Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-06-03

though We did not know IL. And this
was something that no one else Of the
folk had ever done. We were the firsi
OF the folk to set foot on the north
bank of the river, and, for that mat
ter, believe the last. That they
would have done so in the time to
come is undoubted. but the migration
of the fire people and the consequent
migration of the survivors of the folk
set back our evolution for centuries
Indeed. there is no telling how disas.
trous was to be the outcome Of the
Fire Peoples migration. Personally
am prone to believe that it brought
about the destruction Of the folk; that
we, branch of lower life budding
toward the human. were nipped shori
on and persisted down by the roaring
surf where the river entered the sea.
OF course in such an eventuality.
remain to be accounted for, but out
run my story, and such accounting
will be made before am done.
have no idea how long Lop Ear and
wandered In the land north of the
river We were like mariners wreck
ed on a desert isle, SO far as concern
ed the likelihood of our getting home
again. We turned our back upon the
river and for weeks and months adj
ventured In that wilderness where
there were no folk. 1t Is very Diff
cult for me to reconstruct our journey
ing and impossible to do II from day
to day. Most OF 1t Is hay and indis-
tinct, though here and there | have
vivid recollections of things that hap
pened
Especially do / remember the hung
er we endured on the mountains be-
tween Long lake and Far lake and the
calf we caught sleeping in the thicket;
also there are Tree People who dwelt
in the forest between Long lake and
the mountains. II was they who chas-
ed us into the mountains and COM
PEELED US to travel on TO Far lake.
First, after we left the river, we
worked toward the west till we came
to a small stream that flowed through
marshlands. Here we turned away
toward the north, skirting the marsh
es, and after several days arriving at
what have called Long lake. We
spent some time around its upper end.
where we found food in plenty, and
then one day in the forest we ran foul
of the Tree People. These creatures
were ferocious apes, nothing more.
And yet they were not so different
from us. They were more hairy, 1t is
true; their legs were a trifle more
twisted and gnarly. their eyes bit
smaller, their necks bit thicker and
shorter and their nostrils slightly
more like orifices in a sunken surface,
but they had no hair on their faces
and on the palms of their hands and
the soles of their feet. and they made
sounds similar to ours with somewhat
similar meanings. After all, the Tree
People and the folk were not so un-
like.
found him first, q little withered
dried up old fellow, wrinkled faced
and bleary eyed and lottery. He was
legitimate prey. In our world there
was no sympathy between the kinds,
and he was not our kind. He was a
tree man, and he was very old. He
was sitting at the foot of tree-evi-
IDENTIFY his tree, for we could see the
tattered nest in the branches in which
he slept at night.
l pointed him out to Lop Ear, and
we made rush for him. He started
to climb, but was too slow. / caught
him by the leg and dragged him back.
Then We had fun. We pinched him,
pulled his hair, tweaked his ears and
poked twigs into him, and all the
while we laughed with streaming eyes.
His futile anger was most absurd. He
was a comical sight, striving to fan
into flame the cold ashes of his youth,
to resurrect his strength dead and
gone through the oozing of the years
making woeful faces in place of the
ferocious ones he intended, grinding
his worn teeth together, beating his
meager chest with feeble fists.
Also he had cough and he gasped
and hacked and spluttered prodigious-
ly. Every time he tried to climb the
tree we pulled him back until at last
he surrendered to his weakness and
did no more than sit and weep. And
Lop Ear and | sat with him, our arms
around each other, and laughed at his
wretchedness.
From weeping he went to whining
and from whining to wailing until at
last he achieved a scream This
alarmed US. but the more we tried to
make him cease the louder he scream
ed. And then from not far away in
the forest came a Cock Goek!" to
our ears. To this there were answer
ing cries. several of them, and from
very far off we could hear big bass
'Goek!" Cock! Cock" Also the
"Whoo-whooi" call was rising in the
forest all around us
Then came the chase. 1t seemed it
never would end. They raced us
through the trees. the whole tribe of
them, and nearly caught us. We were
forced to take to the ground, and here
we had the advantage, for they were
truly the Tree People, and, while they
outclimbed Us, we outfooted them on
the ground. We broke away toward
the north, the tribe bowling on our
rack. Across the open spaces we
gained, and in the brush they caught
Up with us, and more than once 1t was
alp and tuck. And as the chase con-
.inued We realized that we were not |
heir kind either and that the bonds