 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 Mock, 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 centre, and in wise hands these flakes could be chipped or pried away, unbroken. The flake, once one, 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 quartos grit, were often used, but in the making of all the weapons was required the exercise of infinite skill and patience. To make the flake symmetrical demanded the nicest perception and judgement 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 in their finishing, others of the cavemen were to old mock as the child is to the man. Abhung 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 mock'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 deafness 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 mock 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's be ahead a trifle heavier. He was questioning as he worked, and something of a nuisance with it all, but old mock 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 Oneir, who was notoriously a bad flint worker, though a weapon once in his grasp there were few could use it with sureer eye or heavier hand, and would chuckle as he made the comment. As for Oneir 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 thieves 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 gormon of today who could appreciate the quality of what had a most natural flavour. 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 and 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 Mock chipped with an axe 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 evolve most of this helpful but not over-attractive labour. 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 results. 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 hole 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 wides served to remove the stones, one after another, from the mass of coal, and dropped 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 odours and ready to be eaten, and it was not allowed to get overcool 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 Bach, whose turn at the kettle came late, and much clamor from chubby beach 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 today 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 flavour as fine in its way as could be imparted by salt and pepper. Old Mark, observing silently, had decidedly approved of Abbs' 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 Mark would hold the forming weapon head in one hand, and the horn-halfed chisel in another, pressing the blade close against the stone, and at just such angle as would secure the result he sought, while Abb 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 worthy axes and spearheads produced by what, in modern times, would have been known under the title of Old Mock and Co. At this time, too, Abb took lessons in making all the varied articles of elk or reindeer horn, and the drinking cups from the horns of Eurus and Orox. Old Mock even went so far as to attempt teaching the youth something of carving figures upon tusks and shoulder blades, but in this art Abb never greatly excelled. He was too much a creature of action. The bow needle was 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 cavemen, 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. Beech nuts 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 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 Abbe's real companionship with Old Mock, 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 netfall 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 summertime 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 Mock and Abbe 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 advisor 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 caveman'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 fled, 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 Mock'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 Abonoke would sometimes speculate together, and question as to their truth. End of Chapter 11. Chapter 12 of the Story of Ab. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Christine Blashford. The Story of Ab by Stanley Waterloo. Chapter 12. Old Mock's Tales. It was worth while listening to Old Mock 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 odour 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 Mock, who was fashioning a shaft of some sort, and as he lay poked his toes at beach-leaf, 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 Mock. 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 Mock, away beyond the swamp and woods in 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. 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 Mock 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 until later day to be very glad that he had learned the little that was told him. But tonight 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 Mock, 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 cavemen began. And I think this story true. I think it is true, old Mock 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 Mock was right. They talk of us as the descendants of an Aryan race. Never from Aryan alone came the drifting, changing western being of today. But a part of him was born where bold 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 today, 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 Plateus. The kitchen middens tell the early story with greater accuracy than could any writer who ever lifted pen, hear 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 ax head, and the rude dagger of the being who became the druid, and who is an ancestor whom we recognise. From the kitchen midden to the pinnacle of all that is great today extends a chain not a link of which is weak. They tell strange stories to the shell-people, old mock continued, for they are greater storytellers than the cavemen 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, mock continued, I think little. The old men tell of a time when those who went down the river to the greatest river, and followed it down to the sea, which seems to have no end, saw what no man can see today, 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 further 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 capricales 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 storytellers, 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 veil of fire he hoped to see it some time. 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 marvellous 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 sword near the cave's entrance, while not far away, Bark and the still chubby beach-leaf 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 beach-leaf. 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 the delight of beach-leaf kept twanging it for such a time as his boyish temperament would allow a single occupation. Then he picked from the ground a long, slender pencil of whitewood, 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 wooden 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 arrow-wise, 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 leapt to his feet, and was by the youngsters in a moment. He saw the terrified beach-leaf 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 today so fluently defends himself in any straight where castigation looms in sight. He told of the queer play thing 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 beach-leaf'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 beach-leaf 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 like 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 this liver 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 its 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 longed 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 their 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 mock. 