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Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
bones and teeth, as a mark of their skill and bravery in the hunt.
Great teeth cunningly fastened together made necklaces that spoke
every day more loudly than a man’s voice of what that man had done.
But as pride grew in these emblems of prowess, little by little the
people of the tribe began to use these hides for other things. They
found that, with holes punched along the edges, through which a
thong might be drawn, as a gathering string about a handbag, these
skins made water bags that one could carry on a far journey, taking
with him drink for a whole day. But it was only when the sun beat
down like the flames of the fire that they thought much on these
things. Then thoughts of water and the milk of the cocoanut were
never long absent.
It was at the time of the year when the scorching rays of the
summer sun had licked dry all the little brooks and most of the
springs that Laughing Boy and Web Toe, he who could outswim the
fastest fishes, planned an excursion over the hills in search of wild
honey.
They were 14 years old and stood straight and brown and almost as
tall as the men of the tribe, but they had not yet learned to have care
for all the dangers that lurked in the unknown ways, as older men.
They were proud of the wild skins that lay hot and heavy on their
shoulders and the teeth that made chains about their throats. They
were never done showing the trophies they had gathered in the hunt
to their young companions. And they boasted much, for they were
more strong than the other boys of the clan.
Laughing Boy was proud of his water bag which, when the thong
was tightly drawn and the bag was filled with water, spilled scarcely a
single drop, while Web Toe beat much of the time upon his drum or
tom-tom which he believed made the most beautiful music in the
world. This tom-tom he had made by stretching the soft skin of some
small animal over a willow branch bent and fastened in a circle.
The older members of the tribe were stretched in the cooling shade
near the river bank, or sleeping the sleep that comes from much
eating in the cool of the caves. But the children and the youths
romped about, vyeing with each other in games of sport and in feats
of strength. Among these Web Toe and Laughing Boy were easily the
victors, throwing their boomerangs and their stone weapons further
and with greater accuracy than any of the others.
Laughing Boy had now smeared his whole chest with the deep
vermilion juice of “the Make Brave” plant and Web Toe had gouged
holes in both ears, from which hung half a dozen shells and cougar
teeth and they strutted about in the glory of their strength and
budding manhood.
But at last they stole away from the others and softly made their
way through the thicket and on up and over the hill to the high
places, where the dry grass crackled and rustled beneath their
scurrying feet. Laughing and chattering they ran, flinging care and
caution to the winds, racing to see which would be the quicker to
reach this point or that, and again speeding on to make the giant
banyan trees.
Here they paused to rest and to laugh softly, and the cunning of all
wood creatures came back to their straggling senses and they
proceeded cautiously, chattering more softly and laughing more
quietly.
Laughing Boy carried his stone weapon and his water bag, which
bulged with ample fullness, while Web Foot brandished his tom-tom
in one hand and his stone sling in the other. Only now he made not a
sound with his beloved music box. It was a time to avoid the
creatures of the forest, though all were sleepy and lazy from
abundant food and the warmth of the sun.
They jabbered of the “sweet, sweet,” meaning wild honey, which
they meant to take back to the tribe and with which they intended to
show the other youths how much more clever and courageous they
were than the other boys in the clan.
With every gay and confident step as they advanced up the small
plateau the land grew more parched. Laughing Boy, who saw things
that escaped the eyes of Web Toe pointed to little hollows now and
then which had been dried by the sun, and when Web Toe, soon
grown thirsty, sought to take his bag for a drink, Laughing Boy shook
his head. “No,” he said, and pointed to the sun high overhead. He
meant to save the water for the journey caveward.
Berries they ate and nuts gathered hastily on the way, and when
they neared the tall cocoanut palms both boys, forgetting the dangers
that might beset them, dashed their heavy weapons to the ground
and rushed forward. In a few moments both were encircling the
straight, tall trunks of the trees with their arms and, climbing up
them in a sort of walk, their toes pressed close and almost clinging to
the bark. Soon the great nuts were tumbling to the ground and the
boys slid back to refresh themselves with the sweet of cocoanut milk.
But the thicket parted and an angry and suspicious black she-bear
lumbered toward them with two curious, tumbling black cubs at her
heels. It was no time to dispute for the possession of their weapons.
It was not the time to pause for a drink of cocoanut milk, and so,
with a pretense at nonchalance, as though they had seen nothing and
had no concern in the two rollicking cubs, Laughing Boy and Web
Toe glided toward the thicket. They knew that females of every
species are eager to contest the right of all ways when accompanied
by their young. And their courage lay with their stone weapons.
The black bear sniffed angrily and slowly followed the boys. Her
little red eyes rolled wickedly. The two curious cubs dashed on ahead
to learn what manner of beast these new animals were. And mother
bruin quickened her pace.
Her heart was running over with fears for her
young and she considered that particular part of the
woods her own domain. A deep humming filled the
ears of the boys as they broke into a run and
Laughing Boy cried softly, “sweet, sweet,” for he
smelled wild honey.
The cubs ran still faster for they remembered the
feasts they had enjoyed when, guided by their
