Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-05-27

frequently than any Of us, and in the
course Of the game he discovered one
difficult slip" that neither Lop Ear
nor ! was able TO accomplish. To be
truthful, we were afraid to attempt it.
When we were at" Broken Tooth
always ran out TO the end of a lofty
branch In a certain tree. From the end
OF the branch to the ground it must
have been seventy feet and nothing in.
tervened to break a fall. But about
twenty feet lower down and fully fif.
teen feet out from the perpendicular
was the thick branch of another tree.
AS we ran out the limb Broken
Tooth, facing us, would begin teeter.
ing. This naturally impeded our prog
ress. but there was more in the teeter-
ing than that He teetered with his
back to the jump he was to make. Just
as we nearly reached him he would let
her 60. The lettering branch was like
springboard. It threw him far out,
backward, as he fell. And as he fell
he turned around sidewise In the air
so as to face the other branch into
which he was falling. This branch
UCuL idt uO"u Iuc anu
sometimes there was an ominous
cracking. but It never broke. and out
OF the leaves was always to be seen
the face of Broken Tooth, grinning
triumphantly up at US. 49, -. -.
+ was at" the last time Broken
Tooth tried this. He had gained the
end of the branch and begun his tee
tering, and was creeping out after
him, when suddenly there came a low
warning cry from Lop Ear. / looked
down and saw him in the main fork
OF the tree crouching close against the
trunk. lnstinctively crouched down
upon the thick limb. Broken Tooth
stopped lettering, but the branch
would not stop, and his body contin-
ued bobbing up and down with the
rustling leaves.
| heard the crackle of a dry twig
and, looking down, saw my first Fire
Man. He was creeping stealthily along
on the ground and peering up into the
tree. At first thought he was wild
animal, because he wore around his
waist and over his shoulders a ragged
piece of bearskin. And then | saw
his hands and feet and more clearly
his features. He was very much like
my kind, except that he was less hairy
and that his feet were less like hands
than ours. In fact, he and his people,
as | was later to know, were far less
hairy than we, though we, in turn,
were euqally less hairy than the Tree
People. - H. r.
II came to me instantly as looked
at him. This was the terror of the
northeast, of which the mystery of
smoke was token Yet 1 was puz-
zled. Certainly he was nothing of
which to be afraid. Red Eye or any
of our strong men would have been
more than a match for him. He was
old, too, wizened with age, and the
hair on his face was gray. Also he
limped badly with one leg. There
vas no doubt at all that we could out
run him and outelinb him. He could
never catch us; that was certain
But he carried something in his
hand that had never seen before. It
was bow and arrow. But at that time
a bow and arrow had no meaning for
me. How was to know that death
lurked in that bent piece of wood /?
But Lop Ear knew. He had evidently
seen the Fire People before and knew
something of their ways. The Firs
Man peered up at him and circled
around the tree. And around the main
trunk above the fork Lop Ear circled,
too, keeping always the trunk between
himself and the Fire Man.
The latter abruptly reversed his cir.
cling. Lop Ear, caught unawares, al
so hastily reversed, but did not win
the protection of the trunk until after
the Fire Man had twanged the bow.
] saw the arrow leap up, miss Lop Ear,
glance against limb and fall lack to
the ground. danced up and down on
my lofty perch with delight. It was
camel The Fire Man was throwing
things at Lop Ear as we sometimes
threw things at one another.
The game continued a little longer,
but Lop Ear did not expose himself
second time. Then the Fire Man gave
it up. leaned far out over my hori-
zontal limb and chartered down at
him. wanted to play. I wanted to
have him try to hit me with the thing.
He saw me, but ignored me, turning
his attention to Broken Tooth, who
was still teetering slightly and invol
on the end of the branch.
The first arrow leaped upward. |
Broken Tooth yelled with fright and
pain 1t had reached its mark This
put new complexion on the matter.
no longer cared to play, but crouehed
trembling close to my limb. A second
arrow and q third scared up, missing
Broken Tooth. rustling the leaves as
hey passed through, arching in their |
light and returning to earth.
The Fire Man stretched his bow
lgain. He shifted his position, walk
ne away several steps. then shifted it |
! second time. The bowstring twang-
"a. the arrow leaped upward, and
Broken Tooth, uttering a terrible
scream, fcII on the branch. saw him
IS he went down, turning over and
,yer. all arms and legs it seemed. the
hiatt Of the arrow projecting from his
hest and appearing and disappearing
With each revolution Of his body.
Sheer down. screaming. seventy feet |
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