The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1915-06-16

went more slowly, and then he stop
ped and crouched nat upon his belly
Slowly and cautiously he reached oct
ward and backward with one hug,
paw until the torturing spear wa
within his grasp.
Meanwhile the man screamed taunts
and insults into the face of his enemy
at the same time forcing the spear far
ther and farther into the vitals Of the
tiger. for he knew that once that paw
encircled the spears haft his chances
for survival would be Of the slenderest
He had seen that 90 was weakening
from loss Of blood. but there were
many fighting minutes left In the big
carcass unless a happy twist Of the
spear sent its point through the wal
of the great heart.
But at length the beast succeeded.
The paw closed upon the spear. The
tough wood bent beneath the weight OF
those steel thews, then snapped short
foot from the tigers body. At the
same instant 90 reared and threw him.
self upon the youth. who had snatched
his stone hunting knife from between
his teeth and crouched. ready for the
impact.
Down they went. the man entirely
buried beneath the great body of his
antagonist. Again and again the crude
knife was buried in the snowy breast
Of the tiger even while M fell beneath
the screaming. tearing incarnation of
bestial rage.
At the instant it struck the man as
strange that not once had the snap-
ping jaws or frightful talons touched
him. and then he was crushed to earth
beneath the dead weight Of 90.
The beast gave one last, titanic
struggle and was still
With difficulty M wriggled from be-
meath the carcass of his kill. At the
last moment the tiger itself had forced
the spears point into its own heart
as 1t bent and broke the haft.
The man leaped to his feet and cut
the great throat.
Then as the blood flowed he danced
about the dead body Of his vanquished
foe, brandishng his knife and recov-
cred Ratchet and emitting now shrill
shrieks in mimicry of 90 and now
deep toned roars-the call of the VIC
tOriOus cave man.
From the surrounding cliffs and jun
gle came answering challenges from a
hundred savage throats-the rumbling
thunder of the cave bears grOwl, the
roar Of ZOr. the lion; the wall of the
hyena, the trumpeting of the NAM
moth. the deep toned believing of the
bull hos. and from distant swamp and
sea came the kissing and whistling of
saurian and amphibian.
His victory dance completed, NJ
busted himself in the removal of the
broken spear from the carcass of his
kill. At the same time he removed
arm. with which he roughly spliced the
broken haft. for there was never an in
slant in the danger fraught existence
of his kind when it was well to be
without the service of a stone tipped
spear.
self with the task of cutting off Cos
head. that he might bear it in triumph
to the cave Of his love. With stone
Ratchet and knife he hacked and hew-
ed for the better part of half hour
until at last he raised the dripping tro-
ply above his head. us, leaping high
i'll air, he screamed once more the
gloating challenge Of the victor, that
all the world might know that there
was no greater hunter than Nh. the
son of M.
Even as the last note of his fierce
cry rolled through the heavy. humid,
air of the Neocene there
came sudden hush upon the face of
the world.
A strange darkness obscured the
swollen sun. The ground trembled and
shook. Deep rumblings muttered up
earth, and answering grumblings thun-
dered down from the ornament above.
The startled trOglOdyte looked quick
ly in every direction, searching for the
great beast who could thus cause the
whole land to tremble and cry out in
fear and the heavens above to moan
and the sun to hide himself in terror
In every direction he saw frightened
beasts and birds and flying reptiles
scurrying in panic stricken terror in
search of hiding places, and, moved by
the same primitive instinct, the young
giant grabbed up his weapon and his
trophy and ran like an antelope for the
darkness Of the cave of 90.
Scarcely had he reached the fancied
safety of the interior when the earths
crust crumpled and rocked. There was
Il sickening sensation of sudden sink
ing, and amid the awful roar and thun-
der of rending rock the cave mouth
closed, and in the impenetrable dark
ness of his living tomb Nh, the son of
Num- of the Neocene-lost conscious
ness.
That was a hundred thousand years
ago.