who was not maintaining any dignity. Had Bark been as +sure of hand and certain of aim as any archer who lived in later centuries +he could not have sent an arrow more fairly to its mark than he sent that +admirable sliver into the chest of his big brother. For a second the +culprit stood with staring eyes, then dropped his toy and flew into the +forest with a howl which betokened his fear of something little less than +sudden death. + +Ab's first impulse was to pursue his sinful younger brother, but, after +the first leap, he checked himself and paused to pluck away the thing +which, so light the force that had impelled it, had not gone deeply in. He +knew now that Bark was really blameless, and, picking up the abandoned +plaything, began its examination thoughtfully and curiously. + +The young man's instinct toward experiment exhibited itself as usual and +he put the splinter against the string and drew it back and let it fly as +he had seen Bark do--that promising sprig, by the way, being now engaged +in peering from the wood and trying to form an estimate as to whether or +not his return was yet advisable. Ab learned that the force of the bent +twig would throw the sliver farther than he could toss it with his hand, +and he wondered what would follow were something like this plaything, the +device of which Bark had so stumbled upon, to be made and tried on a +greater scale. "I'll make one like it, only larger," he said to himself. + +The venturesome but more or less diplomatic Bark had, by this time, +emerged from the wood and was apprehensively edging up toward the place +where Ab was standing. The older brother saw him and called to him to come +and try the thing again and the youngster knew that he was safe. Then the +two toyed with the plaything for an hour or two and Ab became more and +more interested in its qualities. He had no definite idea as to its +possibilities. He thought only of it as a curious thing which should be +larger. + +The next day Ab hacked from a low-limbed tree a branch as thick as his +finger and about a yard in length, and, first trimming it, bent it as Bark +had bent the twig and tied a strong sinew cord across. It was a not +discreditable bow, considering the fact that it was the first ever made, +though one end was smaller than the other and it was rough of outline. +Then Ab cut a straight willow twig, as long nearly as the bow, and began +repeating the experiments of the day before. Never was man more astonished +than this youth after he had drawn the twig back nearly to its head and +let it go! + +So drawn by a strong arm, the shaft when released flew faster and farther +than the maker of what he thought of chiefly as a thing of sport had +imagined could be possible. He had long to search for the headless arrow +and when he found it he went away to where were bare open stretches, that +he might see always where it fell. Once as he sent it from the string it +struck fairly against an oak and, pointless as it was, forced itself +deeply into the hard brown bark and hung there quivering. Then came to the +youth a flash of thought which had its effect upon the ages: "What if +there had been a point to the flying thing and it had struck a reindeer or +any of the hunted animals?" + +He pulled the shaft from the tree and stood there pondering for a moment +or two, then suddenly started running toward the cave. He must see Old +Mok! + +The old man was at work and alone and the young man told him, somewhat +excitedly, why he had thus come running to him. The elder listened with +some patience but with a commiserating grin upon his face. He had heard +young men tell of great ideas before, of a new and better way of digging +pits, or of fishing, or making deadfalls for wild beasts. But he listened +and yielded finally to Ab's earnest demand that he should hobble out into +the open and see with his own eyes how the strung bow would send the +shaft. They went together to an open space, and again and again Ab showed +to his old friend what the new thing would do. With the second shot there +came a new light into the eyes of the veteran hunter and he bade Ab run to +the cave and bring back with him his favorite spear. The young man was +back as soon as strong legs could bring him, and when he burst into the +open he found Mok standing a long spear's cast from the greatest of the +trees which stood about the opening. + +"Throw your spear at the tree," said Mok. "Throw strongly as you can." + +Ab hurled the spear as the Zulu of later times might hurl his assagai, as +strongly and as well, but the distance was overmuch for spear throwing +with good effect, and the flint point pierced the wood so lightly that the +weight of the long shaft was too great for the holding force and it sank +slowly to the ground and pulled away the head. A wild beast struck by the +spear at such distance would have been sorely pricked, but not hurt +seriously. + +"Now take the plaything," said Old Mok, "and throw the little shaft at the +tree with that." + +Ab did as he was told, and, poor marksman with his new device, of course +missed the big tree repeatedly, broad as the mark was, but when, at last, +the bolt struck the hard trunk fairly there was a sound which told of the +sharpness of the blow and the headless shaft rebounded back for yards. Old +Mok looked upon it all delightedly. + +"It may be there is something to your plaything," he said to the young +man. "We will make a better one. But your shaft is good for nothing. We +will make a straighter and stronger one and upon the end of it will put a +little spearhead, and then we can tell how deeply it will go into the +wood. We will work." + +For days the two labored earnestly together, and when they came again into +the open they bore a stronger bow, one tapered at the end opposite the +natural tapering of the branch, so that it was far more flexible and +symmetrical than the one they had tried before. They had abundance of ash +and yew and these remained the good bow wood of all the time of archery. +And the shaft was straight and bore a miniature spearhead at its end. The +thought of notching the shaft to fit the string came naturally and +inevitably. The bow had its first arrow. + +An old man is not so easily affected as a young one, nor so hopeful, but +when the second test was done the veteran Mok was the wilder and more +delighted of the two who shot at the tree in the forest glade. He saw it +all! No longer could the spear be counted as the thing with which to do +most grievous hurt at a safe distance from whatever might be dangerous. +With the better bow and straighter shaft the marksmanship improved; even +for these two callow archers it was not difficult to hit at a distance of +a double spear's cast the bole of the huge tree, two yards in width at +least. And the arrow whistled as if it were a living thing, a hawk seeking +its prey, and the flint head was buried so deeply in the wood that both +Mok and Ab knew that they had found something better than any weapon the +cave men had ever known! + +There followed many days more of the eager working of the old man and the +young one in the cave, and there was much testing of the new device, and +finally, one morning, Ab issued forth armed with his ax and knife, but +without his spear. He bore, instead, a bow which was the best and +strongest the two had yet learned to fashion, and a sheaf of arrows slung +behind his back in a quiver made of a hollow section of a mammoth's leg +bone which had long been kicked about the cave. The two workers had +drilled holes in the bone and passed thongs through and made a wooden +bottom to the thing and now it had found its purpose. The bow was rude, as +were the arrows, and the archer was not yet a certain marksman, though he +had practiced diligently, but the bow was stiff, at least, and the arrows +had keen heads of flint and the arms of the hunter were strong as was the +bow. + +There was a weary and fruitless search for game, but late in the afternoon +the youth came upon a slight, sheer descent, along the foot of which ran a +shallow but broad creek, beyond which was a little grass-grown valley, +where were feeding a fine herd of the little deer. They were feeding in +the direction of the creek and the wind blew from them to the hunter, so +that no rumor of their danger was carried to them on the breeze. Ab +concealed himself among the bushes on the little height and awaited what +might happen. The herd fed slowly toward him. + +As the deer neared the creek they grouped themselves together about where +were the greenest and richest feeding-places, and when they reached the +very border of the stream they were gathered in a bunch of half a hundred, +close together. They were just beyond a spear's cast from the watcher, but +this was a test, not of the spear, but of the bow, and the most +inexperienced of archers, shooting from where Ab was hidden, must strike +some one of the beasts in that broad herd. Ab sprang to his feet and drew +his arrow to the head. The deer gathered for a second in affright, +crowding each other before the wild bursting away together, and then the +bow-string twanged, and the arrow sang hungrily, and there was the swift +thud of hundreds of light feet, and the little glade was almost silent. It +was not quite silent, for, floundering in its death struggles, was a +single deer, through which had passed an arrow so fiercely driven that its +flint head projected from the side opposite that which it had entered. + +[Illustration: AB SPRANG TO HIS FEET, AND DREW HIS ARROW TO THE HEAD] + +Half wild with triumph was the youth who bore home the arrow-stricken +quarry, and not much more elated was he than the old man, who heard the +story of the hunt, and who recognized, at once far more clearly than the +younger one, the quality of the new weapon which had been discovered; the +thing destined to become the greatest implement both of chase and warfare +for thousands of years to come, and which was to be gradually improved, +even by these two, until it became more to them than they could yet +understand. + +But the lips of each of the two makers of the bow were sealed for the +time. Ab and Old Mok cherished together their mighty secret. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +A LESSON IN SWIMMING. + +Ab and Oak, ranging far in their hunting expeditions, had, long since, +formed the acquaintance of the Shell People, and had even partaken of +their hospitality, though there was not much to attract a guest in the +abodes of the creek-haunters. Their homes were but small caves, not much +more than deep burrows, dug here and there in the banks, above high water +mark, and protected from wild beasts by the usual heaped rocks, leaving +only a narrow passage. This insured warmth and comparative safety, but the +homes lacked the spaciousness of the caves and caverns of the hills, and +the food of fish and clams and periwinkles, with flesh and fruit but +seldom gained, had little attraction for the occasional cave visitor. Ab +and Oak would sometimes traffic with the Shell People, exchanging some +creature of the land for a product of the water, but they made brief stay +in a locality where the food and odors were not quite to their accustomed +taste. Yet the settlement had a slight degree of interest to them. They +had noted the buxom quality of some of the Shell maidens, and the two had +now attained an age when a bright-eyed young person of the other sex was +agreeable to look upon. But there had been no love passages. Neither of +the youths was yet so badly stricken. + +There came an autumn morning when Ab and Oak, who had met at daybreak, +determined to visit the Shell People and go with them upon a fishing +expedition. The Shell People often fished from boats, and the boats were +excellent. Each consisted of four or five short logs of the most buoyant +wood, bound firmly together with tough withes, but the contrivance was +more than a simple raft, because, at the bow, it had been hewed to a +point, and the logs had been so chosen that each curved upward there. It +had been learned that the waves sometimes encountered could so more easily +be cleft or overridden. None of these boats could sink, and the man of the +time was quite at home in the water. It was fun for the young men whose +tale is told here to go with the Shell People and assist in spearing fish +or drawing them from the river's depths upon rude hooks, and the Shell +People did not object, but were rather proud of the attendance of +representatives of the hillside aristocracy. + +The morning was one to make men far older than these two most confident +and full of life. The season was late, though the river's waters were not +yet cold. The mast had already begun to fall and the nuts lay thickly +among the leaves. Every morning, and more regularly than it comes now, +there was a spread of glistening hoar frost upon the lowlands and the +little open lands in the forest and upon every spot not tree-protected. At +such times there appeared to the eyes of the cave people the splendor of +nature such as we now can hardly comprehend. It came most strikingly in +spring and autumn, and was something wonderful. The cave men, probably, +did not appreciate it. They were accustomed to it, for it was part of the +record of every year. Doubtless there came a greater vigor to them in the +keen air of the hoar frost time, doubtless the step of each was made more +springy and each man's valor more defined in this choice atmosphere. +Temperate, with a wonderful keenness to it, was the climate of the cave +region in the valley of the present Thames. Even in the days of the cave +men, the Gulf Stream, swinging from the equator in the great warm current +already formed, laved the then peninsula as it now laves the British +Isles. The climate, as has been told, was almost as equable then as now, +but with a certain crispness which was a heritage from the glacial epoch. +It was a time to live in, and the two were merry on their journey in the +glittering morning. + +The young men idled on their way and wasted an hour or two in vain +attempts to approach a feeding deer nearly enough for effective +spear-throwing. They were late when, after swimming the creek, they +reached the Shell village and there learned that the party had already +gone. They decided that they might, perhaps, overtake the fishermen, and +so, with the hunter's easy lope, started briskly down the river bank. They +were not destined to fish that day. + +Three or four miles had been passed and a straight stretch of the river +had been attained, at the end of which, a mile away, could be seen the +boats of the Shell People, to be lost to sight a moment later as they +swept around a bend. But there was something else in sight. Perched +comfortably upon a rock, the sides of which were so precipitous that they +afforded a foothold only for human beings, was a young woman of the Shell +People who had before attracted Ab's attention and something of his +admiration. She was fishing diligently. She had been left by the fishing +party, to be taken up on their return, because, in the rush of waters +about the base of the rock, was a haunt of a small fish esteemed +particularly, and because the girl was one of the little tribe's adepts +with hook and line She raised her eyes as she heard the patter of +footsteps upon the shore, but did not exhibit any alarm when she saw the +two young men. The ordinary young woman of the Shell People did not worry +when away from land. She could swim like an otter and dive like a loon, +and of wild beasts she had no fear when she was thus safely bestowed away +from the death-harboring forest. The maiden on the rock was most serene. + +[Illustration: THE YOUNG MEN CALLED TO HER BUT SHE MADE NO ANSWER. SHE BUT +FISHED AWAY DEMURELY] + +The young men called to her, but she made no answer. She but fished away +demurely, from time to time hauling up a flashing finny thing, which she +calmly bumped on the rock and then tossed upon the silvery heap, which had +already assumed fair dimensions, close behind her. As Ab looked upon the +young fisherwoman his interest in her grew rapidly and he was silent, +though Oak called out taunting words and asked her if she could not talk. +It was not this young woman, but another, who had most pleased Oak among +the girls of the Shell People. + +It was not love yet with Ab, but the maiden interested him. He held no +defined wish to carry her away to a new home with him, but there arose a +feeling that he wanted to know her better. There might,--he didn't +know--be as good wives among the Shell maidens as among the well-running +girls of the hills. + +"I'll swim to the rock!" he said to his companion, and Oak laughed loudly. + +Short time elapsed between decision and action in those days, and hardly +had Ab spoken when he flung his fur covering into the hands of Oak, and, +clad only in the clout about his hips, dropped, with a splash, into the +water. All this time the girl had been eyeing every motion closely. As the +little waves rose laughingly about the man, she descended lightly from her +perch and slid into the stream as easily and silently as a beaver might +have done. And then began a chase. The girl, finding mid-current swiftly, +was a full hundred yards ahead as Ab came fairly in her wake. + +A splendid swimmer was the stalwart young man of the hills. He had been in +and out of water almost daily since early childhood, and, though there had +never been a test, was confident that, among all the Shell People, there +was none he could not overtake, despite what he had heard and knew of +their wonderful cleverness in the water. Were not his arms and legs longer +and stronger than theirs and his chest deeper? He felt that he could +outswim easily any bold fisherman among them, and as for this girl, he +would overtake her very quickly and draw her to the bank, and then there +would be an interview of much enjoyment, at least to him. His strong arm +swept the water back, and his strong legs, working with them, drove his +body forward swiftly toward the brown object not very far ahead. Along the +bank ran the laughing and shouting Oak. + +Yard by yard, Ab's mighty strokes brought him nearer the object of his +pursuit. She was swimming breast forward, as was he--for that was his only +way--she with a dog-like paddling stroke, and often she turned her head to +look backward at the man. She did not, even yet, appear affrighted, and +this Ab wondered at, for it was seldom that a girl of the time, thus +hunted, was not, and with reason, terrified. She, possibly, understood +that the chase did not involve a real abduction, for she and her pursuer +had often met, but there was, at least, reason enough for avoiding too +close contact on this day. She swam on steadily, and, as steadily, Ab +gained upon her. + +Down the long stretch of tumbling river, sweeping eastward between hill +and slope and plain and woodland, went the chase, while the panting and +cheering Oak, strong-legged and enduring as he was, barely kept pace with +the two heads he could see bobbing, not far apart now, in the tossing +waters. Ab had long since forgotten Oak. He had forgotten how it was that +he came to be thus swimming in the river. His thought was only what now +made up an overmastering aim. He must reach and seize upon the girl before +him! + +Closer and closer, though she as much as he was aided by the swift +current, the young man approached the girl. The hundred yards had lessened +into tens and he could plainly see now the wake about her and the +occasional up-flip of her brown heels as she went high in her stroke. He +now felt easily assured of her and laughed to himself as he swept his arms +backward in a fiercer stroke and came so close that he could discern her +outline through the water. It was but a matter of endurance, he chuckled +to himself. How could a woman outswim a man like him? + +It was just at the time when this thought came that Ab saw the Shell girl +lift her head and turn it toward him and laugh--laugh recklessly, almost +in his very face, so close together were they now. And then she taught him +something! There was a dip such as the otter makes when he seeks the +depths and there was no longer a girl in sight! But this was only a +demonstration, made in sheer audacity and blithesome insolence, for the +brown head soon appeared again some yards ahead and there was another +twist of it and another merry laugh. Then the neat body turned upon its +side, and with quick outdriving legstrokes and the overhand and underhand +pulling-forward which modern swimmers partly know, the girl shot ahead +through the tiny white-capped waves and away from the swimmer so close +behind her, as to-day the cutter leaves the scow. From the river bank came +a wild yelp, the significance of which, if analyzed, might have included +astonishment and great delight and brotherly derision. Oak was having a +great day of it! He was the sole witness of a swimming-match the like of +which was rare, and he was getting even with his friend for various +assumptions of superiority in various doings. + +Unexhausted and sturdy and stubborn, Ab was not the one to abandon his +long chase because of this new phase of things. He inhaled a great breath +and made the water foam with his swift strokes, but as well might a wild +goose chase a swallow on the wing as he seek to overtake that brown streak +on the water. It was wonderful, the manner in which that Shell girl swam! +She was like the birds which swim and dive and dip, and know of nothing +which they fear if only they are in the water far enough away from where +there is the need of stalking over soil and stone. It was not that the +Shell girl was other than at home on land. She was quite at home there and +reasonably fleet, but the creek and river had so been her element from +babyhood that the chase of the hill man had been, from the start, a sheer +absurdity. + +Ab lifted himself in the waters and gazed upon the dark spot far away, +and, piqued and maddened, put forth all the swimming strength there was +left in his brawny body. It seemed for a brief time that he was almost +equal to the task of gaining upon what was little more than a dot upon the +surface far ahead. But his scant prospect of success was only momentary. +The trifling spot in the distant drifts of the river seemed to have +certain ideas of its own. The speed of its course in the water did not +abate and, in a moment, it was carried around the bend, and lost to sight. +Ab drifted to the turn and saw, below, a girl clambering into safety among +the rafts of the fishing Shell People. What she would tell them he did not +know. That was not a matter to be much considered. + +There was but one thing to be done and that was to reach the land and +return to a life more strictly earthly and more comfortable. There is +nothing like water for overcoming a young man's fancy for many things. Ab +swam now with a somewhat tired and languid stroke to the shore, where Oak +awaited him hilariously. They almost came to blows that afternoon, and +blows between such as they might have easily meant sudden death. But they +were not rivals yet and there was much to talk of good-naturedly, after +some slight outflamings of passion on the part of Ab, and the two men were +good friends again. + +The sum of all the day was that there had been much exercise and fun, for +Oak at least. Ab had not caught the Shell girl, manfully as he had +striven. Had he caught her and talked with her upon the river bank it +might have changed the current of his life. With a man so young and sturdy +and so full of life the laughing fancy of a moment might have changed into +a stronger feeling and the swimming girl might have become a woman of the +cave people, one not quite so equal by heritage to the task of breeding +good climbing and running and fighting and progressive beings as some girl +of the hills. + +It matters little what might have happened had the outcome of the day's +effort been the reverse of what it was. This is but the account of the +race and what the sequel was when Ab swam so far and furiously and well. +It was his first flirtation. It was yet to come to him that he should be +really in love in the cave man's way. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +THE MAMMOTH AT BAY. + +It was late autumn, and a light snow covered the ground, when one day a +cave man, panting for breath, came running down the river bank and paused +at the cave of One-Ear. He had news, great news! He told his story +hurriedly, and then was taken into the cave and given meat, while Ab, +seizing his weapons, fled downward further still toward the great +kitchen-midden of the Shell People. Just as ages and ages later, not far +from the same region, some Scottish runner carried the fiery cross, Ab ran +exultingly with the news it was his to bring. There must be an immediate +gathering, not only of the cave men, but of the Shell People as well, and +great mutual effort for great gain. The mammoths were near the point of +the upland! + +The runner to the cave of One-Ear was a hunter living some miles to the +north, upon a ledge of a broad forest-covered plateau terminating on the +west in a slope which ended in a precipice with more than a hundred feet +of sheer descent to the valley below. On rare occasions a herd of mammoths +invaded the forest and worked itself toward the apex of the plateau, and +then word went all over the region, for it was an event in the history of +the cave men. If but a sufficient force could be suddenly assembled, food +in abundance for all was almost certainly assured. The prize was something +stupendous, but prompt action was required, and there might be tragedies. +As bees hum and gather when their hive is disturbed, so did the Shell +People when Ab burst in upon them and delivered his message. There was +rushing about and a gathering of weapons and a sorting out of men who +should go upon the expedition. But little time was wasted. Within half an +hour Ab was straining back again up the river toward his own abode, while +behind him trailed half a hundred of the Shell People, armed in a way +effective enough, but which, in the estimation of the cave men, was +preposterous. The spears of the Shell People had shafts of different wood +and heads of different material from those of the cave men, and they used +their weapons in a different manner. Accustomed to the spearing of fish or +of an occasional water beast, like a small hippopotamus, which still +existed in the rivers of the peninsula, they always threw their +spears--though the cave people were experts with this as well--and, as a +last resource in close conflict, they used no stone ax or mace, but simply +ran away, to throw again from a distance, or to fly again, as conditions +made advisable. But they were brave in a way--it was necessary that all +who would live must have a certain animal bravery in those days--and +their numbers made them essential in the rare hunting of the mammoth. + +When the company reached the home of Ab they found already assembled there +a score of the hill men, and, as the word had gone out in every direction, +it was found, when the rendezvous was reached, which was the cave of +Hilltop, the man living near the crest of the plateau, and the one who had +made the first run down the river, that there were more than a hundred, +counting all together, to advance against the herd and, if possible, drive +the great beasts toward the precipice. Among this hundred there was none +more delighted than Ab and Oak, for, of course, these two had found each +other in the group, and were almost like a brace of dogs whining for the +danger and the hunt. + +Not lightly was an expedition against a herd of mammoths to be begun, even +by a hundred well-armed people of the time of the cave men. The mammoth +was a monster beast, with perhaps somewhat less of sagaciousness than the +modern elephant, but with a temper which was demoniacal when aroused, and +with a strength which nothing could resist. He could be slain only by +strategy. Hence the everlasting watch over the triangular plateau and the +gathering of the cave and river people to catch him at a disadvantage. +But, even with a drove feeding near the slope which led to the precipice, +the cave men would have been helpless without the introduction of other +elements than their weapons and their clamor. The mammoth paid no more +attention to the cave man with a spear than to one of the little wild +horses which fed near him at times. The pygmy did not alarm him, but did +the pygmy ever venture upon an attack, then it was likely to be seized by +the huge trunk and flung against rock or tree, to fall crushed and +mangled, or else it was trodden viciously under foot. From one thing, +though, the mammoth, huge as he was, would flee in terror. He could not +face the element of fire, and this the cave men had learned to their +advantage. They could drive the mammoth when they dare not venture to +attack him, and herein lay their advantage. + +Under direction of the veteran hunter, Hilltop, who had discovered the +whereabouts of the drove, preparations were made for the dangerous +advance, and the first thing done was the breaking off of dry roots of the +overturned pitch pines, and gathering of knots of the same trees, with +limbs attached, to serve as handles. These roots and knots, once lighted, +would blaze for hours and made the most perfect of natural torches. +Lengths of bark of certain other trees when bound together and lighted at +one end burned almost as long and brightly as the roots and knots. Each +man carried an unlighted torch of one kind or another, in addition to his +weapons, and when this provision was made the band was stretched out in a +long line and a silent advance began through the forest. The herd of +mammoths was composed of nineteen, led by a monster even of his kind, and +men who had been watching them all night and during the forenoon said that +the herd was feeding very near the edge of the wood, where it ended on the +slope leading to the precipice. There was ice upon the slope and there +were chances of a great day's hunting. To cut off the mammoths, that is, +to extend a line across the uprising peninsula where they were feeding, +would require a line of not more than about five hundred yards in length, +and as there were more than a hundred of the hunters, the line which could +be formed would be most effective. Lighted punk, which preserved fire and +gave forth no odor to speak of, was carried by a number of the men, and +the advance began. + +It had been an exhilarating scene when the cave men and Shell People first +assembled and