Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-06-05
CHAPTER x.

the current that ! learned his inten-
ticn. He paused to point at the far
shore and resumed his padding, at
the same time uttering loud and en-
4 6ouraging cries. ! understood, and
we padded energetically. The swift
current caught us, flung US toward the
! south shore. put before we could make
i landing flung us back toward the
i north shore.
| Here arose dissension. Seeing the
/ north shore SO near began to paddle
| for IT, Lop Ear tried to paddle for the
/ south shore. The logs swung around
| in circles and we got nowhere, and all
the time the forest was flashing past
i as We drifted down the stream We
| could not fight. We knew better than
TO let go the grips of hands and feet
that held the logs together. But we
chartered and abused each other with
cur tongues until the current flung us
toward the south bank again. That
was now the nearest goal. and together
and amicably we padded for it. We
| landed In an eddy and climbed directly
into the trees to reconnoiter.
II was not until the night OF our
first day on the south bank of the riv.
er that we discovered the Fire Peo-
| pie What must have been band of
wandering hunters went into camp not
| far from the tree in which Lop Ear.
| and / had elected to roost for the
night. The voices of the Fire People
! at first alarmed us, but later, when
| darkness had come, we were attract
ed by the fire. We crept cautiously
and silently from tree to tree till we
got a good view of the scene.
In an open space among the trees
near to the river the fire was burning
About 1t were half a dozen fire men.
Lop Ear clutched me suddenly and
could feel him tremble. / looked more
closely and saw the wizened little old
hunter who had shot Broken Tooth out
Of the tree years before. When he got
up and walked about, throwing fresh
wood upon the fire, l saw that he
| limped with his crippled lee. What
ever 1t was, it was permanent In
jury. He seemed more dried up and
wizened than ever and the hair on his
face was quite gray.
The other hunters were young men.
nOLCQs lying near tuCAll III IuC 6AOuuQr
their bows and arrows, and / knew
the weapons for what they were. The
Fire Men wore animal skins around
their wrists and across their shonl.
ders. Their arms and legs, however,
were bare, and they wore no footgear.
AS have said before, they were not
quite so hairy as we of the folk They
did not have large heads, and between
them and the folk there was very lit
tie difference IL the degree of the slant
of the head back from the ewes.
They we're less stopped than we, less
springy in their movements, Their
backbones and hips and knee joints
seemed more rigid. Their arms were
not so long as ours either, and I did
not notice that they ever balanced
themselves when they walked by
touching the ground on either side
with their hands; also their muscles
were more rounded and symmetrical
than ours, and their faces were more
pleasing Their nose orifices opened
downward; likewise the bridges Of
their noses were more developed and
did not look so squat nor crushed
as ours. Their lips were less fiabby
and pendent, and their eyeteeth did
not look so much like fangs. However,
they were quite as thin hipped as we
and did not weigh much more. Take
it all in all, they were less different
from us than were we from the Tree
People, Certainly all three kinds
were related and not so remotely re.
lated at that
The fire around which they sat was
especially attractive. Lop Ear and !
sat for hours watching the flames and
smoke. 1t was most fascinating when
fresh fuel was thrown on and showers
of sparks were flying upward. want
ed to come closer and look at the fire,
but there was no way. We were
creuching in the forks of a tree on the
edge of the open space, and we did
not dare run the risk of being discov-
ered
The Fire Men squatted around the
| fire and slept with their heads bowed
forward on their knees. They did not
sleep soundly. Their ears twitched in
their sleep, and they were restless.
Every little while one or another got
UP and threw more of light in the for
est, in the darkness beyond roamed
hunting animals. Lop Ear and could
tell them by their sounds There
were wild dogs and a hyena, and for
a time there were great yelping and
snarling that an-nened on the in
slant the whole circle of sleeping Fire
Men.
Once a lion and a lioness stood be-
meath our tree and gazed out with
bristling hair and blinking eyes The
lion licked his chops and was nervous
with eagerness, as If he wanted to go
forward and make a mNal But the
licness was more cautious. 1t was
she that discovered us, and the pair
stood and looked up at us silently,
with twitching, seeming nostrils.
Then they growled, looked once again
at the fire and turned away into the
| forest 81. >.~ -. .......-
For much longer time Lop Ear and
/ remained and watched. Now and
again We could hear the crashing of
heavy bodies In the thickets and I'M
derbrush, and from the darkness of
| fhe Dthar5 side aPr0SS thp CIRCLE Wo