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 favourite spear. The young man was back as soon as strong legs could bring him, and when he burst into the open he found mock standing along spear's cast from the greatest of the trees which stood about the opening. Throw your spear at the tree, said mock, throw strongly as you can. Ab hurled the spear as the Zulu of later times might hurl his Asagai as strongly and as well, but the distance was over much 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 play thing, said old mock, 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 mock 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 mock looked upon it all delightedly. It may be there is something to your play thing, 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 we'll put a little spearhead, and then we can tell how deeply it will go into the wood. We will work. For days the two laboured 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 ewe, 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 mock 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 arches it was not difficult to hit at a distance of a double spears cast, the bowl 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 mock and ab knew that they had found something better than any weapon the caveman 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 axe 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 rumour 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 near 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 spears 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 someone 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 a fright 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 third 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. 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 Mock cherished together their mighty secret. Chapter 14 A Lesson in Swimming Ab and Oak ranging far in their hunting expeditions had long since formed the acquaintance of the shale people and had even partaken of their hospitality though there was not much to attract a guest in the abodes of the creek hunters. The 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 heap rocks leaving only a narrow passage. This ensured 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 shale 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 odours were not quite to their custom taste. Yet the settlement had a slight degree of interest to them. They had noted the box of quality of some of the shale 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. They came in autumn morning when Ab and Oak who had met a daybreak determined to visit the shale people and go with them upon a fishing expedition. The shale people often fished from boats and the boats were excellent. Each consisted of four or five shot logs of the most buoyant wood bound firmly together with tough wits but the contrivance was more than a simple raft because at the bow it had been huge 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 quiet at home in the water. It was fun for the young men who Stailers told here to go with the shale people and assist in spearing fish or drawing them from the river's depths upon rude hooks and the shale 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 laid thickly among the leaves. Every morning and more regularly than it comes now there was a spread of glistening horror frost upon the lowlands and the little open lands in the forest and upon every spot not pre-protected. At such times there appeared to the eyes of the cave people a splendor of nature as we now can hardly comprehend. It came most strikingly in spring and autumn and was something wonderful. The cavemen 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 horror frost time. Doubtless the step of each was made most springy and each man's valour 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 themes. Even in the days of the cavemen the gulf stream swinging from the equator in the great warm current already formed left the then peninsular as it now laves the potashires. The climate as has been told was almost as equable then as now but with a certain crispiness 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 waited 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 fisherman and so with the hunters 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 aside a moment later as they swept across a bend. But there was something else in sight. Purchased comfortably upon a rock the sides of which was so precipitous that they afforded a foothold only for human beings was a young woman of the shell people who had before attracted absent tension 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 tribes adipts 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 went away from land she could swim like an otter and dive like a loon and of wild beast she had no fear when she was thus safely bestowed away from the death harbouring forest the maiden on the rock was most serene the young men called to her she made no answer she but fished away dimly from time to time hauling up a flashy 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 fisher woman his interest in her grew rapidly and he was silent though oak called out taunting words and asked 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 midcurrent swiftly was a full hundred yards ahead as ab came fairly in her wake a splendid swimmer was the star with young man on the hills he'd 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 on water were not his arms and legs longer and stronger than theirs and his chest deeper he felt that he could out swim 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 pleased to him his strong arms swept the water back and the 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 was a dog like paddling stroke and often she turned her head to look backward at the man she did not even yet appear frightened 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 in 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'd 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 the 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 upflip of her brown heels as she went high in her stroke he now felt easily assured of her and laughed 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 can a woman out swim 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 where they are now and then she taught him something there was a dip such as the auto makes when he sees the dips and there was no longer a girl in sight but this was only a demonstration made in sheer audacity and blitz and 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 which turned upon its side and with quick over-driving leg strokes 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 today the cutter leaves the scar from the riverbank came a wild yelp the significance of which if analyzed might have included astonishment and a 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 dunes 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 of 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 stocking 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 picked and maddened put forth all the swimming strength that was left in his brunny 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 canned prospect of success was only momentary the trifling spot in the distant drips of the river seemed to have certain ideas of its own speed of its course in the water did not abate and in a moment it was carried around the bend and lost his 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's nothing like water for overcoming a young man's fancy for many things ab swam now with the 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 outflammings 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 riverbank 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 breathing good climbing and running and fighting and progressive beings as some girl of hills it matters little what might have happened had the outcome of the day's efforts 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 caveman's way End of Chapter 14 Chapter 15 of the story of ab This is a LibriVox recording while LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Nivedeta Naim The story of ab but Stanley Waterloo Chapter 15 the mammoth at bay it was late autumn and the light snow covered the ground when one day a caveman panting for breath came running down the riverbank and paused at the cave of one year 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 cavemen but of the shell people as well and a great mutual effort for great gain the mammoths were near the point of the upland the run to the cave one year 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 towards the apex of the plateau