Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
The Cave Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins.
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In this 1916 Twins book, the sixth of the series by Lucy Fitch Perkins
we meet with Firetop and Firefly, and their family. The setting is in an
age where none of the nice things of the civilised world exist at all.
There are no books, no wheels, no firearms to hunt with, and everything
has to be done by sheer cunning, or found out by sheer accident. The
twins' parents set off on a short voyage of exploration, to see what
lies over the horizon, and the twins sneak off to follow them secretly.
Of course they soon have to make a "rescue me" signal when they find
they can't cope, but they are allowed to remain with their parents,
especially as they are quite good at shooting arrows with their bows,
and finding small items of food in other ways.
One day there is a huge earthquake and tsunami, and they find they are
all marooned on an island, which is what we now know as the Isle of
Wight. The twins' father gets an idea from something the twins do, and
creates the first canoe, with which he goes and fetches old Granny and
other members of the family. A short book, but quite a nice one.
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THE CAVE TWINS, BY LUCY FITCH PERKINS.
INTRODUCTION.
PREHISTORIC MAN.
_This is a story about things that happened ages and ages ago, before
any of us were born, or our great-great-grandfathers either, for that
matter. It was so very long ago that there were no houses, or farms, or
roads from one place to another, and there was not a single city, or a
town, or even a village in the whole earth_.
_There was just the great, round world, all fresh and new, and covered
with growing things; and there were wild beasts of all kinds in the
forests, and fishes of all kinds in the seas, and all sorts of birds and
flying creatures in the air_.
_Besides all these wonderful things in the new, new world, there was
Man_.
_He was quite new too. He didn't know much of anything about the world.
All that he really knew was that there was a world, and that he was in
it, and that there were fierce wild animals in it too, which would kill
him and eat him if he didn't kill them first. And he knew very well
that he was not as swift as the deer, or as big as the elephant, or as
strong as the lion, or as fierce as the tiger, and it seemed to him as
if he hadn't much chance to stay alive at all in a world so full of
terrible creatures who wanted to eat him up_.
_But this Prehistoric Man was very brave, and he could do two things
which none of the other creatures could do--he could laugh and he could
think_.
_One day, he sat down on a rock, and took his head between his hands and
thought and thought, and by and by he lifted up his head and said to his
wife,--for of course he had a wife,--"I have it, my dear. If we are not
as strong as the wild beasts, we must be a great deal more clever_."
_So he got right up off the rock and set about being clever. And so did
his wife. They were so clever that they hid themselves in trees and
rocks where the wild beasts could not find them. And they found out the
secret of fire_.
_The other creatures could not find out the secret of fire to save their
lives, and they were dreadfully afraid of it. Then the Man and his wife
made weapons out of stones, and bones, and they made dishes out of mud,
and though these things weren't a bit like our weapons or our dishes,
they got along very well with them for many years_.
_In the earliest times of all, the Woman hunted and trapped the wild
creatures, and fished, all by herself, but by and by she began to let
the Man do the hunting and bring home the game, while she stayed in the
cave house and kept the hearth-fire bright and took care of the
children. She cooked the food that he brought home, and she made
needles out of bones and sewed skins together for clothes for her
husband and the children and herself. After a long time she began to
plant seeds of the wild things that she found were good to eat, and to
raise food out of the ground_.
_All these things they did, and many more that had never been done
before,--and because they were so much more clever than all the beasts
of the forest, the Prehistoric Man and his prehistoric wife lived a long
time in a little peace and more happiness than you might at first think
possible_.
_They taught their children all the clever things they had thought out,
and these children, when they grew up, taught them to their children,
and this went on for hundreds and thousands of years. Each generation
learned new things and taught them to the next, until now we have houses
and churches and villages and cities dotted over the whole earth, and
there are roads going from everywhere to everywhere else. There are
railroads and steam-cars and telegraph and telephone lines, and
printing-presses, so that to-day everybody knows more about the very
ends of the earth than Prehistoric Man could possibly know about what
was happening fifty miles away from him_.
_And all these things we have to-day because the Prehistoric Man and the
Prehistoric Woman did their part bravely and well when the earth was
young_.
_This is a story about that far-off time. If you don't believe it's
true, every word of it, just get out your atlas and find the places on
the map. They are every one of them there_.
CHAPTER ONE.
GRANNIE AND THE TWINS.
One bright morning of early spring, long ages ago, the sun peered
through the trees on the edge of a vast forest, and sent a shaft of
yellow sunlight right into the mouth of a great, dark cave. In front of
the cave a bright fire was burning, and on a rock beside it sat an old
woman. In her lap was a piece of birch-bark, and on the bark was a heap
of acorns. She was roasting them in the ashes and eating them. At her
right hand, within easy reach, there was a pile of broken sticks and
tree-branches, and every now and then the old woman put on fresh wood
and stirred the coals to keep the fire bright.
A little path ran from the front of the cave where the old woman sat
down the sloping hillside to a blue river, and the morning sun shining
across it made a bridge of dazzling light from shore to shore.
Beyond the river there were green fields and forests, and beyond the
forests high hills over which the sun climbed every morning. What lay
beyond those far blue hills neither the old woman nor any of the clan of
the Black Bear had the slightest idea.
Everything seemed quiet and peaceful on that spring morning so long ago.