mother, they had last visited the wood. With the old
bear close behind, Laughing Boy flung himself out
and upward, grasping the tough vines of the “oo-oee”
in his hands and pulling himself up on a large stone
slab, where he lay panting for breath.
Web Toe scrambled up a slim pine and wedged
himself between two slender forked limbs. There he
huddled, peering about in fear of new dangers. But
he saw nothing and, presently, grown bolder he
looked down at the bear which stood on hind legs
gazing angrily up at him. Now and then she would
run away and dash back, jolting the tree and setting the branches
aquiver.
Web Toe forgot all caution and jeered down at the enemy. He
pulled his tom-tom around and over his shoulder and beat it
triumphantly with his fists while the black bear tried to climb the
tree and failed, because it was slender of trunk.
Laughing Boy lay on the smooth boulder, flat upon his belly,
making no sound. Not a muscle betrayed him. Only his eyes moved
following the movements of the black bear. Apparently she had
forgotten all about him.
He wanted to call out to Web Toe to be silent. Web Toe seemed to
think the matter was a joke, but Laughing Boy knew better. It was
true he and Web Toe were at the moment safely out of reach of the
enemy’s claws, but if she remained on watch how would they get
down to earth again?
All that afternoon Web Toe was compelled to cling to the fork of
the pine tree. Soon he grew quiet, for he remembered that safety lies
in silence. He folded his arms about a branch and made himself as
flat and inconspicuous as he could.
The cubs curled themselves up at their mother’s feet and went to
sleep and, at length, close to the pine tree, she also seemed to doze.
It might have been possible for Laughing Boy to slide down the
opposite side of the boulder and steal away unnoticed. Who can say?
It may have been a fear of the long journey back to the cave people
alone that deterred him. Anyway, he clung to the rock and waited. A
long drink from his water bag relieved his thirst and he, too, fell
asleep. But there was no drinking for poor Web Toe. He had only his
marvelous tom-tom in place of a water bag, and his lips grew
parched and he longed to scream from fear and thirst.
After a long time darkness came and at last the moon arose, and
still the two boys neither moved nor spoke. The cubs awoke and
stretched themselves and moved about, and at last the black bear
arose also and led them away to some hidden spring known only to
herself.
Then, very cautiously, Web Toe slid to the ground and called to
Laughing Boy, who joined him, and together, with great fear in their
hearts, they turned their faces homeward.
 And all that fearful, weary way Web Toe thought of new dangers
and of cool springs and Laughing Boy’s emptied water bag. Never
again would he go honey-hunting or any other sort of hunting in the
dry season without water at his side. And when at last they reached
the dwelling place of the tribe Web Toe ran to the spring and threw
himself into the water and drank until he was near water-logged.
And so Web Toe became the great waterman of the tribe—another
great waterman, who spoke always words of warning of the terrible
things that may befall boys and girls and men and women, who
journey far from the spring without a bag of water.
Stories he told the people of the tribe on his return with Laughing
Boy of how, sick of thirst, he had faced the black bear and driven her
before him. But he had nothing to prove his words, for Laughing Boy
returned also empty-handed.
It was adventures like this that taught the Cave People and all the
other tribes to travel close to the water’s edge. And so it was that
when the Foolish One made the first clay pot, the people praised him
and called him Wise.
The clay pot was the accident of a fool. Many great discoveries
have been the accidents of other fools. For wise people do always
everything as nearly as possible as their fathers have done and new
things are only learned through departures into new ways.
The Foolish One had discovered the use of fire by playing with a
burning branch ignited by the lightning in the forest. A fool bestrode
the first wild horse and rode upon its back. Nearly always it was the
fools who did things first. Wise Men were too wise—they had seen
too many fools die of their folly.
The fingers of the Foolish One were never idle. He made many
things and he pulled as many to pieces again. The people of the tribe
had grown very skillful in weaving baskets from tough grasses. They
even made hats to keep out the sun and later they wove willows into
rude roofs, which they patched with clay from the river banks to keep
out the rain.
The baskets which they made were almost water-tight and the
Foolish One made many baskets. Each time he worked harder and
wove these baskets more tightly, but they all leaked when he filled
them with water from the spring.
 One day he made a basket shaped like a bowl and lined it with
clay; then he wove the grasses upward like the neck of a large bottle,
dipping his fingers inside to plaster it with more clay, for he wanted
to surprise the folk with a basket that would carry water without
leaking. But when all was done he forgot his plans and went
swimming in a pool, and when next he saw the basket he tossed it
into the fire, so sure was he that it would leak as all baskets leaked.
And there, in the red flames, beheld by all the members of the
tribe, lay the marvelous basket with its clay lining. And soon the
grasses of the basket burned away and when the fire died down the
Foolish One saw the clay lining lying among the coals. It was round
and firm and almost perfect in shape. He peered into it and running
to the river, filled it with water. And, marvel of marvels! the clay had
grown hard in the fire and the first jug the tribe had ever made or
seen or dreamed of, held water, from which there leaked not one
single drop.
For a long time the Cave People made their jugs by lining baskets
with clay and burning off the grasses, leaving the jugs unmarred, till
they learned newer and better ways of making pottery.
 X
The ARROW THROWERS