and then word went all over the region for it was an event in the history of the cavemen 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 actions 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 a rushing about and a gathering of weapons and sorting out of men who should go upon the expedition but little time was wasted but at half an hour ab was training back again up the river towards his own aboard while behind him trailed half a hundred of the shell people armed in a way efficient enough but which in the estimation of the cavemen was preposterous spears of the shell people had shafts of different wood and heads of different material from those of the cavemen and they use their weapons in a different manner accustomed to the spearing of fish or if an occasional water beast like small hippopotamus would 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 use no stone axe 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 hail 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 her and if possible drive the great beast towards 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 cavemen the mammoth was a monster beast with perhaps somewhat less of sagaciousness than the modern elephant but with a temper which was demonical when aroused and with the 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 draw feeding near the slope which led to the precipice the cavemen would have been helpless without the introduction of other elements than their weapons and their clamour the mammoth paid no more attention to the caveman 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 underfoot 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 cavemen had learned to their advantage they could drive the mammoth when they dare not venture to attack him and herein laid their advantage under direction of the veteran hunter Hilton who had discovered the whereabouts of the draw preparations were made for the dangerous vans and the first thing done was the breaking of of dried roots of the overturned pitch pines and gathering of knots of the same trees with limbs attached to service handlers these roots and knots once lighted would blaze for hours and made the most perfect of natural torches lens 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 then this provision was made the band was stretched out in a long line and a silent advance began through the forest herd of mammoths was composed of 19 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 for great days 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 500 yards in length and as there were more than 100 of the hunters the line which could be formed would be most effective lighted bunk which preserved fire and gave forth no order to speak of as carried by a number of the men and the advance began it had been an exhilarating scene when the cavemen 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 hunt 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 abben 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 of 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 man 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 to wealth huge objects of their search the caveman almost a wild beast himself in some of his ways had on occasion a football as light as that of any animal of the time the twigs carefully crackly and the leafs carefully rustle beneath his thread 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 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 at the penicillin narrowed the quarry was brought inside of oil 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 curling tusks loomed above them all and was farthest away in the grove hunters hidden in the forest lay voiceless and motionless until the elders decided to go on 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 grown 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 trend as that yell ascended 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 was feeding at the grove's outer verge they came on great mountains of flesh but severed 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 saved 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 instead looming up a magnificent creature of unrival size and majesty his huge tusks shone out widely against the mountain of dark shaggy hair his small eyes blazed viciously as he raised his trunk and trumpeted out what seemed either a host's call to his herd or a roar of agony or restraint 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 but 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 view trying in vain to pierce him in the belly with his flint headed spear and as the mammoth came for a moment of 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 tree the body as its truck 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 but 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 dangers from the half crazed hunters he lunged forward slipped upon the smooth glacial flow 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 in a blanch of ice snow and shrubs went crashing to his death a hundred feet below end of chapter 15 chapter 16 of the story of ab this is a LibriVox recording or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Christine Blashford the story of ab by Stanley Waterloo chapter 16 the Feast of the Mammoth to the right and left of the precipice the fall to the plane 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 plane in an incredibly short space of time absolute silence prevailed in and about the grove where the scene had lately been so fiercely staring in the valley below there was wildest clamour 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 site 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 threaded wooden 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 awakers 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 beach leaf and bark wide-eyed and curious coming upon the scene as a sort of advance guard and proudly greeting ab all about was had clucking torque and laughter and occasional shouts and ever the cracking of stone upon the more fragile thing as the monsters 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 caveman 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 shellfish which made a portion of his food then he had spent a foot 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 interestingly constantly the number of the feast is increased and by midday 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 in 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 a relative there has never occurred an affair of more social importance within the century 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 gormand 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 favoured portion of the mammoth and each rent away an occasional mouthful with much content suddenly abs 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 abs wondering 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 today 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 to 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 caveman 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 sake or comfort not much weight of foreign texture in addition to her own her suit 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 an 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 today 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 caveman 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 roundabout 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 in a bark of some tree hung upon the middle of her flat insetting 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 those slenderer were quite a suggestive of quick and strong grasping capabilities but there was with all the proof of springiness and lightness 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 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 an 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 odd 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 non-plussed 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 stake of the mammoth's choices 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 horse 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 mocks 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 path towards 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 end of chapter sixteen 