The trees were beginning to turn green and little plants were already
pushing their way through the carpet of dead leaves. A robin lit upon
the branches of a tree above the cave and sang his morning song.
There was no other sound except the sizzling of a wet stick on the fire,
and the snapping noise made by the old woman when she took a roasted
acorn from the fire and cracked it with her teeth.
The old woman was not pretty to look at. Her face was as brown as
leather and covered with wrinkles, and her hair hung about it in ragged
grey locks. It was no wonder that her hair was rough and ragged, for it
had never been combed her whole life long, and she was quite old--oh, as
old as forty, maybe! But she really couldn't help her hair being like
that any more than she could help being forty, because there was not a
single comb yet made in the whole world!
It was a mystery how she cracked the nuts so well, because she had only
a few teeth left in her mouth. For clothing she had nothing but the
skin of a deer fastened over her left shoulder by a thorn, and tied
around her waist with a leather thong.
Although she seemed to be thinking of nothing but her nuts, the little
bright eyes of the old woman kept close watch in every direction, and
her ears were quick to hear every unusual sound. If a twig snapped, or
there was a rustling noise in the underbrush, she was ready in an
instant to fling fresh dry sticks on the fire and make it glow red
against the black opening of the cave.
She knew that no wild animal, however fierce and hungry, would dare come
near the leaping flames. Yet watchful as she was, she did not see two
children who were creeping stealthily toward her, over the great rocks
which sheltered the mouth of the cave.
They were a boy and a girl, and from their size they must have been
about eight years old. They both had bright twinkling eyes and flaming
red hair, and were dressed alike in skins of red foxes of almost the
same colour. You could tell at a glance that they were twins, but it
would have puzzled any one to tell whether they were both boys or both
girls, or one of each kind. They came down over the rocks so quietly
that not even the quick ears of the old woman heard the faintest sound.
When they had almost reached the ground, they stopped, and at the same
instant opened their mouths and howled exactly like two young wolves!
The noise was so sudden and so near that the old woman never thought of
her fire at all. She simply screamed and fell right over backwards into
the cave. Then she rolled over and scuttled on all fours out of sight
in the darkness as fast as she could go.
The acorns from her lap flew in every direction and rolled down the
hillside. The boy and girl jumped to the ground, shrieking with
laughter. In a moment the old woman was back again in the door of the
cave. She had a stout stick in her hand and she looked very angry. She
shook the stick at the Twins and scolded them so fast that the sound of
it was like the chattering of an angry squirrel in a tree-top.
Now, of course, I cannot tell you just the words she used, but,
translated into English, this is what she said:--
"You horrid little catamounts, if I catch you, I'll teach you better
manners! I'll give you such a taste of this stick that you'll not need
more till the river runs dry."
The Twins sprang up, still shrieking with laughter, and danced about the
fire just out of reach of the woman's stick.
"But you can't catch us," they screamed.
Their red locks of hair flew about in the wind as they danced, until it
looked almost as if red flames were bursting from their heads. The old
woman glared at them helplessly.
"Dance away," she cried, "dance away, you red-headed rascals! I shan't
need to put sticks on the fire while you are here. Your red hair would
scare away the sabre-toothed tiger himself! No wonder you are not
afraid to run alone in the forest! With such heads on you, you are as
safe as if you were in the heart of the cave."
Just then she saw her acorns all spilled on the ground, and her rage
broke out afresh.
"Pick them up, you little rats! They are the last of my winter's store,
and it will be four moons yet before they will be ripe again."
Down went the children on their hands and knees, and began to gather up
the scattered nuts. Young as they were, they knew the value of food.
They also knew the taste of Grannie's stick. In those days food could
be found only at the risk of life itself and was not to be thrown away
while hunger lasted.
Besides, the hunting had not been good for some time. The reindeer had
gone farther north, and the great herds of bison had not yet come back
from the warmer regions, where they ranged in winter. There were wild
beasts of many other kinds in the forest, but the hunters of the clan
had not brought home meat for several days. This was one reason why the
children had ventured so far into the forest. Most of the time they and
the other children of the clan stayed near the cave under the watchful
eye of the old woman, while their fathers and mothers went hunting.
"Now, don't be cross, old Grannie-sit-by-the-fire!" cried the girl. At
least, I think it was the girl, but the Twins looked so exactly alike I
can't be quite sure. "We'll pick up your nuts for you. And if you'll
put your stick down, we'll give you something we brought for you."
The old woman's face softened. You might almost have thought there was
the beginning of a smile in the corners of her mouth, but she only said,
"I know your tricks, worthless ones! You have brought me nothing but a
fright and a tumble in the ashes."
The girl poured the acorns she had gathered into the piece of birch-bark
which served the old woman as a plate, and danced over to the mouth of
the cave. She saucily took the stick out of Grannie's hand and flung it
on the fire, and then led her back to the stone seat.
"Go along and get it, Firetop," she called. I know it was the girl who
said this, because it was the boy who was called Firetop, on account of
his red hair. The girl's hair was just as red, but they called her
Firefly.
Firetop sprang up the rocks down which he had climbed so carefully only
a few moments before, and came down again slowly, carrying something in
each hand. He stood before the old woman with his hands behind him.
"Guess, Grannie, guess!" cried Firefly.
By this time, the smile had got out of the corners of Grannie's mouth
and had spread all over her face.