F or many years the Bow and Arrow Folks had been the most
ferocious as well as the most skillful of all the tribes that dwelt in
the heart of the luxuriant lands along the banks of the Father of
Rivers. Every other tribe had long since learned to hate and fear
them beyond any other living creatures.
The Bow and Arrow Folks might wander whithersoever they
wished, might drive the Hairy Folk and the Tree Dwellers and the
Cave People from the places that had known them, might bring death
and destruction in their train, provided only that they traveled and
fought in numbers and bore wide quivers filled with very many of
their magical stinging darts.
Up to the appearance of the Dart or Arrow Throwers, with their
marvelous weapons, the Cave People had always been able to meet
their human foes on terms nearly approaching equality. The Hairy
People and the Tree Dwellers, and even the man-eaters, had all to
come to close quarters in their life and death contests. Then there
was much to the advantage of the Cave People, who were of heavier
build and who possessed greater strength and speed of limb than any
of their man enemies. None of these was able to shoot a dart across
the river into the breast of an enemy.
But the Arrow People were more fearful than the great saber-tooth
himself. One could dig pits, covered with branches of leaves in the
hope that they might stumble into these and hence be dispatched to
the long sleep; it was quite as likely as not that the Arrow People
would not approach near enough to fall into them.
When the Arrow People came whooping over the hills sending
down their rain of arrows into the flesh of the Cave People, Strong
Arm had gathered his small band about the big fire where they had
crouched low. But even the protecting blaze could not prevail against
the invaders. Their darts flew through the smoke and the flame and
pinned more than one of the Cave People to the earth.
And when Strong Arm was wounded so that blood dripped red
from a hole in his breast the Cave People flung themselves into the
brush and made their way on their bellies as silent as snakes, far out
beyond the old hollow. With much caution they gathered together
about some grey stone boulders that banked the wild berry thicket.
Then it was that some one silently gathered twigs and leaves and
dead branches for the making of a fire. And a youth struck a spark
from his flint stones and by the light of the flames the Cave People
saw and were astonished that it was One Ear who had come back to
his own people.
No one of the older members of the tribe had forgotten One Ear
nor how he had lost one of his ears when he was only a small boy not
many moons from his mother’s breast. It was this way:
One Ear had wandered from the caves and beyond the space where
it was safe for the children of the tribe to go alone. No one marked
his ramblings and he chattered and scampered about, plucking the
red blossoms of the eegari and chasing birds from their nests in
happy content. But he had not gone far when he heard the grunt of
the wild and hairy hog which was thrusting her short tusk into the
soil for tender roots. A litter of small black pigs followed close to
their mother’s side and set up a mighty squealing when they beheld
in One Ear a possible enemy.
Immediately the old sow turned upon One Ear and bit at his feet
and snapped at his legs and tripped him. Then she flew upon him
with the wild fury of the forest mother who believes her young to be
endangered. One Ear raised his own voice in yells of terror and threw
up his arms and rolled into the bushes and sent his small brown feet
kicking with mighty show into the face of the foe.
And the uproar increased while the blood poured from the side of
the boy’s head whence the wild sow had torn his small ear in her
attack. Soon the mother of One Ear and other members of the tribe
of Cave People appeared with their long bone weapons in their hands
and killed the hog and carried back as many of the young pigs as had
not scampered away in the conflict. And there was much feasting in
the Hollow that day and a great noise from the wails of One Ear,
whose wounds were many times licked and plastered and caressed by
his distracted mother.
And so the boy came to be called One Ear. It was impossible to
forget one so distinctly different from other members of the tribe of
Cave People and so, when One Ear was later captured by the Arrow
Folk during a raid made on the people of the Hollow, One Ear was
long mourned and thought of by the tribe.
Now he was come back to his own people. And in the light made by
the flames of the fire, the Cave People saw that he bore many of the
strange darts that the enemy had used with so much skill and
accuracy. The Cave People were almost afraid of him, but One Ear at
once showed himself friendly and busied himself in helping to build
coverings of sticks and brush and leaves to form huts for the tribe.
The night was very dark and the Cave People were worn and weary
and very much afraid. They knew very little about the life and the
woods and the things that surrounded them. When a man stumbled
over a loose stone and slipped and fell, the Cave People believed that
some of the tribe’s numerous enemies had wrought the evil.
Little they understood of the causes of the natural events that
occurred around and to them. And so they peopled the woods, the
Hollow, the night and all things with spirits or evil ghosts that sought
to do them harm.
There were terrors everywhere, both the enemies which they could
see and the enemies which they could not see. The enemies who
dwelt in in the dead tree trunks that lay upon the ground over which
they stumbled, the spirits who were hidden in the stones that
scratched their feet, the evil magicworkers who entered their
stomachs and made them sick and haunted the feet of the unwary to
cause them to faint before the blows of the Arrow People and who
sent men and women upon the Long Sleep from which their spirits
arose to prowl about over the lands.
Primitive men knew nothing about natural laws. They had no ideas
about what caused the rain; therefore, they thought someone made it
rain. They knew nothing about the melting of snows upon the
mountain tops that flowed downward, swelling the Father of Rivers
far beyond “his” banks and thus causing the floods; therefore, some
evil enemy wrought the disaster.
They knew truly that men and women did not altogether die. All
men possessed two selves—the self with whom you might fight and
dance, whom you might touch and see and smell in the light of broad
day. Then there was also a spirit self, who came to you in dreams and
who worked evil or good unto you.
When a child was lost in the wood and devoured by the wild
enemies of the tribe, the people knew that it was an evil spirit that
had lured his footsteps into the danger.