when the work of gathering material for the torches was in +progress. So far was the gathering from the present haunt of the game that +caution had been unnecessary, and there was talk and laughter and all the +open enjoyment of an anticipated conquest. The light snow, barely covering +the ground, flashed in the sun, and the hunters, practically impervious to +the slight cold, were almost prankish in their demeanor. Ab and Oak +especially were buoyant. This was the first hunt upon the rocky peninsula +of either of them, and they were delighted with the new surroundings and +eager for the fray to come. All about was talk and laughter, which became +general with any slight physical disaster which came to one among the +hunters in the climbing of some tree for a promising dead branch or +finding a treacherous hollow when assailing the roots of some upturned +pine. It was a brisk scene and a lively one, that which occurred that +crisp morning in late autumn when the wild men gathered to hunt the +mammoth. All was brightness and jollity and noise. + +Very different, in a moment, was the condition when the hunters entered +the forest and, extended in line, began their advance toward the huge +objects of their search. The cave man, almost a wild beast himself in some +of his ways, had, on occasion, a footfall as light as that of any animal +of the time. The twig scarcely crackled and the leaf scarcely rustled +beneath his tread, and when the long line entered the wood the silence of +death fell there, for the hunters made no sound, and what slight sound the +woodland had before--the clatter of the woodpeckers and jays--was hushed +by their advance. So through the forest, which was tolerably close, the +dark line swept quietly forward until there came from somewhere a sudden +signal, and with a still more cautious advance and contraction of the line +as the peninsula narrowed the quarry was brought in sight of all. + +Close to the edge of the slope, and separated by a slight open space from +the forest proper, was an evergreen grove, in which the herd of monster +beasts was feeding. A great bull, with long up-curling tusks, loomed above +them all, and was farthest away in the grove. The hunters, hidden in the +forest, lay voiceless and motionless until the elders decided upon a plan +of attack, and then the word was passed along that each man must fire his +torch. + +All along the edge of the wood arose the flashing of little flames. These +grew in magnitude until a line of fire ran clear across the wood, and the +mammoths nearest raised their trunks and showed signs of uneasiness. Then +came a signal, a wild shout, and at once, with a yell, the long line burst +into the open, each man waving his flaming torch and rushing toward the +grove. + +There was a chance--a slight one--that the whole herd might be stampeded, +but this had rarely happened within the memory of the oldest hunter. The +mammoth, though subject to panic, did not lack intelligence and when in a +group was conscious of its strength. As that yell ascended, the startled +beasts first rushed deeper into the grove and then, as the slope beyond +was revealed to them, turned and charged blindly, all save one, the great +tusker, who was feeding at the grove's outer verge. They came on, great +mountains of flesh, but swerved as they met the advancing line of fire and +weaved aimlessly up and down for a moment or two. Then a huge bull, stung +by a spear hurled by one of the hunters and frantic with fear, plunged +forward across the line and the others followed blindly. Three men were +crushed to death in their passage and all the mammoths were gone save the +big bull, who had started to rejoin his herd but had not reached it in +time. He was now raging up and down in the grove, bewildered and +trumpeting angrily. Immediately the hunters gathered closer together and +made their line of fire continuous. + +The mammoth rushed out clear of the trees and stood looming up, a +magnificent creature of unrivaled size and majesty. His huge tusks shone +out whitely against the mountain of dark shaggy hair. His small eyes +blazed viciously as he raised his trunk and trumpeted out what seemed +either a hoarse call to his herd or a roar of agony over his strait. He +seemed for a moment as if about to rush upon the dense line of his +tormentors, but the flaming faggots dashed almost in his face by the +reckless and excited hunters daunted him, and, as a spear lodged in his +trunk, he turned with almost a shriek of pain and dashed into the grove +again. Close at his heels bounded the hundred men, yelling like demons and +forgetting all danger in the madness of the chase. Right through the grove +the great beast crashed and then half turned as he came to the open slope +beyond. Running beside him was a daring youth trying in vain to pierce him +in the belly with his flint-headed spear, and, as the mammoth came for the +moment to a half halt, his keen eyes noted the pygmy, his great trunk shot +downward and backward, picked up the man and hurled him yards away against +the base of a great tree, the body as it struck being crushed out of all +semblance to man and dropping to the earth a shapeless lump. But the fire +behind and about the desperate mammoth seemed all one flame now, countless +spears thrown with all the force of strong arms were piercing his tough +hide, and out upon the slope toward the precipice the great beast plunged. +Upon his very flanks was the fire and about him all the stinging danger +from the half-crazed hunters. He lunged forward, slipped upon the smooth +glacial floor beneath him, tried to turn again to meet his thronging foes +and face the ring of flame, and then, wavering, floundering, moving +wonderfully for a creature of his vast size, but uncertain as to foothold, +he was driven to the very crest of the ledge, and, scrambling vainly, +carrying away an avalanche of ice, snow and shrubs, went crashing to his +death, a hundred feet below! + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +THE FEAST OF THE MAMMOTH. + +To the right and left of the precipice the fall to the plain below was +more gradual, and with exultant yells, the cave and Shell men rushed in +either direction, those venturing nearest the sheer descent going down +like monkeys, clinging as they went to shrubs and vines, while those who +ran to where the drop was a degree more passable fairly tumbled downward +to the plain. In an incredibly short space of time absolute silence +prevailed in and about the grove where the scene had lately been so +fiercely stirring. In the valley below there was wildest clamor. + +It was a great occasion for the human beings of the region. There was no +question as to the value of the prize the hunters had secured. Never +before in any joint hunting expedition, within the memory of the oldest +present, had followed more satisfactory result. The spoil was well worth +the great effort that had been made; in the estimation of the time, +perhaps worth the death of the hunters who had been killed. The huge beast +lay dead, close to the base of the cliff. One great, yellow-white, curved +tusk had been snapped off and showed itself distinct upon the grass some +feet away from the mountain of flesh so lately animated. The sight was one +worth looking upon in any age, for, in point of grandeur of appearance, +the mammoth, while not as huge as some of the monsters of reptilian times, +had a looming impressiveness never surpassed by any beast on the earth's +surface. Though prone and dead he was impressive. + +But the cave and Shell men were not so much impressed as they were +delighted. They had come into possession of food in abundance and there +would be a feast of all the people of the region, and, after that, +abundant meat in many a hut and cave for many a day. The hunters were +noisy and excited. A group pounced upon the broken tusk--for a mammoth +tusk, or a piece of one, was a prize in a cave dwelling--and there was +prospect of a struggle, but grim voices checked the wrangle of those who +had seized upon this portion of the spoil and it was laid aside, to be +apportioned later. The feast was the thing to be considered now. + +Again swift-footed messengers ran along forest paths and swam streams and +thridded wood and thicket, this time to assemble, not the hunters alone, +but with them all members of households who could conveniently and safely +come to the gathering of the morrow, when the feast of the mammoth would +be on. The messengers dispatched, the great carcass was assailed, and keen +flint knives, wielded by strong and skillful hands, were soon separating +from the body the thick skin, which was divided as seemed best to the +leaders of the gathering, Hilltop, the old hunter, for his special +services, getting the chief award in the division. Then long slices of the +meat were cut away, fires were built, the hunters ate to repletion and +afterward, with a few remaining awake as guards, slept the sleep of the +healthy and fully fed. Not in these modern days would such preliminary +consumption of food be counted wisest preparation for a feast on the +morrow, but the cave and Shell men were alike independent of affections of +the stomach or the liver, and could, for days in sequence, gorge +themselves most buoyantly. + +The morning came crisp and clear, and, with the morning, came from all +directions swiftly moving men and women, elated and hungry and expectant. +The first families and all other families of the region were gathering for +the greatest social function of the time. The men of various households +had already exerted themselves and a score or two of fires were burning, +while the odor of broiling meat was fragrant all about. Hunter husbands +met their broods, and there was banqueting, which increased as, hour after +hour, new groups came in. The families of both Ab and Oak were among those +early in the valley, Beechleaf and Bark, wide-eyed and curious, coming +upon the scene as a sort of advance guard and proudly greeting Ab. All +about was heard clucking talk and laughter, an occasional shout, and ever +the cracking of stone upon the more fragile thing, as the monster's +roasted bones were broken to secure the marrow in them. + +There was hilarity and universal enjoyment, though the assemblage, almost +by instinct, divided itself into two groups. The cave men and the Shell +men, while at this time friendly, were, as has been indicated, unlike in +many tastes and customs and to an extent unlike in appearance. The cave +man, accustomed to run like the deer along the forest ways, or to avoid +sudden danger by swift upward clambering and swinging along among +treetops, was leaner and more muscular than the Shell man, and had in his +countenance a more daring and confident expression. The Shell man was +shorter and, though brawny of build, less active of movement. He had spent +more hours of each day of his life in his rude raft-boat, or in walking +slowly with poised spear along creek banks, or, with bent back, digging +for the great luscious shell-fish which made a portion of his food, than +he had spent afoot and on land, with the smell of growing things in his +nostrils. The flavor of the water was his, the flavor of the wood the cave +man's. So it was that at the feast of the mammoth the allies naturally and +good-naturedly became somewhat grouped, each person according to his kind. +When hunger was satisfied and the talking-time came on, those with objects +and impulses the same could compare notes most interestedly. Constantly +the number of the feasters increased, and by mid-day there was a company +of magnitude. Much meat was required to feed such a number, but there were +tons of meat in a mammoth, enough to defy the immediate assaults of a much +greater assemblage than this of exceedingly healthy people. And the smoke +from the fires ascended and these rugged ones ate and were happy. + +But there came a time in the afternoon when even such feasters as were +assembled on this occasion became, in a measure, content, when this one +and that one began to look about, and when what might be called the social +amenities of the period began. Veterans flocked together, reminiscent of +former days when another mammoth had been driven over this same cliff; the +young grouped about different firesides, and there was talk of feats of +strength and daring and an occasional friendly grapple. Slender, sinewy +girls, who had girls' ways then as now, ate together and looked about +coquettishly and safely, for none had come without their natural +guardians. Rarely in the history of the cave men had there been a +gathering more generally and thoroughly festive, one where good eating had +made more good fellowship. Possibly--for all things are relative--there +has never occurred an affair of more social importance within the +centuries since. Human beings, dangerous ones, were merry and trusting +together, and the young looked at each other. + +Of course Ab and Oak had been eating in company. They had risked +themselves dangerously in the battle on the cliff, had escaped injury and +were here now, young men of importance, each endowed with an appetite +corresponding with the physical exertion of which he was capable and which +he never hesitated to make. The amount either of those young men had eaten +was sufficient to make a gourmand, though of grossest Roman times, fairly +sick with envy, and they were still eating, though, it must be confessed, +with modified enthusiasm. Each held in his hand a smoking lump of flesh +from some favored portion of the mammoth and each rent away an occasional +mouthful with much content. Suddenly Ab ceased mastication and stood +silent, gazing intently at a not unpleasing object a few yards distant. + +Two girls stood together near a fire about which were grouped perhaps a +dozen people. The two were eating, not voraciously, but with an apparent +degree of interest in what they were doing, for they had not been among +the early arrivals. It was upon these two that Ab's wandering glance had +fallen and had been held, and it was not surprising that he had become so +interested. Either of the couple was fitted to attract attention, though a +pair more utterly unlike it would be difficult to imagine. One was slight +and the other the very reverse, but each had striking characteristics. + +They stood there, the two, just as two girls so often stand to-day, the +hand of one laid half-caressingly upon the hip of the other. The beaming, +broad one was chattering volubly and the slender one listening carelessly. +The talking of the heavier girl was interrupted evenly by her mumbling at +a juicy strip of meat. Her hunger, it was clear, had not yet been +satisfied, and it was as clear, too, that her companion had yet an +appetite. The slender one was, seemingly, not much interested in the +conversation, but the other chattered on. It was plain that she was a most +contented being. She was symmetrical only from the point of view of +admirers of the heavily built. She had very broad hips and muscular arms +and was somewhat squat of structure. It is hesitatingly to be admitted of +this young lady that, sturdy and prepossessing, from a practical point of +view, as she might be to the average food-winning cave man, she lacked a +certain something which would, to the observant, place her at once in good +society. She was an exceedingly hairy young woman. She wore the usual +covering of skins, but she would have been well-draped, in moderately +temperate weather, had the covering been absent. Either for fashion's sake +or comfort, not much weight of foreign texture in addition to her own +hirsute and, to a certain extent, graceful, natural garb, was needed. She +was a female Esau of the time, just a great, good-hearted, strong and +honest cave girl, of the subordinate and obedient class which began +thousands of years before did history, one who recognized in the girl who +stood beside her a stronger and dominating spirit, and who had been +received as a trusted friend and willing assistant. It is so to-day, even +among the creatures which are said to have no souls, the dogs especially. +But the girl had strength and a certain quick, animal intelligence. She +was the daughter of a cave man living not far from the home of old +Hilltop, and her name was Moonface. Her countenance was so broad and +beaming that the appellation had suggested itself in her jolly childhood. + +Very different from Moonface was the slender being who, having eaten a +strip of meat, was now seeking diligently with a splinter for the marrow +in the fragment of bone her father had tossed toward her. Her father was +Hilltop, the veteran of the immediate region and the hero of the day, and +she was called Lightfoot, a name she had gained early, for not in all the +country round about was another who could pass over the surface of the +earth with greater swiftness than could she. And it was upon Lightfoot +that Ab was looking. + +The young woman would have been fair to look upon, or at least +fascinating, to the most world-wearied and listless man of the present +day. She stood there, easily and gracefully, her arms and part of her +breast, above, and her legs from about the knees, below, showing clearly +from beneath her covering of skins. Her deep brown hair, knotted back with +a string of the tough inner bark of some tree, hung upon the middle of her +flat, in-setting back. She was not quite like any of the other girls about +her. Her eyes were larger and softer and there was more reflection and +variety of expression in them. Her limbs were quite as long as those of +any of her companions and the fingers and toes, though slenderer, were +quite as suggestive of quick and strong grasping capabilities, but there +was, with all the proof of springiness and litheness, a certain rounding +out. The strip of hair upon her legs below the knees was slight and +silken, as was also that upon her arms. Yet, undoubted leader in society +as her appearance indicated, quite aside from her father's standing, there +was in her face, with all its loftiness of air, a certain blithesomeness +which was almost at variance with conditions. She was a most lovable young +woman--there could be no question about that--and Ab had, as he looked +upon her for the first time, felt the fact from head to heel. He thought +of her as like the leopard tree-cat, most graceful creature of the wood, +so trim was she and full of elasticity, and thought of her, too, as he +looked in her intelligent face, as higher in another way. He was somewhat +awed, but he was courageous. He had, so far in life, but sought to get +what he wanted whenever it was in sight. Now he was nonplussed. + +Presently Lightfoot raised her eyes and they met those of Ab. The young +people looked at each other steadily for a moment and then the glance of +the girl was turned away. But, meanwhile, the man had recovered himself. +He had been eating, absent-mindedly, a well-cooked portion of a great +steak of the mammoth's choicest part. He now tore it in twain and watched +the girl intently. She raised her eyes again and he tossed her a half of +the smoking flesh. She saw the movement, caught the food deftly in one +hand as it reached her, and looked at Ab and laughed. There was no mock +modesty. She began eating the choice morsel contentedly; the two were, in +a manner, now made formally acquainted. + +The young man did not, on the instant, pursue his seeming advantage, the +result of an impulsive bravery requiring a greater effort on his part than +the courage he had shown in conflict with many a beast of the forest. He +did not talk to the young woman. But he thought to himself, while his +blood bubbled in his veins, that he would find her again; that he would +find her in the wood! She did not look at him more, for her people were +clustering about her and this was a great occasion. + +Ab was recalled to himself by a hoarse exclamation. Oak was looking at him +fiercely. There was no other sound, but the young man stood gazing fixedly +at the place where the girl had just been lost amid the group about her. +And Ab knew instinctively, as men have learned to know so well in all the +years, from the feeling which comes to them at such a time, that he had a +rival, that Oak also had seen and loved this slender creature of the +hillside. + +There was a division of the mammoth flesh and hide and tusks. Ab struggled +manfully for a portion of one of the tusks, which he wanted for Old Mok's +carving, and won it at last, the elders deciding that he and Oak had +fought well enough upon the cliff to entitle them to a part of the honor +of the spoil, and Oak opposing nothing done by Ab, though his looks were +glowering. Then, as the sun passed toward the west, all the people +separated to take the dangerous paths toward their homes. Ab and Oak +journeyed away together. Ab was jubilant, though doubtful, while the face +of Oak was dark. The heart of neither was light within him. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +THE COMRADES. + +Drifting away in various directions toward their homes the Cave and Shell +People still kept in groups, by instinct. Social functions terminated +before dark and guests going and coming kept together for mutual +protection in those days of the cave bear and other beasts. But on the day +of the Feast of the Mammoth there was somewhat less than the usual +precaution shown. There were vigorous and well-armed hunters at hand by +scores, and under such escort women and children might travel after dusk +with a degree of safety, unless, indeed, the great cave tiger, +Sabre-Tooth, chanced to be abroad, but he was more rarely to be met than +others of the wild beasts of the time. When he came it was as a +thunderbolt and there were death and mourning in his trail. The march +through the forest as the shadows deepened was most watchful. There was a +keen lookout on the part of the men, and the women kept their children +well in hand. From time to time, one family after another detached itself +from the main body and melted into the forest on the path to its own cave +near at hand. Thus Hilltop and his family left the group in which were Ab +and Oak, and glances of fire followed them as they went. The two girls, +Lightfoot and Moonface, had walked together, chattering like crows. They +had strung red berries upon grasses and had hung them in their hair and +around their necks, and were fine creatures. Lightfoot, as was her wont, +laughed freakishly at whatever pleased her, and in her merry mood had an +able second in her sturdy companion. There were moments, though, when even +the irrepressible Lightfoot was thoughtful and so quiet that the girl who +was with her wondered. The greater girl had been lightly touched with that +unnamable force which has changed men and women throughout all the ages. +The picture of Ab's earnest face was in her mind and would not depart. She +could not, of course, define her own mood, nor did she attempt it. She +felt within herself a certain quaking, as of fear, at the thought of him, +and yet, so she told herself again and again, she was not afraid. All the +time she could see Ab's face, with its look of longing and possession, but +with something else in it, when his eyes met hers, which she could not +name nor understand. She could not speak of him, but Moonface had upon her +no such stilling influence. + +"They look alike," she said. + +Lightfoot assented, knowing the girl meant Ab and Oak. "But Ab is taller +and stronger," Moonface continued, and Lightfoot assented as +indifferently, for, somehow, of the two she had remembered definitely one +only. She became daring in her reflections: "What if he should want to +carry me to his cave?" and then she tried to run away from the thought and +from anything and everybody else, leaping forward, outracing and leaving +all the company. She reached her father's cave far ahead of the others and +stood, laughing, at the entrance, as the family and Moonface, a guest for +the night, came trotting up. + +And Ab, the buoyant and strong, was not himself as he journeyed with the +homeward-pressing company. His mood changed and he dropped away from Oak +and lagged in the rear of the little band as it wound its way through the +forest. Slight time was needed for others to recognize his mood, and he +was strong of arm and quick of temper, as all knew well, and, so, he was +soon left to stalk behind in independent sulkiness. He felt a weight in +his breast; a fiery spot burned there. He was fierce with Oak because Oak +had looked at Lightfoot with a warm light in his eyes. He! when he should +have known that Ab was looking at her! This made rage in his heart; and +sadness came, too, because he was perplexed over the girl. "How can I get +her?" he mumbled to himself, as he stalked along. + +Meanwhile, at the van of the company there was noise and frolic. Assembled +in force, they were for the hour free from dread of the haunting terror of +wild beasts, and, satisfied with eating, the Cave and Shell People were in +one of the merriest moods of their lives, collectively speaking. The young +men were especially jubilant and exuberant of demeanor. Their sport was +rough and dangerous. There were scuffling and wrestling and the more +reckless threw their stone axes, sometimes at each other, always, it is +true, with warning cries, but with such wild, unconscious strength put in +the throwing that the finding of a living target might mean death. Ab, +engrossed in thoughts of something far apart from the rude sport about +him, became nervously impatient. Like the girl, he wanted to escape from +his thoughts, and bounding ahead to mingle with the darting and swinging +group in front, he was soon the swift and stalwart leader in their +foolishly risky sport, the center of the whole commotion. One muscled man +would hurl his stone hatchet or strong flint-headed spear at a green tree +and another would imitate him until a space in advance was covered and the +word given for a rush, when all would race for the target, each striving +to reach it first and detach his own weapon before others came. It was a +merry but too careless contest, with a chance of some serious happening. +There followed a series of these mad games and the oldsters smiled as they +heard the sound of vigorous contest and themselves raced as they could, to +keep in close company with the stronger force. + +Ab had shown his speed in all his playing. Now he ran to the front and +plucked out his spear, a winner, then doubled and ran back beside the +pathway to mingle with the central body of travelers, having in mind only +to keep in the heart and forefront of as many contests as possible. There +was more shouting and another rush from the main body and, bounding aside +from all, he ran to get the chance of again hurling his spear as well. A +great oak stood in the middle of the pathway and toward it already a spear +or two had been sent, all aimed, as the first thrower had indicated, at a +white fungus growth which protruded from the tree. It was a matter of +accuracy this time. Ab leaped ahead some yards in advance of all and +hurled his spear. He saw the white chips fly from the side of the fungus +target, saw the quivering of the spear shaft with the head deep sunken in +the wood, and then felt a sudden shock and pain in one of his legs. He +fell sideways off the path and beneath the brushwood, as the wild band, +young and old, swept by. He was crippled and could not walk. He called +aloud, but none heard him amid the shouting of that careless race. He +tried to struggle to his feet, but one leg failed him and he fell back, +lying prone, just aside from the forest path, nearly weaponless and the +easy prey of the wild beasts. What had hurt him so grievously was a spear +thrown wildly from behind him. It had, hurled with great strength, struck +a smooth tree trunk and glanced aside, the point of the spear striking the +young man fairly in the calf of the leg, entering somewhat the bone +itself, and shocking, for the moment, every nerve. The flint sides had cut +a vein or two and these were bleeding, but that was nothing. The real +danger lay in his helplessness. Ab was alone, and would afford good eating +for those of the forest who, before long, would be seeking him. The scent +of the wild beast was a wonderful thing. The man tried to rise, then lay +back sullenly. Far in the distance, and growing fainter and fainter, he +could hear the shouts of the laughing spear-throwers. + +The strong young man, thus left alone to death almost inevitable, did not +altogether despair. He had still with him his good stone ax and his long +and keen stone knife. He would, at least, hurt something sorely before he +was eaten, he thought grimly to himself. And then he pressed leaves +together on the cut upon his leg, and laid himself back upon the leaves +and waited. + +He did not have to wait long. He had not thought to do so. How full the +woods were of blood-scenting and man-eating things none knew better than +he. His ear, keen and trained, caught the patter of a distant approach. +"Wolves," he said to himself at first, and then "Hyenas," for the step was +puzzling. He was perplexed. The step was regular, and it was not in the +forest on either side, but was coming up the path. A terror came upon him +and he had crawled deeper into the shades, when he noted that the steps +first ceased, and then that they wandered searchingly and uncertainly. +Then, loud and strong, rang out a voice, calling his name, and it was the +voice of Oak! He could not answer for a moment, and then he cried out +gladly. + +Oak had, in the forward-rushing group, seen Ab's hurt and fall, but had +thought it a trifling matter, since no outcry came from those behind, and +so had kept his course away and ahead with the rest. But finally he had +noted the absence of Ab and had questioned, and then--first telling some +of his immediate companions that they were to lag and wait for him--had +started back upon a run to reach the place where he had last seen his +friend. It was easy now to arrange wet leaves about Ab's crippling, but +little more than temporary, wound. The two, one leaning upon the other and +hobbling painfully, and each with weapons in hand, contrived, at last, to +reach Oak's lingering and grumbling contingent. Ab was helped along by two +instead of one then, and the rest was easy. When the pathway leading to +home was reached, Oak accompanied his friend, and the two passed the night +together. + +Ab, once on his own bed, with Oak couched beside him, was surprised to +find, not merely that his physical pain was going, but that the greater +one was gone. The weight and burning had left his breast and he was no +longer angry at Oak. He thought blindly but directly toward conclusions. +He had almost wanted to kill Oak, all because each saw the charm of and +wanted the possession of a slender, beautiful creature of their kind. Then +something dangerous had happened to him, and this same Oak, his friend, +the man he had wished to kill, had come back and saved his life. The sense +which we call gratitude, and which is not unmingled with what we call +honor, came to this young cave man then. He thought of many things, +worried and wakeful as he was, and perhaps made more acute of perception +by the slight, exciting fever of his wound. + +He thought of how the two, he and Oak, had planned and risked together, of +their boyish follies and failures and successes, and of how, in later +years, Oak had often helped him, of how he had saved Oak's life once in +the river swamp, where quicksands were, of how Oak had now offset even +that debt by carrying him away from certain ending amid wild beasts. No +one--and of the cave men he knew many--no one in all the careless, merry +party had missed him save Oak. He doubtless could not have told himself +why it was, but he was glad that he could repay it all and have the +balance still upon his side. He was glad that he had the secret of the bow +and arrow to reveal. That should be Oak's! So it came that, late that +night, when the fire in the cave had burned low and when one could not +wisely speak above a whisper, Ab told Oak the story of the new weapon, of +how it had been discovered, of how it was to be used and of all it was for +hunters and fighters. Furthermore, he brought his best bow and best arrows +forth, and told Oak they were his and that they would practice together in +the morning. His astonished and delighted companion had little to say over +the revelation. He was eager for the morning, but he straightened out his +limbs upon the leafy mattress and slept well. So, somewhat later, did the +half-feverish Ab. + +Morning came and the cave people were astir. There was brief though hearty +feeding and then Ab and Oak and Old Mok, to whom Ab had said much aside, +went away from the cave and into the forest. There Oak was taught the +potency of the new weapon, its deadly quality and the safety of distance +it afforded its user. It was a great morning for all three, not excepting +the stern and critical old teacher, when they thus met together in the +wood and the secret of what two had found was so transmitted to another. +As for Oak, he was fairly aflame with excitement. He was far from slow of +mind and he recognized in a moment the enormous advantage of the new way +of killing either the things they ate, or the things they dreaded most. He +could scarcely restrain his eagerness to experiment for himself. Before +noon had come he was gone, carrying away the bow and the good arrows. As +he disappeared in the wood Ab said nothing, but to himself he thought: + +"He may have all the bows and arrows he can make, but I will have +Lightfoot myself!" + +Ab and Mok started for the cave again, Ab, bow in hand and with ready +arrow. There was a patter of feet upon leaves in the wood beside them and +then the arrow was fitted to the string, while Old Mok, strong-armed if +weak-legged, raised aloft his spear. The two were seeking no conflict with +wild beasts today and were but defensive and alert. They were puzzled by +the sound their quick ears caught. "Patter, patter," ever beside them, but +deep in the forest shade, came the sound of menacing followers of some +sort. + +There was tension of nerves. Old Mok, sturdy and unconsciously fatalistic, +was more self-contained than the youth at his side, bow-armed and with +flint ax and knife ready for instant use. At last an open space was +reached across which ran the well-worn path. Now the danger must reveal +itself. The two men emerged into the glade, and, a moment later, there +bounded into it gamboling and full of welcome, the wolf cubs, which had +played about the cave so long, who were now detached from their own kind +and preferred the companionship of man. There was laughter then, and a +more careless demeanor with the weapon borne. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +LOVE AND DEATH. + +Different from his former self became this young forester, Ab. He was +thinking of something other than wild beasts and their pursuit. +Instinctively, the course of his hunting expeditions tended toward the +northwest and soon the impulse changed to a design. He must look upon +Lightfoot again! Henceforth he haunted the hill region, and never keener +for quarry or more alert for the approach of some dangerous animal was the +eye of this woodsman than it was for the appearance somewhere of a slender +figure of a cave girl. Neither game nor things to dread were numerous in +the vicinity of the home of Hilltop, for there one of the hardiest and +wisest among hunters had occupied his cave for many years, and wild beasts +learn things. So it chanced that Lightfoot could wander farther afield +than could most girls of the time. Ab knew all this well, for the quality +of expert and venturesome old Hilltop was familiar to all the cave men +throughout a wide stretch of country. So Ab, somewhat shamefaced to his +own consciousness, hunted in a region not the best for spoil, and looked +for a girl who might appear on some forest path, moderately safe from the +rush of any of the hungry man-eaters of the wood. + +But not all the time of this wild lover was wasted in haunting the +possible idling-places of the girl he wanted so. With love there had come +to him such sense and thoughtfulness as has come with earnest love to +millions since. What could he do with Lightfoot should he gain her? He was +but a big, young fighting man and hunter, still sleeping, almost nightly, +on one of the leaf beds in his father's cave. With a wife of his own he +must have a cave of his own. Compared with his first impulses toward the +girl, this was a new train of thought, and, as we recognize it to-day, a +nobler one. He wanted to care for his own. He wanted a cave fit for the +reception of such a woman as this, to him, the sweetest and proudest of +all beings, Lightfoot, daughter of old Hilltop, of the wooded highlands. + +Far up the river, far beyond the home of Oak's father and beyond the +shining marshlands and the purple heather reaches which made the foothills +pleasant, extended to the river's bank a promontory, bold and picturesque +and clad heavily with the best of trees. It was a great stretch of land, +where, in some of nature's grim work, the earth had been up-heaved and +there had been raised good soil for giant forests, and at the same time +been made broad caverns to become future habitations of the creature known +as man. But the trees bore nuts and fruits, and such creatures as found +food in nuts and fruits, and, later, such as loved rich herbage, came to +the forest in great numbers, and then followed such as fed upon these +again, all the flesh eaters, to whom man was, as any other living thing, +to be seized upon and devoured. The promontory, so rich in game and nuts +and fruits, was, at the same time, the most dangerous in all the region +for human habitation. There were deep, dry caves within its limits, but in +none of them had a cave man yet ventured to make his home. It was toward +this promontory that the young man in love turned his eyes. Because others +had feared to make a home in this lone, high region should he also fear? +There was food there in plenty and if there were chance of fighting in +plenty, so much the better! Was he not strong and fleet; had he not the +best of spears and axes? Above all, had he not the new weapon which made +man far above the beasts? Here was the place for a home which should be +the best in all this region of the cave men. Here game and food of all +kinds would be most abundant. The situation would demand a brave man and a +woman scarcely less courageous, but would not he and the girl he was +determined to bring there meet all occasion? His mind was fixed. + +Ab found a cave, one clean and dry and opening out upon a slight treeless +area, and this he, lover-like, improved for the woman he had resolved to +bring there, arranging carefully the interior of which must be a home. He +had fancies such as lovers have exhibited from since the time when the +plesiosaurus swashed away in the strand of a warm sea a hollow nursery for +the birth and first tending of the young of his odd kind, up to the later +time when men have squandered fortunes on the sleeping rooms of women they +have loved. He toiled for many days. With his ax he chipped away the +cavern's sharp protuberances at each side, and with the stone chips from +the walls and with what he brought from outside, he made the floor white +and clean and nearly level. He built a fireplace and chipped into a huge +stone, which, fortunately, lay inside the cave, a hollow for holding +drinking water, or for the boiling of meat. He built up a passage-way at +the entrance, allowing something but not too much more than his own width, +as the gauge for measurement of its breadth. He brought into the cave a +deep carpet of leaves and made a wide bed in one corner and this he +covered with furred skins, for many skins Ab owned in his own right. Then, +with a thick fragment of tough branch as a lever, he rolled a big stone +near the cave's entrance and left it ready to be occupied as a home. The +woman was still lacking. + +There came a day when Ab, impatient after his searching and waiting, but +yet resolute, had killed a capercailzie--the great grouse-like bird of the +time, the descendants of which live to-day in northern forests--and had +built a fire and feasted, and then, instinctively careful, had climbed to +the first broad, low branch of an enormous tree and there adjusted himself +to sleep the sleep of one who has eaten heartily. He lay with the big +branch for a bed, supported on either side by green, upspringing twigs, +and slept well for an hour or two and then awoke, lazy and listless, but +with much good to him from the repast and rest. It was not yet very late +in the afternoon and the sun still shone kindly upon him, as upon a whole +world of rejoicing things. Something like a reflection of the life of the +morning was beginning to manifest itself, as is ever the way where forests +and wild things are. The wonderful noise of wood life was renewed. As the +young man awakened, he felt in every pulse the thrilling powers of +existence. Everything was fair to look upon. His ears took in the sound of +the voices of birds, already beginning vesper songs, though the afternoon +was yet so early as scarcely to hint of evening, and the scent from a +thousand plants and flowers, permeating and intoxicating, reached his +senses as he lounged sprawlingly upon his safe bed aloft. + +It was attractive, the scene which Ab looked upon. The forest was in all +the glory of summer and nesting and breeding things were happy. There was +the fullness of the being of trees and plants and of all birds and beasts. +There was a soft commingling of sounds which told of the life about, the +effect of which was, somehow, almost drowsy in the blending of all +together. The great ferns waved gently along the hollows as the slight +breeze touched them. They were queer, those ferns. They were not quite so +slender and tapering and gothic as the ferns we see to-day. They were a +trifle more lush and ragged, and their tips were sometimes almost rounded. +But Ab noted little of fern or bird. It was only the general sensuousness +that was upon him. The smell of the pines was a partial tonic to the +healthy, half-awakened man, and, though he lay back upon the rugged wooden +bed and half dozed again, nature had aroused him a trifle beyond the point +of relapse into absolute, unknowing slumber. There was coming to him a +sharpness of perception which affected the quiescence of his enjoyment. He +rose to a sitting posture and looked about him. At once his eyes flashed, +every nerve and muscle became tense and the blood leaped turbulently in +his veins. He had seen that for which he had come into this region, the +girl who had so reached his rude, careless heart. Lightfoot was very near +him! + +The girl, all unconscious, was sitting upon the trunk of a fallen tree +which lay close beside a creek. There was an abundance of small pebbles +upon the little strand and the young lady was absent-mindedly engaged in +an occupation in which, to the observer, she took some interest, while +she, no doubt, was really thinking of something else. She sat there, +slender, beautiful and excelling, in her way, the belle of the period, +merely amusing herself. Her toes were charming toes. There could be no +debate on that point, for, while long and strong and flexible, they had a +certain evenness and symmetry. They were being idly employed just now. At +the creek's edge, half imbedded in the ground, uprose the crest of a +granite stone. Picking up pebble after pebble in her admirable toes, +Lightfoot was engaged in throwing them, one after another, at the +outstanding point of granite, utilizing in the performance only those toes +and the brown leg below the knee. She did exceedingly well and hit the +red-brown target often. Ab, hot-headed and fierce lover in the tree top, +looked on admiringly. How perfect of form was she; how bright the face! +and then, forgetting himself, he cried aloud and slid from the branch as +easily and swiftly as any serpent and started running toward the girl. He +must have her! + +With his cry, the girl leaped to her feet, and as he reached the ground, +recognized him on the instant. She knew in the same instant that they had +felt together and that it was not by accident that he was near her. She +had felt as he; so far as a woman may feel with a man; but maidens are +maidens, and sweet lightness dreads force, and a modified terror came upon +her. She paused for a moment, then turned and ran toward the upland +forest. + +Not a moment hesitating or faltering as affected by the girl's action was +the young man who had tumbled from the tree bed. The blood dancing within +him and the great natural impulse of gaining what was greatest to him in +life controlled him now. He was hot with fierce lovingness. He ran well, +but he did not run better than the graceful thing before him. + +Even for the critical being of the great cities of to-day, the one who +"manages" races of all sorts, it would have been worth while to see this +race in the forest. As the doe leaps, scarcely touching the ground, ran +Lightfoot. As the wolf or hound runs, less swift for the moment, but +tireless, ran the man behind her. Yet of all the men in the cave region, +this flying girl wanted most this man to take her! It was the maidenly +force-dreading instinct alone which made her run. + +Ab, dogged and enduring, lost no space as the race led away toward the +hill and home of the fleet thing ahead of him. There were miles to be +covered, and therein he had hope. They were on the straight path to +Hilltop's cave, though there were divergent, curving side paths almost as +available; but to avoid her pursuer, the fugitive could take none of +these. There were cross-cuts everywhere. In leaving the direct path she +would but lose ground. To reach soon enough by straight, clean running the +towering wooded hill in which was her father's cave seemed the only hope +of the half-unwilling fugitive. + +There were descents and ascents in the long chase and plateaus where the +running was on level ground. Straining forward, gaining little, but +confident of overtaking the girl, Ab, deep-chested and physically +untroubled, pressed onward, when he noted that the girl made a sudden +spurt and bounded forward with a speed not shown before, while, at the +same time, she swerved from the right of the path. + +It was not Ab who had made her swerve. Some new alarm had come to her. She +was about to reach and, as Ab supposed, pass one of the inletting paths +entering almost at right angles from the left. She did not pass it. She +leaped into it in evident terror and then, breaking out from the wood on +the right, came another form and one surely in swift following. Ab knew +the figure well. Oak was the new pursuer! + +The awful rage which rose in the heart of Ab as he saw what was happening +is what can no more be described than one can tell what a tiger in the +jungle thinks. He saw another--the other his friend--pursuing and +intending to take what he wanted to be his and what had become to him more +than all else in the world; more than much eating and the skins of things +to keep him warm, more than a mammoth's tooth to carve, more than the +glorious skin of the great cave tiger, the possession of which made a rude +nobility, more than anything and all else! He leaped aside from the path. +He knew well the other path upon which were running Oak and Lightfoot. He +knew that he could intercept them, because, though the running was not so +good, the distance to be covered was much less, for to him path running +was a light matter. In the wood he ran as easily and leaped as well and +attained a point almost as quickly as the beasts. There was a stress of +effort and, as the shadows deepened, he burst in upon the cross path where +he knew were the fleeing Lightfoot and following Oak. He had thought to +head them off, but Ab was not the only man who was swift of foot in the +cave country. They passed, almost as he bounded from the forest. He saw +them close together not many yards ahead of him and, with a shout of rage, +bent himself in swift and terrible pursuit again. + +It was all plain to Ab now as he flew along, unnoted by the two ahead of +him. He knew that Oak had, like him, determined to own Lightfoot, and had +like him, been seeking her. Only chance had made the chase thus cross +Oak's path; but that made no difference. There must be a grim meeting +soon. Ab could see that the endurance of the wonderfully fleet-footed +woman was not equal to that of the man so near her. She would soon be +overtaken. Before her rose the hill, not a mile in its slope, where were +her father's cave, and safety. He knew that she had not the strength to +breast it fleetly enough for covert. And, as he looked, he saw the girl +turn a frightened face toward her close pursuer and knew that she saw him +as well. Her pace slackened for a moment as this revelation came to her, +and he felt, somehow, that in him she recognized comparative protection. +Then she recovered herself and bent all the power she had toward the +ascent. But Oak had been gaining steadily, and now, with a sudden rush, he +reached her and grasped her, the woman shrieking wildly. A moment later Ab +rushed in upon them with a shout. Instinctively Oak released the girl, for +in the cry he heard that which meant menace and immediate danger. As +Lightfoot felt herself free she stood for a moment or two without a +movement, with wide-open eyes, looking upon what was happening before her. +Then she bounded away, not looking backward as she ran. + +[Illustration: AB STOOD THERE WEAPONLESS, A CREATURE WANDERING OF MIND] + +The two men stood there glaring at each other, Oak perched, and yet not +perched, so broad and perfect was his foothold, on the crest of a slight +shelf of the downward slope. There stood the two men, poised, the one +above, the other below, two who had been as close together from childhood +as all the attributes of mind and body might allow, and yet now as far +apart as human beings may be. They were beautiful in a way, each in his +murderous, unconscious posing for the leap. The sun hit the blue ax of Oak +and made it look a gray. The raised ax of Ab, which was of a lighter +colored stone, was in the shade and its yellowness was darkened into +brown. The spectacle lasted for but a second. As Oak leaped Ab bounded +aside and they stood upon a level, a tiny plateau, and there was fierce, +strong fencing. One could not note its methods; even the keen-eyed +wolverine, crouching low upon an adjacent monster limb, could never have +followed the swift movements of these stone axes. The dreadful play was +brief. The clash of stone together ceased as there came a duller sound, +which told that stone had bitten bone. Oak, slightly the higher of the +two, as they stood thus in the fray, leaned forward suddenly, his arms +aloft, while from his hand dropped the blue ax. He floundered down +uncouthly and grasped the beech leaves with his hands, and then lay still. +Ab stood there weaponless, a creature wandering of mind. His yellow ax had +parted from his hand, sunk deeply into the skull of Oak, and he looked +upon it curiously and vacantly. He was not sane. He stepped forward and +pulled the ax away and lifted it to a level with his eyes and went to +where the sunlight shone. The ax was not yellow any more. Meanwhile a girl +was flitting toward her home and the shadows of the waning day were +deepening. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +A RACE WITH DREAD. + +Ab looked toward the forest wherein Lightfoot had fled and then looked +upon that which lay at his feet. It was Oak--there were the form and +features of his friend--but, somehow, it was not Oak. There was too much +silence and the blood upon the leaves seemed far too bright. His rage +departed, and he wanted Oak to answer and called to him, but Oak did not +answer. Then came slowly to him the idea that Oak was dead and that the +wild beasts would that night devour the dead man where he lay. The thought +nerved him to desperate, sudden action. He leaped forward, he put his arms +about the body and carried it away to a hollow in the wooded slope. He +worked madly, doing some things as he had seen the cave people do at other +buryings. He placed the weapons of Oak beside him. He took from his belt +his own knife, because it was better than that of Oak, and laid it close +to the dead man's hand, and then, first covering the body with beech +leaves, he worked frantically upon the overhanging soil, prying it down +with a sharp-pointed fragment of limb, and tossing in upon all as heavy +stones as he could lift, until a great cairn rose above the hunter who +would hunt no more. + +Panting with his efforts, Ab sat himself down upon a rock and looked upon +the monument he had raised. Again he called to Oak, but there was still no +answer. The sun had set, evening shadows thickened around him. Then there +came upon the live man a feeling as dreadful as it was new, and, with a +yell, which was almost a shriek, he leaped to his feet and bounded away in +fearful flight. + +He only knew this, that there was something hurt his inside of body and +soul, but not the inside of him as it had been when once he had eaten +poisonous berries or when he had eaten too much of the little deer. It was +something different. It was an awful oppression, which seemed to leave his +body, in a manner, unfeeling but which had a great dread about it and +which made him think and think of the dead man, and made him want to run +away and keep running. He had always run far that day, but he was not +tired now. His legs seemed to have the hard sinews of the stag in them but +up toward the top of him was something for them to carry away as fast and +far as possible from somewhere. He raced from the dense woodland down into +the broad morass to the west--beyond which was the rock country--and into +which he had rarely ventured, so treacherous its ways. What cared he now! +He made great leaps and his muscles and sinews responded to the thought of +him. To cross that morass safely required a touch on tussocks and an +upbounding aside, a zig-zag exhibition of great strength and knowingness +and recklessness. But it was unreasoning; it was the instinct begotten of +long training and, now, of the absence of all nervousness. Each taut toe +touched each point of bearing just as was required above the quagmire, +and, all unperceiving and uncaring, he fled over dirty death as easily as +he might have run upon some hardened woodland pathway. He did not think +nor know nor care about what he was doing. He was only running away from +the something he had never known before! Why should he be running now? He +had killed things before and not cared and had forgotten. Why should he +care now? But there was the something which made him run. And where was +Oak? Would Oak meet him again and would they hunt together? No, Oak would +not come, and he, this Ab, had made it so! He must run. No one was +following him--he knew that--but he must run! + +The marsh was passed, night had fallen, but he ran on, pressing into the +bear and tiger haunted forest beyond. Anything, anything, to make him +forget the strange feeling and the thing which made him run! He plunged +into a forest path, utterly reckless, wanting relief, a seeker for +whatever might come. + +In that age and under such conditions as to locality it was inevitable +that the creature, man, running through such a forest path at night, must +face some fierce creature of the carnivora seeking his body for food. Ab, +blinded of mood, cared not for and avoided not a fight, though it might be +with the monster bear or even the great tiger. There was no reason in his +madness. He was, though he knew it not, a practical suicide, yet one who +would die fighting. What to him were weight and strength to-night? What to +him were such encounters as might come with hungry four-footed things? It +would but relieve him were some of the beasts to try to gain his life and +eat his body. His being seemed valueless, and as for the wild beasts--and +here came out the splendid death-facing quality of the cave man--well, it +would be odd if there were not more deaths than one! But all this was +vague and only a minor part of thought. + +Sometimes, as if to invite death, he yelled as he ran. He yelled whenever +in his fleeting visions he saw Oak lying dead again. So ran the man who +had killed another. + +There was a growl ahead of him, a sudden breaking away of the bushes, and +then he was thrown back, stunned and bleeding, because a great paw had +smitten him. Whatever the beast might be, it was hungry and had found what +seemed easy prey. There was a difference, though, which the animal,--it +was doubtless a bear--unfortunately for him, did not comprehend, between +the quality of the being he proposed to eat just now and of other animals +included in his ordinary menu. But the bear did not reason; he but plunged +forward to crush out the remaining life of the runner his great paw had +driven back and down and then to enjoy his meal. + +The man was little hurt. His skin coat had somewhat protected him and his +sinewy body had such toughness that the hurling of it backward for a few +feet was not anything involving a fatality. Very surely and suddenly had +been thrust upon him now the practical lesson of being or dying, and it +was good for the half-crazed runner, for it cleared his mind. But it made +him no less desperate or careless. With strength almost maniacal he leaped +at what he would have fled from at any other time, and, swinging his ax +with the quickness of light, struck tremendously at the great lowering +head. He yelled again as he felt stone cut and crash into bone, though +himself swept aside once more as a great paw, sidestruck, hurled him into +the bushes. He bounded to his feet and saw something huge and dark and +gasping floundering in the pathway. He thought not but ran on panting. By +some strange freak of forest fortune abetting might the man wandering of +mind had driven his ax nearly to the haft into the skull of his huge +assailant. It may be that never before had a cave man, thus armed, done so +well. The slayer ran on wildly, and now weaponless. + +Soon to the runner the scene changed. The trees crowded each other less +closely and there was less of denned pathway. There came something of an +ascent and he breasted it, though less swiftly, for, despite the impelling +force, nature had claims, and muscles were wearying of their work. Fewer +and fewer grew the trees. He knew that he was where there was now a sweep +of rocky highlands and that he was not far from the Fire Country, of which +Old Mok had so often told him. He burst into the open, and as he came out +under the stars, which he could see again, he heard an ominous whine, too +near, and a distant howl behind him. A wolf pack wanted him. + +He shuddered as he ran. The life instinct was fully awakened in him now, +as the dread from which he had run became more distant. Had he heard that +close whine and distant howl before he fairly reached the open he would +have sought a treetop for refuge. Now it was too late. He must run ahead +blindly across the treeless space for such harborage as might come. Far +ahead of him he could see light, the light of fire, reaching out toward +him through the darkness. He was panting and wearied, but the sounds +behind him were spur enough to bring the nearly dead to life. He bowed his +head and ran with such effort as he had never made before in all his wild +and daring existence. + +The wolves of the time, greater, swifter and fiercer than the gaunt gray +wolves of northern latitudes and historic times, ran well, but so did +contemporaneous man run well, and the chase was hard. With his life to +save, Ab swept panting over the rocky ground with a swiftness begotten of +the grand last effort of remaining strength, running straight toward the +light, while the wolf pack, now gathered, hurled itself from the wood +behind and followed swiftly and relentlessly. Ever before the man shone +the light more brightly; ever behind him became more distinct the sound +made by the following pack. It was a dire strait for the running man. He +was no longer thinking of what he had lately done. He ran. + +[Illustration: WITH A GREAT LEAP HE WENT AT AND THROUGH THE CURLING CREST +OF THE YELLOW FLAME] + +The light he had seen extended as he neared it into what looked like a +great fence of flame lying across his way. There were gaps in the fence +where the flame, still continuous, was not so high as elsewhere. He did +not hesitate. He ran straight ahead. Closer and closer behind him crowded +the pursuing wolves, and straight at the flame he ran. There was one +chance in many, he thought, and he took it without hesitation. Close +before him now loomed the wall of flame. Close behind him slavering jaws +were working in anticipation, and there was a strain for the last rush. +There was no alternative. Straight at the fire wall where it was lowest +rushed Ab, and with a great leap he went at and through the curling crest +of the yellow flame! + +The man had found safety! There was a moment of heat and then he knew +himself to be sprawling upon green turf. A little of the strength of +desperation was still with him and he bounded to his feet and looked +about. There were no wolves. Beside him was a great flat rock, and he +clambered upon this, and then, over the crest of the flames could see +easily enough the glaring eyes of his late pursuers. They were running up +and down, raging for their prey, but kept from him beyond all peradventure +by the fire they could not face. Ab started upright on the rock panting +and defiant, a splendid creature erect there in the firelight. + +Soon there came to the man a more perfect sense of his safety. He shouted +aloud to the flitting, snarling creatures, which could not harm him now; +he stooped and found jagged stones, which he sent whirling among them. +There was a savage satisfaction in it. + +Suddenly the man fell to the ground, fairly groaning with exhaustion. +Nature had become indignant and the time for recuperation had been +reached. The wearied runner lay breathing heavily and was soon asleep. The +flames which had afforded safety gave also a grateful warmth in the chill +night, and so it was that scarcely had his body touched the ground when he +became oblivious to all about him, only the heaving of the broad chest +showing that the man lying fairly exposed in the light was a living thing. +The varying wind sometimes carried the sheet of flame to its utmost extent +toward him, so that the heat must have been intense, and again would carry +it in an opposite direction while the cold air swept down upon the +sleeping man. Nothing disturbed him. Inured alike to heat and cold, Ab +slept on, slept for hours the sleep which follows vast strain and +endurance in a healthy human being. Then the form lying on the ground +moved restlessly and muttered exclamations came from the lips. The man was +dreaming. + +For as the sleeper lay there--he remembered it when he awoke and wondered +over it many times in after years--Oak sprang through the flames, as he +himself had done, and soon lay panting by his side. The lapping of the +fire, the snapping and snarling of the wolves beyond and the familiar +sound of Oak's voice all mingled confusedly in his ears, and then he and +Oak raced together over the rough ground, and wrestled and fought and +played as they had wrestled and fought and played together for years. And +the hours passed and the wind changed and the flames almost scorched him +and Ab started up, looking about him into the wild aspect of the Fire +Country; for the night had passed and the sun had risen and set again +since the exhausted man had fallen upon the ground and become unconscious. + +Ab rolled instinctively a little away from the smoky sheets of flame and, +sitting up, looked for Oak. He could not see him. He ran wildly around +among the rocks looking for him and despairingly called aloud his name. +The moment his voice had been hoarsely lifted, "Oak!" the memory of all +that had happened rushed upon him. He stood there in the red firelight a +statue of despair. Oak was dead; he had killed Oak, and buried him with +his own hands, and yet he had seen Oak but a minute ago! He had bounded +through the flames and had wrestled and run races with Ab, and they had +talked together, and yet Oak must be lying in the ground back there in the +forest by the little hill. Oak was dead. How could he get out of the +ground? Fear clutched at Ab's heart, his limbs trembled under him. He +whimpered like a lost and friendless hound and crouched close to the +hospitable fire. His brain wavered under the stress of strange new +impressions. He recalled some mutterings of Old Mok about the dead, that +they had been seen after it was known that they were deep in the ground, +but he knew it was not good to speak or think of such things. Again Ab +sprang to his feet. It would not do to shut his eyes, for then he saw +plainly Oak in his shallow hole in the dark earth and the face Ab had +hurried to cover first when he was burying his friend, there under the +trees. And so the night wore away, sleep coming fitfully from time to +time. Ab could not explore his retreat in the strange firelight nor run +the risks of another night journey across the wild beasts' chosen country. +He began to be hungry, with the fierce hunger of brute strength, sharpened +by terrific labors, but he must wait for the morning. The night seemed +endless. There was no relief from the thoughts which tortured him, but, at +last, morning broke, and in action Ab found the escape he had longed for. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +THE FIRE COUNTRY. + +It was light now and the sun shone fairly on Ab's place of refuge. As his +senses brought to him full appreciation he wondered at the scene about +him. He was in a glade so depressed as to be a valley. About it, to the +east and north and west, in a wavering, tossing wall, rose the uplifting +line of fire through which he had leaped, though there were spaces where +the height was insignificant. On the south, and extending till it circled +a trifle to east, rose a wall of rock, evidently the end of a +forest-covered promontory, for trees grew thickly to its very edge and +their green branches overhung its sheer descent. Coming from some crevice +of the rocks on the east, and tumbling downward through the valley, was a +riotous brook, which disappeared through some opening at the west. Within +this area, thus hemmed in by fire and rock, appeared no living thing save +the birds which sang upon the bushes beside the small stream's banks and +the butterflies which hung above the flowers and all the insect world +which joined in the soft, humming chorus of the morning. It was something +that Ab looked upon with delighted wonder, but without understanding. What +he saw was not a marvel. It was but the result of one of many upheavals at +a time when the earth's cooled shell was somewhat thinner than now and +when earthquakes, though there were no cities to overthrow, at least made +havoc sometimes by changing the face of nature. There had come a great +semi-circular crack in the earth, near and extending to the line of the +sheer rock range. The natural gas, the product of the vegetation of +thousands of centuries before, had found a chance to escape and had poured +forth into the outer world. Something, perhaps a lightning stroke and a +flaming tree, perhaps some cave man making fire and consumed on the +instant when he succeeded, had ignited the sheet of rising gas, and the +result was the wall of flame. It was all natural and commonplace, for the +time. There were other upleaping flame sheets in the surrounding region +forever burning--as there are in northern Asia to-day--but Ab knew of +these fires only from Old Mok's tales. He stood wonderstruck at what he +saw about him. + +But this man in the valley was young and very strong, with tissues to be +renewed, and the physical man within him clamored and demanded. He must +eat. He ran forward and around, anxiously observant, and soon learned that +at the western end of the valley, where the little creek tumbled through a +rocky cut into a lower level, there was easy exit from the +fire-encompassed and protected area. He clambered along the creek's rough, +descending side. He emerged upon an easier slope and then found it +possible to climb the hillside to the plane of the great wood. There must, +he thought, be food of some sort, even for a man with only Oak's knife in +his possession! There was the forest and there were nuts. He was in the +forest soon, among the gray-trunked, black-mottled beeches and the rough +brown oaks. He found something of what he sought, the nuts lying under +shed leaves, though the supply was scant. But nuts, to the cave man, made +moderately good food, supplying a part of the sustenance he required, and +Ab ate of what he could find and arose from the devouring search and +looked about him. + +He was weaponless, save for the knife, and a flint knife was but a thing +for closest struggle. He longed now for his ax and spear and the strong +bow which could hurt so at a distance. But there was one sort of weapon to +be had. There was the club. He wandered about among the tops of fallen +trees and wrenched at their dried limbs, and finally tore one away and +broke off, later, with a prying leverage, what made a rough but available +club for a cave man's purposes. It was much better than nothing. Then +began a steady trot toward what should be fair life again. There were +vague paths through the forest made by wild beasts. As he moved the man +thought deeply. + +He thought of the fire-wall, and could not with all his reasoning +determine upon the cause of its existence, and so abandoned the subject as +a thing, the nub of which was unreachable. That was the freshest object in +his mind and the first to be mentally disposed of. But there were other +subjects which came in swift succession. As he went along with a dog's +gait he was not in much terror, practically weaponless as he was. His eye +was good and he was going through the forest in the daylight. He was +strong enough, club in hand, to meet the minor beasts. As for the others, +if any of them appeared, there were the trees, and he could climb. So, as +he trotted he could afford to think. + +And he thought much that day, this perplexed man, our grandfather with so +many "greats" before the word. He had nothing to divert him even in the +selection of the course toward his cave. He noted not where the sun stood, +nor in what direction the tiny head-waters of the rivulets took their +course, nor how the moss grew on the trees. He traveled in the wood by +instinct, by some almost unexplainable gift which comes to the thing of +the woods. The wolf has it; the Indian has it; sometimes the white man of +to-day has it. + +As he went Ab engaged in deeper and more sustained thought than ever +before in all his life. He was alone; new and strange scenes had enlarged +his knowledge and swift happenings had made keener his perceptions. For +days his entire being had been powerfully affected by his meeting with +Lightfoot at the Feast of the Mammoth and the events which had followed +that meeting in such swift succession. The tragedy of Oak's death had +quickened his sensibilities. Besides, what had ensued latest had been what +was required to make him in a condition for the divination of things. The +wise agree that much stimulant or much deprivation enables the brain +convolutions to do their work well, though deprivation gets the cleaner +end. The asceticism of Marcus Aurelius was productive of greater results +than the deep drinking of any gallant young Roman man of letters of whom +he was a patron. The literature of fasting thinkers is something fine. Ab, +after exerting his strength to the utmost for days, had not eaten of +flesh, and the strong influences to which he was subjected were exerted +upon a man still, practically, fasting. For a time, the rude and +earth-born child of the cave was lifted into a region of comparative +sentiment and imagination. It was an experience which affected materially +all his later life. + +Ever to the trotting man came the feelings which must follow fierce love +and deadly action and vague remorse and fear of something indefinable. He +saw the face and form of Lightfoot; he saw again the struggle, +death-ending, with the friend of youth and of mutual growing into manhood. +He remembered dimly the half insane flight, the leaps across the dreaded +morass and, more distinctly, the chase by the wolves. The aspect of the +Fire Country and of all that followed his awakening was, of course, yet +fresh in his mind. He was burdened. + +Ever uprising and oppressing above all else was the memory of the man he +had killed and buried, covering the face first, so that it might not look +at him. Was Oak really dead? he asked himself again! Had not he, Ab, as +soon as he slept again, seen, alive and well, the close friend of his? He +clung to the vision. He reasoned as deeply as it was in him to reason. + +As he struggled in his mind to obtain light there came to him the fancy of +other things dimly related to the death mystery which had perplexed him +and all his kind. There must be some one who made the river rise and fall +or the nut-bearing forest be either fruitful or the hard reverse. Who and +what could it be? What should he do, what should all his friends do in the +matter of relation to this unknown thing? + +With this day and hour did not come really the beginning of Ab's thought +upon the subject of what was, to him and those he knew, the supernatural. +He had thought in the past--he could not help it--of the shadow and the +echo. He remembered how he and Oak had talked about the echo, and how they +had tried to get rid of the thing which had more than once called back to +them insolently across the valley. Every word they shouted this hidden +creature would mockingly repeat and there was no recourse for them. They +had once fully armed themselves and, in a burst of desperate bravery, had +resolved to find who and what the owner of this voice was and have, at +least, a fight. They had crossed the valley and ranged about the woodland +whence the voice seemed to have come, but they never found what they +sought! + +The shadow which pursued them on sunny afternoons had puzzled them in +another way. Very persistent had been the flat, black, earth-clinging and +distorted thing which followed them so everywhere. What was this black, +following thing, anyhow, this thing which swung its unsubstantial body +around as one moved but which ever kept its own feet at the feet of the +pursued, wherever there was no shade, and which lay there beside one so +persistently? + +But the echoes and the shadows were nothing as compared with the things +which came to one at night. What were those creatures which came when a +man was sleeping? Why did they escape with the dawn and appear again only +when he was asleep and helpless, at least until he awoke fairly and seized +his ax? + +The sun rose high and dropped slowly down toward the west, where the far +ocean was, and the shadows somewhat lengthened, but it was still light +along the forest pathways and the untiring man still hurried on. He was +now close to his country and becoming careless and at ease. But his +imagination was still busy; he could not free himself of memory. There +came to him still the vision of the friend he had buried, hiding his face +first of all. The frenzy of his wish for knowing rushed again upon him. +Where was Oak now? he demanded of himself and of all nature. "Where is +Oak?" he yelled to the familiar trees beside his path. But the trees, even +to the cave man, so close to them in the economy of wild life, so like +them in his naturalness, could give no answer. + +So the cave man struggled in his dim, uncertain way with the eternal +question: "If a man die shall he live again?" So the human mind still +struggles, after thousands of centuries have contributed to its +development. A wall more impassable than the wall of flame Ab had so +lately looked upon still rises between us and those who no longer live. We +reach out for some knowledge of those who have died, and go almost into +madness because we can grasp nothing. Silence unbroken, darkness +impenetrable ever guard the mystery of death. In the long ages since the +cave man ran that day, love and hope have in faith erected, beyond the +grim barriers of blackness and despair, fair pavilions of promise and +consolation, but to the stern examiners of physical fact and reality there +has come no news from beyond the walls of silence since. We clamor +tearfully for some word from those who are dead, but no answer comes. So +Ab groped and strove alone in the forest, in his youth and ignorance, and +in the youth and ignorance of our race. + +Upon the pathway along the river's bank Ab emerged at last. All was +familiar to him now. There, by the clump of trees in the flat below, was +the place where he and Oak had dug the pit when they were but mere boys +and had learned their first important lessons in sterner woodcraft. Soon +came in sight, as he ran, the entrance to the cave of his own family. He +was home again. But he was not the one who had left that rude habitation +three days before. He had gone away a youth. He had come back one who had +suffered and thought. He came back a man. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +THE WOOING OF LIGHTFOOT. + +Lightfoot, when Ab seized Oak, had fled away from the two infuriated men, +as the hare runs, and had sped into the forest. She had the impetus of new +fear now and ran swiftly as became her name, never looking behind her, nor +did she slacken her pace, though panting and exhausted, until she found +herself approaching the cave where lived her playmate, Moonface, not more +than an hour's run from her own home. + +The fleeing girl was fortunate in stumbling upon her friend as soon as she +came into the open space about the cave. Moonface was enjoying herself +lazily that afternoon. She was leaning back idly in a swing of vines to +which she had braided a flexible back, and was blinking somnolently in the +sunshine as the visitor leaped from the wood. Moonface recognized her +friend, gave a quavering cry of delight and came slipping and rolling +recklessly to the ground to meet her. Lightfoot uttered no word. She stood +breathless, and was rather carried than led by Moonface to an easy seat, +moss-padded, upon twisted tree roots, which was that young lady's ordinary +resting-place. Upon this seat the two sank, one overcome with past fear +and present fatigue, and the other with an all-absorbing and demanding +curiosity. It was beyond the ordinary scope of the self-restraining forces +in Moonface to await with calm the recovery of Lightfoot's breath and +powers of conversation. She pinched and shook her friend and demanded, +half-crying but impatiently, some explanation. It was a great hour for +Moonface, the greatest in her life. Here was her friend and dictator +panting and terrified like some weak, hunted-down thing of the wood. It +was a marvel. At last Lightfoot spoke: + +"They are fighting at the foot of the hill!" she said, and Moonface at +once guessed the whole story, for she was not blind, this wide-mouthed +creature. + +"Why did you run away?" she asked. + +"I ran because I was scared. One of them must be dead before this time. I +am glad I am alive myself," Lightfoot gasped. Then the girl covered her +face with her hands as she recalled Ab's face, distorted by passion and +murderous hate, and Oak's equally maddened look as, before the onrush, he +had grasped her so firmly that the marks of his fingers remained blue upon +her arms and slender waist and neck. + +Then Lightfoot, slow to regain her composure, told tremblingly the story +of all that had occurred, finding comfort in the unaffrighted look upon +the face, as well as in the reassuring talk, of her easy-going, +unimaginative and cheerful and faithful companion. She remained as a guest +at the cave overnight and the next forenoon, when she took her way for +home, she was accompanied by Moonface. Gradually, as the hours passed, +Lightfoot regained something of her usual frame of mind and a little of +her ordinary manner of careless light-heartedness, but when home had been +reached and the girls had rested and eaten and she heard Moonface telling +anew for her the story of the flight in the wood, while her father, +Hilltop, and her two strapping brothers listened with interest, but with +no degree of excitement, she felt again the wild alarm and horror and +uncertainty which had affected her when first she fled from what was to +her so dreadful. She crept away from the cave door near which the others +sat enjoying the balmy midsummer afternoon, beckoning to one of her +brothers to follow her, as the big fellow did unquestioningly, for +Lightfoot had been, almost from young girlhood, the dominant force in the +family, even the strong father, though it was contrary to the spirit of +the time, admiring and yielding to his one daughter without much comment. +The great, hulking youth, well armed and ready for any adventure, joined +her, nothing both, and the two disappeared, like shadows, in the depths of +the forest. + +Lightfoot had been the housekeeper in the cave of Hilltop, the cave of the +greatest hunter of the region, young despite the years which had +encompassed him, and father of two boys who were fine specimens of the +better men of the time. They were splendid whelps, and this slim thing, +whom they had cared for as she grew, dominated them easily, though the age +was not one of vast family affection, while chivalry, of course, did not +exist. Hilltop's wife had died two years before, and Lightfoot, with +unconscious force, had taken her mother's place. There was none other with +woman's ways to help the men in the rock-guarded home on the windy hill. +Hilltop had not been altogether unthinking all this time. He had often +looked upon his daughter's friend, the jolly, swart and well-fed Moonface, +and had much approved of her, but, today, as he listened to her story, he +did not pay such attention as was demanded by the interest of the theme. +An occasional death, though it were the killing of one cave man by +another, was not a matter of huge importance. He was not inflamed in any +way by what he heard, but as he looked and listened to the comfortable +young person who was speaking, the idea, hastened it may be by some loving +and domestic instinct, grew slowly in his brain that she might make for +him as excellent a mate as any other of the "good matches" to be found in +the immediately surrounding country. He was a most directly reasoning +person, this Hilltop, best of hunters and generally respected on the +forest ridges. After the thought once dawned upon him, it grew and grew, +and an idea fairly developed in Hilltop's mind meant action. His +fifty-five years of age had hardly cooled and had certainly not nearly +approached to freezing the blood in his outstanding veins. He had a suit +to make, and make at once. That he might have no interruption he bade +Stone-Arm, his remaining son, who sat on a rock near by, and who had +listened, open-mouthed, to the recital of Moonface, to seek his brother +and Lightfoot in the forest path. There might be beasts abroad and two men +were better than one, said this crafty father-hunter-lover. + +The boy, clever tracker as a red Indian or Australian trailer, soon found +the path his brother and Lightfoot had taken and joined them. As he +listened to what they were saying he was glad he had been sent to follow +them. They were hastening toward the valley. The trees were beginning to +cast long shadows when the three came to where the more abrupt hillside +reached the slope and where the torn ground, broken limbs and twigs and +deep-indented footprints in the soil gave glaring evidence to the eye of +yesterday's struggle. But, aside from all this, there was something else. +There was a carpet of yellowish-brown leaves, at the edge of the circle of +fray, where a man had fallen. On the clean stretch of evenly rain-packed +leaves there were spots from which the scarlet had but lately faded into +crimson. There was a place where the surface was disturbed and sunken a +little. All three knew that a man had died there. + +The two young men and their sister stood together uttering no word. The +men were amazed. The woman half comprehended all. She did not hesitate a +moment. Guided by a sure instinct, Lightfoot reached, without thought or +conscious search, the spot of unnatural earth which reared itself so near +to them, the spot where was fresh stone-covered soil and where a man was +buried. The pile of stones, newly heaped upon the moist earth, told their +story. + +Someone was buried there, but whom? Was it Oak or Ab? + +"Shall I dig?" said Stone-Arm, making ready for the task, while Branch, +his elder brother, prepared for work as well. + +"No! No!" cried Lightfoot. "He is buried deep and the stones are over him. +It will be night soon and the wolves and hyenas would be here before we +could get away. Let it be. Someone is there, but the one who killed him +has buried him. He will come back!" The two boys were silent, and +Lightfoot led the way toward home. When the three reached the cave of +Hilltop the sun was setting. Something had happened at the cave, but there +arises at this point no stern demand for going into details. Hilltop, +brave man, was no laggard in wooing, and Moonface was not a nervous young +person. When the other members of the household reached the cave Moonface +was already installed as mistress. There would be no reprisals from an +injured family. The girl had lived with her ancient father, whom she had +half-supported and who would, possibly, be transplanted to Hilltop's cave +for such pottering life as he was still capable of during the rest of his +existence. The new régime was fairly established. + +The arrangement suited Lightfoot well enough. This astounding stepmother +had been her humble but faithful friend. Lightfoot was a ruling woman +spirit wherever she was, and she knew it, though she bowed at all times to +the rule of strength as the only law. Nevertheless she knew how to get her +own way. With Moonface, everything was easy for her and she found it +rather pleasant than otherwise to find the other young woman made suddenly +a permanent resident of the cave in which she had been born and had lived +all her life. As the two girls met, and the situation was curtly announced +by Hilltop, their faces were worth the seeing. There was alarm and +hopefulness upon the countenance of Moonface, sudden astonishment and +indignation, and then reflection, upon the face of Lightfoot. After a few +moments of thought both girls laughed cheerfully. + +The story of the newly found grave made but little impression upon the +group and Lightfoot, the only one of the household who thought much about +it, thought silently. To her the single question was: "Who lay there?" +There was nothing strange to the others of the family in the thought that +one man should have killed another, and no one attached blame to or +proposed punishment of the slayer. Sometimes after such a happening, the +cave man who had slain another might have a rock rolled suddenly upon him +from a height, or in passing a thicket have the flint head of a spear +driven through him, but this was only the deed, perhaps, of an enraged +father or brother, not in any sense a matter of course in the way of +justice, and even such attempt at reprisal was not the rule. + +But in the bosom of Lightfoot was a weight like a stone. It was as heavy, +she thought, as one of the stones on the bare ground over the body of the +man who lay there in the dark earth, because he had run after her. Who was +it? It might be Ab! And all through the night the girl tossed uneasily on +her bed of leaves, as she did for nights to come. + +As for Moonface, who shall say what that rotund and hairy young person +thought when the family had settled down to the changed order of things +and she had adjusted herself to the duties of a matron in her new home? +She was not less broadly buoyant and beaming, but who can tell that, when +she noted Lightfoot's burning look and thoughtful mien, Moonface did not +sometimes think of the two young men who, but yesterday, had rejoiced in +such strength and vigor and charm of power and who were so good to look +upon? She was a wife now, but to another sort of man. Even the feminine +among writers of erotic novels have not yet revealed what the young moon +thinks when she "holds the old moon in her arms." Anyhow, Hilltop was a +defense and a great provider of food. He was a fine figure of a man, too. + +[Illustration: THE GIRL COWERED BEHIND A REFUGE OF LEAVES AND BRANCHES] + +Lightfoot was not much in the cave now. She lingered about the open space +or wandered in the near wood. A woman's instinct told her to be out-doors +all the time she could. A man would seek her, but with the thought came an +awful dread. Which man? One afternoon she saw something. + +Two gray forms flitted across an open space in the forest near the cave, +and in a moment the girl was in a treetop. What followed was the +unexpected. Close behind the gray things came a man, fully armed, +straight, eager and alert and silent in his wood surroundings, with eyes +roving over and searching all the open space about the cave of Hilltop. +The man was Ab. + +The girl gave a shriek of delight, then, alarmed at the sound she had +made, cowered behind a refuge of leaves and branches. She was happy beyond +all her experience before. The question which had been in all her thoughts +was answered! It was Oak, not Ab, who lay in the ground on the hillside. +And, even as she realized this fully, there was a swift upward scramble +and the young cave man was beside her on the limb. There was no running +away this time. The girl's face told its story well enough, so well that +Ab, still lately doubting, though resolved, knew that his fitting mate +belonged to him. There came to them the happiness which ever comes to +lovers, be they man or bird or beast, and then came swift conclusion. He +told her she must go with him at once, told her of the new cave and of all +he had done, but the girl, well aware of the dangers of the beast-haunted +region where the new home had been selected, was thoroughly alarmed. Then +Ab told her of the little flying spears which Old Mok had made for him, +and about the wonderful bow which sent them to their mark, and the girl +was reassured and soon began to feel exceedingly brave and proud of her +lover and his prowess. + +No need of carrying off a girl by force or craft on this occasion, for +Hilltop had fully recognized Ab's strength and quality. The two went to +the cave together and there was eating and then, later, two skin-clad +human beings, a man and a woman, went away together through the forest. +Their journey was a long one and a careful lookout was necessary as they +hurried along a pathway of the strange country. But the cave was reached +at last, just as the sun burned red and gave a rosy glow to everything. + +Silently the two came into the open space in front of what was to be their +fortress and abode. Solid was the rock about the entrance and narrow the +blocked opening. Smoke curled in a pretty spiral upward from where +smoldered the fire Ab had made the day before. Lightfoot looked upon it +all and laughed joyously, though tremblingly, for she had now given +herself to a man and he had brought her to his place of living. + +As for the man, he looked down upon the girl delightedly. His pulse beat +fast. He put his arm about her and together they entered the cave. There +was a marriage but no ceremony. Just as robins mate when they have met or +as the buck and doe, so faithful man and wife became these two. + +Darkness fell, the fire at the cave entrance flashed up fiercely and Ab +and Lightfoot were "at home." