The valley of the Ebro may have been perfectly satisfactory to the
Mammoth and Rhinoceros but as regards climate, it did not suit Pic, for
he possessed no hide garment to cover his nakedness. Winter was in full
swing and the cold wind so chilled his body that he was driven to descend
from the Mammoth’s neck and walk to keep warm. Pic was not a fast walker
and the snowdrifts made it worse. It was an unfortunate situation for it
reduced very considerably the distance which the trio might have traveled
in a day. Then more snow fell and the drifts became so deep that Pic
could scarcely make any progress at all. It was not surprising that he
tired rapidly and was soon compelled to remount the Mammoth’s neck. This
rested him and enabled the party to proceed at a fast gait but it was
not long before the cold wind whistling about his ears, drove him to the
ground again. There, as before, he floundered through the drifts and soon
exhausted himself. All the time, he scolded and fretted because he and
his associates were not making more progress. Hairi and Wulli considered
his irritation uncalled for. It was his fault not theirs that they failed
to do better. “You ought to grow more hair,” grumbled the Mammoth and
this made Pic so peevish, he would not speak to his friends for a time.
The two animals in their turn, now became moody and irritable. Taken
altogether they and Pic were not getting along very well and felt all the
more vexed with each other for that very reason.
Then came a gale sweeping down upon them from the west to make matters
worse. The wind blew clouds of fine snow-dust into their faces, lodging
and accumulating there until the Mammoth and Rhinoceros were disguised
in great white masks. This did not bother them in the least. Having no
vanity as to their personal appearance and being warmly clad, they felt
quite cozy and comfortable.
Pic’s case was different. The storm multiplied his worry and discomfort.
The wind numbed his body. He was almost smothered and blinded by the fine
sleet which drove into his mouth and eyes. Once more he slid down from
the Mammoth’s neck and labored forward on foot. Finally he stopped. “I
can go no farther,” he said. “Without warmth and rest, I will die. I fear
that you must leave me.”
Both animals halted. The situation had grown acute. “Die? Leave you?”
said the Mammoth. “We will wait while you warm and rest yourself.”
Pic made a wry face. “More easily said than done. Even a hare would find
no shelter here.”
“But the mountains,” Hairi suggested. “There must be a hole in them
somewhere.”
Up to this time, the party had seen no caves. Pic would have spent every
night in one, were there caves to be had. So far he had not noticed one;
and many miles had by this time been traveled along the southern flank of
the Cantabrian range. Hairi was right. Lucky for Pic, his good-fortune
had not entirely deserted him, for as he looked toward the mountain
through the blinding snow-dust, he saw a dark spot high upon its side.
One glimpse was enough; the dark spot was a cave and he joyfully made
known the news to his companions.
All smiled once more. It was agreed that their onward march would be
halted temporarily, giving Pic a chance to take refuge in the cave and
rest until the storm was over. Meanwhile, the two animals would wait in
the lee of a rock-shelter which could be seen a half mile or so beyond
the cave. When the weather cleared, Pic would rejoin his friends and they
would continue as before. With this understanding, they separated. Pic
made for the mountain side, while Hairi and Wulli moved off toward the
rock-shelter.
Pic climbed up to the cave, but before intruding he made a careful
preliminary inspection. Possession was nine points of law in such cases;
the tenth point was getting possession. “Cave-jumping” was an offense
meriting capital punishment. There could be no mercy shown one who
attempted to deprive another of his home. This applied to men’s dealings
with beasts as well as with each other. Men and beasts both fancied the
same sort of dwelling, and in the winter time particularly there was
constant rivalry between them for the possession of desirable caves.
Some were more desirable than others, being furnished with more than one
entrance or having advantages of plumbing and ventilation; such as cool
drinking water trickling through the ceiling, or openings in the roof to
permit the escape of smoke and foul air. Most of them had thresholds or
sun-rooms, where the tenant might loll outside and enjoy natural light
and warmth. Neither man nor flesh-eating beasts knew how to build houses,
and so they made use of the best that Nature gave them.
Pic knew he had no business in that cave if some one were already there,
but his needs were great and he intended to occupy it no matter who
disputed him. He stepped boldly within.
Although vacant, the place did not lack an owner. It bore a pungent
animal odor and that odor was fairly fresh. The occupant had been there
recently and gone away. “Probably I will have gone away, too, by the
time he returns,” thought Pic. The storm was already abating and it
would not be long before he could resume his journey. Before selecting a
comfortable spot to lie down and rest, he set about to learn what variety
of animal he might have to deal with, should it return. His nose informed
him that the odor was not that of a lion or any other cat-like animal.
That was good, for they were his most formidable enemies. Wolf or hyena?
