What do we burn in our fires?
How do we light the different fires that we have?
What do we burn for light?
How do we light our lights?
Find out how your grandfather and grandmother used to
light their fires.
Find out what they used for lights and how they took
care of them.
Do you know how the Eskimo used to get fire?
[Illustration: _Making fire with a strap drill_]
_Strongarm Makes a Great Discovery_
When the Cave-men had heard Sharpeyes’ story, they went back to their
caves.
The fire clan was left alone again.
Strongarm spoke of going to the fire country himself, but it did not
seem best to leave the people just then.
Some of the men had already left the cave, and gone to live as the
Tree-dwellers lived.
Strongarm was trying to keep the rest of them together.
He feared that he would not be able to do it unless he could get fire.
For several days after that, the Cave-men thought that Strongarm seemed
queer.
Wherever he went he carried the drill that he used in boring holes.
Sometimes he carried a bundle of sticks under his arm.
Sometimes he worked with all these things in a corner of the cave.
None of the Cave-men knew what he was doing, but they heard him
mumbling to himself.
Once they saw him start up quickly and go away from the cave.
Nobody knew where he went, and nobody knew what he did.
Strongarm was very sad.
His heart was sore for his people, for they were in great distress.
He believed that the fire god dwelt in the wood, and he was trying to
persuade him to come out.
He had noticed that the drill became warm by twirling, when he used it
for boring holes.
So now he made a drill of hard wood and twirled it on a piece of softer
wood.
As he twirled the stick he prayed to the fire god.
He asked him to come and help the Cave-men.
When he went away from the cave that day, he went to find tinder.
When he came back that night, he was very happy; for he had a burning
torch in his hand.
[Illustration: _A drill of hard wood_]
[Illustration: _A piece of soft wood used as the hearth of a fire
drill_]