"Roots," she said.
"Wrong," shouted the children. "Guess again."
"Spruce gum."
"Wrong again," laughed the Twins.
Grannie thought a while this time. Then she said, "Snails."
"No, no, no," the Twins said both together; and then Firetop slowly
brought his hands round in front of him and showed the old woman four
large bird's eggs.
You should have seen Grannie's face then! It was all wreathed in
smiles, and when she smiled she wasn't so bad to look at after all.
Almost nobody is for that matter.
She took the eggs from Firetop's hands and covered them carefully in the
ashes.
"We'll roast them," she said. "I've had nothing to eat but acorns for
three days past. Now, tell me where you have been, and how you found
the eggs."
"We were hungry," explained Firetop, "and all the big people had gone
off hunting, and we thought we'd go too. We thought we knew where we
could find some roots. So we hid ourselves and waited until Robin and
Blackbird and Squaretoes had gone down to the river to hunt frogs, and
then we ran back into the woods." Robin and Blackbird and Squaretoes
were the other children of the clan.
Firefly could never stay quiet for very long and now she broke into the
story.
"Yes, and we found some roots, too," she said. "We were just eating
them when from a hazel bush right in front of us we heard a loud snort!
We didn't wait to dig any more roots, I tell you! There was a chestnut
tree nearby, and we grabbed a limb and swung ourselves up just in time.
It wasn't only one, it was _three_ wild boars that rushed out of the
bushes, and the biggest boar had tusks as long as this." Firefly held
up a stick about eight inches long, as she spoke.
"It's lucky we were up in the tree, for they were all hungry too, and
they looked as if they thought Firetop and I would taste very good," she
laughed. "Then Firetop teased them. He hung down from the limb and
tickled their noses with a long stick. My, but they were mad!"
"Yes," said Firetop, "they looked just as mad as you did, when we scared
you, Grannie."
"I wonder one look at you didn't scare them to death," said Grannie,
"because animals are so afraid of fire! I am used to the flames on your
heads, but if I were to come upon you for the first time I think I'd
climb a tree myself! Or else I should think the woods were on fire and
run away."
Grannie poked Firefly in the ribs and laughed at her own joke.
"Maybe our red hair helped some," said Firefly, "for pretty soon they
all three turned and ran grunting off through the woods."
"And then," said Firetop, "we thought we'd come back by the tree path.
We went out on the limb of the chestnut as far as we could go, and swung
into the big oak tree that stood next. There are a lot of oak trees
together there and we were going along from one to the other, when there
was a loud whirring noise and a big bird flew out of the top branches
right over our heads! We looked up and saw the nest. It was made of
sticks. I got the eggs and handed them down to Firefly, and then we
came home."
"You didn't come all the way by the tree path and carry the eggs, did
you?" cried Grannie admiringly.
"Oh, no," said Firefly. "The eggs were too big to carry in our mouths.
So Firetop dropped to the ground and I handed the eggs down to him.
Then we ran back home as fast as we could."
"You will be as great hunters as your father and mother one of these
days if you keep on," said Grannie. "And no one in the whole clan can
do better than they can. My, my, I can remember when your father was a
boy, how he used to hunt eggs! That's how he got the name of Hawk-Eye.
He could find eggs, and other things too, where nobody else could find
anything at all. How he could swing along through the trees! No wild
creatures could ever get the start of him. And then your mother! She
could run faster than the wind could blow. She wasn't easily scared, I
can tell you. She had always her legs to depend upon! I've seen her
run from a mad buck so fast that she made just a streak of light through
the forest. And when the buck got too near, she swung herself into a
tree and then hung by her legs safe above his head and teased the buck
crazy because he could not reach her. Ah! She was a wild one in those
days, and well she earned her name of Limberleg!"
"I'm sure the eggs must be done by this time," said Firetop.
Grannie reached down and poked the ashes away from the eggs. They were
very hot, but her hands were so tough and horny that she could even
handle live coals. She gave one egg to Firefly. Firefly took it in her
hand, but her hands were not quite so tough as Grannie's and it burned
her like everything! She dropped it on the ground, squealing with pain.
It was cooked so hard that it did not spill, though the shell was
broken. Grannie laughed.
"Aha," she said, "I'm even with you now for giving me such a scare."
"Ho," boasted Firetop, "that's nothing. Watch me! I guess if you can
handle them I can." He reached down and picked up an egg and held it in
his hand. It was just as hot as a coal of fire, but he pretended it
didn't hurt him. He cracked and ate it in two bites, and though I'm
sure it must have burned a red path all the way to his stomach, he never
said a word. But when Firefly wasn't looking he did suck the air into
his mouth to cool his tongue!
"Grannie can have the other egg, can't she, Firetop, because we scared
her so," said Firefly, when they had each eaten one.
"You may scare me every day that you bring me bird's eggs," said
Grannie.
Grannie took the last egg from the ashes and was just cracking it when
suddenly there was a shout which made them all jump. Those were pretty
jumpy times, I can tell you, for a new sound might mean almost any kind
of danger. There were so many wild beasts in the forest that no one
could feel safe a single minute unless he was deep in a cave. Even then
the cave had to have an entrance so narrow that no man-hunting animal
could get into it, or else a fire must be kept burning before it to
frighten them away.
