Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-04-29

with appreciation OF 1t, and the SIM
plest. crudeSt things were funny to US.
Oh, we were great laughers, can
tell you,
The way we had treated Saber Tooth
was the way we treated all 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 it was because of our cum
ming and cowardice and our inordinate
capacity for fear that we survived in
that frightfuly hostile environment Of
the Younger world.
LOp Ear. ] figure. was year Older
than |. What his past history was he
had no way of telling me. but as |
mover 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 rude state,
and couples had way of quarreing
and separating Modern man. what of
lis divorce institution. does the same
thing legally. But we had no laws.
Custom was all we went by. and our
custom in this particular matter was
Father promiscuous.
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
it. 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 faithful 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
vivor invariably found 4 new mate.
There was one thing that greatly
puzzled me during the first days of
my residence in the horde. There was
a 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. 1t 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 Ear and | went toward
the northeast to eat the stringy rooted
carrots 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 4 good meal | got in this fash
ion, whIe he scolded and chartered
yainly at me. | could not understand.
l 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 upr0ar arose. The horde was
animated with q 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, I saw for the first time
the mystery Of smoke. 1t was the
biggest animal l had ever seen. l
thought it was n monster snake, up
ended, rearing its head high above the
trees and swaying back and forth.
, And yet somehow l seemed TO gather
from the conduct of the folk that the
Smpka itcoIf uuoe NOT ,bo 5c,oo.
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 l was to know 1t
as 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.' Bro
ken Tooth did not want to 90 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
Il practice 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 tive
younger children Joined in. And final
ly, like the eruption OF a miniature