It is true, too, that they believed in good spirits; the spirits who
sent rain when the earth was parched; the kindly magic-makers who
delivered an attacking enemy into your hand to his own disaster,
who stood beside you unseen during great dangers and thrust forth
obstructions in the paths of those who would take you unawares.
But considered in a broad way, from the viewpoint of primitive
man, the world was peopled chiefly with enemies who were down
upon you at the slightest opening, who might anywhere and in the
strangest form imaginable pounce upon you to your own destruction
or disaster.
It cheered the Cave People greatly when they saw that One Ear had
returned to the tribe bringing some of the magical arrows, so
effectively employed by the Dart Throwers. They believed that the
bone javelin of Strong Arm possessed some of the strength and skill
of this mighty cave man; they knew that the dried head of the green
snake which had been killed by Big Foot and a great boulder were
filled with his valor and his wisdom, for they had seen Run Fast
elude the wild boar with this snake head in her hands. If any one
thing was sure in all the muddle of strange things and stranger
events in this world, it was that weapons or adornments or tools,
acquired the characteristics of their owners, and that these
characteristics might be transferred to him who was fortunate
enough to secure them. The darts or the arrows of the Dart Throwers
brought skill to the holders and so the Cave People were cheered
when they beheld the darts in the hands of One Ear.
All through the night, as they huddled and shivered in the
shadows, the Cave People kept the big fire burning and listened for
the Arrow People. It was when the moon rode high in the heavens
that the soft wind brought the scent of the enemy approaching with
quiet and with caution. With quivering nostrils Strong Arm, who, in
spite of the pain he suffered from his wounds, was the first to smell
the coming Arrow Throwers, gathered the tribe behind the
protection of the giant rocks.
And when they advanced within the circle of light thrown out by
the flames of the fire, One Ear drew his great bow to his shoulder and
sent arrow after arrow into the gleaming breasts of those who made
the attack, until the Arrow people were confounded and afraid and
fled away in the night whence they had come.
And for days there was peace and the Cave People encamped
themselves near a fresh water hole and built more mud caves and
huts of the branches of trees. But evil spirits hovered over Strong
Arm and entered into him and gave him fever and sickness and pain
from the wound in his breast, until at last he died in the night and his
Spirit passed out of his body. So thought the Cave Dwellers.
And they mourned for Strong Arm, both in their hearts and with
loud voices, for they knew that his spirit would hover about to see
what they said of his words and his deeds and they desired very
strongly to please and propitiate the Spirit of Strong Arm, for he had
always been a powerful and wise man, able to help those he loved
and bring evil to those whom he had hated. And they wanted to win
the support and friendship of the Spirit of Strong Arm in order that it
might work good in their behalf.
So even Big Foot, who had always feared and envied Strong Arm,
spoke loudly in his behalf, saying “Brave, Brave, Strong, Strong,” and
he screamed as though he had lost his best friend. This was all done
to show the Spirit of Strong Arm in what high esteem Big Foot held
him.
The Cave People chopped up the body of Strong Arm and roasted
his arms and his legs and his head on the coals so that every member
of the tribe might acquire some of the noble virtues of the mighty
chief by eating a portion of his body. To Laughing Boy was
apportioned the hands of his father, and he ate them, stripping the
flesh from the bones so that his own hands might become skillful and
quick in killing the enemy. The remainder of the body of Strong Arm
was laid in a cavity in the earth, along with his sharp bone javelin,
and his stone knife and his flint; and food also, which they knew he
would need in the Spirit Land where he had gone. These things they
covered with earth and leaves and weighed them down with heavy
stones so that neither wild boar, nor any other wild animal might
devour the remains of Strong Arm.
And in the night the Spirit of Strong Arm came back to his people
in their dreams, telling them many things. Once he appeared in a
dream to Quack Quack, with his bone javelin in his hands, and the
cry of danger upon his lips and a long arrow thrust in his hair. And
Quack Quack and the Cave People knew that this was a warning to
them that the Arrow Throwers were again stealing upon them to
drive them from their new land, so they gathered up their bone
weapons, and the bow and arrows which One Ear had brought, and
their knives and their adornments, and wandered toward the North
in the hope of escaping.
But the Hairy Folk fell upon them, and the Man-eaters and the
Tree People nagged them and stole their food and wrecked disaster
at every step, so that there was no peace, only constant fighting and
death and terror in all the days.
So the Cave People traveled wearily and furtively, ever farther
North, where the fruit grows only in one season and the cold
descends over the earth for a long period of the year, and where men
are only able to survive by learning new things and new methods of
keeping food against the barren days.
Then, more than in all the previous history of their lives, the Cave
People began to progress, began to plan, to build, to preserve and
store food and finally to bury one tuber in order that it might become
the father of many potatoes; to salt their meats so that they would
not spoil and finally they discovered that skins used formerly only as
a means of adornment, or decoration—skins which had formerly
been merely visible proof of a man’s skill and valor in the hunt, were
a warm and comfortable protection against the cold days which had
come upon them in the strange new land.
Many died and many fell in the long wars that the Cave People
fought during their long journey to the North country, but One Ear
grew strong and wise and tall in his young manhood. And, because of
the things he had learned from the Arrow Throwers, he became a
leader of the tribe, which he taught also to hurl the death-tipped
darts, both to bring down the beasts of the forests and for the
protection of the tribe in battle with its human enemies.
And so the cool climate and the changing seasons drove the Cave
People to learn, to discover, to invent. And for the first time they
began to consider the earth and to subdue a little of it for their own
food and clothing and for their own shelter and security.
 XI
THE FIRST PRIEST

