Why do people put up such signs as "Keep off," "Do not trespass"?
Why do people build fences around their land?
Do you think the Cave-men could hunt wherever they chose?
Why did each clan have its own hunting ground? What kind of
boundaries did the hunting grounds have? Why was it not safe to go
on the land of a stranger?
Why did mothers teach their children the boundary lines?
What do you think some mothers mean when they tell their children
that the "Bogie-man" will get them?
_Why Mothers Taught their Children the Boundary Lines_
Each day brought so many hard things to do that most of the Cave-men
forgot Fleetfoot. But his mother and grandmother did not forget him.
They often thought of the boy they had lost.
Other mothers were afraid they might lose their children. So they
tried to keep them from running away. Most of all, they tried to keep
them from running across the boundary line.
When Pigeon tried to run away, Eagle-eye would say, "The cave-bear
will get you." Mothers tried all sorts of ways to keep their children
from danger.
Each clan had its own hunting ground. The people who lived together
shared it, but no one else was allowed to hunt on the land. It was not
even safe to cross the land of a stranger. Sometimes the Cave-men had
to do it. Sometimes they had to call upon their neighbors for help.
But since there were people who had lost their lives when trying to
cross the land of strangers, the Cave-men learned to use signs to show
what they wanted. They carved pictures upon sticks, which told what we
might tell in a letter.
When a stranger carried a message-stick, it was safe for him to do his
errand. People knew what he wanted and why he came, so they let him go
on his way unharmed. But when a stranger had no message-stick, his
life was not safe in a strange land.
[Illustration: "_Mothers taught their children what the boundaries
were._"]
And so people learned to stay on their own lands and mothers taught
their children what the boundaries were. They taught the children to
name them over and over again. They taught them to know how the
boundaries looked.
For a long time Pigeon had to tell her mother each day the boundaries
of the hunting grounds. She would stand on the cliff and point north
to the narrow valley, then south to Little River. Then she pointed to
a high ridge of hills toward the east and west to the River of Stones.
While Pigeon was so small that Eagle-eye had to take her by the hand,
her mother took her to the boundaries. Eagle-eye had taught her so
well that she knew them as soon as she saw them.
Perhaps you have heard the story told about mothers who taught their
children the boundary lines. It is told that mothers used to be so
anxious to have their children remember the boundaries that they
whipped them at each one. Then the story is told that in later times
instead of beating the children, people let them beat the boundaries.
Some day you may be able to learn more about the strange customs of
beating the boundary lines.
#THINGS TO DO#
_Mark out in your sand-box the boundary lines of the hunting ground
of the Horse clan. Show a good place for another hunting ground._
_Ask some one to read you the story, "The Goblins will get you if
you don't watch out." What do you think the story means?_
_Climb a hill, or look out of a high window, and see if you can
find land which at one time was a good hunting ground._
_See if you can make a message-stick._