Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-05-26

tell you! <
The way We had treated Saber Tooth
was the way We treated al animals
that invaded the village. We kept our
runways and drinking places to our.
selves by making life miserable for
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 were not fighters
like them: We were cunning and COW.
ardly, and II was because of our cum
ming and cowardice and our inordinate
capacity for fear that We survived in
that frightfully hostile environment of
the younger verdi.
: I,op Ear. I figure, was a year older
than /, 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 in our horde.
Marriage was as yet in a 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 OUT
custom in this particular matter was
rather promiscuous. Pc. ~
Nevertheless, as this narrative will
show later on, We betrayed glimmer.
ing adumbrations of the monogamy
that was later to give power to and
make mighty such tribes as embraced
1t. Furthermore, even at the time ]
was born, there were several faithful
couples that lived in the trees in the
neighborhood of my mother. Living in
the thick of the horde did not conduce
to monogamy. 1t was for this reason,
undoubtedly, that the faithfcl couples
went away and lived by themselves,
Through many years these couples
stayed together, though when the man
or woman died or was eaten the sur.
yiyor invariably found new mate.
There was one thing that greatly
puzzled me during the first days of
my residence in the horde. There was
nameless and incommunicable fear
that rested upon all. At first it ap-
peared to be connected wholly with
direction. The horde feared the north.
east It lived in perpetual apprehen.
sion of that quarter Of the compass.
And every individual gazed more fire.
quently and with greater alarm in that
direction than in any other. =
When Lop Fear and l went toward
the northeast to eat the stringy rooted
carrot that at that season were at
their best he became unusually timid.
He was content to eat the leavings,
the big tough carrots and the little
ropy ones, rather than to venture a
short distance farther on to where the
carrots were as yet untouched. When
so ventured he scolded me and quar-:
relied with me. He gave me to under,
stand that in that direction was some
horrible danger, but just what the hor-
rible danger was his paucity of Ian
guage would not permit him to say.
Many good meal got in this fash,
ion, while he scolded and chartered
vainly at me. / could not understand.
/ kept very alert. but could see no
danger. / calculated always the dis
lance between myself and the nearest
tree and knew that to that haven of
refuge could outfoot the Tawny One
or old Saber Tooth did one or the 9th.
er suddenly appear.
One late AFTERNOON in the village a
great uproar arose. The horde was
animated with al single emotion, that
of fear. The bluff side swarmed with
the folk, all gazing and pointing into
the northeast. did not know what
it was, but scrambled all the way
up to the safety of my own high little
cave before ever turned around to
see. .....
And then across the river, away into
the northeast, saw for the first time
the mystery of smoke It was the
biggest animal Il had ever seen. /
thought it was a monster snake, UP
ended, rearing its head high above the
trees and swaying back and forth.
And yet somehow | seemed to gather
from the conduct of the folk that the
smoke itself was not the danger.
They appeared TO fear it as the token
of something else. What this some.
thing else was was unable to guess
Nor could they tell me- Yet | was
soon to know, and I was to know it
as a thing more terrible than the
Tawny One, than old Saber Tooth,
than the snakes themselves, than
which it seemed there could be no
things more terrible.
Broken Tooth was another young.
ster who lived by himself His moth
er lived in the caves, but two more
children had come after him and he
had been thrust out to shift for him
self. We had witnessed the perform
ance during the several preceding
days, and it had given us no little glee |
Broken Tooth did not want to go, and
every time his mother left the cave he
sneaked back into it. When she re-
turned and found him there her RACES
were delightful Half the horde made
a practise of watching for these mo- |
ments. First, from within the cave,
would come her scolding and shrek
ing. Then We could hear sounds of !
the thrashing and the yelling Of Bro
ken Tooth. About this time the two |
younger children joined in. And final |
ly, like the eruption of miniature |
volcano, Broken Tooth would come
flying out.
thn ond of dove Iaay