A lthough Strong Arm, who was the wisest and strongest and
swiftest man among the Cave People had been dead, and in part
eaten and in part buried beneath a great pile of earth and stones, the
Cave People felt sure that he had not remained dead.
More than one of the members of the tribe had seen him fighting
and hunting, eating and dancing, during the dreams that come in the
night, and so they believed that a part of Strong Arm, the spirit or
ghost part of Strong Arm, still lived. Again and again he had
appeared to them in the spirit, or in dreams, to advise them about
the things the tribe intended to do.
The Cave People were unable to understand these things and there
was nobody to tell them that dreams were not of the world of reality.
And so they believed that Strong Arm still lived, and that other dead
men and women and children of the tribe still lived in the Spirit
World. It was true that the spirits of these dead did not appear in the
broad light of day, but the Cave People believed that they haunted
their old grounds, invisible to the eyes of their tribesman.
They believed that the spirits of the dead may return to befriend
the members of the tribe, or to hinder their enemies, provided,
always, that the members of the tribe enlisted their aid and their
affections.
Now Big Foot, since there was no longer the wise voice of Strong
Arm, nor the mighty strength of the old chief to enforce the good of
his people, set himself to become the leader of the Cave People. He
slashed his hairy thighs with his flint knife to prove how brave he
was, allowing the gashes to become sores in order to prolong the
evidence of his courage. He strutted about and waved his poison-
tipped arrows when the young men refused to listen to his words.
Also he rubbed the noses of all the women of the tribe and sought to
caress them, attempting to drive the men of the tribe from the new
nests, or caves or huts, which they had built in the far North country
so many moon journeys from the old hollow where little Laughing
Boy was born.
Big Foot boasted with a loud voice and bullied the children and
spoke soft words to the women, while he glared at the young men
and urged them into the forest to hunt for food. Always he kept his
poisoned darts at his side and he managed to secure for himself the
tenderest portion of the young goats which the people had
discovered leaping and running wild amid the sharp slopes and crags
of the mountains.
So the tribe grew weary of his sorry ruling and there was much
fighting and discord, which laid them open to the attacks of their
many enemies.
Without doubt Big Foot was possessed of much cunning, for while
other men of the tribe were as strong of limb and as fleet of foot, Big
Foot was more powerful than they. Longer was his arm because he
had learned first how to make and to wield his great bow and arrows
almost as well as young One Ear, who had escaped from the Arrow
Throwers and returned to his own people, the Cave Dwellers,
bringing knowledge of the weapons of these strange enemies.
The Cave Dwellers had paused in their journeyings and battlings
northward, on the banks of the lake that shone like white fire When
the sun beat down upon its rolling surface. The way was new to them
and unknown dangers threatened everywhere and they had utmost
need to walk warily, lest a new tribe descend upon them with some
new weapon of destruction and turn them back into the dangers they
had outstripped.
Instead of holding the people together with wise words and instead
of preparing to search out the lands to prepare for the strange evils
that lie in wait for primitive man whenever he travels beyond the
ways of his experience, Big Foot caused nothing but conflict. It was
only his superior skill in the use of the flint-tipped arrows, which the
Cave People were acquiring very rapidly, that prevented him from
being slain by the members of the tribe.
 Then it was that One Ear dreamed a dream. He thought that his
spirit had journeyed far into the spirit world where it encountered
the spirit of Strong Arm. And Strong Arm had spoken with One Ear,
sending words of wisdom to the people of the tribe. He had called Big
Foot the enemy of the Cave People. And when he wakened in the
morning, One Ear remembered his dream. So he gathered all the
people together and told them these things. And no man or woman
among them knew that he spoke only of a dream. They believed that
the spirit of Strong Arm still lived and that the things in One Ear’s
