Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1916-05-03

look that always accompanied incom-
prehension. and | know that in my
eyes must have been the same look.
We huddled. with our arms around
each other, until the heat began to
reach us and the odor of burning hair
was in our nostrils. Then we made a
dash of it and fled away westward
through the forest. looking back and
laughing as we ran.
BY the middle of the day we came
to a neck of land made. as we after
ward discovered. by a great curve of
the river that almost completed cir
Gle Right across the neck lay bunch
ed several low and partly wooded hills.
Over these we climbed. looking back
ward at the forest which had become
a sea of flame that swept eastward
before q rising wind We continued
to the west, following the river bank.
and before we knew it we were in
the midst of the abiding place of the
Fire People.
This abiding place was Il splendid
strategic selection. 1t was peninsu-
la. protected on three sides by the
curving river. On only one side was
it accessible by land. This was the
narrow neck of the peninsula, and
here the several low hills were a nat
ural obstacle. Practically isolated
from the rest Of the world. the Fire
People must have here lived and pros
pered for a long time. In fact,
think it was their prosperity that was
responsible for the subsequent migra-
ton that worked such calamity upon
the folk The Fire People must have
Increased in numbers until they press
0l uncomt Ortably against the bounds
of their habitat. They were expand
Ing, and in the course of their eX-
panding they drove the folk before
them and settled down themselves i'll
the caves and occupied the territory
that we had occupied.
But Lop Ear and / little dreamed Of
all this when we found ourselves in
the Fire Peoples stronghold. We had
but one idea, and that was to get
away, though we could not fOrbear
humOring our curiosity by peeping out
upon the village. For the first time
we saw the women and children of the
Fire People. The latter ran for the
most part naked, though the former
wore skins of wild animals.
The Fire People, like ourselves, lived
I'm caves. The open space in front of
the caves sloped down to the river and
I'm the open space burned many small
fire J. But whether or mot the Fire
People cooked their food, l do not
know. Lop Ear and 1 did not see
them cook Yet it is my opinion they
surely must have performed some sort
of rude cookery. Like us, they car
ried water in gOurds from the river.
There was much coming and going
and loud cries made by the women
and children. The latter played about
and cut up antics quite in the same
way as did the children of the folk,
and they more nearly resembled the
children of the folk than did the
grown Fire People resemble the grown
folk.
Lob Ear and l did not linger long
We saw some of the part grown boys
shooting with bow and arrow, and we
sneaked back into the thicker forest
and made our way to the river. And
there we found a catamaran, real
catamaran. one evidently made by
some fire man. The two logs were
small and straight and were dashed to-
gether by means of tough roots and
crosspieces of wood.
This time the idea occurred stimuli
taneously to US. We were trying to
escape out of the Fire Peoples terri
tory. What better way than by cross
ing the river on these logs? We climb
ed on board and showed off. A sudden
something gripped the catamaran and
flung it downstream violently against
the bank. The abrupt stoppage almost
whipped us off into the water. The
! catamaran was tied to tree by rope
! of twisted roots This we united be
fore showing off again.
By the time we had padded well out
\ into the current we had drifted SO far