Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1916-05-03

i
Lop Ear clutched me suddenly and
could feel him tremble. l 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. | saw that he
limped with his crippled leg. What
ever it 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,
| noted, lying near them on the ground,
their bows and arrows. and | knew
the weapons for what they were. The
Fire Men wore animal skins around
their waists and across their Shout
derS. Their arms and lees, however
were bare, and they wore no fOOtgear.
As l 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 in the degree Of the slant
of the head back from the eyes.
They were 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 l did
not notice that they ever balanced
themselves when they walked by touch
ing the ground on either side with
their hands; also their muscles were
more rounded and symmetrical than
ours, and their faces were more pleas
ing. Their nose orifices opened down
ward; likewise the bridges of their
noses were more developed and did not
look so squat nor crushed as ours.
Their lips were less fabby and pen
dent, 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 related at that
The fire around which they sat was
especially attractive. Lop Ear and l
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. l want
ed to come closer and look at the fire,
but there was no way. We were
crouching in the forks of a tree on the
edge of the open space, and we did
not dare run the risk of being discov-
cred.
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 wood upon the fire.
About the circle of light in the forest.
in the darkness beyond. roamed hunt
ing animals. LOp Ear and l could tell
them by their sounds. There were
wild dogs and hyena, and for time
there were great yelping and snarling
that awakened on the instant 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 meal. But the
lioness was more cautious. 1t was
she that discovered us, and the pair
stood and looked up at us silently,
with twitching. scenting nostrils.
Then they growled. looked once again
at the fire and turned away into the
forest.
For q much longer time Lop Ear anG
I 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
the other side. across the circle, we
could see eyes cleaning in the fire.
light. In the distance we heard lion
roar, and from far off came the scream
of some stricken animal Splashing and
f1oundering in a drinking place. Also
from the river came a great grunting
of IhinoceroSes.
In the morning, after having had
our sleep, we crept back to the fire.
1t was still smoldering, and the Fire
Men were gone. We made a circle
through the forest to make sure, and
then we ran to the fire. wanted to
see what it was like, and between
thumb and finger l picked up a glow
ing coal. My cry of pain and fear as
1 dropped it stampeded Lop Ear into
the trees, and his fight frightened me
after him.
The next time we came back more
cautiously, and we avoided the glow
ing Goals. We fell to initiating the
fire men. We squatted down by the
fire and, with heads bent forward on
our knees. made believe to sleep. Then
we mimicked their speech, talking to
each other in their fashion and MAX
ing a great gibberish. l remembered
seeing the wizened old hunter poke the
fire with a stick. poked the fire with
stick, turning up masses of live Goals
and clouds of white ashes. This was
great sport, and soon we were coated
I~llifn with hn