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

into his eyes as he examined the ice.
This primitive look always came into
our eyes when we did not understand
n thing or when we felt the prod Of
some vague and ineyprcssible desire)
Red Eye. too. when he investigated
the ice. looked bleak and plaintive and
stared across the river into the north
east. as though in some way he con
nected the Fire People with this latest
happening.
But we found ice only on that one
morning. and that was the coolest win
ter we experienced | have no mem
DRY Of other winters when it was so
cold. | have often thought that that
cold winter was n forerunner Of the
countless cold winters to come. as the
ice sheet from farther north crept
down over the face OF the land. But
we never saw that ice sheet. Many
generations must have passed away
Before the descendants Of the horde
migrated south or remained and adapt
ed themselves to the changed condi-
lions.
Life was hit or miss and happy go
lucky with us. Little was ever plan
ned, and less was executed. We ate
when We were hungry. drank when
we were thirsty, avoided our carniv-
orous enemies, took shelter in the
caves at night and for the rest just
sort of played along through life. We
were very curious, easily amused and
full Of tricks and pranks. There was
no seriousness about u.s. except when
we were in danger or were angry. In
which cases the one was quickly for
gotten and the other as quickly got
over
We were inconsecutive. illogical and
inconseouentiaI. We had no stead
fastness of purpose. and it was here
that the Fire People were ahead Of us.
They possessed all these things Of
which we possessed so little. Occa-
sionally. however, especially in the
realm Of the emotions. we were capa-
| bic Of long cherished purpose. The
faithfuness of the monogamic couples
/ | have referred to may be explained as
a matter of habit. But my long desire
! for the Swift One cannot be so explain
ed, any more than can be explained
| the undying enmity between me and
| Red Eye.
But it was our inconsequentiality
and stupidity that especially distresses
me when | look back upon that life in
| the long ago. Once ! found a broken
gourd which happened to lie right side
up and which had been filed with the
| rain. The water was sweet. and |
drank it. ] even took the g0urd down
to the stream and filled it with more
water some of which | drank and
some of which l poured over Lop Ear.
And then threw the gourd away. 1t
never entered my head to fill the gourd
with water and carry it into my cave.
Yet often was thirsty at night. es-
pecially after eating wild onions and
watercress, and no one ever dared
leave the caves at night for a drink.
Another time | found a dry Gourd
inside of which the seeds ratified. !
had great fun with it for awhile. But
, it was a plaything. nothing more. And
yet it was not long after this that the
using Of gOurds for storing water be
came the general practice of the horde
But was not the inventor The hon
or was due to old Marrow Bone. and
it is fair to assume that it was the he
cessity of his great age that brought
about the innovation.
At any rate, the first member Of the
horde to use gourdS was Marrow Bone
He kept supply of drinking water in
his cave. which cave belonged to his
son, the Hairless One. who permitted
him to occupy a corner Of it. We used
to see Marrow Bone filling his gourd
at the drinking place and carrying il
carefully up to his cave. Imitation
was strong in the folk, and first one
and then another and another procured
gourd and used it in similar fash
ion, until it was a general practice
with all of us so TO store water.
Sometimes old Marrow Bone had
the cave. Then it was that the Hair
less One filled the gourd for him. A
little later the Hairless One deputed
the task to Long Lip. his son. AND
after that. even when Marrow Bone
was well again, Long Lip continued
carrying water for him. By and by
except on unusual occasions. the mer
never carried any water at all. leaving
the task to the women and larger chill
dren. Lop Ear and | We're indepenG
ent. We carried water only for our
selves, and We often Knocked the youne
water carriers when they were called
away from play to fill the gourds
Progress was slow with US. We
played through life, even the adults
much in the same way that children
play. and we played as none of the
other animals played. What little we
learned was usually in the course Of
play and was due to our curiosity ant
keenness of appreciation, For tina
matter. the one big invention OF thu
horde during the time | lived with i
was the use of gourds. At first w
stored only water in the gourds. in i'm
itation of old Marrow Bone.
But one day some one Of the womel
I do not know which one-filled ,
Gourd with blackberries and carried
it to the cave. In no time all the wo
men were carrying berries and nut
and roots in the gourds. The idea
once started. had to go on. Anothe
| evolution of the Carving recentacl