dream had actually occurred.
So the Cave People chattered together and gesticulated and stole
the fresh meat Big Foot had hidden in his cave and menaced him
from cover by shaking their clubs and growling like angry dogs. Big
Foot fled to his branch hut, where he glared at the members of the
tribe and waved his long arrows.
The Cave People had long respected the words of Strong Arm and
when they heard what he had spoken to One Ear in a dream, they
hated Big Foot more fiercely than ever.
At last Big Foot returned to the people of the tribe, many of whom
were sitting about a wood fire, and he spoke to them, trying to gain
their good will and attempting to show them that none was so swift,
so strong or so brave as he. But the people screamed “Strong Arm!
Strong Arm!” to remind Big Foot that the old chief had spoken
against him.
And Big Foot grew frantic with the rage that came upon him. He
seized the club of Strong Arm which had been given to Laughing Boy
in order that he might derive from it some of the virtue of bravery
which his father, Strong Arm, had possessed. Big Foot spat upon it
and crushed it beneath a great stone; then he hurled the shattered
fragments far out into the green waters of the lake.
All the Cave People shivered with fear, for they thought this was a
very foolish thing. They believed that the spirits of the dead grow
angry when their weapons are broken or destroyed and they felt sure
that the spirit of Strong Arm would punish Big Foot for the
desecration he had worked on the club of the old chief.
But Big Foot was too angry to be afraid. White foam appeared
upon his lips. When he thought of the spirit of Strong Arm he longed
for a tangible foe, with flesh upon his bones that he might crush, with
red juice in his skin that he might spill, with ears and a nose that he
might bite and twist and tear. He desired an enemy into whose soft
belly he might hurl one of his sharp arrows.
But there were only the Cave People beside him and the menace in
their eyes and their lips, pulled back, snarling from their teeth, made
him afraid. So he lifted up his voice in a frenzy of hate and scorn
while he called the name of “Strong Arm! Strong Arm! Maker of lies;”
he called him, and “Fool! Coward! Weak One! Baby!” and “Snake-
that-crawls!” while he made violent gestures of hatred and disgust.
The Cave People watched him fearfully. To them it did not seem
the part of wisdom to mock and defy the spirit of Strong Arm, which
still lived, though his body had perished. Something was bound to
happen. Strong Arm had never permitted any man to speak thus of
him when he was living in the flesh and they did not believe his spirit
would endure insult from Big Foot. Indeed, yes, something was sure
to happen.
But it was not good for the whole tribe to be punished or blamed
for the foolishness of Big Foot. This they knew and they made haste
to put wide distances between themselves and him, pursuing their
own work or their own ends with much ostentation as far as possible
removed from his presence. If the spirit of Strong Arm was hiding in
the valley and had chanced to overhear the evil words of Big Foot, no
flat-headed savage among the tribe wanted Strong Arm to fancy he
had anything to do with these things. They washed their hands of the
whole affair and departed from the immediate presence of Big Foot.
The more Big Foot raved, the oftener One Ear called upon the
spirit of Strong Arm, crying:
“Brave one! Wise one! Swift of foot” and “Give us of thy counsel!”
And the Cave People began talking in loud voices of the good deeds
of their old chief, of his courage and strength, of his wisdom and his
“Eye-that-never-slept.”
While Big Foot defied the spirit of Strong Arm, One Ear and the
Cave People sought to propitiate him with loud words of admiration
and some flattery.
“Stronger than the hairy mastodon” they called him and “Father of
all the lions.” He could outleap the mountain goat and outclimb the
longest armed ou-rang-oo-tang. His voice was like the thunder and
his breath like the winds that bend the trees on the river banks.
They felt more certain than ever that something was going to
happen. They expected the spirit of Strong Arm to make it happen.
But they did not desire to share in untoward events if a little
information given to the spirit of Strong Arm could prevent this
thing.
But the day passed, and the sun slid down the wings of the sky into