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +THE HONEYMOON. + +The sun shone brilliantly, birds were singing and the balsam firs gave +forth their morning incense as Ab and Lightfoot issued from their cave. +They had eaten heartily, and came out buoyant and delighted with the +world which was theirs. The chattering of the waterfowl along the river +reached their ears faintly, the leaves were moved by a gentle breeze, +there was a hum of insects in the air and the very pulse of living could +be felt. Ab carried his new weapon proudly, hungering for the love and +admiration of this girl of his, and eager to show her its powers and to +exhibit his own skill. At his back hung his quiver of mammoth bone. His +bow, unstrung, was in his hand. In front of the cave was a bare area of +many yards in extent, then came a few scattering trees and, at a distance +of perhaps two hundred yards, the forest began. Across the open space of +ground, with its great mass of branches crushed together not far from the +cave's mouth, had fallen one of the gigantic conifers' of the time, and +was there gradually decaying, its huge limbs and bole, disintegrating, +and dry as punk, affording, close at hand, a vast fuel supply, the +exceptional value of which Ab had recognized when making his selection of +a home. Near the edge of the little clearing made by nature, Ab seated +himself upon a log, and drawing Lightfoot down to a seat beside him, +began enthusiastically to make clear the marvels of the weapon he had +devised and which he and Old Mok had developed into something startling +in its possibilities. + +All details of the explanation made by the earnest young hunter, it is +probable, Lightfoot did not comprehend. She looked proudly at him, +fingering the flint pointed arrows curiously, yet seemed rather intent +upon the man than the wood and stone. But when he pointed at a great knot +in a tree near them and bent his bow and sent an arrow fairly into the +target, and when, even with her strength, Lightfoot could not pull the +arrow out, she was wild with admiration and excitement. She begged to be +taught how to use, herself, this wonderful new weapon, for she recognized +as readily as could anyone its adaptation to the use of one of inferior +strength. The delighted lover was certainly as desirous as she that she +should some day become an expert. He handed her the bow, retaining, slung +over his shoulder, fortunately, as it developed, the bone quiver full of +Old Mok's best arrows. He taught her, first, how to bend and string the +bow. There were failures and successes, and there was much laughter from +the merry-hearted Lightfoot. Finally, it happened that Ab was not just +content with the quality of the particular arrow which he had selected +for Lightfoot's use. He had taken a slender one with a clean flint head, +but something about the notch had not quite suited him. With a thin, hard +stone scraper, carried in a pouch of his furry garb, he began rasping and +filing at this notch to make it better fit the string of tendons, while +Lightfoot, with the bow still strung, stood beside him. At last, tired of +holding the thing in her hands, she passed it over her head and one +shoulder and stood there jauntily, with both hands free, while the man +scraped away with the one little flake of flint in his possession, and, +as he worked, paused from time to time note how well he was rounding the +notch in the end of the slight hardwood shaft. It was just as he was +holding up to her eyes the arrow, now made almost an ideal one, according +to his fancy, when there came to the ears of the two a sound, distinct, +ominous and implying to them deadly peril, a sound such that, though +nerves spoke and muscles acted, they were very near the momentary +paralysis which sometimes come from sudden fearful shock. From close +beside them came the half grunt and half growl of the great cave bear! + +With the instinct born of generations, each leaped independently toward +the nearest tree, and, with the unconscious strength and celerity which +comes to even wild animals with the dread of death at hand, each +clambered to a treetop before a word was spoken. Scarcely had either left +the ground before there was a rush into the open glade of a huge brown +hairy form, and this was instantly followed by another. As Ab and +Lightfoot climbed far amid the branches and looked down, they saw +upreared at the base of each tree the figure of one of the monsters whose +hungry exclamations they knew so well. They had been careless, these two +lovers, especially the man. He had known well, but for the moment had +forgotten how beast-infested was the immediate area about his new home, +and now had come the consequence of his thoughtlessness. He and his wife +had been driven to the treetops within a few yards of their own +hearthstone, leaving their weapons inside their cave! + +Alarmed and panting, after settling down to a firm seat far aloft, each +looked about to see what had become of the other. Each was at once +reassured as to the present, and each became much perplexed as to the +future. The cave bear, like his weaker and degenerate descendant, the +grizzly of to-day, had the quality of persistence well developed, and +both Ab and Lightfoot knew that the siege of their enemies would be +something more than for the moment. The trees in which they perched were +very close to the wood, but not so close that the forest could be reached +by passing from branch to branch. Their two trees were not far from each +other, but their branches did not intermingle. There was a distinct +opening between them. The tree up which Lightfoot had scrambled was a +great fir towering high above the strong beech in which Ab had found his +safety. Branches of the fir hung down until between their ends and Ab's +less lofty covert there were but a few yards of space. Still, one trying +to reach the beech from the lofty fir would find an unpleasantly wide +gap. + +Each of the creatures in the tree was unarmed. Ab still bore the quiver +full of admirable arrows, and across the breast of Lightfoot still hung +the strong bow which she had slung about her in such blithesome mood. +Soon began an exceedingly earnest conversation. Ab, eager to reach again +the fair creature who now belonged to him, was half frantic with rage, +and Lightfoot was far from her usual mood of careless gaiety. The two +talked and considered, though but to little purpose, and, finally, after +weary hours, the night came on. It was a trying situation. Man and woman +were in equal danger. The bears were hungry--and the cave bear knew his +quarry. The beasts beneath were not disposed to leave the prey they had +imprisoned aloft. The night grew, but either Ab or Lightfoot, looking +down, could see the glare of small, hungry eyes. There was gentle talk +between the two, for this was a great strait and, in straits, souls, be +they prehistoric, historic or of to-day, always come closer together. +Very much more loving lovers, even, than they were before, became the two +perched aloft that night. It was a comfort for the wedded pair to call to +each other through the darkness. After a time, however, muscles grew lax +with the continued strain. Weariness clouded the spirits of the couple +and almost overcame them and only the thing which has always, in great +stress, given the greatest strength in this world--the love of male and +female--sustained them. They stood the test pretty well. To sleep in a +tree top was an easy thing for them, with the precautions, simple and +natural, of the time. Each plaited a withe of twigs with which to be tied +to the tree or limb, and resting in the hollow nest where some great limb +joined the bole, slept as sleep tired children, until the awakening of +nature awoke these who were nature's own. When Ab awoke, he had more on +his mind than Lightfoot, for he was the one who must care for the two. He +blinked and wondered where he was. Then he remembered all, suddenly. He +looked across anxiously at a slender brown thing lying asleep, coiled so +close to the bole of the tree to which she was bound that she seemed +almost a part of it. Then he looked down, and, after what he saw, thought +very seriously. The bears were there! He looked up at the bright sky and +all about him, and inhaled all the fragrance of the forest, and felt +strong, and that he knew what he should do. He called aloud. + +The girl awoke, frightened. She would have fallen had she not been bound +to the tree. Gradually, the full meaning of the situation dawned upon her +and she began to cry. She was hungry, her limbs were stiffened by her +bands, and there was death below. But there, close to her, was the Man. +His voice gradually reassured her. He was becoming angry now, almost +raging. Here he was, the lord of a cave, independent and master as much +as any other man whom he knew, perched in one tree while his bride of a +day was in the top of another, yet kept apart from her by the brutes +below! + +He had decided what to do, and now he talked to Lightfoot with all the +frankness of the strong male who felt that he had another to care for, +and who realized his responsibility and authority together. As the +strength and decided personality of the young man came to her through his +voice, the young woman drew her scanty fur robe about her and checked her +tears. She became comparatively calm and reasonable. + +The tree in which Lightfoot had found refuge had many long slender +branches lowering toward the giant beech into which the man had made his +retreat. Ab argued that it was possible--barely possible--for Lightfoot's +compact, agile, slender body to be launched in just the right way from +one of the branches of the taller tree, and, swinging in its descent +across the space between the two, lodge among the branches of the beech +with him. Strong arms ready to clasp her as she came and to withstand the +shock and to hold her safely he promised and, to enforce his plea, he +pointed out that, unless they thus took their fate in hand, there was +starvation awaiting them as they were, while carrying out his plan, if +any accident befell, there was only swift though dreadful death to reckon +with. There was one chance for their lives and that chance must be taken. +Ab called to his young wife: + +"Crawl out upon a branch above me, swing down from it, swing hard and +throw yourself to me. I will catch you and hold you. I am strong." + +The woman, with all faith in the man, still demurred. It was a great +test, even for the times and the occasion. But hunger was upon her and +she was cold and was, naturally, very brave. She lowered herself and +climbed down and reached an out-extending limb, and there, across the +gap, she saw Ab with his strong legs twined about the uprearing branch +along which he laid, with giant brown arms stretched out confidently and +with eyes steadily regarding her, eyes which had love and longing and a +lot of fight in them. She walked out along the limb, holding herself +safely by a firm hand-hold on the limb above, until the one her bare feet +rested upon swayed and tipped uncertainly. Then came her time of trial of +nerve and trust. Suddenly she stooped, caught the lower limb with her +hands and then swung beneath it, hanging by her hands alone, and, hand +over hand, passed herself along until she reached almost its end. Then +she began swaying back and forth. She was but a few yards above Ab now, +dangling in mid-air, while, below her, the two hungry bears had rushed +together and were looking upward with red, anticipating eyes, the ooze +coming from their mouths. The moment was awful. Soon she must be a +mangled thing devoured by frightful beasts, or else a woman with a life +renewed. She looked at Ab, and, with courage regained, prepared for the +great effort which must end all or gain a better lease of life. + +She swung back and forth, each drawing up and outreach and flexible +motion of her arms giving more momentum to the sway and conserving force +for the launch of herself she was about to make. The desperation and +strength of a wood-wise creature, so bravely combined, alone enabled her +to obey Ab's hoarse command. + +Ab, with his arms outreaching in their strength, feeling the fierce eyes +of the hungry bears below boring into his very heart, leaned forward and +upward as the swing of the woman reached its climax. With a cry of +warning, the woman launched herself and shot downward and forward, like a +bolt to its mark, a very desirable lump of femininity as appearing in +mid-air, but one somewhat forcible in its alighting. + +Ab was strong, but when that girl landed fairly in his brawny arms, as +she did beautifully, it was touch and go, for a fraction of a second, +whether both should fall to the ground together or both be saved. He +caught her deftly, but there was a great shock and swing and then, with a +vast effort, there came recovery and the man drew himself, shaking, back +to the support of the branch from which he had been almost wrenched away, +at the same time placing beside him the object he had just caught. + +There was absolute silence for a moment or two between these +unconventional lovers to whom had come escape from a hard situation. They +were drawing deep breaths and recovering an equilibrium. There they sat +together on the strong branch, each of them as secure and, for the +moment, as perfectly at home as if lying on a couch in the cave. Each of +them was panting and each of them rejoicing. It was unlikely that upon +their trained, robust nerves the life-endangering episode of a moment +could have a more than passing effect. They sat so together for some +minutes with arms entwined, still drawing deep breaths, and, a little +later, began to laugh chucklingly, as breath came to be spared for such +exhibition if human feeling. Gradually, the indrawing and expelling of +the glorious air shortened. The two had regained their normal condition +and Ab's face lengthened and the lines upon it became more distinct. He +was all himself again, but in no dallying mood. He gave a triumphant +whoop which echoed through the forest, shook his clenched hand savagely +at the brutes below and reached toward Lightfoot for the bow which hung +about her shoulders. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +MORE OF THE HONEYMOON. + +The brown, downy woman knew, on the instant, what was her husband's mood +and immediate intent when he thus shouted and took into his own keeping +again the stiff bow which hung about her shoulders. She knew that her +lord was not merely in a glad, but that he was also in a vengeful frame +of mind, that he wanted from her what would enable him to kill things, +and that, equipped again, he was full of the spirit of fight. She knew +that, of the four animals grouped together, two huge creatures of the +ground and two slighter ones perched in a tree top, the chances were that +the condition of those below had suddenly become the less preferable. + +The bow was about Ab's shoulders instantly, and then this preposterous +young gentleman of the period turned to the woman and laughed, and caught +her in one of his arms a little closer, and drew her up against him and +laid his cheek against her own for a moment and drew it away and laughed +again. The kiss, it is believed, had not fully developed itself in the +cave man's time, but there were substitutes. Then, releasing her, he said +gleefully and chucklingly, "follow me;" and they clambered down the bole +of the beech together until they reached the biggest and very lowest limb +of all. It was perhaps twenty feet above the ground. A little below their +dangling feet the hungry bears, hitherto more patient, now, with their +expected prey so close at hand, becoming desperately excited, ran about, +frothing and foaming and red-eyed, uprearing themselves in awful +nearness, at times, in their eagerness to reach the prey which they had +so awaited and which, to their intelligence, seemed about falling into +their jaws. They had so driven into trees before, and finally consumed +exhausted cave men and women. As bears went, they were doubtless logical +animals. They could not know that there had come into possession of this +particular pair of creatures of the sort they had occasionally eaten, a +trifling thing of wood and sinew string and flint point, which was +destined henceforth to make a decided change in the relative condition of +the biped and quadruped hunters of the time. How could they know that +something small and sharp would fly down and sting them more deeply than +they had ever been stung before, that it would sting so deeply that their +arteries might be cut, or their hearts pierced and that then they must +lie down and die? The well-thrown spear had been, in other ages, a vast +surprise to the carnivora of the period, but there was something yet to +learn. + +When they had reached the huge branch so near the ground both Ab and +Lightfoot were for a moment startled and lifted their feet instinctively, +but it was only for a moment in the case of the man. He knew that he was +perfectly safe and that he had with him an engine of death. He selected +his best and strongest arrow, he fitted it carefully to the string and +then, as his mother had done years before above the hyena which sought +her child, he reached one foot down as far as he could, and swung it back +and forth tantalizingly, just above the larger of the hungry beasts +below. The monster, fierce with hunger and the desire for prey, roared +aloud and upreared himself by the tree trunk and tore the bark with his +strong claws, throwing back his great head as he looked upward at the +quarry so near him and yet just beyond his reach. This was the man's +opportunity. Ab drew back the arrow till the flint head rested close by +his out-straining hand and the tough wood of the bow creaked under the +thrust of his muscled arm. Then he released the shaft. So close together +were man and bear that archer's skill of aim was not required. The brown +target could not be missed. The arrow struck with a tear and the flint +head drove through skin and tissue till its point protruded at the back +of the great brute's neck. The bear fell suddenly backward, then rose +again and reached blindly at its neck with its huge fore-paws, while from +where the arrow had entered the blood came out in spurts. Suddenly the +bear ceased its appalling roars and started for the cave. There had come +to it the instinct which makes such great beasts seek to die alone. It +rushed at the narrow entrance but its course was scarcely noted by the +couple in the tree. The other bear, the female, was seeking to reach them +in no less savage mood than had animated her stricken mate. + +Not often, when the cave man first learned the use of the bow, came to +him such fortune with a first strong shot as that which had so come to +Ab. Again he selected a good arrow, again shot his strongest and best, +but the shaft only buried itself in the shoulder and served but to drive +to absolute madness the raging creature thus sorely hurt. The forest +echoed with the roaring of the infuriated animal, and as she reared +herself clambering against the tree the tough fiber was rended away in +great slivers, and the man and woman were glad that the trunk was thick +and that they owned a natural citadel. Again and again did Ab discharge +his arrows and still fail to reach a vital part of the terror below. She +fairly bristled with the shafts. It was inevitable that she must die, but +when the last shot had sped she was still infuriate and, apparently, as +strong as ever. The archer looked down upon her with some measure of +despondency in his face, but by no means with despair. He and his bride +must wait. That was all, and this he told to Lightfoot. That intelligent +and reliable young helpmate of a few hours, who had looked upon what had +occurred with an awed admiration, did not exhibit any depression. Her +husband, fortunate Benedict, had produced a great effect upon her by his +feat. She felt herself something like a queen. Had she known enough and +had the fancies of the Ruth of some thousands of decades later she would +have told him how completely thenceforth his people were her people and +his gods her gods. + +The she bear became finally somewhat quieted; she tore less angrily at +the tree and made less of the terrible clamor which had for the moment +driven from the immediate region all the inmates of the wood, for none +save the cave tiger cared to be in the immediate neighborhood of the cave +bear. Her roars changed into roaring growls, and she wandered +staggeringly about. At last she started blindly and weakly toward the +forest, and just as she had passed beneath its shadow, paused, weaved +back and forth for a moment, and then fell over heavily. She was dead. + +Not an action of the beast had escaped the eyes of Ab. Well he knew the +ways of wounded things. As the bear toppled over he gave utterance to a +whoop and, with a word to the girl beside him, slid lightly to the +ground, she following him at once. It was very good to be upon the earth +again. Ab stamped with his feet and stretched his arms, and the woman +danced upon the grass and laughed gleefully. But this was only for a +moment or so. Ab started toward the cave, and as he reached the entrance, +gave a great cry of rage and dismay. Lightfoot ran to his side and even +her ready laugh failed her when she looked upon his perplexed and stormy +countenance and saw what had happened. The rump of the monster he bear +was what she looked upon. The beast, in his instinctive effort to crawl +into some dark place to die, had fairly driven himself into the cave's +entrance, dislodging some of the stones Ab had placed there, had wedged +himself in firmly, and had died before he could extricate his great +carcass. The two human beings were homeless and, with all the arrows +gone, weaponless, in the midst of a region so dangerously infested that +any movement afoot was but inviting death. They were hungry, too, for +many hours had passed since they had tasted food. It was not matter of +surprise that even the stout-hearted cave man stood aghast. + +The occasion for Ab's alarm was fully verified. From the spot where the +cave bear lay at the forest's edge came a sharp, snapping growl. The +lurking hyenas had found the food, and a long, inquiring howl from +another direction told that the wolves had scented it and were gathering. +For the instant Ab was himself almost helpless with fear. The woman was +simply nerveless. Then the man, so accustomed to physical danger, +recovered himself. He sprang forward, seized a stout fragment of limb +which might serve as a sort of weapon, and, turning to the woman, said +only the one word "fire." + +Lightfoot understood and life came to her again. None in all the region +could make a fire more swiftly than she. Her quick eye detected just the +base she wanted in a punkish fragment of wood and the harder and pointed +bit of limb to be used in making the friction. In a time scarcely worth +the noting the point was whirling about and burning into the wooden base, +twirling with a skill and velocity not comprehensible by us to-day, for +the cave people had perfected wonderfully this greatest manual art of the +time, and Lightfoot, muscular and enduring, was, as already said, in this +thing the cleverest among the clever. Ab, with ready club in hand, +advanced cautiously toward the point at the wood's edge where lay the +body of the bear. He paused as he came near enough to see what was +happening. Four great hyenas were tearing eagerly at the flesh of the +dead brute, and behind them, deeper in the wood, were shining eyes, and +Ab knew that the wolf pack was gathering. The bear consumed, the man and +woman, without defense, would surely be devoured. It was a desperate +strait, but, though he was weaponless, there was the cave man's great +resort, the fire, and there might be a chance for life. To seek the tree +tops would be dangerous even now, and once ensconced in such harborage, +only starvation was awaiting. He moved back noiselessly, with as little +apparent motion as possible, for he did not want to attract the attention +of the gleaming eyes in the distance, until he came near Lightfoot again, +and then he abandoned caution of movement and began tearing frantically +at the limbs and débris of the great dead conifer, and to build a +semicircular fence in front of the cave entrance. He did the swift work +of half a score of men in his desperation and anxiety, his great strength +serving him well in his compelling strait. + +Meanwhile the stick twirled and rasped in the hands of the brown woman +seated on the ground, and at last a tiny thread of smoke arose. The +continued friction had done its work. Deft himself at fire-making, Ab +knew just what was wanted at this moment and ran to his wife's side with +punk from the dead tree, rubbed to a powder in his hard hands. The +powder, poured gently down upon the point where the increasing heat had +brought the gleam of fire, burst, almost at once, into a little flame. +What followed was simple and easy. Dry twigs made the slight flame a +greater one and then, at a dozen different points, the wall which Ab had +built was fired. They were safe, for the time at least. Behind them was +the uprearing rock in which was the cave and before them, almost +encircling them completely, was the ring of fire which no wild beast +would cross. At one end, close to the rock, a space had been left by Ab, +that he and Lightfoot might, through it, reach the vast store of fuel +which lay there ready to the hand and so close that there was no danger +in visiting it. Hardly had the flame extended itself along the slight +wooden barrier than the whole wood and clearing resounded with terrifying +sounds. The wolf pack had increased until strong enough to battle with +the hyenas for the remainder of the feast in the wood, and their fight +was on. + +The feeling of terror had passed away from this young bride and groom, +with the assurance of present safety, and Ab felt the need of eating. +"There is meat," he said, as he pointed toward the haunches of the bear, +half-protruding from the rock, "and there is fire. The fire will cook the +meat, and, besides, we are safe. We will eat!" + +The bridegroom of but a day or two said this somewhat grandiloquently, +but he was not disposed to be vain or grandiloquent a little later. He +put his hand to the belt of his furry garb and found no sharp flint knife +there! It had been lost in his late tree clambering. He put his hand into +the pouch of his cloak and found only the flint skin scraper, the scraper +with which he had improved the arrow's notch, though it was not +originally intended for such use. It was all that remained to him of +weapon or utensil. But it would cut or tear, though with infinite effort, +and the man, to reassure the woman, laughed, and assailed the brown +haunch before him. Even with his strength, it was difficult for Ab to +penetrate the tough skin of the bear with an implement intended for +scraping, not for cutting, and it was only after he had finally cut, or +rather dug, away enough to enable him to get his fingers under the skin +and tear away an area of it by sheer main strength that the flesh was +made available. That end once attained, there followed a hard transverse +digging with the scraper, a grasp about tissue of strong, impressed +fingers, and a shred of flesh came away. It was tossed at once to a young +person who, long twig in hand, stood eagerly waiting. She caught the +shred as she had caught the fine bit of mammoth when first she and Ab had +met, and it was at once impaled and thrust into the flames. It was +withdrawn, it is to be feared, a trifle underdone, and then it +disappeared, as did other shreds of excellent bear's meat which came +following. It was a sight for a dyspeptic to note the eating of this +belle-matron of the region on this somewhat exceptional occasion. + +Strip after strip did Ab tear away and toss to his wife until the +expression on her face became a shade more peaceful and then it dawned +upon him that she was eating and that he was not. There was clamor in his +stomach. He sprang away from the bear, gave Lightfoot the scraper and +commanded her to get food for him as he had done for her. The girl +complied and did as well as had done the man in digging away the meat. He +ate as she had done, and, at last, partly gorged and content, allowed her +to take her place at the fire and again eat to his serving. He had shown +what, from the standard of the time, must be counted as most gallant and +generous and courteous demeanor. He had thought a little of the woman. + +A tiny rill of cold water trickled down on one side of the outer door of +their cave. With this their thirst was slaked, and they ate and ate. The +shadows lengthened and Ab replenished again and again the fire. From the +semicircle of forest all about came the sound of footsteps rustling in +the leaves. But the two people inside the fire fence, hungry no longer, +were content. Ab talked to his wife: + +"The fire will keep the man-eating things away," he said. "I ran not long +ago with things behind me, and I would have been eaten had I not come +upon a ring of fire like the one we have made. I leaped it and the eaters +could not reach me. But, for the fire I leaped there was no wood. It came +out of a crack in the ground. Some day we will go there and I will show +you that thing which is so strange." + +The woman listened, delighted, but, at last, there was a nodding of the +head. She lay back upon the grass a sleepy being. Ab looked at her and +thought deeply. Where was safety? As they were, one of them must be awake +all the time to keep the fire replenished. Until he could enter the cave +again he must be weaponless. Only the fire could protect the two. They +had heat and food and nothing to fear for the moment, but they must +fairly eat their way into a safety which would be permanent! + +He kept the fire alight far into the darkness, and then, piling the fuel +high all along the line of defense, he aroused the sleeping woman and +told her she must keep the flames bright while he slept in his turn. She +was just the wife for such an emergency as this, and rose uncomplainingly +to do her part of the guarding work. From the forest all about came +snarling sounds or threatening growls, and eyes blazed in the somber +depths beneath the trees. There were hungry things out there and they +wanted to eat a man and woman, but fire they feared. The woman was not +afraid. + +After hours had passed the man awoke and took the woman's place and she +slept in his stead. Morning came and the sounds from the forest died away +partly, but the man and woman knew of the fierce creatures still lurking +there. They knew what was before them. They must delve and eat their way +into the cave as soon as possible. + +Ab scraped at the bear's huge body with his inefficient bit of flint and +dug away food in abundance, which he heaped up in a little red mound +inside the fire, but the bear was a monstrous beast and it was a long way +from tail to head. The days of the honeymoon passed with a degree of +travail, for there was no moment when one of the two must not be awake +feeding the guarding fire or digging at the bear. They ate still heartily +on the second day but it is simple, truthful history to admit that on the +sixth day bear's meat palled somewhat on the happy couple. To have eaten +thirty quails in thirty days or, at a pinch, thirty quails in two days +would have been nothing to either of them, but bear's meat eaten as part +of what might be called a tunneling exploit ceased, finally, to possess +an attractive flavor. There was a degree of shade cast by all these +obtrusive circumstances across this honeymoon, but there came a day and +hour when the bear was largely eaten, and fairly dug away as to much of +the rest of him, and then, quite suddenly, his head and fore-quarters +toppled forward into the cave, leaving the passage free, and when Ab and +Lightfoot followed, one shouting and the other laughing, one coming again +to his fortress and his weapons and his power, and the other to her +hearth and duties. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +THE FIRE COUNTRY AGAIN. + +The sun rose brightly the next morning and when Ab, armed and watchful, +rolled the big stone away and passed the smoldering fire and issued from +the cave into the open, the scene he looked upon was fair in every way. +Of what had been left of the great bear not a trace remained. Even the +bones had been dragged into the forest by the ravening creatures who had +fed there during the night. There were birds singing and there were no +enemies in sight. Ab called to Lightfoot and the two went forth together, +loving and brave, but no longer careless in that too interesting region. + +And so began the home life of these two people. It was, in its way and +relatively, as sweet and delicious as the first home life of any loving +and appreciating man and woman of to-day. The two were very close, as the +conditions under which they lived demanded. They were the only human +beings within a radius of miles. The family of the cave man of the time +was serenely independent, each having its own territory, and depending +upon itself for its existence. And the two troubled themselves about +nothing. Who better than they could daily win the means of animal +subsistence? + +Ab taught Lightfoot the art of cracking away the flakes of the flint +nodules and of the finer chipping and rasping which made perfect the +spear and arrowheads, and never was pupil swifter in the learning. He +taught her, too, the use of his new weapon, and in all his life he did no +wiser thing! It was not long before she became easily his superior with +the bow, so far as her strength would allow, and her strength was far +from insignificant. Her arrows flew with greater accuracy than his, +though the buzzing shaft had not as yet, and did not have for many +centuries later, the "gray goose" feather which made the doing of its +mission far more certain. Lightfoot brought to the cave the capercailzie +and willow grouse and other birds which were good things for the larder, +and Ab looked on admiringly. Even in their joint hunting, when there was +a half rivalry, he was happy in her. Somehow, the arrow sang more merrily +when it flew from Lightfoot's bow. + +Better than Ab, too, could the young wife do rare climbing when in a nest +far out upon some branch were eggs good for roasting and which could be +reached only by a light-weight. And she learned the woods about them +well, and, though ever dreading when alone, found where were the trees +from which fell the greatest store of nuts and where, in the mud along +the river's side, her long and highly educated toes could reach the clams +which were excellent to feed upon. + +But never did the hunter leave the cave without a fear. Ever, even in the +daytime, was there too much rustling among the leaves of the near forest. +Ever when day had gone was there the sound of padded feet on the sward +about the cave's blocked entrance. Ever, at night, looking out through +the narrow space between the heaped rocks, could the two inside the cave +see fierce and blazing eyes and there would come to them the sound of +snarls and growls as the beasts of different quality met one another. Yet +the two cared little for these fearful surroundings of the darkness. They +were safe enough. In the morning there were no signs of the lurking +beasts of prey. They were somewhere near, though, and waiting, and so Ab +and Lightfoot had the strain of constant watchfulness upon them. + +It may be that because of this ever present peril the two grew closer +together. It could not well be otherwise with human beings thus bound and +isolated and facing and living upon the rest of nature, part of it +seeking always their own lives. They became a wonderfully loving couple, +as love went in that rude time. Despite the too wearing outlook imposed +upon them, because they were in so dangerous a locality, they were very +happy. Yet, one day, came a difference and a hurt. + +Oak, apparently forgotten by others, was remembered by Ab, though never +spoken of. Sometimes the man had tossed upon his bed of leaves and had +muttered in his sleep, and the one word he had most often spoken in this +troubled dreaming was the name of Oak. Early in their married life +Lightfoot, to whom the memory of the dead man, so little had she known +him, was a far less haunting thing than to her husband, had suddenly +broken a silence, saying "Where is Oak?" There was no answer, but the +look of the man of whom she had asked the question was such that she was +glad to creep from his sight unharmed. Yet once again, months later, she +forgot herself and mocked Ab when he had been boastful over some exploit +of strength and courage and when he had seemed to say that he knew no +fear. She, but to tease him, sprang up with a face convulsed and +agonized, and with staring eyes and hands opening and shutting, had cried +out "Oak! Oak!" as she had seen Ab do at night. Her mimic terror was +changed on the moment into reality. With a shudder and then with a glare +in his eyes the man leaped toward her, snatching his great ax from his +belt and swinging it above her head. The woman shrieked and shrank to the +ground. The man whirled the weapon aloft and then, his face twitching +convulsively, checked its descent. He may, in that moment, have thought +of what followed the slaying of the other who had been close to him. +There was no death done, but, thenceforth, Lightfoot never uttered aloud +the name of Oak. She became more sedate and grave of bearing. + +The episode was but a passing, though not a forgotten one in the lives of +the two. The months went by and there were tranquil hours in the cave as, +at night, the weapons were shaped, and Lightfoot boasted of the +arrowheads she had learned to make so well. Sometimes Old Mok would be +rowed up the river to them by the sturdy and venturesome Bark, who had +grown into a particularly fine youth and who now cared for nothing more +than his big brother's admiration. Between Old Mok and Lightfoot, to Ab's +great delight, grew up the warmest friendship. The old man taught the +woman more of the details of good arrow-making and all he knew of +woodcraft in all ways, and the lord of the place soon found his wife +giving opinions with an air of the utmost knowledge and authority. +Whatever came to him from her and Old Mok pleased him, and when she told +him of some of the finer points of arrow-making he stretched out his +brawny arms and laughed. + +But there came, in time, a shade upon the face of the man. The incident +of the talk of Oak may have brought to his mind again more freshly and +keenly the memory of the Fire Country. There he had found safety and +great comfort. Why should not he and Lightfoot seize upon this home and +live there? It was a wonderful place and warm, and there were forests at +hand. He became so absorbed in his own thoughts on this great theme that +the woman who was his could not understand his mood, but, one day, he +told her of what he had been thinking and of what he had resolved upon. +"I am going to the Fire Country," he said. + +Armed, this time with spear and ax and bow and arrow, and with food +abundant in the pouch of his skin garb, Ab left the cave in which +Lightfoot was now to stay most of the time, well barricaded, for that she +was to hunt afar alone in such a region was not even to be thought of. +What thoughts came to the man as he traversed again the forest paths +where he had so pondered as he once ran before can be but guessed at. +Certainly he had learned no more of Oak. + +Lightfoot, left alone in the cave, became at once a most discreet and +careful personage, for one of her buoyant and daring temperament. She had +often taken risks since her marriage, but there was always the chance of +finding within the sound of her voice her big mate, Ab, should danger +overtake her. She remained close to the cave, and when early dusk came +she lugged the stone barriers into place and built a night-fire within +the entrance. The fierce and hungry beasts of the wood came, as usual, +lurking and sniffing harshly about the entrance, and when she ventured +there and peered outside she saw the wicked and leering eyes. Alone and a +little alarmed, she became more vengeful than she would have been with +the big, careless Ab beside her. She would have sport with her bow. The +advantage of the bow is that it requires no swing of space for its work +as is demanded of the flung spear. An arrow may be sent through a mere +loophole with no probable demerit as to what it will accomplish. So the +woman brought her strongest bow--and far beyond the rough bow of Ab's +first make was the bow they now possessed--and gathered together many of +the arrows she could make so well and use so well, and, thus equipped, +went again to the cave's entrance, and through the space between the +heaped rocks of the doorway sent toward the eyes of wolf, or cave hyena, +shafts to which they were unaccustomed, but which, somehow, pierced and +could find mid-body quite as well as the cave man's spear. There was a +certain comfort in the work, though it could not affect her condition in +one way or another. It was only something of a gain to drive the eyes +away. + +And Ab reached the Fire Valley again. He found it as comfortable and +untenanted as when the leap through the ring of flame had saved his life. +He clambered up the creek and wandered along its banks, where the grass +was green because of the warmth about, and studied all the qualities of +the naturally defended valley. "I will make my home here," he said. +"Lightfoot shall come with me." + +The man returned to his cave and his lonely mate again and told her of +the Fire Country. He said that in the Fire Valley they would be safer and +happier, and told her how he had found an opening underneath the cliff +which they could soon enlarge into a cave to meet all wants. Not that a +cave was really needed in a fire valley, but they might have one if they +cared. And Lightfoot was glad of the departure. + +The pair gathered their belongings together and there was the long +journey over again which Ab had just accomplished. But it was far +different from either journey that he had made. There with him was his +wife, and he was all equipped and was to begin a new sort of life which +would, he felt, be good. Lightfoot, bearing her load gallantly, was not +less jubilant. As a matter of plain fact, though Lightfoot had been happy +in the cave in the forest, she had always recognized certain of its +disadvantages, as had, in the end, her fearless husband. It is, in a +general way, vexatious to live in a locality where, as soon as you leave +your hearthstone, you incur, at least, a chance of an exciting and +uncomfortable episode and then lodgment in the maw of some imposing +creature of the carnivora. Lightfoot was quite ready to seek with Ab the +Fire Valley of which he had so often told her. She was a plucky young +matron, but there were extremes. + +There were no adventures on the journey worth relating. The Fire Valley +was reached at nightfall and the two struggled weariedly up the rugged +path beside the creek which issued from the valley's western end. As they +reached the level Ab threw down his burden, as did Lightfoot, and as the +woman's eyes roved over the bright scene, she gave a great gasp of +delight. "It is our home!" she cried. + +They ate and slept in the light and warmth of surrounding flames, and +when the day came they began the work of enlarging what was to be their +cave. But, though they worked earnestly, they did not care so much for +the prospective shelter as they might have done. What a cave had given +was warmth and safety. Here they had both, out of doors and under the +clear sky. It was a new and glorious life. Sometimes, though happy, the +woman worked a little wearily, and, not long after the settlement of the +two in their new home, a child was born to them, a son, robust and +sturdy, who came afterward to be known as Little Mok. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +A GREAT STEP FORWARD. + +There came to Ab and Lightfoot that comfort which comes with laboring for +something desired. In all that the two did amid their pleasant +surroundings life became a greater thing because its dangers were so +lessened and its burdens lightened. But they were not long the sole human +beings in the Fire Valley. There was room for many and soon Old Mok took +up his permanent abode with them, for he was most contented when with Ab, +who seemed so like a son to him. A cave of his own was dug for Mok, +where, with his carving and his making of arrows and spearheads, he was +happy in his old age. Soon followed a hegira which made, for the first +time, a community. The whole family of Ab, One-Ear, Red-Spot and Bark and +Beech-leaf and the later ones, all came, and another cave was made, and +then old Hilltop was persuaded to follow the example and come with +Moonface and Branch and Stone Arm, his big sons, and the group, thus +established and naturally protected, feared nothing which might happen. +The effect of daily counsel together soon made itself distinctly felt, +and, under circumstances so different, many of the old ways were departed +from. Half a mile to the south the creek, which made a bend adown its +course, tumbled into the river and upon the river were wild fowl in +abundance and in its depths were fish. The forest abounded in game and +there were great nut-bearing trees and the wild fruits in their season. +Wild bees hovered over the flowers in the open places and there were +hoards of wild honey to be found in the hollows of deadened trunks or in +the high rock crevices. A great honey-gatherer, by the way, was +Lightfoot, who could climb so well, and who, furthermore, had her own +fancy for sweet things. It was either Bark or Moonface who usually +accompanied her on her expeditions, and they brought back great store of +this attractive spoil. The years passed and the community grew, not +merely in numbers, but intelligence. Though always an adviser with Old +Mok, Ab's chief male companion in adventure was the stanch Hilltop, who +was a man worth hunting with. Having two such men to lead and with a +force so strong behind them the valley people were able to cope with the +more dangerous animals venturesomely, and soon the number of these was so +decreased that even the children might venture a little way beyond the +steep barriers which had been raised where the flame circle had its gaps. +The opening to the north was closed by a high stone wall and that along +the creek defended as effectively, in a different way. They were having +good times in the valley. + +At first, the home of all was in the caves dug in the soft rock of the +ledge, for of those who came to the novel refuge there was, for a season, +none who could sleep in the bright light from the never-waning flames. +There came a time, though, when, in midsummer, Ab grumbled at the heat +within his cave and he and Lightfoot built for themselves an outside +refuge, made of a bark-covered "lean-to" of long branches propped against +the rock. Thus was the first house made. The habitation proved so +comfortable that others in the valley imitated it and soon there was a +hive of similar huts along the foot of the overhanging precipice. When +the short, sharp winter came, all did not seek their caves again, but the +huts were made warmer by the addition to their walls of bark and skins, +and cave dwelling in the valley was finally abandoned. There was one +exception. Old Mok would not leave his warm retreat, and, as long as he +lived, his rock burrow was his home. + +There came also, as recruits, young men, friends of the young men of the +valley, and the band waxed and waned, for nothing could at once change +the roving and independent habits of the cave men. But there came +children to the mothers, the broad Moonface being especially to the fore +in this regard, and a fine group of youngsters played and straggled up +and down the creek and fought valiantly together, as cave children +should. The heads of families were friendly, though independent. Usually +they lived each without any reference to anyone else, but when a great +hunt was on, or any emergency called, the band came together and fought, +for the time, under Ab's tacitly admitted leadership. And the young men +brought wives from the country round. + +The area of improvement widened. Around the Fire Village the zone of +safety spread. The roar of the great cave tiger was less often heard +within miles of the flaming torches of the valley so inhabited. There +grew into existence something almost like a system of traffic, for, from +distant parts, hitherto unknown, came other cave men, bringing skins, or +flints, or tusks for carving, which they were eager to exchange for the +new weapon and for instruction in its uses. Ab was the first chieftain, +the first to draw about him a clan of followers. The cave men were taking +their first lesson in a slight, half unconfessed obedience, that first +essential of community life where there is yet no law, not even the +unwritten law of custom. + +Running in and out among the children, sometimes pummeled by them, were a +score or two of gray, four-footed, bone-awaiting creatures, who, though +as yet uncounted in such relation, were destined to furnish a factor in +man's advancement. They were wolves and yet no longer wolves. They had +learned to cling to man, but were not yet intelligent enough or taught +enough to aid him in his hunting. They were the dogs of the future, the +four-footed things destined to become the closest friends of men of +future ages, the descendants of the four cubs Ab and Oak had taken from +the dens so many years before. + +It was humanizing for the children, this association of such a number +together, though they ran only a little less wildly than those who had +heretofore been born in the isolated caves. There came more of an average +of intelligence among them, thus associated, though but little more +attention was paid them than the cave men had afforded offspring in the +past. There had come to Ab after Little Mok two strong sons, Reindeer and +Sure-Aim, very much like him in his youth, but of them, until they +reached the age of help and hunting, he saw little. Lightfoot regarded +them far more closely, for, despite the many duties which had come upon +her, there never disappeared the mother's tenderness and watchfulness. +And so it was with Moonface, whose brood was so great, and who was like a +noisy hen with chickens. So existed the hovering mother instinct with all +the women of the valley, though then the mothers fished and hunted and +had stirring events to distract them from domesticity and close affection +almost as much as had the men. + +From this oddly formed community came a difference in certain ways of +doing certain things, which changed man's status, which made a revolution +second only to that made by the bow and for which even men of thought +have not accounted as they should have done, with the illustration before +them in our own times of what has followed so swiftly the use of steam +and, later, of electricity. Men write of and wonder at the strange gap +between what are called the Paleolithic and the Neolithic ages, that is, +between the ages when the spearheads and ax and arrowheads were of stone +chipped roughly into shape, and the age of stone even-edged and smoothly +polished. There was really no gap worth speaking of. The Paleolithic age +changed as suddenly into the Neolithic as the age of horse power changed +into that of steam and electricity, allowance being always made for the +slower transmission of a new intelligence in the days when men lived +alone and when a hundred years in the diffusion of knowledge was as a +year to-day. + +One day Ab went into Old Mok's cave grumbling. "I shot an arrow into a +great deer," he said, "and I was close and shot it with all my force, but +the beast ran before it fell and we had far to carry the meat. I tore the +arrow from him and the blood upon the shaft showed that it had not gone +half way in. I looked at the arrow and there was a jagged point uprising +from its side. How can a man drive deeply an arrow which is so rough? Are +you getting too old to make good spears and arrows, Mok?" And the man +fumed a little. Old Mok made no reply, but he thought long and deeply +after Ab had left the cave. Certainly Ab must have good arrows! Was there +any way of bettering them? And, the next day, the crippled old man might +have been seen looking for something beside the creek where it found its +exit from the valley. There were stones ground into smoothness tossed up +along the shore and the old man studied them most carefully. Many times +he had bent over a stream, watching, thinking, but this time he acted. He +noted a small sandstone block against which were rasping stones of harder +texture, and he picked this from the tumbling current and carried it to +his cave. Then, pouring a little water upon a depression in the stone's +face, he selected his best big arrowhead and began rubbing it upon the +wet sandstone. It was a weary work, for flint and sandstone are different +things and flint is much the harder, but there came a slow result. +Smoother and smoother became the chipped arrowhead, and two days +later--for all the waking hours of two days were required in the weary +grinding--Old Mok gave to Ab an arrow as smooth of surface and keen of +edge as ever flew from bow while stone was used. And not many years +passed--as years are counted in old history--before the smoothed stone +weaponhead became the common property of cave men. The time of chipped +stone had ended and that of smoothed stone had begun. There was no space +between them to be counted now. One swiftly became the other. It was a +matter of necessity, this exhibition of enterprise and sense by the early +man in the prompt general utilization of a new discovery. And not alone +in the improvements in means which came when men of the hunting type were +so gathered in a community were the bow and the smoothed implements, +though these were the greatest of the discoveries of the epoch. The +fishermen who went to the river were not content with the raft-like +devices of the aquatic Shell People and learned, in time, that hollowed +logs would float and that, with the aid of fire and flint axes, a great +log could be hollowed. And never a Phoenician ship-builder, never a +Fulton of the steamer, never a modern designer of great yachts, stood +higher in the estimation of his fellows than stood the expert in the +making of the rude boats, as uncouth in appearance as the river-horse +which sometimes upset them, but from which men could, at least, let down +their lines or dart their spears to secure the fish in the teeming +waters. And the fishermen had better spears and hooks now, for comparison +was necessarily always made among devices, and bone barbs and hooks were +whittled out from which the fish no longer often floundered. There came, +in time, the making of rude nets, plaited simply from the tough marsh +grasses, but they served the purpose and lessened somewhat the gravity of +the great food question. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +FACING THE RAIDER. + +One day, at noon, a man burst, panting, through the wide open entrance to +the Fire Valley. His coat of skin was rent and hung awry and, as all +could see when he staggered down the pathway, the flesh was torn from one +cheek and arm, and down his leg on one side was the stain of dried blood. +He was exhausted from his hurt and his run and his talk was, at first, +almost unmeaning. He was met by some of the older and wiser among those +who saw him coming and to their questions answered only by demanding Ab, +who came at once. The hard-breathing and wounded man could only utter the +words "Big tiger," when he pitched forward and became unconscious. But +his words had been enough. Well understood was it by all who listened +what a raid of the cave tiger meant, and there was a running to the +gateway and soon was raised the wall of ready stone, upbuilt so high that +even the leaping monster could not hope to reach its summit. Later the +story of the wounded, but now conscious and refreshed runner, was told +with more of detail and coherence. + +The messenger brought out what he had to tell gaspingly. He had lost much +blood and was faint, but he told how there had taken place something +awful in the village of the Shell Men. It was but little after dusk the +night before when the Shell Men were gathered together in merrymaking +after good fishing and lucky gathering of what there was to eat along the +shores of the shell fish and the egg-laying turtles and the capture of a +huge river-horse. It had been, up to midnight, one of the greatest and +most joyous meetings the Shell People had joined in for many years. They +were close-gathered and prosperous and content, and though there was +daily turmoil and risk of death upon the water and sometimes as great +risk upon the land, yet the village fringing the waters had grown, and +the midden--the "kitchen-midden" of future ages--had raised itself +steadily and now stretched far up and down the creek which was a river +branch and far backward from the creek toward the forest which ended with +the uplands. They had learned to dread the forest little, the water +people, but from the forest now came what made for each in all the +village a dread and horror. The cave tiger had been among them! + +The Shell People had gathered together upon the sward fronting their line +of shallow caves and one of them, the story-teller and singer, was +chanting aloud of the river-horse and the great spoil which was theirs, +when there was a hungry roar and the yell or shriek of all, men or women +not too stricken by fear to be unable to utter sound, and then the leap +into their midst of the cave tiger! Perhaps the story-teller's chant had +called the monster's attention to him, perhaps his attitude attracted it; +whatever may have been the influence, the tiger seized the singer and +leaped lightly into the open beyond the caves and, as lightly, with long +bounds, into the blackness of the forest beyond. + +There was a moment of awe and horror and then the spirit of the brave +Shell Men asserted itself. There was grasping of weapons and an +outpouring in pursuit of the devourer. Easy to follow was the trail, for +a monster beast carrying a man cannot drop lightly in his leaps. There +was a brief mile or two traversed, though hours were consumed in the +search, and then, as morn was breaking, the seekers came upon what was +left of the singer. It was not much and it lay across the forest pathway, +for the cave tiger did not deign to hide his prey. There came a half +moaning growl from the forest. That growl meant lurking death. Then the +seekers fled. There was consultation and a resolve to ask for help. So +the runner, the man stricken down by a casual stroke in the tiger's rush, +but bravest among his tribe, had come to the Fire Valley. + +To the panting stranger Ab had not much to say. He saw to it that the man +was refreshed and cared for and that the deep scars along his side were +dressed after the cave man's fashion. But through the night which +followed the great cave leader pondered deeply. Why should men thus live +and dread the cave tiger? Surely men were wiser than any beast! This one +monster must, anyhow, be slain! + +But little it mattered to all surrounding nature that the strong man in +the Fire Valley had resolved upon the death of the cave tiger. The tiger +was yet alive! There was a difference in the pulse of all the woodland. +There was a hush throughout the forest. The word, somehow, went to every +nerve of all the world of beasts, "Sabre-Tooth is here!" Even the huge +cave bear shuffled aside as there came to him the scent of the invader. +The aurochs and the urus, the towering elk, the reindeer and the lesser +horned and antlered things fled wildly as the tainted air brought to them +the tale of impending murder. Only the huge rhinoceros and mammoth stood +their ground, and even these were terror-stricken with regard for their +guarded young whenever the tiger neared them. The rhinoceros stood then, +fierce-fronted and dangerous, its offspring hovering by its flanks, and +the mammoths gathered in a ring encircling their calves and presenting an +outward range of tusks to meet the hovering devourer. The dread was all +about. The forest became seemingly nearly lifeless. There was less +barking and yelping, less reckless playfulness of wild creatures, less +rustling of the leaves and pattering along the forest paths. There was +fear and quiet, for Sabre-Tooth had come! + +The runner, refreshed and strengthened by food and