Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-05-27

do not know. but at last we came out
where n low range of bills ran down
to the bank OF the river 1t was our
river emerging Ike ourselves from the
great swamp. On the south bank,
where the river had broken its way
through the hills. we found many
sandstone caves. Beyond. toward the
west, the ocean doomed on the bar
that lay across the rivers mouth And
here in the caves we settled down in
our abiding place by the sea.
There were not many OF us. From
time to time as the days went by
more of the folk appeared. They drag
Sed themselves from the swamp sin
gly and in twos and threes, more dead
than alive, mere perambulating skele
tons, until at last there were thirty
of us. Then no more came fro-1, the
swamp. and Red Eye was not among
us. 1t was noticeable that no children
had survived the frightful journey.
| shall not tell In detail Of the years
We lived by the sea. 1t was not
happy abiding place. The air was
raw and chill. and we suffered cor
tinually from coughing and colds. We
could LIZ survive in such an environ
ment. True, we had children, but they
had little hold on life and died early,
while we died faster than new ones
were born. Our number steadily d.
minished.
Then, the radical change in our diet
was not good for US. We got few veg
etables and fruits and became fish eat
ers. There were mussels and abalones
and clans and rock oysters and great
ocean crabs that were thrown upon
the beaches in stormy weather; also
we found several kinds of seaweed
in diet caused US stomach troubles,
and none of US ever waXed fat. We
were all lean and dyspeptic looking.
1t was in getting the big abalOnes that
Lop Ear was lost. One of them
closed upon his fingers at low tide, and
! then the floodtide came in and drown
ed him. We found his body the next
day, and it was a lesson TO US. Not
another one of u.s. was ever caught in
the closing shell of an abalone.
The Swift One and l managed to
| bring up one child. boy-at least we
managed to bring him along for sever
al years. But 1 am quite confident he
could never have survived that terrible
climate. And then one day the Fire
People appeared again. They had
/ come down the river, not on a catama-
ran, but in a rude dugout. There were
three of them that padded in it. and
one Of them was the little, wiZened
I old hunter They landed on our beach
/ and he limped across the sand and eX-
! amined our caves.
They went away in few minutes,
but the Swift One was badly scared
| We were all frightened, but none of us
to the extent that she was. She rhim-
| pered and cried and was restless all
| that night. In the morning she took
| the child in her arms and by sharp
cries, gestures and example started me
on our second long flight. There were
eight of the folk (all that was left OF
! the horde that remained behind in the
caves. There was no hope for them
Without doubt, even if the Fire People
did not return, they must soon have
persisted. 1t was a bad climate down
there by the sea. The folk We're not
constituted for the coast dwelling life.
We travelled south, for days skirting
the great swamp, but never venturing
into it. Once we broke back to the
| westward, crossing a range Of noun
tainS and coming down to the coast
But it was no place for US. There
! were no trees, only bleak headlandS, 4
laundering surf and strong winds that
seemed never to cease from blowing
! We turned back across the mountains
travelling east and south, until we
came in touch with the great swamp
again.
Soon we gained the southern ex-
tremity of the swamp, and we contin-
ued our course south and east. It was
pleasant land. The air was warm,
and we were again in the forest. Later
on We crossed low lying range of hills
and found ourselves III an even better