The moment they heard the sound, Grannie dropped her egg and sprang to
her feet. Firetop and Firefly popped into the cave and were out of
sight in an instant. Grannie threw fresh sticks on the fire, and as it
blazed up, she looked fearfully about in every direction. Now she heard
another sound besides the shouts and screams of children's voices. From
far away down the river came a long low roar and the tramp, tramp of
many feet. A group of children came tearing up the path toward the
cave, shouting at the top of their lungs, "The bison are coming, the
bison are coming!"
Grannie took up the cry. "The bison are coming, the bison are coming!"
she shouted into the cave, and out tumbled Firetop and Firefly in the
twinkling of an eye.
"Where, where?" they screamed.
"There, there, in the river bottom," panted Squaretoes, the biggest of
the boys. "We were hunting for frogs and all of a sudden there was a
roar,--at first so faint we could hardly hear it,--then far down the
river we saw them coming! Run, run to the big rock, and you can see
them too."
Grannie threw a great heap of dry wood upon the fire and ran with the
children to the big rock, which lay part way down the path toward the
river. From the top of this rock the whole valley was spread out before
them like a map.
Squaretoes pointed toward the south, and there in the green marshy land
bordering the river were hundreds and hundreds of great dark hairy
beasts. They were running, and as they ran, they made a low roaring
sound that was frightful to hear.
"We shall have fresh meat to-night," said Grannie to the children. "The
herd has been frightened. I could not see the leaders. Some of our
hunters have surely found them."
They stood on the rock until the great herd had thundered by and was out
of sight around a bend in the bluff. Then Grannie said, "Come, let us
go back to the fire and gather plenty of fuel, so we can cook the meat
when it comes, and have a great feast."
The Cave Twins--by Lucy Fitch Perkins
CHAPTER TWO.
THE BISON FEAST.
For hours Grannie and the children worked together to get a huge pile of
fuel ready for a feast which they hoped to have at night. It was
something like getting ready for Thanksgiving.
"It is likely that old Sabre-tooth will be having a feast too," said
Grannie. "He is as glad as any of us to see the bison come back. Maybe
now he won't catch any bad children who stray too far into the wood."
You see, the fierce sabre-toothed tiger was the beast they feared most
of all, but they always had to be on the watch for wolves and hyenas,
and for the dreadful cave bear as well. There were wild horses, too,
and elephants, and mammoths, and lions. Grannie had to keep telling the
children about these dangers, just as our mothers tell us to-day to keep
out of the way of trolley-cars and steam-engines and automobiles. Only
trolley-cars and steam-engines don't run after us and stick their heads
right into our front doors and try to eat us up, as the wild creatures
did in those days.
It seems to us now that no one could possibly have had any happiness in
a world so full of dangers, but you see Grannie and all the rest of the
clan did not know that life could be any different. Just because there
were so many dangers, they grew brave to meet them, and a brave man
among dangers is far happier than a coward in a safe place. So perhaps
they had just as good a time living as we do, after all.
By the time the children had gathered a heap of wood large enough to
cook the biggest kind of a feast, it was afternoon. There was nothing
in the cave to eat, and they grew hungrier and hungrier, but there were
no signs of any hunters. Shadows began to gather in the woods. Now and
then there was a cry of some night bird, or of a distant wolf. These
were lonely sounds. Firefly began to be discouraged.
"Suppose they shouldn't bring home any meat after all," she said.
"Then we'll just have to go hungry," said Grannie.
Firetop laid his hand on his stomach and groaned.
"_Men_ never complain of such things," said Grannie.
Firetop took his hand off his stomach at once and made believe he had
just coughed a little. You see the cave people taught their children to
bear hunger and pain without making any fuss about it.
"I tell you what we could do," said Grannie. "If we had some water, we
could have a place to boil the meat all ready when the hunters come
back. Who'll go for water?"
"I'll go," said Firetop.
"So will I," said Blackbird.
"And I," said Squaretoes.
They were all boys. Robin and Firefly were the only little girls in the
clan.
"Get the gourds and the pig-skin and run along, then," said Grannie.
"Keep a sharp lookout, for you know the wild beasts will soon be out for
their night hunting."
Firetop ran for the skin of the wild boar which was in the cave. It was
their water-cask. The other boys got gourds with holes cut in them to
make dippers, and then they were ready to start.
Grannie took three sticks of pine and laid the ends in the fire. When
they were burning well, she gave one of them to each of the boys for a
torch.
"It isn't dark yet, but you will be safer with these, anyway," she said.
As soon as the three boys had gone skipping and whooping down the path
to the river, Grannie and the girls set about getting a kettle ready.
They hollowed out a hole in the ground, not far from the fire. When it
was deep enough they lined it with a heavy piece of hide. They put
stones around the edge of it to keep it in place. Then they gathered
piles of small stones and threw them in the fire to get hot. By the
time all this was done the boys were back with the pig-skin full of
water. Grannie poured it into the hollow dish in the ground.
It was almost dark, and it seemed to the children that they could not
wait another minute, when they heard a welcome sound. It was the noise
of voices, talking and laughing together.
They sprang to their feet and gave a whoop of joy. It was answered by a
shout from the path.
"They are coming slowly and they are laughing. They have meat," cried
Grannie. She threw more wood on the fire. Up flew the flames, lighting
the forest with a red glare. Sparks floated away over the very
tree-tops. By its light they saw Hawk-Eye and Limberleg and all the
other men and women of the clan toiling up the path. The bigger boys
were with them, too, and they were all loaded down with great chunks of
bison meat!