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 precautions 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 sabertooth chance 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 Abbott 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 want 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 unnameable force which has changed men and women throughout all the ages the picture of abbs 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 that she was not afraid all the time she could see abbs 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 out racing 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 homework 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 to 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 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 through their stone axes sometimes at each other always it is true with warning cries but with such wild and conscious 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 merri 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 travellers 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 error had indicated at a white fungus growth which protruded from the tree it was a matter of accuracy this time ab lept 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 fire 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 axe and his long and keen stone knife he would at least hurt something sorely before he was eating 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 sensing 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 abs hurt and fall but had thought it a trifling matter since no outcry came from those 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 abs 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 crouched 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 a mingled with what we call honor came to this young caveman 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 cavemen 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 oaks 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 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 a stir there was brief though hearty feeding and then ab and oak an old mock 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 accepting the stern and critical old teacher when they thus met together in the wood and the secret of what to 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 light for it myself ab and mock started for the cave again ab bow in hand and with ready arrow there was a pattern of feet upon leaves in the wood beside them and then the arrow was fitted to the string while old mock 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 quickie is 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 mocks sturdy and unconsciously fatalistic was more self-contained than the youth at his side bow armed and with flintax 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 they're bounded into it gambling 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 born end of chapter 17 chapter 18 of the story of ebb this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Magdalena Cook the story of ebb by Stanley Waterloo chapter 18 Love and Death different from his former self became this young forester ebb 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 learned things so it chanced that Lightfoot could wander farther afield than could most girls of the time ebb knew all this well for the quality of expert and venturism of hilltop was familiar to all the cavemen throughout a wide stretch of country so ebb somewhat shame-faced to his own consciousness hunted in a region not the best for spoil and looked for a girl he 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 a 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 the first impulses toward the girl this was a new train of thought and as we recognize it today 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 riversbank as 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 upheaved and there had been race good soil for giant forest 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 a fit upon these again all the flesh eaters to her 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 drive caves within its limits but in none of them had a cave man yet ventured to make his home it was towards 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 man 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 their meat 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 love alike 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 axe he chipped away the cavern sharp protuberances at each side and with the stone chips from the walls and with what he had 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 passageway 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 researching and waiting but yet resolute had killed a capricalsi the great grass-like bird of the time the descendants of which live today 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 a big branch for a bed supported on either side by green up-springing 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 a 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 the 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 wave 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 today 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-awaken man and though he lay back on the rugged wooden bed and half dosed 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 turbulent 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 light foot 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 absentmindedly 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 bell 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 embedded in the ground uproads the crest of a granite stone picking up pebble after pebble in her admirable toes light foot was engaged in throwing them one after another at the outstanding point of granite utilising 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 treetop looked on admiringly how perfect a form was she how bright the face and then forgetting himself he cried aloud and slid from the branches easily and swiftly as any serpent and started running toward the girl he must have her with this cry the girl leaped to her feet and as she reached the ground recognised 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 and then turned and ran toward an 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 great as 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 today the one who manages races of all sorts it would have been worthwhile 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 tylus 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 forced redding 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 hilltops 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 loose 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 on wood 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 ride 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 passed one of the inletting paths entering almost at right angles from the left she did not pass it she leaped into an 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 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 where 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 she 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 fell to self-free she stood for a moment or two without a moment with wide open eyes looking upon what was happening before her then she bounded away not looking backward as she ran 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 off 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 axe of oak and made it look gray the raised axe of ab which was of a lighter colored stone was in the shade and its yellow nest 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 off the two as they stood thus in the fray lean forward suddenly his arms are loft while from his hand dropped the blue axe he floundered down uncouthly and grasped the beach leaves with his hands and then lay still ab stood there weaponless a creature wandering of mind his yellow axe 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 axe away and lifted it to a level with his eye and went to where the sunlight shone the axe was not yellow anymore meanwhile a girl was flitting toward her home and the shadows of the waning day were deepening end of chapter 18