the red fire of the lake, and still Big Foot strutted about with loud
and boasting words. Still the Cave People waited and hoped, and
were afraid.
And that night the spirit of Strong Arm again appeared to One Ear
in a dream and his voice was fierce with anger against Big Foot and,
in the dream, he counselled One Ear to tell the Cave People to push
Big Foot from the tallest crag along the mountain gorge so that his
body would be crushed upon the sharp stones below.
In the morning One Ear told these things to the people of the tribe
and they drank the words of Strong Arm eagerly, begging Big Foot to
join in a hunt for the wild goat amid the slopes of the mountain. But
Big Foot was afraid and hid in his hut, making queer mouthings and
snatching food from the children and waving his sharp arrows.
So the Cave People gathered about One Ear urging him to meet the
spirit of Strong Arm once more and to ask for more wisdom on how
to dispatch the evil man who brought dangers and conflict to the
tribe.
Again in the morning One Ear called the people together, saying
that the spirit of Strong Arm counselled the people to build fires
about the hut of Big Foot in the night so that he might be destroyed.
And so, when darkness wrapped the valley in her soft folds, the
Cave People stole from their shelters, each bearing branches and
glowing coals from the camp fire, which they hurled in the door of
Big Foot, with stones and spears so that he might not escape and
injure the tribe.
The night was black and Big Foot was unable to hit the people with
his sharp arrows. Coals were thrown upon the dry thatch of his hut
and soon the flames encircled him with their burning tongues.
 And when it was discovered that his body was burned to ashes and
that the spirit of Big Foot had escaped, the Cave People rejoiced in
their hearts. But their lips were dumb. For the first time they spoke
well of Big Foot, whom they hated in their hearts. For was not the
fate of Big Foot proof of the foolishness of speaking ill of the dead!
Was not the victory of the Cave People who had spoken well of
Strong Arm proof of their wisdom in these things?
The Cave People believed the spirit of Big Foot would be actively
inimical to the tribe, just as they believed that the spirit of Strong
Arm had proved itself to be the friendly father of the people.
And One Ear continued to dream dreams, which he related to the
Cave People, giving them words of wisdom and courage from the
spirit of Strong Arm and evil words from the spirit of Big Foot. Thus
they grew to believe wondrous things of Strong Arm. His virtues
grew with the passing of the suns, just as his strength increased and
his wisdom was extolled until he became almost a god to the people
of the tribe.
And when ill befell the Cave People, One Ear told them it had been
caused by the evil spirit of Big Foot and when they escaped from
these evils, he reported how the spirit of Strong Arm had befriended
the tribe. Always was One Ear dreaming dreams. He told how the
spirit of Strong Arm had counselled the people to make of Big Nose
their leader and chief, which they did.
As he grew in years and in power, One Ear demanded that the best
joints of meat, the warmest place by the fire, the safest cave or hut,
be his portion. These things he declared were the commands of
Strong Arm.
And so One Ear became a great man of the tribe. When the forest
fire swept the plains and drove the wild fowl and the forest animals
far inland, and brought famine to the Cave People, One Ear reported
that the spirit of Strong Arm had done these things to punish the
people because they had not brought young fowl, of which he was
very fond, every day to One Ear.
Thus One Ear became the first priest of the tribe, protected before
other men in order that the good spirits might not take vengeance
upon the tribe should ill befall him. People brought him sharp knives
and soft skins with which he made himself warm when the far
northern winds blew cold in the winter time. And One Ear said good
words to the great spirits for these bearers of gifts, so that they might
be prospered and escape the sharp tooth of the crocodile.
By and by there came other dreamers of dreams who spoke with
the great spirits and also brought messages to the people. Strong
arms of the tribe clashed and there were great battles among the
Cave People, till the Pretenders were slain, when once more peace
and harmony reigned within the valley upon the shores of the great
lake.
 QUESTIONS