The weary hunters dropped the bison-skins in one place to be stretched
and cured the next day. The meat they threw down on the ground at the
mouth of the cave, and Grannie and the other women began at once to cook
it.
Some of it they put in the fire to roast and some of it they put in the
leather kettle in the ground. Then they poked the hot stones out of the
fire into the water. They kept taking the stones out of the water with
sticks as they grew cool and putting them back into the fire to get hot
again. In this way they soon got the water to boil.
The smell of the roasting and boiling meat was too much for Firetop. It
made him so hungry that he couldn't wait. He just snatched a piece of
meat from the ground and ate it raw! But he was ready to eat again when
the meat was cooked and the real feast began.
Then the great fire blazed and crackled outside the entrance and filled
the cave with a warm red glow. The whole clan gathered in the front of
the cave near the fire.
Hawk-Eye was the leader of the clan, because he was the strongest man
and the best hunter. He was a large man with little sharp eyes and red
hair which covered his breast and legs as well as his head. Around his
neck was a string of bear's teeth.
There were four other men. They were called Eagle-Nose, Grey Wolf, Big
Ear, and Long Arm. There were three other women besides Limberleg and
Grannie. They were the wives of the men. There were four big boys, who
were already hunting with the men, and there were Blackbird, Robin, and
Squaretoes, besides Firetop and Firefly. These were all there were in
the clan of the Bear.
When the feast began, the people all sat down in a circle, all but
Grannie. Grannie stood up and handed out great chunks of meat to the
others and kept the fire bright. But she had a bone in her hand all the
time, and whenever she had a chance, she gnawed it. There were no
knives or forks or plates, of course. They all took their meat in their
hands and just gnawed and gobbled as fast as they could! Nobody had any
manners, and not a single mother said, "Have you washed your hands?" or
"Don't take such large mouthfuls or you will choke yourself," or
anything like that. There were some things about those days that must
have been very pleasant, after all.
For a long time they ate and said nothing. You see, food had been
scarce for so many days that they had to make up for lost time. But by
and by, when they were all stuffed full, Firetop rolled over on to the
skin of a bear which was lying on the cave floor, and said to his
father: "Tell us about the hunting. Who killed the meat, and how was it
you all came back together? Did you hunt in a pack, like the wolves?"
"Not just like the wolves," said Hawk-Eye, laughing. "There were five
of us after the bison. The women went off to set snares for rabbits,
and the boys to hunt eggs along the bluffs up the river. I felt in my
bones that we should see the bison to-day. So the men and I took our
way toward the lowlands. We knew they would come from that direction.
We followed the bluffs for a long way, but found nothing. We were
beginning to think we should come home empty-handed, when far away I
heard bellowing. Then I saw a little black speck moving along the green
valley. Two black specks moved beside it. They were the leader and his
two sentinels, and behind them came the herd."
"We saw the herd, too," cried Firetop. "I saw them first," said
Squaretoes. "I saw them just as quick as you," shouted Blackbird.
"Shut up," said his mother, and Blackbird did. Fathers and mothers in
those days used just such language as that, and if the children didn't
mind at once, they were likely to get something worse than just
language. It wasn't a polite age at all.
"We crept down the bluffs as quietly as snakes," went on Hawk-Eye, when
everybody was still again. "I was in front. When the leader of the
herd got to our hiding-place, I sprang from the bushes and threw my
spear with all my strength. He gave a mighty roar. He stood on his
hind legs and thundered. Then Big Ear sprang forward and threw his
spear. The leader fell. The herd broke and ran. The sentinels could
not control them. Then we ran toward them. We killed two young cows
with our axes. The rest of the herd rushed past. The leader and the
two cows were left behind. The leader was old and tough. We pulled out
our spears and left him to the jackals and hyenas. The two cows were
small. We skinned them and cut them into pieces and started for the
cave. At the foot of the path we met the other people. They were weary
and had caught nothing. When they saw us they laughed for joy."
"We heard them," cried Firefly. "Grannie said you would bring meat.
She said so when we heard the laughing. She said so when the herd
passed by. She saw that they had been frightened. That is why we had
the kettle ready."
"Grannie is a wise old woman," said Hawk-Eye. "Now, get to bed, every
one of you."
The children scuttled away and threw themselves down on heaps of skins
which lay about the cave, and were soon sound asleep. At least the
others were asleep, but for some reason Firetop and Firefly stayed
awake. Maybe they had eaten too much. At any rate they lay in their
corner, on their own heap of skins and watched Hawk-Eye and Limberleg
and Grannie and the others as they sat about in the cheerful glow of the
fire. Nobody had said anything for a long time, and the Twins were
beginning to feel quite sleepy, when Hawk-Eye spoke. What he said made
them sit up and listen with all their ears. Of course neither Hawk-Eye
nor Limberleg thought for a moment that the Twins were awake or
listening. Grown people are often very stupid about such things!
Anyway, they were awake, and they did listen, and this is what they
heard.
Hawk-Eye said, "I am going across the river to-morrow."
"Why are you going?" asked Big Ear.
"I want to see what lies beyond the blue hills that the sun climbs
over," Hawk-Eye answered.