No; then it must be a bear. Yes, it was a bear! Now his anxiety was
relieved. Such animals varied greatly in size and fierceness, but most
of them were comparatively harmless if let alone.
Pic lay down in the cave-entrance where wind and sleet could not reach
him and laughed at the storm outside. He could see the broad snow-covered
expanse of country below him. The Mammoth and Rhinoceros had disappeared.
A large boulder hung at the verge of the cave-threshold and obstructed
his view in that direction. It also prevented his seeing what might be
coming toward him up the mountain side. Not until he heard the crunch,
crunch of something breaking through the snow-crust, did he realize that
he was about to have a visitor. He sprang to his feet, glided to the
boulder and peered over, then dropped behind it again for fear of being
observed.
A burly animal was ascending to the cave. It was heavily furred and round
like a big ball. A bear; Pic had interpreted the odor rightly, but he
had not bargained for one as large as this. It was neither the black nor
brown species, but a huge brute that no man, however strong and brave,
would care to meddle with—the giant Cave Bear.
The beast came lumbering up the steep mountain side, occasionally
stopping to gaze westward. At such times it growled. Probably it had
seen the Mammoth and Rhinoceros pass by and decided that its den needed
watching.
[Illustration: “THE CAVE BEAR LOOKED UP AND GROWLED”]
Pic gripped his ax tightly, for he knew this was an occasion to try
any bear’s temper. The one coming toward him appeared big enough to do
anything. He would put up a good fight without question, in the defense
of his home. The man looked at his ax-blade and shook his head. Even its
keen edge would find difficulty in reaching a vital spot through that
heavy fur. One blow, possibly two, were all he could expect to deliver
before the huge beast would close in. Once those mighty paws were around
his body it would go hard with him.
The beast halted directly beneath the boulder behind which the man lay
hidden. Should anything disturb that boulder and cause it to fall, so
much the worse for Mr. Bear. Pic braced his feet against the projections
of the ledge surface behind him and set his shoulders against the stone.
One mighty heave loosened it from its setting. The Cave Bear looked up
and growled. The motion of the stone and the slight noise above aroused
his suspicions. Pic put forth every ounce of his great strength in a
second effort. The boulder swayed, then toppled over. The beast saw it
coming and made a frantic attempt to save himself. Too late! The huge
stone descended upon him with a crash and the two went rolling and
tumbling together down the mountain side, with Pic bounding after them,
ax in hand, to deal the finishing blow.
But there was no need to complete the damage that the stone had begun.
When Pic arrived at the foot of the declivity he found a perfectly dead
bear. The crushing weight of the boulder and the long battering journey
down the steep incline had made an end of the beast for all time.
It was a magnificent animal, bulging with winter fat and the finest
of heavy fur. Pic looked down upon it and sighed. Bears in general
interested him and appealed to his gentler nature; bluff and ungainly
and so different from skulking flesh-eaters. The beast had died without
a chance to defend himself. Pic’s triumph was tinged with profound
regret; but one or the other of them had to die, he consoled himself,
and he preferred the bear to be that one. He marvelled at the beast’s
vast proportions; its thick hams and mighty paws; then his attention was
drawn to the fur. “A wonderful coat,” he said, as he kneeled and ran his
fingers through it. “Would that I had one like it to keep out the cold.”
“It is yours; take it,” something within him answered and the idea once
born, soon became a reality. In a trice, his ax-blade was unbound from
its wooden handle and became a knife. With this, Pic began to skin the
beast, a tremendous task for a lone man with nothing but a flint tool to
aid him. But the flint was sharp and the man’s strength and determination
carried him through. He slit the neck, chest and belly downward, then the
forepaws, and after much cutting and tugging pulled the complete hide
from the carcass. The hind legs were uncovered without slitting, leaving
those parts of the skin solid like a pair of boots. When the hide was
completely detached inside out, Pic turned it back the right way again
and the job was done.
He remounted his ax-head, rested and refreshed himself with some
flesh-strips from the carcass, then proceeded to have a try-on of his new
one-piece suit. The hind legs made comfortable trousers, and the rest of
it, although somewhat loose and badly hung, might have been much worse.
No better garment could have been devised to keep out the cold, and that
was the main idea. It had but one drawback. Pic found it a most unwieldy
thing to navigate in. When he tried to walk, he did nothing but trip and
stumble over his own feet. This was no more than amusing, for he was
feeling warm and comfortable and ready to smile at anything. “Hairi and
Wulli will be surprised when they see me in this,” he laughed. “Agh! What
a relief! My coat is every bit as warm as theirs. Snow, ice, cold wind;
what of them? Now our way may lead to the country of the Mammoth and
Rhinoceros, for all I care.”