sleep, appeared before +Ab in the morning and told his story more in detail and got in return the +short answer: "We will go with you and help you and your people. Tigers +must be killed!" + +Rarely before had man gone out voluntarily to hunt the great cave tiger. +He had, sometimes in awful strait, defended himself against the monster +as best he could, but to seek the encounter where the odds were so great +against him was an ugly task. Now the man-slayer was to be the pursued +instead of the pursuer. It required courage. The vengeful wounded man +looked upon Ab with a grim, admiring regard. "You fear not?" he said. + +There was bustling in the valley and soon a stalwart dozen men were armed +with bow and spear and the journey was taken up toward the Shell Men's +home. The village was reached at mid-day and as the little troop emerged +from the forest the death wail fell upon their ears. "The tiger has come +again!" exclaimed the runner. + +It was true. The tiger had come again! Once more with his stunning roar +he had swept through the village and had taken another victim, a woman, +the wife of one of the head men. Too benumbed by fear, this time, to act +at once, the Shell Men had not pursued the great brute into the darkness. +They had but ventured out in the morning and followed the trail and found +that the tiger had carried the woman in very nearly the same direction as +he had borne the man and that what remained from his gorging of the night +lay where his earlier feast had been. It was the first tragedy almost +repeated. + +The little group of Fire Valley folk entered the village and were +received with shouts from the men, while from the throats of the women +still rose the death wail. There were more people about the huts than Ab +had ever seen there and he recognized at once among the group many of the +cave men from the East, strong people of his own kind. As the wounded +runner had gone to the Fire Valley, so another had been sent to the East, +to call upon another group for aid, and the Eastern cave people, under +the leadership of a huge, swarthy man called Boarface, had come to learn +what the strait was and to decide upon what degree of help they could +afford to give. Between these Eastern and the Western cave men there was +a certain coldness. There was no open enmity, though at some time in the +past there had been family battles and memories of feuds were still +existent. But Ab and Boarface met genially and there was not a trace of +difference now. Boarface joined readily in the council which was held and +decided that he would aid in the desperate hunt, and certainly his aid +was not to be despised when his followers were looked upon. They were a +stalwart lot. + +The way was taken by the gathered fighting men toward where, across the +forest path, lay part of a woman. As the place was neared the band +gathered close together and there were outpointing spears, just as the +mammoths' tusks outpointed when the beasts guarded their young from the +thing now hunted. But there came no attack and no sound from the forest. +The tiger must be sleeping. Beneath a huge tree bordering the pathway lay +what remained of the woman's body. Fifty feet above, and almost directly +over this dreadful remnant of humanity, shot out a branch as thick as a +man's body. There was consultation among the hunters and in this Ab took +the lead, while Boarface and the Shell Men who had come to help assented +readily. No need existed for the risk of an open fight with this great +beast. Craft must be used and Ab gave forth his swift commands. + +The Fire Valley leader had seen to it that his company had brought what +he needed in his effort to kill the tiger. There were two great tanned, +tough urus hides. There were lengths of rhinoceros hide, cut thickly, +which would endure a strain of more than the weight of ten brawny men. +There was one spear, with a shaft of ash wood at least fifteen feet in +length and as thick as a man's wrist. Its head was a blade of hardest +flint, but the spear was too heavy for a man's hurling. It had been made +for another use. + +There was little hesitation in what was done, for Ab knew well the +quality of the work he had in hand. He unfolded his plan briefly and then +he himself climbed to the treetop and out upon the limb, carrying with +him the knotted strip of rhinoceros hide. In the pouch of his skin +garment were pebbles. He reached a place on the big limb overhanging the +path and dropped a pebble. It struck the earth a yard or two away from +what remained of the woman's body and he shouted to those below to drag +the mangled body to the spot where the pebble had hit the earth. They +were about to do so when from the forest on one side of the path came a +roar, so appalling in every way that there was no thought of anything +among most of the workers save of sudden flight. The tiger was in the +wood and very near and a scent had reached him. There was a flight which +left upon the ground beneath the tree branches only old Hilltop and the +rough Boarface and some dozen sturdy followers, these about equally +divided between the East and the West men of the hills. There was swift +and sharp work then. + +The tiger might come at any moment, and that meant death to one at least. +But those who remained were brave men and they had come far to encompass +this tiger's ending. They dragged what remained of the tiger's prey to +where the pebble had hit the earth. Ab, clinging and raging aloft, afar +out upon the limb, shouted to Hilltop to bring him the spear and the urus +skins, and soon the sturdy old man was beside him. Then, about two deep +notches in the huge shaft, thongs were soon tied strongly, and just below +its middle were attached the bag-shaped urus skins. Near its end the +rhinoceros thong was knotted and then it was left hanging from the limb +supported by this strong rope, while, three-fourths of the way down its +length, dangled on each side the two empty bags of hide. Short orders +were given, and, directed by Boarface, one man after another climbed the +tree, each with a weight of stones carried in his pouch, and each +delivering his load to old Hilltop, who, lying well out upon the limb, +passed the stones to Ab, who placed them in the skin pouches on either +side the suspended and threatening spear. The big skin pouches on either +side were filling rapidly, when there came from the forest another roar, +nearer and more appalling than before, and some of the workers below fled +panic-stricken. Ab shouted and frothed and foamed as the men ran. Old +Hilltop slid down the tree, ax in hand, followed by the dark Boarface, +and one or two of the men below were captured and made to work again. +Soon all the work which Ab had in mind was done. Above the path, just +over what remained of the woman, hung the great spear, weighted with half +a thousand pounds of stone and sure to reach its mark should the tiger +seek its prey again. The branch was broad and the line of rhinoceros skin +taut, and Ab's flint knife was keen of edge. Only courage and calmness +were needed in the dread presence of the monster of the time. Neither the +swarthy Boarface nor the gaunt Hilltop wanted to leave him, but Ab forced +them away. + +Not long to wait had the cave man, but the men who had been with him were +already distant. The shadows were growing long now, but the light was +still from the sunshine of the early afternoon. The man lying along the +limb, knife in hand, could hear no sound save the soft swish of leaves +against each other as the breeze of later day pushed its way through the +forest, or the alarmed cries of knowing birds who saw on the ground +beneath them a huge thing slip along with scarce a sound from the impact +of his fearfully clawed but padded feet as he sought the meal he had +prepared for himself. The great beast was approaching. The great man +aloft was waiting. + +Into the open along the path came the tiger, and Ab, gripping the limb +more firmly, looked down upon the thing so closely and in daylight for +the first time in his life. Ab was certainly brave, and he was calm and +wise and thinking beyond his time, but when he saw plainly this beast +which had slipped so easily and silently from the forest, safe though he +was upon his perch, he was more than startled. The thing was so huge and +with an aspect so terrible to look upon! + +The great cat's head moved slowly from side to side; the baleful eyes +blazed up and down the pathway and the tawny muzzle was lifted to catch +what burden there might be on the air. The beast seemed satisfied, +emerging fairly into the sunlight. Immense of size but with the graceful +lankness of the tigers of to-day, Sabre-Tooth somewhat resembled them, +though, beside him, the largest inmate of the Indian jungle would appear +but puny. The creature Ab looked upon that day so long ago was beautiful, +in his way. He was beautiful as is the peacock or the banded rattlesnake. +There were color contrasts and fine blendings. The stripes upon him were +wonderfully rich, and as he came creeping toward the body, he was as +splendid as he was dreadful. + +With every nerve strained, but with his first impulse of something like +terror gone, Ab watched the devourer beneath him while his sharp flint +knife, hard gripped, bore lightly against the taut rhinoceros-hide rope. +The tiger began his ghastly meal but was not quite beneath the suspended +spear. Then came some distant sound in the forest and he raised his head +and shifted his position. + +[Illustration: UPON THE STRONG SHAFT OF ASH THE MONSTER WAS IMPALED] + +He was fairly under the spear now. The knife pressed firmly against the +rawhide was drawn back and forth noiselessly but with effectiveness. +Suddenly the last tissue parted and the enormously weighted spear fell +like a lightning-stroke. The broad flint head struck the tiger fairly +between the shoulders, and, impelled by such a weight, passed through his +huge body as if it had met no obstacle. Upon the strong shaft of ash the +monster was impaled. There echoed and reechoed through the forest a roar +so fearful that even the hunters whom Ab had sent far away from the scene +of the tragedy clambered to the trees for refuge. The struggles of the +pierced brute were tremendous beyond description, but no strength could +avail it now; it had received its death wound and soon the great tiger +lay still, as harmless as the squirrel, frightened and hidden in his +nest. In wild triumph Ab slid to the ground and then the long cry to +summon his party went echoing through the wood. When the others found him +he had withdrawn the spear and was already engaged, flint knife in hand, +in stripping from the huge body the glorious robe it wore. + +There was excitement and rejoicing. The terror had been slain! The Shell +People were frantic in their exultation. Meanwhile Ab had called upon his +own people to assist him and the wonderful skin of the tiger was soon +stretched out upon the ground, a glorious possession for a cave man. + +"I will have half of it," declared Boarface, and he and Ab faced each +other menacingly. "It shall not be cut," was the fierce retort. "It is +mine. I killed the tiger!" + +Strong hands gripped stone axes and there was chance of deadly fray then +and there, but the Shell People interfered and the Shell People excelled +in number, and were a potent influence for peace. Ab carried away the +splendid trophy, but as Boarface and his men departed, there were black +faces and threatening words. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +LITTLE MOK. + +Among all the children of Ab--and remarkable it was for the age--the best +loved was Little Mok, the eldest son. When the child, strong and joyous, +was scarcely two years old, he fell from a ledge off the cliff where he +had climbed to play, and both his legs were broken. Strange to say he +survived the accident in that time when the law of the survival of the +fittest was almost invariable in its sternest and most purely physical +demonstration. The mother love of Lightfoot warded off the last pitiless +blow of nature, although the child, a hopeless cripple, never after +walked. The name Little Mok was naturally given him, and before long the +child had won the heart, as well as the name, of the limping old maker of +axes, spearheads and arrows. + +The closer ties of family life, as we know them now, existed but in their +outlines to the cave man. The man and woman were faithful to each other +with the fidelity of the higher animals and their children were cared for +with rough tenderness in their infancy. The time of absolute dependence +was made very short, though, and children very early were required to +find some of their own food, and taught by necessity to protect +themselves. But Little Mok, unable to take up for himself the burden of +an independent existence, was not slain nor left to die of neglect as +might have been another child thus crippled in the time in which he +lived. He, once spared, grew into the wild hearts of those closest to him +and became the guarded and cherished one of the rude home of Ab and +Lightfoot, and to him was thus given the continuous love and care which +the strong-limbed boys and girls of the family lost and never missed. + +It was a strange thing for the time. The child had qualities other than +the negative ones of helplessness and weakness with which to bind to him +the hearts of those around him, but the primary fact of his entire +dependence upon them was what made him the center of the little circle of +untaught, untamed cave people who lived in the Fire Valley. He may have +been the first child ever so cherished from such impulse. + +From his mother the child inherited a joyous disposition which nothing +could subdue. Often on the return home from some little expedition on +which it had been practicable to take him, sitting on Lightfoot's +shoulder, or on the still stronger arm of old One-Ear, his silent, +somewhat brooding grandfather, the little brown boy made the woods ring +with shrill bird calls, or the mimicry of animals, and ever his laughter +filled the spaces in between these sounds. Other children flocked around +the merry youngster, seeking to emulate his play of voice and the +oldsters smiled as they saw and heard the joyous confusion about the tiny +reveler. The excursions to the river were Little Mok's chief delight from +his early childhood. He entered into the preparations for them with a +zest and keen enjoyment born of the presence of an adventurous spirit in +a maimed body, and when the fishing party left the Fire Camp it was +incomplete if Little Mok was not carried lightly at the van, the life and +joy of the occasion. + +No one ever forgot the day when Little Mok, then about six years old, +caught his first fish. His joy and pride infected all as he exhibited his +prize and boasted of what he would catch in the river next, and when, on +the return, Old Mok saluted him as the "Great Fisherman," the elf's +elation became too great for any expression. His little chest heaved, his +eyes flashed, and then he wriggled from Lightfoot's arms into the lap of +Old Mok, snuggled down into the old man's furs and hid his face there; +and the two understood each other. + +It was soon after this great event of the first fish-catching that +Red-Spot, Ab's mother, died. She had never quite adapted herself to the +new life in the Fire Valley, and after a time she began to grow old very +fast. At last a fever attacked her and the end of her patient, busy life +came. After her death One-Ear was much in Old Mok's cave, the two had so +long been friends. There with them the crippled boy was often to be +found. He was not always gay and joyous. Sometimes he lay for days on his +bed of leaves at home, in weakness and pain, silent and unlike himself. +Then when Lightfoot's care had given him back a little strength, he would +beg to be taken to Old Mok's cave. There he could sleep, he said, away +from the noise and the lights of the outside world, and finally he +claimed and was allowed a nest of his own in the warmest and darkest nook +of Old Mok's den, where he slept every night, and sometimes a good part +of the day, when one of his times of pain and weakness was upon him. Here +during many a long hour of work, experiment and argument, the wide eyes +and quick ears of Little Mok saw and heard, while Ab, Mok and One-Ear +bent over their work at arrowhead or spear point, and talked of what +might be done to improve the weapons upon which so much depended. Here, +when no one else remained in the weary darkness of night and the half +light of stormy days Old Mok beguiled the time with stories, and +sometimes in a hoarse voice even attempted to chant to his little hearer +snatches of the wild singing tales of the Shell People, for the Shell +People had a sort of story song. + +Once, when Lightfoot sat by Old Mok's fire, she told them of the time +when she and Ab found themselves outside their cave, unarmed, with a bear +to be eaten through before they could get into their door, and Little Mok +surprised his mother and Old Mok by an outburst of laughter at the tale. +He had a glimmering of humor, and saw the droll side of the adventure, a +view which had not occurred to Lightfoot, nor to Ab. The little lad, of +the world, yet not in it, saw vaguely the surprises, lights and shades +and contrasts of existence, and sometimes they made him laugh. The laugh +of the cave man was not a common event, and when it came was likely to be +sober and sardonic, at least it was so when not simply an evidence of +rude health and high animal spirits. Humor is one of the latest, as it is +one of the most precious, grains shaken out of Time's hour-glass, but +Little Mok somehow caught a tiny bit of the rainbow gift, long before its +time in the world, and soon, with him, it was to disappear for centuries +to come. + +One day when Little Mok was brought back from an expedition to the river, +he told Old Mok how he had sat long on the bank, too tired to fish, and +had just rested and feasted his eyes on the wood, the stream, the small +darting creatures in it, the birds, and the animals which came to drink. +Describing a herd of reindeer which had passed near him, Little Mok took +up a piece of Old Mok's red chalkstone and on the wall of the cave drew a +picture of the animal. The veteran stared in surprise. The picture was +wonderfully life-like in grasp and detail. The child owned that great +gift, the memory of sight, and his hand was cunning. Encouraged by his +success, the boy drew on, delighting Old Mok with his singular fidelity +and skill. Then came hours and days of sketching and etching in the old +man's cave. The master was delighted. He brought out from their hiding +places his choicest pieces of mammoth tusk or teeth of the river-horse +for Little Mok's etchings and carvings. And, as time passed, the young +artist excelled the old one, and became the pride and boast of his friend +and teacher. Sometimes the little lad would work far into the night, for +he could not pause when he had begun a thing until it was complete--but +then he would sleep in his warm nest until noon the next day, crawling +out to cook a bit of meat for himself at the nearest fire, or sharing Old +Mok's meal, as was more convenient. + +While everything else in the Fire Valley was growing, developing and +flourishing, Little Mok's frail body had ever grown but slowly, and about +the beginning of his twelfth year there appeared a change in him. He +became permanently weak and grew more and more helpless day by day. His +cherished excursions to the river, even his little journeys on old +One-Ear's strong arm to the cliff top, from whence he could see the whole +world at once, had all to be abandoned. + +When the winter snows began to whirl in the air Little Mok was lying +quietly on his bed, his great eyes looking wistfully up at Lightfoot, who +in vain taxed her limited skill and resources to tempt him to eat and +become more sturdy. She hovered over him like a distressed mother bird +over its youngling fallen from the nest, but, with all her efforts, she +could not bring back even his usual slight measure of health and strength +to the poor Little Mok. Ab came sometimes and looked sadly at the two and +then walked moodily away, a great weight on his breast. Old Mok was +always at work, and yet always ready to give Little Mok water or turn his +weary little frame on its rude bed, or spread the furs over the wasted +body, and always Lightfoot waited and hoped and feared. + +And at last Little Mok died, and was buried under the stones, and the +snow fell over the lonely cairn under the fir trees outside the Fire +Valley where his grave was made. + +Lightfoot was silent and sad, and could not smile nor laugh any more. She +longed for Little Mok, and did not eat or sleep. One night Ab, trying to +comfort her, said, "You will see him again." + +"What do you mean?" cried Lightfoot. And Ab only answered, "You will see +him; he will come at night. Go to sleep, and you will see him." + +But Lightfoot could not sleep yet and for many a night her eyes closed +only when extreme fatigue compelled sleep toward the morning. + +And at last, after many days and nights, Lightfoot, when asleep, saw +Little Mok. Just as in life, she saw him, with all his familiar looks and +motions. But he did not stay long. And again and again she saw him, and +it comforted her somewhat because he smiled. There had come to her such a +heartache about him, lying out there under the snow and stones, with no +one to care for him, that the smile warmed her heavy heart and she told +Ab that she had seen Little Mok, only whispering it to him--for it was +not well, she knew, to talk about such things--and she whispered to Ab, +too, her anguish that Little Mok only came at night, and never when it +was day, but she did not complain. She only said: "I want to see him in +the daytime." + +And Ab could think of nothing to say. But that made him think more and +more. He felt drawn closer to Lightfoot, his wife, no longer a young +girl, but the mother of Little Mok, who was dead, and of all his +children. + +In his mind arose, vaguely obscure, yet persistent, the idea that brute +strength and vigor, keen senses and reckless bravery were not, after all, +the sole qualities that make and influence men. Old Mok, crippled and +disabled for the hunt and defense, was nevertheless a power not to be +despised, and Little Mok, the helpless child, had been still strong +enough to win and keep the love of all the stalwart and rough cave +people. Ab was sorry for Lightfoot. When in the spring the forlorn mother +held in her arms a baby girl a little brightness came into her eyes +again, and Ab, seeing this, was glad, but neither Ab nor Lightfoot ever +forgot their eldest and dearest, Little Mok. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +THE BATTLE OF THE BARRIERS. + +While Ab had been occupied by home affairs trouble for him and his people +had been brewing. By no means unknown to each other before the tiger hunt +were Ab and Boarface. They had hunted together and once Boarface, with +half a dozen companions, had visited the Fire Valley and had noted its +many attractions and advantages. Now Boarface had gone away angry and +muttering, and he was not a man to be thought of lightly. His rage over +the memory of Ab's trophy did not decrease with the return to his own +region. Why should this cave man of the West have sole possession of that +valley, which was warm and green throughout the winter and where the wild +beasts could not enter? Why had he, this Ab, been allowed to go away with +all the tiger's skin? Brooding enlarged into resolve and Boarface +gathered together his relations and adherents. "Let us go and take the +Fire Valley of Ab," he said to them, and, gradually, though objections +were made to the undertaking of an enterprise so fraught with danger, the +listeners were persuaded. + +"There are other fires far down the river," said one old man. "Let us go +there, if it is fire we most need, and so we will not disturb nor anger +Ab, who has lived in his valley for many years. Why battle with Ab and +all his people?" + +But Boarface laughed aloud: "There are many other earth fires," he said. +"I know them well, but there is no other fire which chances to make a +flaming fence about a valley close to the great rocks, and which has +water within the space it surrounds and which makes a wall against all +the wild beasts. We will fight and win the valley of Ab." + +And so they were led into the venture. They sought, too, the aid of the +Shell People in this raid, but were not successful. The Shell People were +not unfriendly to those of the Fire Valley, and had not Ab been really +the one to kill the tiger? Besides, it was not wise for the waterside +dwellers to engage in any controversy between the forest factions, for +the hill people had memories and heavy axes. A few of the younger and +more adventurous joined the force of Boarface, but the alliance had no +tribal sanction. Still, the force of the swarthy leader of the Eastern +cave men was by no means insignificant. It contained good fighting men, +and, when runners had gone far and wide in the Eastern country, there +were gathered nearly ten score of hunters who could throw the spear or +wield the ax and who were not fearful of their lives. The band led by +Boarface started for the Fire Country, intending to surprise the people +in the valley. They moved swiftly, but not so swiftly as a fleet young +man from the Shell People who preceded them. He was sent by the elders a +day before the time fixed for the assault, and so Ab learned all about +the intended raid. Then went forth runners from the valley; then the +matron Lightfoot's eyes became fiery, since Ab was threatened; then old +Hilltop looked carefully over his spears, and poised thoughtfully his +great stone ax; then Moonface smote her children and gathered together +certain weapons, and then Old Mok went into his cave and stayed there, +working at none knew what. + +They came from all about, the Western cave men, for never in the valley +had food or shelter been refused to any and the Eastern cave men were not +loved. Many a quarrel over game had taken place between the raging +hunters of the different tribes, and many a bloody single-handed +encounter had come in the depths of the forest. The band was not a large +one, the Eastern men being far more numerous, but the outlook was not as +fine as it might be for the advancing Boarface. The force assembled +inside the valley was, in point of numbers, but little more than half his +own, but it was entrenched and well-armed, and there were those among the +defenders whom it was not well to meet in fight. But Boarface was +confident and was not dismayed when his force crept into the open only to +find the ordinary valley entrance barred and all preparations made for +giving him a welcome of the warmer sort. There was what could not be +thoroughly barricaded in so brief a time, the entrance where the brook +issued at the west. This pass must be forced, for the straight, uprising +wall between the flames and across the opening to the north was something +relatively unassailable. It was too narrow and too high and sheer and +there were too many holes in the wall through which could be sent those +piercing arrows which the Western cave men knew how to use so well. The +battle must be up along the bed of the little creek. The water was low at +this season, so low that a man might wade easily anywhere, and there had +been erected only a slight barrier, enough to keep wild beasts away, for +Ab had never thought of invasion by human beings. The creek tumbled +downward, through passages, between straight-sided, ruggedly built stone +heaps, with spaces between wide enough to admit a man, but not any great +beast of prey. There was no place where, by a man, the wall could not +easily be mounted and, above, there was no really good place of vantage +for the defenders. + +So the invading force, concealment of action being no longer necessary, +ranged themselves along the banks of the creek to the west of the valley +and prepared for a rush. They had certain chances in their favor. They +were strong men, who knew how to use their weapons well, and they were in +numbers almost as two to one. Meanwhile, inside the valley, where the +approach and plans of the enemy had been seen and understood, there had +gone on swiftly, under Ab's stern direction, such preparation for the +fray as seemed most adequate with the means at hand. + +The great advantage possessed was that the defenders, on firm footing +themselves, could meet men climbing, and so, a little further up the +creek than the beast-opposing wall, had been thrown up what was little +more than a rude platform of rock, wide and with a broad expanse of top, +on which all the valley's force might cluster in an emergency. Upon this +the people were to gather, defending the first pass, if they could, by +flights of spears and arrows and here, at the end, to win or lose. This +was the general preparation for the onslaught, but there had been +precautions taken more personal and more involving the course of the most +important of the people of the valley. + +At the left of the gorge, where must come the invaders, the rock rose +sheerly and at one place extended outward a shelf, high up, but reached +easily from the Fire Valley side. There were consultations between Ab and +the angry and anxious and almost tearful Lightfoot. That charming lady, +now easily the best archer of the tribe, had developed at once into a +fighting creature and now demanded that her place be assigned to her. +With her own bow, and with arrows in quantity, it was decided that she +should occupy the ledge and do all she could. Upon the ledge was +comparative safety in the fray, and Ab directed that she should go there. +Old Hilltop said but little. It was understood, almost as a matter of +course, that he would be upon the barrier and there face, with Ab, the +greatest issue. The old man was by no means unsatisfactory to look upon +as he moved silently about and got ready the weapons he might have to +use. Gaunt, strong-muscled and resolute, he was worthy of admiration. +Ever following him with her eyes, when not engaged in the chastisement of +one of her swart brood, was Moonface, for Moonface had long since learned +to regard her grizzled lord with love as well as much respect. + +There were other good fighting men and other women beside these mentioned +who would do their best, but these few were the dominant figures. +Meanwhile, Boarface and his strong band had decided upon their plan of +attack