Think of as many hard things as you can that the Cave-men had to
do.
Why did they have to do these things? What kind of men did the
Cave-men have to be?
Think of as many ways as you can that the Cave-men would use to
teach the boys. What tests do you think they would give the boys?
[Illustration: "_And so the Cave-men tested the boys in many different
ways._"]
_How the Cave-men Tested Fleetfoot and Flaker_
Winters came and went, and Fleetfoot and Flaker grew to be large boys.
They watched the men; they heard them talk; they learned what a
Cave-man had to do.
Greybeard told them stories of brave hunters that lived long ago. He
told them about the animals they must learn to hunt. The boys listened
to the stories. And they thought there was no animal too fierce for
them to fight. They thought there was no river too swift for them to
cross. They thought there was no mountain too steep for them to climb.
But the boys had not learned how fierce a bison can be. They had never
crossed a raging river nor climbed a mountain peak.
The men knew that the boys needed to try their strength before they
could be really strong. They knew they must do brave deeds before they
could be really brave. They knew they must suffer patiently before
they could have self-control. And so the Cave-men tested the boys in
many different ways.
If the boys stood the tests, the Cave-men shouted praises; but if they
showed any sign of fear, the Cave-men jeered at them.
Sometimes the boys were given nothing to eat until they brought food
from the hunt. And even then they were not always allowed to touch the
food which was near. When the boys were fasting, the Cave-men tempted
them with food. And if the boys took even a bite, they failed in the
test. So Fleetfoot and Flaker learned to fast without a word of
complaint.
One of the hardest things which the boys had to do was to make their
own weapons. At first, Greybeard helped them; but, later, they had to
do their own work.
So the boys learned to go to the trees that had the best wood for
shafts. They learned to cut, and peel, and scrape, and oil, and
season, and polish the sticks before they were ready to use. No wonder
the boys became tired before all this work was done.
Then they worked very carefully before they could make good
spearheads. They hunted for the best stones and learned to shape them
very well. When they forgot and struck hard blows, they spoiled the
flint points. Then Greybeard would tell them that the strongest and
bravest hunters were those who could strike the gentlest blows.
It was work of this kind that was harder for the boys than chasing a
wild horse or a reindeer. If they had not known that they must have
weapons, they would not have had patience to do it.
While the boys worked at their weapons, they thought of what they
would do with them. They thought of the trophies they would bring home
and what the people would say. And they learned to sing at their work
and to mark the time for each blow. And so they managed to keep at
work until the weapons were done.
One day when the boys were flaking spear points, Fleetfoot turned to
Flaker and said, "Do you know who made the first flaker?"
"Yes," answered Flaker, "it was Greybeard."
"No, no!" said Fleetfoot, "Nimble-finger did it."
Greybeard heard Fleetfoot speak his name and he came to the spot. Then
it was that Fleetfoot learned that Greybeard was Nimble-finger.
After that Fleetfoot took great pains to learn how to flake flint
points. He watched Greybeard as he worked and he listened to all he
said.
Before many years had passed, the boys could make good weapons. They
knew every spot on their own hunting ground. They knew the wild
animals that lived there and what they liked to do. They knew each
animal by its track. Each sound of the woods, each patch of light,
they learned to read as you read a book.
#THINGS TO DO#
_Name things you will have to learn before you are full-grown._
_What kind of tests do you have to take?_
_Tell a story of the way the Cave-men tested Fleetfoot and Flaker._
_Tell a story of all that you think happened the day that Fleetfoot
learned that Greybeard was Nimble-finger._
_Name the birds you can tell by their song. Name those you can tell
by sight._
_Draw one of these pictures:_--
_Testing Fleetfoot and Flaker._
_Fleetfoot and Flaker in the workshop._
_Fleetfoot discovers Nimble-finger._
[Illustration: "_Then their antlers crashed in a swift charge._"]