"But no one of our clan has ever gone across the river. Our
hunting-grounds have always been on this side," said Long Arm.
"It's time some one did go, then," said Hawk-Eye. "Game will be
plentiful now everywhere, but after the reindeer go, there is a long
time that we have little food. We need to find new hunting-grounds. I
am going to seek them."
"Then I am going, too." It was Limberleg who spoke. "I can hunt. I
can trap as well as anybody. And I can throw a spear as straight. I am
not afraid. Grannie will look after the children while we are gone."
When he heard that, Firetop poked Firefly in the ribs.
"I am going with them," he whispered.
"They'll never let you," Firefly whispered back.
"I'm going anyway," Firetop answered. "Don't you tell."
"If you go, I'm going," said Firefly. "I can go as well as you can."
"Sh-sh-sh--" said Firetop, for Grannie was speaking.
"The river is wide and dangerous," she said. "The current is swift, and
who knows what monsters may be in it? I myself saw a rhinoceros
wallowing in the mud only a few days ago. Some say they have seen a
serpent as large as the trunk of a tree."
"We can go up the river until we find a shallower place to cross," said
Hawk-Eye. "I have killed a tiger and a rhinoceros and a cave bear in my
time. We can take care of ourselves."
When Limberleg heard him say "We" she knew that she was going, and she
was glad. She was as brave as Hawk-Eye and almost as good a hunter.
When they saw that Hawk-Eye had really made up his mind to go, nobody
else said anything. They knew it would be a waste of words; and in
those days there were fewer words to waste than we have now.
"We must start early," Hawk-Eye said to Limberleg. "We will take one
extra skin apiece and our axes and spears."
Limberleg rose at once and went over to the corner of the cave where the
Twins were. The Twins shut their eyes tight and pretended to be sound
asleep. Firetop even snored a little. Limberleg spread the skins of
two bears upon the cave floor and threw herself on one of them.
Hawk-Eye went to the cave-mouth, took a look at the stars, yawned,
warmed himself at the fire, and then he too went to bed. The rest of
the men and women found their own places in other shadowy corners of the
cave, and soon the whole clan of the Bear was sound asleep.
The Cave Twins--by Lucy Fitch Perkins
CHAPTER THREE.
THE RUNAWAYS.
Next morning Firetop awoke before the dawn. He sat up at once and
looked about him. Not another soul was stirring, and from the different
corners of the cave came the sound of snores. The fire was burning
brightly, for Grannie had been up four times in the night to put on
fresh fuel. Now she too was fast asleep. Firetop crawled quietly out
of the warm wolf-skins of his bed. He took one of the wolf-skins and
tied it over his shoulder with a leather thong. The rest he bunched up
to look as if he were still in bed and asleep.
Hawk-Eye had made a small spear for each of the Twins. They were not
playthings. They were real spears, for children of that day had to
learn to use such weapons while they were still very young.
Firetop took his spear in his hand and poked Firefly gently in the ribs
with it. She woke instantly and would have poked back if Firetop hadn't
shaken his head at her and laid his finger on his lips. She nodded,
crawled out of her bed, and bunched it up like Firetop's. Then she tied
a wolf-skin over her shoulder and took her own spear, and together the
two children crept silently past the sleepers and out of the cave. They
snatched chunks of meat from the remains of the feast as they passed.
It was not yet daylight, though the sky was pink above the hills across
the river and all the birds were singing as the Twins came out of the
cave and ran down the river path. Neither one of them spoke until they
were far enough from the cave so that no one could hear them. Then
Firetop whispered: "We'll climb a tree. We can watch from the tree and
see when they start. Then we'll slide down and follow them. They won't
know we are with them until it's too far to send us back."
"They won't like it," said Firefly. "What do you think they will do to
us?"
"They'll wallop us," said Firetop, "but I don't care. It won't hurt
when it is over, and I've just got to go. We shall see all kinds of
things that we've never seen before."
"Well," sighed Firefly, "I do hate that part of it, but I guess it's
worth it. Come on. Let's climb this tree."
The children could climb like monkeys, but they had their weapons and
the meat and that made it a little difficult. They leaned their spears
against the trunk of the tree, took the meat in their teeth, and up they
went as easily as you could go upstairs. Then they hid themselves in a
fork of the tree and ate their breakfast.
The thick branches made a screen around them so they could see without
being seen. They watched the cave. It was not long before they saw
Grannie come out and take a look at the weather. Then she put more fuel
on the fire and sat down on a rock to gnaw a bone for her breakfast.
Soon Hawk-Eye and Limberleg appeared. They each had their weapons, and
a reindeer-skin strapped by leather thongs across their shoulders.
Limberleg had a gourd tied to her belt. They were each gnawing bones,
too. They stopped to speak to Grannie. The Twins leaned forward and
listened with all their ears. They heard Hawk-Eye say, "The children
are still asleep. You can tell them when they wake up."
Then they came along the path, eating as they came. They passed almost
under the tree where the Twins were hiding. This seemed to the Twins so
funny that they stuffed their mouths full of meat and then clapped their
hands over them to keep from laughing aloud. As it was, a little
snicker ran out between Firefly's fingers. Hawk-Eye heard it.
"What's that?" he said sharply. He and Limberleg stopped a moment and
listened.
"Nothing but a squirrel," said Limberleg. "There he is on that log over
there."