and would soon rush up the bed of the shallow stream with all the +bravery and ferocity of those who were accustomed to face death lightly +and to seize that which they wanted. + +The invaders came clambering up the creek's course, openly and with +menacing and defiant shouts, for any concealment was now out of the +question. They had but few bows and could, under the conditions, send no +arrow flight which would be of avail, but they had thews and sinews and +spears and axes. As they came with such rush as men might make up a +tumbling waterway with slipping pebbles beneath the feet and forced +themselves one by one between the heaped stone piles and fairly in front +of the barrier there was a discharge of arrows and more than one man, +impaled by a stone-headed shaft, fell, to dabble feebly in the water, and +did not rise again. But there came a time in the fight when the bow must +be abandoned. + +The assault was good and the demeanor of the men behind the barrier was +good as well. Not more gallant was one group than the other for there +were splendid fighters in both ranks. The boasted short sword of the +Romans, in times effeminate, as compared with these, afforded not in its +wielding a greater test of personal courage than the handling of the +flint-headed spear or the stone knife or chipped ax. There, all along the +barrier, was the real grappling of man and man, with further existence as +the issue. + +The invaders, losing many of their number, for arrows flew steadily and a +mass so large could not easily be missed even by the most bungling of +those strong archers, swept upward to the barrier and then was a +muscular, deadly tumult worth the seeing. To the south and nearest the +side where Lightfoot was perched with her bow and great bunch of arrows +Ab stood in front, while to his right and near the other end of the rude +stone rampart was stationed old Hilltop, and he hurled his spears and +slew men as they came. The fight became simply a death struggle, with the +advantage of position upon one side and of numbers on the other. And Ab +and Boarface were each seeking the other. + +So the struggle lasted for a long half hour, and when it ended there were +dead and dying men upon the barrier, while the waters of the creek were +reddened by the blood of the slain assailants. The assault now ebbed a +little. Neither Ab nor Hilltop had been injured in the struggle. As the +invaders pressed close Ab had noted the whish of an arrow now and then +and the hurt to one pressing him closely, and old Hilltop had heard the +wild cries of a woman who hovered in his rear and hurled stones in the +faces of those who strove to reach him. And now there came a lull. + +Boarface had recognized the futility of scaling, under such conditions, a +steep so well defended and had thought of a better way to gain his end +and crush Ab and his people. He had heard the story of Ab's first advent +into the valley when, chased by the wolves, he leaped through the flame, +and there came an inspiration to him! What one man had done others could +do, and, with picked warriors of his band, he made a swift detour, while, +at the same time, the main body rushed desperately upon the barrier +again. + +What had been good fighting before was better now. Lives were lost, and +soon all arrows were spent and all spears thrown, and then came but the +dull clashing of stone axes. Ab raged up and down, and, ever in the +front, faced the oncoming foe and slew as could slay the strong and +utterly desperate. More than once his life was but a toy of chance as men +sprang toward him, two or three together, but ever at such moment there +sang an arrow by his head and one of his assailants, pierced in throat or +body, fell back blindly, hampering his companions, whose heads Ab's great +ax was seeking fiercely. And, all the time, nearer the northern end of +the barrier, old Hilltop fought serenely and dreadfully. There were many +dead men in the pools of the creek between the barrier and the entrance +to the valley. And about Ab ever sang the arrows from the rocky shelf. + +There was wild clamor, the clash of weapons and the shouting of +battle-crazed men but there was not enough to drown the sound of a scream +which rose piercingly above the din. Ab recognized the voice of Lightfoot +and raised his eyes to see the woman, regardless of her own safety, +standing upright and pointing up the valley. He knew that something +meaning life and death was happening and that he must go. He leaped +backward and a huge Western cave man sprang to his place, to serve as +best he could. + +Not a moment too soon had that shrill cry reached the ears of the +fighting man. He ran backward, shouting to a score of his people to +follow him as he ran, and in an instant recognized that he had been +outwitted, at least for the moment, by the vengeful Boarface. As he +rushed to the east toward the wall of flame he saw a dark form pass +through its crest in a flying leap. There were others he knew would +follow. His own feat of long ago was being repeated by Boarface and his +chosen group of best men! + +It was not Boarface who leaped and it was hard for a gallant youth of the +Eastern cave men that he had strength and daring and had dashed ahead in +the assault, for he had scarcely touched the ground when there sank +deeply into his head a stone ax, impelled by the strongest arm of all +that region, and he was no more among things alive. Ab had reached the +fire wall with the speed of a great runner while, close behind him, came +his eager following. + +The forces could see each other clearly enough now, and those on the +outside outnumbered those on the inside again by two to one. But those +leaping the flames could not alight poised ready for a blow, and there +were adroit and vengeful axmen awaiting them. There was a momentary pause +for planning among the assailants, and then it was that Ab fumed over his +own lack of foresight. His chosen band who were with him now were all +bowmen, and about the shoulder and chest of each was still slung his +weapon, but there were no more arrows. Each quiverful had been shot away +early in the fight and then had come the spear and ax play. But what a +chance for arrows now, with that threatening band preparing for the rush +and leap together, and, while out of reach of spear or ax, within easy +reach of the singing little shafts! Oh, for the shafts now, those slender +barbed things which were hurled in his new way! And, even as he thus +raged, there came a feeble shout from down the valley behind him and he +saw something very good! + +Limping, with effort, but resolutely forward, was a bent old man, bearing +encircled within his long arms a burden which Ab himself could not have +carried for any distance without stress and labored breathing. The lean +old Mok's arms were locked about a monster sheaf of straight flint-headed +arrows, a sheaf greater in size than ever man had looked upon before. The +crippled veteran had not been idle in his cave. He had worked upon the +store of shafts and flintheads he had accumulated, and here was the +result in a great emergency! + +The old man cast his sheaf upon the ground and then sank down, somewhat +totteringly, beside it. There needed no shout of command from Ab to tell +those about him what to do. There was one combined yell of sudden +exultation, a rush together for the shafts and a swift filling of empty +quivers. It was but the work of a moment or two. Then something promptly +happened. The great fellows, though acting without orders, shot almost +"all together," as the later English archers did, and so close just +across the flame wall was the opposing group that the meanest archer in +all the lot could scarcely fail to reach a living target, and stronger +arms drew back those arrows than were the arms of those who drew +bowstring in the battles of mediæval history. With the first deadly +flight came a scattering outside and men lay tossing upon the ground in +their death agony. There was no cessation to the shot, though Boarface +sought fiercely to rally his followers, until all had fled beyond the +range of the bowmen. Upon the ground were so many dead that the numbers +of the two forces were now more nearly equal. But Boarface had brave +followers. They ranged themselves together at a safe distance and then +started for the flame wall with a rush, to leap it all together. + +There was another arrow-flight as the onslaught came, and more men went +down, but the charge could not be stopped. Over the low flame-crests shot +a great mass of bodies, there to meet that which was not good for them. +The struggle was swift and deadly, but the forces were almost evenly +matched now and the insiders had the advantage. Boarface and Ab met face +to face in the melée and each leaped toward the other with a yell. There +was to be a fight which must be excellent, for two strong leaders were +meeting and there were many lives at stake. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +OLD HILLTOP'S LAST STRUGGLE. + +Even as he leaped the flames, the desperate Boarface hurled at Ab a +fragment of stone, which was a thing to be wisely dodged, and the invader +was fairly on his feet and in position to face his adversary as the axes +came together. More active, more powerful, it may be, and certainly more +intelligent, was Ab than Boarface, but the leader of the assailants had +been a raider from early youth and knew how to take advantage. In those +fierce days to attain the death of an enemy, in any way, was the +practical end sought in a conflict. Close behind Boarface had leaped a +youth to whom the leader had given his commands before the onrush and +who, as he found his feet upon the valley's sward, sought, not an +adversary face to face, but circled about the two champions, seeking only +to get behind the leaping Ab while Boarface occupied his sole attention. +The young man bore a great stone-headed club, a dreadful weapon in such +hands as his. The men struck furiously and flakes spun from the heavy +axes, but Boarface was being slowly driven back when there descended upon +Ab's shoulder a blow which swerved him and would certainly have felled a +man with less heaped brawn to meet the impact. At the same instant +Boarface made a fierce downward stroke and Ab leaped aside without +parrying or returning it, for his arm was numbed. Another such blow from +the new assailant and his life was lost, yet he dare not turn. That would +be his death. And now Boarface rushed in again and as the axes came +together called to his henchman to strike more surely. + +And just then, just as it seemed to Ab the end was near, he heard behind +him the sharp twang of the bowstring which had sounded so sweetly at the +valley's other end and, with a groan, there pitched down upon the sward +beside him a writhing man whose legs drew back and forth in agony and who +had been pierced by an arrow shot fiercely and closely from behind and +driven in between his shoulder blades. He knew what it must mean. The arm +which had drawn that arrow to its head was that of a slight, strong +creature who was not a man. Lightfoot, wild with love and anxiety, had +shot past Old Mok just as he laid down his bundle of arrows, and, when +she saw her husband's peril, had leaped forward with arrow upon string +and slain his latest assailant in the nick of time. Now, with arrow +notched again and a face ablaze with murderous helpfulness, she hovered +near, intent only upon sending a second shaft into the breast of +Boarface. + +But there was no need. Unhampered now, Ab rushed in upon his enemy and +rained such blows as only a giant could have parried. Boarface fought +desperately, but it was only man to man, and he was not the equal of the +maddened one before him. His ax flew from his hand as his wrist was +broken by Ab's descending weapon, and the next moment he fell limply and +hardly moved, for a second blow had sunk the stone weapon so deeply in +his head that the haft was hidden in his long hair. + +It was all over in a moment now. As Ab turned with a shout of triumph +there was a swift end to the little battle. There were brief encounters +here and there, but the Eastern men were leaderless and less +well-equipped than their foes, and though they fought as desperately as +cornered wolves, there was no hope for them. Three escaped. They fled +wildly toward the flame and leaped over and through its flickering yellow +crest and there was no pursuit. It was not a time for besieged men to be +seeking useless vengeance. There came wild yells from the lower end of +the valley where the greater fight was on. With a cry Ab gathered his men +together and the victorious band ran toward the barrier again, there with +overwhelming force to end the struggle. Ever, in later years, did Ab +regret that his fight with Boarface had not ended sooner. To save an old +hero he had come too late. + +Boarface, when taking with him a strong band to the upper end of the +valley, had still left a supposably overwhelming force to fight its way +up and over the barrier. Ab away from the scene of struggle, old Hilltop +assumed command. He was a fit man for such death-facing steadfastness as +was here required. + +Never had Ab been able to persuade Lightfoot's father to use or even try +the new weapon, the bow and arrow. He had no tender feeling toward modern +innovations. He had a clear eye and strong arm, and the ax and spear were +good enough for him! He recognized Ab's great qualities, but there were +some things that even a well-regarded son-in-law could not impose upon +any elder family male. Among these was this twanging bow with its light +shaft, better fitted for a child's plaything than for real work among +men. As for him, give him a heavy spear, with the blade well set in +thongs, or a heavy ax, with the head well clinched in the sinew-bound +wooden haft. There was rarely miss or failure to the spear-thrust or the +ax-stroke. And now, in proof of the soundness of his old-fashioned +belief, he staked ruggedly his life. There were few spears left. There +were only axes on either side. And there stood old Hilltop upon the +barrier, while beside him and all across stood men as brave if not quite +as sturdy or as famous. + +In the rear of the line, noisy, sometimes fierce and sometimes weeping, +were the women, whose skill was only a little less than that of the males +and who were even more ruthless in all feeling toward the enemy. And +still easily chief among these, conspicuous by her noisy and uncaring +demeanor of mingled alarm and vengefulness, was the raging Moonface. She +rushed up close beside her husband's defending group and still hurled +stones and hurled them most effectively. They went as if from a catapult, +and more than one bone or head was broken that day by those missiles from +the arm of this squat savage wife and mother. But the men below were +outnumbering and brave, and now, maddened by different emotions, the lust +of conquest, the murderous anger over slain companions and, underlying +all, the thought of ownership of this fair and warm and safe place of +home, were resolute in their attack. They had faith in their leader, +Boarface, and expected confidently every moment an onslaught to aid +them from above. And so they came up the watery slope, one pressing +blood-thirstily behind the other with an earnestness none but men as +strong and well equipped and as brave or braver could hope to withstand. +The closing struggle was desperate. + +Hilltop stood to the front, between two rocks some few yards apart, over +which bubbled the shallow creek, and between which was the main upward +entrance to the valley. He stood upon a rock almost as flat as if some +expert engineer of ages later had planed its surface and then adjusted it +to a level, leaving the shallow waters tumbling all about it. The rock +out-jutted somewhat on the slope and there must necessarily be some +little climb to face the aged defender. On either side was a stretch of +down-running, gradually-sloping waterfall, full of great boulders, +embarrassing any straight rush of a group together, but, between and +upward, sprang swart men, and facing them on either side of old Hilltop +beyond the rocks were the remainder of the mass of cave men upon whom he +depended for making good the defense of the whole barrier. Beside him, in +the center of the battle, were the two creatures in the world upon whom +he could most depend, his stalwart and splendid sons, Strong-Arm and +Branch. With them, as gallant if not as strong as his great brother, +stood braced the eager Bark. They were ready, these young men, but, as it +chanced, there could be, at the beginning of the strong clamber of the +foe, only one man to first meet them. All were behind this man at the +front, for the flat rock came to something like a point. He stood there, +hairy and bare except for the skin about his hips, and with only an ax in +his hand, but this did not matter so much as it might have done, for only +axes were borne by the up-clambering assailants. The throwing of an ax +was a little matter to the sharp-eyed and flexile-muscled cave men. Who +could not dodge an ax was better out of the way and out of the world. A +meeting such as this impending must be a matter only of close personal +encounter and fencing with arm and wooden handle and flint-head of edge +and weight. + +There was a clash of stone together, and, one after another, strong +creatures with cloven skulls toppled backward, to fall into the babbling +creek, their blood helping to change its coloring. Leaping from side to +side across his rock, along each edge of which the water rushed, old +Hilltop met the mass of enemies, while those who passed were brained by +his great sons or by those behind. But the forces were unequal and the +plane in front was not steep enough nor the water deep enough to prevent +something like an organized onslaught. With fearful regularity, uplifted +and thrown aside occasionally in defense to avoid a stroke, the ax of +Hilltop fell and there was more and more fine fighting and fine dying. On +either side were men doing scarcely less stark work. Hilltop's two sons, +on either side of him now, as the assailants, crowded by those behind, +pressed closer, fully justified their parentage by what they did, and +Bark was like a young tiger. But the onslaught was too strong. There were +too many against too few. There were loud cries, a sudden impulse and, +though axes rose and fell and more men tumbled backward into the water, +the rock was swept upon and won and the old man stood alone amid his +foes, his sons having been carried backward by the pressure of the mass. +There was sullen battling on the upper level, but there was no fray so +red as that where Hilltop, old as he was, swung his awful ax among the +close crowding throng of enemies about him. Four fell with skulls cleanly +split before a giant of the invaders got behind the gray defender of the +pass. Then an ax came crashing down and old Hilltop pitched forward, dead +before he fell into the cool waters of the pool below. + +There was a yell of exultation from the upward-climbing Eastern cave men +as they saw the most dangerous of their immediate enemies go down, but, +before the echoes had come back, the sound was lost in that which came +from the height above them. It was loud and threatening, but not the yell +of their own kind. + +There had come sweeping down the valley the victors in the fight at the +Eastern end. Ab, with the lust of battle fully upon him as he heard the +wild shriek of Moonface, who had seen her husband fall, was a creature as +hungry for blood as any beast of all the forest, and his followers were +scarce less terrible. Swift and dreadful was the encounter which +followed, but the issue was not doubtful for a moment. The barrier's +living defenders became as wild themselves as were these conquering +allies. The fight became a massacre. Flying hopelessly up the valley, the +remnant, only some twenty, of the Eastern cave men ran into the vacant +big cave for refuge and there, barricaded, could keep their pursuers at +bay for the time at least. + +There was no immediate attack made upon the remnant of the assailants who +had thus sought refuge. They were safely imprisoned, and about the cave's +entrance there lay down to eat and rest a body of vengeful men of twice +their number. The struggle was over, and won, but there was little +happiness in the Fire Valley which had been so well defended. + +Moonface, wildly fighting, had seen her husband's death. With the rush of +Ab's returning force which changed the tide of battle she had been swept +away, shrieking and seeking to force herself toward the rock whereon old +Hilltop had so well demeaned himself. Now there emerged from one side a +woman who spoke to none but who clambered down the rough waterway and +waded into the little pool below the rock and stooped and lifted +something from the water. It was the body of the brave old hunter of the +hills. With her arms clutched about it the woman began the clamber upward +again, shaking her head dumbly, when rude warriors, touched somehow, +despite the coarse texture of their being, came wading in to assist her +with the ghastly burden. She emerged with it upon the level and laid it +gently down upon the grass, but still uttered no word until her children +gathered and the weeping Lightfoot came to her and put her arms about +her, and then from the uncouth creature's eyes came a flood of tears and +a gasp which broke the tension, and the death wail sounded through the +valley. The poor, affectionate animal was a little nearer herself again. + +There were dead men lying beside the flames at the Eastern end of the +valley, and these were brought by the men and tossed carelessly into the +pools below where lay so many others of the slain. There were storm +clouds gathering and all the valley people knew what must happen soon. +The storm clouds burst; the little creek, transformed suddenly into a +torrent by the fall of water from the heights above, swept the dead men +away together to the river and so toward the sea. Of all the invading +force there remained alive only the three who had re-leaped the flames +and those imprisoned in the cave. + +There was council that night between Ab and his friends and, as the +easiest way of disposing of the prisoners in the cave, it was proposed to +block the entrance and allow the miserable losers in battle to there +starve at their leisure. But the thoughtful Old Mok took Ab aside and +said: + +"Why not let them live and work for us? They will do as you say. This was +the place they wanted. They can stay and make us stronger." + +And Ab saw the reason of all this and the hungry, imprisoned men were +given the alternative of death or obedient companionship. They did not +hesitate long. The warmth of the valley and its other advantages were +what they had come for and they had no narrow views outside the food and +fuel question. The valley was good. They accepted Ab's authority and came +out and fed and, with their wives and children, who were sent for, became +of the valley people. + +This place of refuge and home and fortress was acquiring an importance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +OUR VERY GREAT GRANDFATHER. + +And the years passed. One still afternoon in autumn a gray, hairy man, a +man approaching old age, but without weakness of arm or stiffness of +joint, as yet, sat on the height overlooking the village. He looked in +tranquil comfort, now down into the little valley, and now across it into +the wood beyond, where the sun was approaching the treetops. He had come +to the hill with the mere instinct of the old hunter seeking to be +completely out of doors, but he had brought work with him and was +engaged, when not looking thoughtfully far away, in finishing a huge bow, +the spring of which he occasionally tested. Every motion showed the +retained possession of tremendous strength as well as the knowledge of +its use to most advantage. A very hale old man was Ab, the great hunter +and head of the people of the Fire Valley. + +A few yards away from Ab, leaning against the trunk of a beech, stood +Lightfoot, her quick glance roving from place to place and as keen, +seemingly, as ever. These two were still most content when together, and +it was well for each that they had in the same degree withstood what the +years bring. The woman had, perhaps, changed less than the man. Her hair +was still dark and her step had not grown heavy. She had changed in face +and expression rather than in form. There had grown in her eyes and about +her mouth the indefinable lines and tokens, pathetic and sweet, of care, +of sorrow, of suffering and of quiet gladness, in short, of motherhood. + +As twilight came on the woods rang with the shouts and laughter of a +party of young men who were coming home from some forest trip. Ab, +looking down the valley, over the flashing flame, into the forest hills, +in whose deep shade lay Little Mok, old Hilltop and Ab's mother, could +see the lusty youths in the village, running, leaping, wrestling and +throwing spears, axes and stones in competition. A strange oppression +came upon him and he thought of Oak lying in the ground alone on the +hillside, miles away. Ab felt, even now, the strong, helpful arm of his +friend around him, just as it was in the evening journey from the Feast +of the Mammoth homeward, when he had been rescued from almost certain +death by Oak. A lump rose in the throat of the man of many battles and +many trials. He shook himself, as if to shake off the memory that plagued +him. Oak came not often to trouble Ab's peace now, and when he came it +was always at night. Morning never found him near the Fire Village. + +The young hunters, rioting like the young men in the valley, were passing +now. Ab looked upon them thoughtfully. He felt dimly a desire to speak to +them, to tell them something about the hurts they might avoid, and how +hard it was to have a great, heavy load on one's chest at times--all +one's life--but the cave man was, as to the emotions, inarticulate. Ab +could no more have spoken his half defined feelings than the tree could +cry out at the blow of the ax. + +The woman left the beech tree and approached the man and touched his arm. +His eyes turned upon her kindly and after she had seated herself beside +him, there was laughing talk, for Lightfoot was declaring her desperate +condition of hunger and demanding that he return to the valley with her. +She examined his bow critically and had an opinion to express, for so +fine a shot as she might surely talk a little about so manful a thing as +the making of the weapon. And as the sun sank lower and the valley fell +into shadow, the two descended together, a pair who, after all, had +reason to be glad that they had lived. + +And the children these two left were bold and strong and dominant by +nature, and maintained the family leadership as the village grew. With +later generations came trouble vast and dire to the people of the land, +but it was not the part of this proud and seasoned and well-weaponed +group to flee like wild beasts when came drifting to the Westward the +first feeble vanguard of the Aryan overflow. The vanguard was overthrown; +its men made serfs and its women mothers. Other cave men in other regions +might escape to the Northward as the wave increased, there to become +frost-bitten Lapps or the "Skrallings" of the Norsemen, the Eskimo of +to-day, but not so the people of the great Fire Valley or their stern and +sturdy vassals for half a hundred miles about. No child's play was it for +those of another and still rude civilization to meet them in their +fastnesses, and the end of the struggle--for this region at least--was, +not a conquest, but a blending, a blending good for each of the two +forces. + +And as the face of Nature changed with the ages, as the later glacial +cold wavered and fluctuated and forced back and forth migrations of man +and beast, still the first-formed group retained coherence, retained it +beyond great natural cataclysms, retained it to historic ages, to wield +long the smoothed stone weapons, and, afterward, the bronze axes, and to +diverge in many branches of contentious defenders and invaders, to become +Iberian and Gaul and Celt and Saxon, to fight family against family, and +to commingle again in these later times. + +Upon the beach the other day, watching the waves lap toward her, sat a +woman, cultured, very beautiful and wise in woman's way and among the +fairest and the best of all earth can produce. There are many such as +she. Barely longer ago than the other day, as time is counted, a rugged +man, gentle as resolute and noble, became the enshrined hero of a vast +republic, when he struck from slave limbs the shackles of four million +people. In an insular home across the sea, interested still in the +world's affairs, is an old man vigorous in his octogenarianism, a power, +though out of power, a figure to be a monument in personal history, a +great man. But a few years ago the whole world stood with bowed head +while into the soil he loved was lowered the coffin of one who has bound +the nations together in sympathy for _Les Misérables_ of the earth. In a +home on the continent broods watchfully a bald-headed giant in cavalry +boots, one who has dictated arbitrarily, as premier, the policy of the +empire he has largely made. The woman upon the sands, the great +liberator, the man wonderful even in old age, the heart-stirring writer, +the man of giant personality physical and mental, have had reason to +boast alike a strain of the blood of Ab and Lightfoot. In the veins of +each has danced the transmitted product of the identical corpuscles which +coursed in the veins of those two who first found a home in the Fire +Valley. Strong was primitive man; adroit, patient and faithful was +primitive woman; he, the strongest, she, the fairest and cleverest of the +time, could protect their offspring, breed and care for great children of +similar powers and so insure a lasting race. Thus has the good blue blood +come down. This is not romance, this is not fancy; this is but faithful +history. + +THE END + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Ab, by Stanley Waterloo + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF AB *** + +This file should be named 8stab10.txt or 8stab10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8stab11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8stab10a.txt + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, Andy Schmitt, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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