The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1916-04-18

NNhhIitNtls bhhhtu' IL nurt MS pTlue
terribly thus to be outwitted by the
small and tender folk. He stood on
the ground and looked up Mt us. snarl-
ing, flashing his tail, swapping ut the
stones that fell near to him. Once |
whizzcd down n stone, and just ut the
right moment he looked up. 1t caught
him full on the end of his nose and
he went straight up In the air, all fonr
feet of him, roaring and caterwauling,
what of the hurt and surprise.
He was beaten, and he knew 1t. Re
covering his dignity, he stalked out
solemnly from under the rain of stones.
lie stopped In the middle II the open
space and looked wistfully and hun.
grily back at us. He hated to forcgo
the meal, and we were Just SO much
meat cornered, but inaccessible This
sight of him started us to laughing.
We laughed derisivcly and uproarious-
", all of us. Now, animals do not like
them angry. And in such fashion our
laughter affected Saber Tooth. He
turned with q roar and charged the
blum again. This was what we want.
ed. The fight had become game.
and we took huge delight In pelting
him.
But this attack did not last long. He
quickly recovered his common sense
and, besides. our missiles were shire wd
to hurt. Wildly do rccollcct the vi.
sion of one bullying eye of his. swollen
almost shut by one of the stones we
had thrown And wildly do | retain
the picture of him rs he stood on the
finally retreated. He was looking back
at us, his writing lips lifted clear OF
the very roots of his huge fangs, his
hair bristling and his tail lnshing. He
gave one last snarl and slid from view
among the trees.
And then such chattering as went
up. We swarmed out of our holes, ey-
aminging the marks his claws had
made on the crumbling rock Of the
blur, all of us talking Mt once. One of
the two folk who had been caught In
the double cave was part grown, half
child and half youth. They had come
out proudly from their refuge and we
Then the young fellows mother broke
through and fell upon him in ire.
mendous rage, boxing his ears, pulling
his hair and shrieking like demon.
She was n strnpping big woman, very
hairy, and the thrashing she gave him
was a delight to the horde. We roar
ed with laughter, holding on to one
another or rolling on the ground I'm our
glee.
In spite of the reign of fear under
which we lived the folk were always
great laughers. We had the sense OF
humor. Our merriment was Gargan
tuan. 1t was never restrained. There
was nothing halfway about 1t. Wher
a thing was funny we were convulsct
with appreciation OF 1t, and the sim
plest. crudest things were funny to us
Oh. we were great laughers, car
tell you!
The way we had treated Saber Tooth
was the way we treated all animals
/ that invaded the village. We kept oul
runways and drinking places to our
selves by making life miserable fol-
| the animals that trespassed or strayed
upon our immediate territory. Even
| the fiercest hunting animals we so be
deviled that they learned to leave our
! places alone, We We're not fighters
like them; we were cunning and cow
J ardly. and It was because Of our Gun
ming and cowardice and our inordlnate
capacity for fear that we survived In
that frightfully hostile environment OF
the younger world.
Lop Ear, | figure. was year Older
than l. What his past history was he
had no way OF telling me. but as
never saw anything of his mother
believed him to be an orphan. After
all, fathers did not count I'm our horde
Marriage was as yet In n rude state
and couples had way of quarreling
and separating. Modern man, what OF
his divorce institution. does the same
thing legally. But we had no laws
Custom was all we went by, and oul
custom In this particular matter was
Father promiscuous.
Nevertheless. as this narrative will
show later on. we betrayed glimmcr
ing adumbratiOns Of the monogamS
that was later to give power TO and
make mighty such tribes rs embraced
1t. Furthermore, even mt the time
was born, there We're several faithful
couples that lived In the trees In the
neighborhood OF my mother. Living II
the thick of the horde did not conducs
to monogamy. 1t was for this reason
undoubtedly, that the faithful couples
went away and lived by themselves
Through many years these couples
stayed together, though when the maj
or woman died or was eaten the sur
vivor invariably found n new mate.
There was one thing that greatly
puzzled me during the first days Of
my residence In the horde. There wal
nameless AMI incommunicable feal
that rested upon all. At first It ap
peared to be connected wholly will
direction. The horde feared the north
east 1t lived in perpetual apprehen
sion OF that quarter of the compass