The Twins nearly smothered themselves then, to keep the laughs in.
Hawk-Eye and Limberleg passed on down the path to the very edge of the
forest. There they turned and walked along the bluffs, where they could
swing themselves into a tree at a moment's notice. This was safer than
walking in the green meadows beside the river where there were no trees
to climb.
Firetop and Firefly waited until they were out of sight around the turn.
Then they crawled down from the tree, took their spears in their hands,
and ran after them. They stayed back far enough so they could hide
behind trees if Hawk-Eye or Limberleg should turn round, yet near enough
to keep them in sight.
For miles and miles they walked and ran. It was hard with their short
legs to keep the pace set by their father and mother, but they knew very
well they had to do it. There was no turning back then.
On and on walked Hawk-Eye and Limberleg. The sun climbed higher and
higher. The children were thirsty, but they did not dare to run down to
the river for a drink. They were hungry, but they had nothing to eat.
They snatched little green leaves from the bushes as they passed, but
this was hardly enough to fill their empty stomachs.
"We'll just have to call them," said Firefly at last. "I'm so hungry
I've simply got to have something to eat, and if we stop to hunt for
roots, we'll never catch up with them again."
"They'll be as mad as mad bulls when they see us," said Firetop.
"Yes, of course. We'll get a good beating," answered Firefly. "We
expected that. But it won't hurt after it is over; you told me so
yourself."
"Jimminy!" said Firetop,--or if it wasn't "Jimminy" it was something
that meant the same thing,--"I just hate to think of it. Can't you go
on a little longer?"
"What's the difference?" moaned Firefly. "It's got to come some time.
We might as well have it over. I'm not going another step." And she
sat plump down on a fallen tree.
Firetop put his hands to his mouth and gave a long sharp cry. It was
the distress signal of the Bear Clan. Hawk-Eye and Limberleg stopped
instantly. They looked up the river; they looked down the river. Then
they caught a glimpse of two red heads and two very scared faces, far
back on the bluff. They came tearing back through the underbrush to the
two small figures on the log.
They could hardly believe their eyes.
"Where did you come from, you naughty little weasels?" cried Limberleg
angrily.
"From the cave," said Firefly. "We followed you because we want to see
what lies beyond the blue hills across the river, too. And if you are
going to spank us, please do it right away, because we are awfully
hungry."
"Oh, no," cried Firetop. "You needn't do it now if you'd rather not!
Couldn't you put it off until we get home again? We're willing to wait,
and you'd have more time then."
Limberleg and Hawk-Eye didn't discuss the matter. They sat right down
on the log and began. Limberleg took Firefly and Hawk-Eye took Firetop,
and they spanked and spanked.
"Now, can we have something to eat?" sniffled Firetop when it was over.
Limberleg looked at Hawk-Eye. "We can't send them back alone," she
said. Firetop saw that they were going to give in.
"The hyenas would surely get us," he said plaintively. "We're pretty
small to go back alone," sobbed Firefly. "And besides, we want to see
what lies beyond the blue hills across the river."
It may be that Hawk-Eye was a little pleased at their courage in
following them. Anyway, he said: "Well, you can climb like squirrels.
We shall not be gone many days. Come along." Firetop sprang up and
whooped for joy. Firefly turned a somersault. Hawk-Eye and Limberleg
laughed. They couldn't help it. You see, even in those early times
parents were fond of their children, although they didn't know any
better punishment for them than spankings. There are some parents like
that yet.
"Now, what shall we have to eat?" said Firefly, when everybody was happy
again.
"We'll have to find something," said Hawk-Eye to Limberleg. "You take
the children down into the meadow. I see carrots growing down there.
I'll hunt in the woods. Listen for my call, and when you hear it, come
to that big oak tree as fast as you can."
Limberleg and the Twins started at once down the bluff toward the river.
The bushes grew thick along the slope, and as they scrambled through
them they made a crashing noise. Firetop was ahead, then came Firefly,
and last of all Limberleg.
Suddenly there was a loud whirring sound, and out of the bushes in front
of them flew a great wood grouse!
Instantly Firetop braced himself and flung his spear, and before
Limberleg or Firefly could catch up with him, he was far beyond them
down the slope, struggling with the wounded bird. When they reached
him, he had killed it. Limberleg was delighted. She patted Firetop and
called him a great hunter, and said she was glad he had come with them
after all.
Maybe you think Firetop wasn't a proud boy then! He waggled his red
head and swaggered up the slope toward the big oak tree with the huge
bird on his shoulder. Limberleg and Firefly stayed behind to hunt in
the bushes for the grouse's nest. Firefly found it, and there were
seven eggs in it! Then Limberleg patted Firefly. "Your father and I
will not need to get any food for you," she said. "Maybe you will hunt
for us." They went up the slope after Firetop, carrying the eggs.
When they reached the big oak tree on the bluff, Limberleg took the
feathers off the grouse and cut it into chunks with her flint knife.
They had no fire, so they ate it raw. They ate five of the eggs and
left two for Hawk-Eye. They saved the legs of the grouse for him, too.
They waited and waited, but still Hawk-Eye did not come. They began to
get a little frightened, he was gone so long. At last there was a call,
"Hoo, hoo, hoooooo," like the hooting of an owl, and he appeared
crashing through the bushes. He had a rabbit hanging from his shoulder.
