Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1916-03-29

and we sat together with our arms
around each other. A little later n
disclosed the mystery of the wide
mOuthed cave. Holding me by The
hand he led me inside II connected
by a narrow crevice with another cave.
and it was through this that we re
gained the open air.
We were now good friends, When
the other young ones gathered around
to tease he Joined with me in attack
ing them. and so viciously did we be-
have that before long | was let alone.
Lop Ear made me acquainted with
the village There was little that he
could tell me of conditions and Gus
toms-he had not the necessary vocab-
ulary. but by observing his actions
learned much and also he showed me
places and things.
He took me up the open space be-
tween the caves and the river and into
the forest beyond. where in a grassy
place among the trees we made meal
of stringy rooted carrots. After that
we had a good drink at the river and
started up the runway to the caves.
It was in the runway that we came
upon Red Eye again. The first | knew
Lop Ear had Shrunk away to one side
and was crOuching low against the
bank. Naturally and invOluntarily |
initiated him. Then it was that look
ed to see the cause of his fear. 1t
was Red Eye. staggering down the
center of the runway and scow!ing
fercely with his infamed eyes. | no
ticed that all the youngsters shrank
away from him as we had done. while
the grownups regarded him with wary
eyes when he drew near and stepped
aside TO give him the center of the
path.
AS twilight came on the open space
was deserted The folk were seeking
the safety of the caves LOp Ear led
the way TO bed. High up the bluff we
climbed. higher than all the other
caves, to a tiny crevice that could not
be seen from the ground. Into this
LOp Ear squeezed. l followed with
difficulty, so narrow was the entrance.
and found myself in a small rock
chamber. 1t was very lOw-not more
than a couple of feet in height and
possibly three feet by four n width
and length. Here, cuddled together i'll
each others arms. we slept out the
night
While the more courageous of the
youngsters played in and out OF the
large mOuthed caves l early learned
that such caves were unOccupied. No
one slept in them at night. Only the
crevice mouthed caves were used, the
/ narrower the mouth the better. This
was from fear of the preying animals
/ that made life a burden to us in those
days and nights
The first morning after my nights
sleep with Lop Ear | learned the ad-
vantage of the narrow mouthed caves.
| 1t was Just daylight when old Saber
Tooth, the tiger. walked into the open
space. Two of the folk were already
up. They made a rush for it. Whether
\ they were panic stricken or whether he
was too close on their heels for them
to attempt to scramble up the bluff TO
the crevices, do not know, but at any
rate they dashed into the wide mouth
ed cave wherein LOp Ear and had
played the afternoon before.
What happened inside there was no
way of telling, but it is fair to
conclude that the two folk slipped
through the connecting crevice into the
| other cave. This crevice was too small
to allow for the passage of Saber
Tooth. and he came out the way he
had gone in, unSatisfied and angry. 1t
was evident that his nights hunting
had been unsuccessful and that he had
expected to make q meal off OF us.
He caught sight of the two folk at the
other cave mouth and sprang for them.
OF course they darted through the
passageway into the first cave. He
emerged angrier than ever and snarl-
ing.
! PandemOnium broke loose among the
rest of u.s. All up and down the great
bluff we crowded the crevices and out
side lodges, and we were all chatter
ing and shrieking in q thousand keys.
And we were all making faces-snarl-
ing faces; this was an instinct with us.
II
though our anger was allied with fear
l remember that l shrieked and made
faces with the best of them. Not only
did they set the example, but felt the
urge from within me to do the same
things they were doing. My hair was
bristling, and l was convulsed with q
fierce. unreasOning rage.
For some time old Saber Tooth con
tinued dashing in and out Of first the
one cave and then the other. But the
two folk merely slipped back and
forth through the connecting crevice
and eluded him. In the meantime
the rest of us up the bluff had pro
ceeded to action. Every time he ap
peared outside we pelted him will
rocks. At first we merely dropped
them on him. but we soon began K
whiz them down with the added force
of our muscles.