Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-05-13

In the morning. after having had
our sleep, we crept back to the fire.
! It was still smoldering. and the Fire
! Men were gone. We made circle
through the forest to make sure. and
then we ran to the fire. l wanted ia
see what it was like. and between
thumb and finger picked up glow
ing coal. Ny cry of pain and fear as
| dropped it stampeded Lop Ear into
the trees. and his fight frightened me
| after him.
! The next time we came back more
cautiously, and we avoided the glow
ing Goals We fell to initiating the
fire men. We squatted down by the
| fire and, with heads bent forward on
our knees. made believe to sleep. Then
we mimicked their speech, talking to
each other in their fashion and max
ing a great gibberish. l remembered
seeing the wizened old hunter poke the
fire with a stick. poked the fire with
a stick, turning up masses of live Goals
and clouds Of white ashes This was
great sport, and soon we were coated
white with the ashes.
1t was inevitable that we should |
initiate the fire men in replenishing |
the fire We tried it first with small !
pieces of wood 1t was a success. The |
wood famed up and cracked, and we
danced and gibbered with delight. |
Then We began to throw on larger
pieces of wood We put on more and |
I Gro n
dashed e1citedly back and forth. drag
ging dead limbs and branches from
out the forest The flames scared
higher and higher. and the smoke COZ
umn out lowered the tees. There
was a tremendous swapping and
cracking and roaring. 1t was the
most monumental work we had ever
effected with our hands. and we were
, proud of it. We. too. were fire men.
We thought. as we danced there. white
! gnomes in the confiagration
The dried grass and underbrush
p. caught fire. but we did not notice it.
= Suddenly great tree on the edge of
i the open space burst into flames. We
looked at it with startled eyes. The
heat of it drove US back. Another
l. tree caught. and another and then half
u a dozen. We were frightened. The
. monster had broken loose. We crouch
ed down in fear. while the fire ate
!. around the circle and hemmed Us in.
l. Into Lon Ears eyes came the plalntive
" look that always accompanied incom-
lie prehension. and | know that in my
n ( box
l. We huddled. with our arms around
=. each other. until the heat began to
r. reach US and the Odor of burning hair
IT was in our nostris. Then we made a
y dash Of it and fed away westward
II through the forest. looking back and
t. laughing as we ran.
1t BY the middle of the day we came
to a neck of land made. as we after
IS ward discovered. by a great curve Of
If the river that almost completed a cir
IS Gle. Right across the neck lay bunch
-e ed several low and partly wooded hills.
id Over these we climbed. looking back
ID ward at the forest which had become
D. sea of fame that swept eastward
h before a rising wind We continued
n and before we knew it we were in
S the midst of the abiding place of the
n Fire People.
if This abiding place was splendid
ot strategic selection. 1t was a peninsu-
$. la. protected on three sides by the
G. curving river. On only one side was
X it accessible by land. This was the
y narrow neck of the peninsula, and
ID here the several low hills were nat
Il ural obstacle. Practically isolated
IS from the rest of the world. the Fire
e. People must have here lived and pros
d, pered for a long time. In fact.
think it was their prosperity that was
rs responsible for the subsequent migra-
| ton that worked such calamity upon
ID the folk. The Fire People must have
N increased in numbers until they press
rs ed uncomfortably against the bounds
T. Of their habitat They were expand
e, ing, and in the course of their ex-
re panding they drove the folk before
lie them and settled down themselves in
Id the caves and occupied the territory
v that we had occupied.
But Lop Ear and little dreamed Of
le all this when we found ourselves in
ID the Fire Peoples stronghold. We had
OF but one idea, and that was to get
In away, though we could not forbear
s. humoring our curiosity by peeping out
OF upon the village. For the first time
e. we saw the women and children Of the
It, Fire People. The latter ran for the
t. most part naked, though the former
IL wore skins of wild animals.
re The Fire People, like ourselves, lived
,e in caves. The open space in front OF
~ the caves sloped down to the river and
lie in the open space burned many small
fires. But whether or not the Fire
e. People cooked their food, l do not
tn know. Lop Ear and 1 did not see
he them cook. Yet it is my opinion they
Us surely must have performed some sort
20 Of rude cookery. Like US, they Cur
he ried water in gourds from the river
as There was much coming and going
liz and loud cries made by the women
", and children. The latter played about
Is. and cut up antics quite in the same
in way as did the children of the folk
he and they more nearly resembled the
children Of the folk than did the
,d grown Fire People resemble the grown
nd folk.
Of Lop Ear and did not linger long
u We saw some of the part grown boys