Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-04-26


&c. the folk fed away. Leapng and
scrambHng over the rocks, they plung-
ed into the mouths of the caves aud
disappeared, all but one.
little baby. that mad been dropped In
the excitement close to the base Of the
bluff. He was wailing dolefully. His
mother dashed out. He sprang to
meet her and held on tightly as she
scrambled back into the cave.
was all alone The populous open
space had of q sudden become desert
ed. I sat down forlornly and whim-
pered. could not understand. Why
had the folk run away from me? In
later time. when came to know their
WAYS. was to learn. When they saw
me dashing out of the forest at top
speed they concluded that I was being
pursued by some hunting animal. BY
my unceremonious approach I had
stampeded them.
As I sat and watched the cave
mouths l became aware that the folk
were watching me. Soon they were
err they were calling back and forth to
one another, In the hurry and con-
fusion it had happened that all had
not gained their own caves. Some Of
the young ones had sought refuge in
other caves The mothers did not call
for them by name. because that was
an invention we had not yet made All
were nameiess The mothers uttered
querulous. anxious cries, which were
recognized by the young ones. Thus.
had my mother been there calling to
me I should have recognized her voice
among the voices of a thousand moth
ers. and in the same way would she
have recognized mine among a thou
sand.
This calling back and forth continued
for some time, but they were too eau
tious TO come out of their caves and
descend to the ground. Finally one did
come. He was destined to play a large
part in my life, and for that matter be
already played large part in the lives
of all the members Of the horde. 1t
was he whom | shall call Red Eye in
the pages of this history-so called be-
cause of his inflamed eyes, the lids be-
ing always red, and by the peculiar
effect they produced. seeming to adver-
tise the terrible savagery of him. The
color Of his soul was red.
He was a monster in all ways Phys
ically he was giant. He must have
weighed 10 pounds. He was the
largest one of our kind ever saw. Nor
did l ever see one Of the Fire People
so large as he, nor one of the Tree
People. Sometimes, when in the news
papers | happen upon descriptions of
our modern bruisers and prizefghters,
I wonder what chance the best of them
would have had against him.
l am afraid not much Of chance.
With one grip of his iron fingers and
pull he could have plucked a muscle,
say biceps, by the roots, clear out of
their bodies. A backhanded, loose blow
Of his fist could have smashed their
skulls like eggshells. With a sweep of
his wicked feet Tor hind hands, he
could have disembowled them. A
twist could have broken their necks,
and l know that with a single crunch
Of his jaws he could have pierced at
the same moment the great vein Of the
throat in front and the spinal marrow
at the back.
He could spring twenty feet horizon
tally from a sitting position. He was
abominably hairy. 1t was matter of
pride with Us to be not very hairy
But he was covered with hair all over,
on the inside Of the arms as well as
the outside, and even the ears them
selves. The only places on him where
the hair did not grow were the soles
OF his hands and feet and beneath his
eyes. He was frightfuily ugly. his fero-
cious grinning mouth and huge down
hanging under lip being but in har-
mony with his terrible eyes.
This was Red Eye. And right gin
gerly he crept out of his cave and de-
scended to the GROUND. Ignoring me,
he proceeded to reconnoiter. He bent
forward from the hips as he walked.
and so far forward did he bend and SO
long were his arms that with every
step he touched the knuckles of his
hands to the ground on either side of
him. He was awkward in the semi
erect position of walking that he as
sumed, and he really touched his knuck-
les to the ground in order TO balance
himself. But, oh, l tell you he could
run on all fours. Now, this was some
thing at which We were particularly
awkward. Furthermore it was a rare
individual among us who balanced
himself with his knuckles when walk
ing. Such an individual was an alta
vism, and Red Eye was an even great
er atayism.
That is what he was-an atavism.
We were in the process of changing
our tree life TO life on the ground. For
many generations we had been going
through this change, and our bodies
and carriage had likewise changed
But ked Eye had reverted TO the more
primitive tree dwelling type Per
force because he was born in our horde
he stayed with US, but in actually he
was an atavism. and his place was
elsewhere.
Very circumspect and very alert he
moved here and there about the open
space. reering through the yistas
among the trees and trying 10 catch
glimpse of the hunting animal that all
suspected had pursued me. and while
he did this, taking no notice Of he. Tie
folk crowded at the cave mouths and