The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-01-01
THE ADVERTISERS
 DAILY SHORT STORY

- V - - V - - - - - It va. . good race--thers could be ne cn New Years Day. two hundred and nfsy thousand years aso. though neither
 rider had eyer mounted . horse before.
 bsstr,as.n }.:t as neiiher horse had never bee been sr the jockeys nor any others among the lnhabitants of the region were aware of the fact that 1t was New Years Day. Neither Meth, Egyptian astronomers nor an. nor Pope Gregory had yet engaged in the calendar making pastime. ana people
 were, as a consequence, what might be Ssns tS,: s ay ticular spot in the year on which New
 Years Day would have come had there been any competent person at hand to
 Two men. unseen of each other, were, In the early afternoon, creeping on hands and knees toward . slight declivity, per. haps twelve feet in height which de- of . small stream. Between the @ bank bank and this rocky upheaval was a long. nar- row stretch of sward. and here were feeding | bands of curious wild horses the grass which srew in the crevices of the rock itself. The two men above. crawling noiselessly toward them. were concealed from everything b.. dense tended to and sverhuns the verge of the little cliff. They reached its eG1s and peered cautiously over at almost the same
 The men were biz and hairy, deep chested. lons-armed and of treat mus cular. development. The horses were small. each. say: about the size of a jackass. bie-headed and by no means horses were. however. they were swift and strong. qualities absolutely neces- sary for anything like blIthesome style Sa. or eSistenes M at the time of this particu- what the scientists call Paleothic, that Is, the time before primitive man had become dude and taken to polishing his. stone. wespons. Not even the bow consisted of. roushly-chipped stone axes and spears with heads made of the prongs of reindeer horns The axe was the isvcrits ss S1.,, weapon; fer t could bs thrown sntific aliusiens-net enough to mar the taie-are introduced ts make clearer cer- tain phases of this fair love story. for q love story 1t is. pure ana simple.
 The sole xarb of each of the men Peering down-upcn the horses was short fur garment suspended from . tough skin belt about his middle: Into each belt roughly -chipped. stone axe bound into the tough split handle with cross-lap- ping thongs of reindeer hide. These were on tnis occanon the only weapons car
 Either brawny hunter would have ap- peared fiery and fierce enough to any op- posing tribe. Among themselves they were not peaceful. Fire was in their lehge at arms unrecognized. Often had the enemies sought to catch the other unawares. when asleep after the chase and subsequent gerging. and then brain cave men; and each was. so far. un- harmed. They were enemies from the cause which has made enemies through out all recorded time: that is. they were deer, the daughter and heusekeeper of old kloof. venerable but vigorous and bloodthirsty old gentleman. of the time, wh 3se> cave was some miles dist ant from where the hunters were now stalking the wild horses. The names of these hunters were, respectively Fangs and Scarface not particularly imposing titles, 1t is true. but names in the Pa leolithic age came in a spasmodic sort Of way, because of some suggesting irf- cident. For instance. old Kloof was so- called because of peculiar sound he made runnin~ about as child. Reindeer caught in pit on the day of her birth, Scarface because one cheek was burned frithtfully, and Fangs because of his proinoerarit ,,so,,,i teeth; They just came nat. times do. as flowers grow, or as notes fall due. There was not a Montmorenci ia .nily among all the cave men. not a Gladys among the females, nor a Regi- nald among the males.
 The fascinating Reindeer was perfectly aware of the rIvalr'- existing between Fangs and Scarface concerning the even- tual ownership of her fair person She had abundant proof of the fire burning In 'the heart of each. because, had she been less neet-footed. she would long before have become matron. Not oft ten did she venture great distance from her fathers cave, though she was a famous gatherer of nuts and fruits swinging from tree to tree like a monkey and had to help supply the larder, but twice had she gone too far and in each instance her case had developed sud- denly into the condition known as par lous. Once Scarface had espled her in the woods. and the chase began at once flor wooing was swift and without pre- limiparies In those innocent Arcadian days-but him she easily outfooted. laughing shrilly over her shoulder as she ran. With Fangs the case had been altogether different. He chanced upon her farther from her home, and it was a desperately panting maiden who hurled herself into the entrance of her fathers cave. with Fangs scarce hundred yards behind. Even then, she might have been