For Those Holding Classes in Sociology for Children.

 I

THE FIRE BEAST

1 In what sort of a climate may we expect to find prehistoric man

during the period of Lower Savagery, when he was without
tools or weapons except of the most primitive kind? Why?
2 Since agriculture in that early day was wholly unknown and
unnecessary, on what did the people subsist?
3 Did they cook their food? Why not?
4 Imagine yourself placed upon an uninhabited island without
food, clothing or shelter in answering these questions. What
sorts of shelter did the tribes possess, if any?
5 What sorts of weapons can you fancy people would be able to
make without tools, metals or fire?
6 What would you consider the very greatest discovery made by
early man? Why?
7 How was man able to protect himself from the wild beasts
during the periods of Savagery?
8 How were the enemies of man captured and slain in these days?
9 Why do we find the tribes of this period always dwelling close to
lakes, rivers or other bodies of water?
10 How do we gather that people in the period of Lower Savagery
must have lived either in tropical or semi-tropical regions?
 II

THE ORNAMENT OF BIG NOSE

1 How did primitive man convey his wants and his ideas to his
fellow creatures before he possessed a wide articulate
language?
2 Can you suggest any sharp weapons the Cave Men could make
without the use of tools? Name some.
3 Do you imagine the Cave People possessed longer arms than
civilized men? Why?
4 Was this period the Golden Age of Peace and Plenty that some
people suggest?
5 Do you imagine Cave Men were care free or that they were
forced to be cunning and furtive creatures of the forests?
6 Were the early savages superior to the other animals of that
period in running? In swimming? In fighting?
7 Had they longer teeth? Sharper claws? Greater physical
protection for the soft and delicate portions of their bodies?
8 To what do you attribute man’s survival amid a world of savage
enemies?
9 Was man more cunning? Was he more social?
10 If you have classes of children, suggest pantomime plays in
which they can convey ideas or desires to the others by means
of gestures.
 III

WHEN RUN-FAST WENT HUNTING FOR A

WIFE

1 Suggest ways for catching fish during this period.

2 Do you imagine that at this time man had any method for
preserving meat?
3 Would the low order of man’s tools and weapons restrict him in
his wanderings from place to place over the earth’s surface?
Why?
4 Did primitive man first ornament or first clothe himself?
5 What were ornaments used to signify?
6 Which men would you imagine secured wives during early
savagery?
7 Would you expect to see the strong and brave men win wives, or
the weak and cowardly?
8 How far were the Cave People able to count?
9 Did men gradually learn to use, first all their fingers, and then
their toes, to reckon with?
10 Primitive man must soon have discovered the use of sails for
boats. Out of what do you supposed they fashioned the first
sails?
 IV

LITTLE LAUGHING BOY

1 During what season would you imagine the Cave People

learned, invented, discovered most? Why?
2 What was the season of greatest danger? Why?
3 Were the feet of the Cave People prehensile? Were the Cave
People agile? Why?
4 Can any of the children of to-day walk up a slanting tree by
encircling its trunk with their arms?
5 What is a boomerang? Make one.
6 Why did wise Cave People always travel in groups?
7 Why was extreme individuality discouraged among the
members of the tribes?
8 What happened to the youth who was determined to “go it
alone” in those days?
9 Was the Cave Man the King of the Forests, Monarch of all he
surveyed that we sometimes read about? Why not?
10 It is true that the Cave Man was weaker than most of his
enemies and yet he has managed to outlive and outthrive
them all. Give some reasons for this.
 V

HUNTING AN ECHO

1 Did the Cave People know what an Echo is?

2 Could they explain their reflections in the rivers and lakes?
3 What was their idea of a shadow?
4 What was the origin of their belief in spirits?
5 What made them think the dead came back again; that they
were not really dead, but lived in the spirit world?
6 How did they explain their dreams?
7 How would a primitive man explain the rain? Or Fire? Floods?
Give some suggestions of your own.
8 How did the Cave People probably first secure a fire?
9 How did they learn to keep a fire going?
10 What were one or two ways by which they first learned how to
make a fire?
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