Then Firefly played a trick on him.
"We aren't hungry," she said. Hawk-Eye was astonished.
"I thought you were starved by the way you acted," he said.
"We aren't any of us hungry now," said Firetop.
"Did you fill yourselves with carrots?" asked Hawk-Eye.
"Oh, no. We had fresh meat," said Firetop, with his nose in the air.
"Fresh meat?" cried Hawk-Eye.
"What did you kill?" he said to Limberleg.
"Nothing," said Limberleg.
"But I did," shouted Firetop.
He told all about killing the grouse. You should have seen Hawk-Eye
then! He was just as pleased as our fathers are when we get A in
arithmetic!
"I guess you can take care of yourselves," he said, when he had heard
the story. "You don't need me." Then he laughed and made his face look
scared. "Will you let me go with you to the land where the sun rises?"
he said. "I am very small, but I can climb trees! I am afraid to go
alone. I need you to kill bison and mammoths for me to eat!"
Firetop, Firefly, and Limberleg laughed at this until they nearly
choked. Then Firetop wagged his head at his father.
"You shouldn't have followed me," he said. "I shall have to spank you.
But you are too small to send alone to the cave, so I'll have to let you
come with me."
The Cave Twins--by Lucy Fitch Perkins
CHAPTER FOUR.
THE JOURNEY.
One.
All the rest of the day they followed the river, looking for a place
where it was shallow enough for them to cross without serious danger of
drowning. They did not know how to swim. For their supper they had
only the rabbit. They ate it sitting on the bluff, with their backs to
each other so they could watch in every direction for signs of danger.
When the shadow of the bluff grew long across the meadows, Limberleg
said:--
"Darkness will soon be upon us. Where are we going to sleep?"
"We won't sleep in a cave anyway," said Hawk-Eye, "even if we could find
one. We might find the cave bear at home in it. In that case, we
should probably spend the night in his stomach, and I am sure that would
be too crowded to be comfortable."
"We can't spend the night on the ground surely," said Limberleg. "Or we
might wake up in the stomach of old Sabre-tooth instead." This was just
their way of joking, because I never heard of any one waking up after
being swallowed, except Jonah and Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother.
And of course, this story happened long before either Jonah or Red
Riding Hood or her grandmother did.
Hawk-Eye took out his flint knife. I almost said he took it out of his
pocket, because it seems queer to think of a man without pockets. Of
course, he didn't really have any, though. The flint knife was fastened
to his belt by a thong.
"Go and find all the grape-vines you can," he said. Limberleg and the
Twins flew back into the forest to search for vines. There were plenty
of them, and they pulled up a great heap of long, tough stems, and
brought them back to Hawk-Eye. Hawk-Eye had another bunch which he had
cut. On the bluff overlooking the valley there was a great oak tree
with giant branches spreading in every direction.
"We'll sleep here," said Hawk-Eye. "Nothing can harm us unless a
wildcat or some such climbing creature should visit us, and I think I
could make him wish he hadn't come. I shall have my spear beside me and
shall sleep on the lower limbs."
"Shall we roost like the birds?" asked Firefly anxiously.
Limberleg laughed, and took a leap into the air, and caught one of the
branches. She swung herself into the tree and ran along the branch to
the great thick trunk.
"Hand up the vines," she called down, "and I will show you how we will
roost." Hawk-Eye tossed them up to her. She climbed higher in the tree
and found a place where two limbs came together like those shown in the
picture: She wove the vines back and forth over the two branches until
she had made a rough net-work like a very coarse hammock.
"Now, up you come," she called to Firefly, "and I will put you to bed."
Firefly climbed the tree. This was the way she went upstairs to bed.
Limberleg took off the wolf-skin which was still tied over her
shoulders, and spread it over the vine hammock. Then Firefly crawled
into her bed. Her mother took the leather thong which had been around
the wolf-skin and tied her securely to one of the limbs with it. That
was her way of tucking her in so that she would not fall out of bed.
She didn't hear her say her prayers, because in those days they didn't
know there was anything to pray to, unless it was to giants, or the
spirits of water or of fire, or of thunder and lightning. They prayed
to them sometimes when they were frightened. I don't believe she kissed
her good night, either. There was not much kissing in those days.
When Firefly was safely stowed away, Limberleg climbed farther up the
tree to find a place for Firetop. But he had already found one for
himself and was beginning to make his bed. When he was swung from his
branches like a big cocoon, Hawk-Eye and Limberleg made themselves as
comfortable as they could on the lower limbs of the tree. The western
sky was all aflame with yellow and red, as they settled themselves for
the night, and the birds sang them to sleep.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two.
When Firetop opened his eyes the next morning, he couldn't think where
he was. He tried to flop over, as he could so easily do when sleeping
on his wolf-skins in the cave. But he found himself securely tied. He
lifted his head and looked out. The sun was just rising over the blue
hills across the river. He looked down through the tree-branches to see
his father and mother.
They were not there! For a moment he thought perhaps he had dreamed it
all. "I often go to all sorts of strange places when I am asleep," he
said to himself. "Pretty soon I'll wake up in the cave." He waited to
wake up, but he didn't wake up. He kept right on being out of doors and
up a tree, and his parents kept on being gone. Then he remembered all
about everything.
He called to Firefly, "Are you there?"
She answered in a sleepy voice, "Yes."