Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1916-03-29

and again he assaulted the bluff. Once
he even gained the first crevice en-
frances before he fell back, but was
unable to force his way inside. With
each upward rush he made waves Of
fear Surged over us. At first at such
times most of us dashed inside, but
some remained outside to hammer him
with stones, and soon all of us re-
NAMED outside and kept up the fusil-
lade.
Never was so mastery creature so
completely baffled. 1t hurt his pride
terribly thus to be Outwitted by the
small and tender folk. He stood on
the ground and looked up at US, snarl-
ing, flashing his tail, swapping at the
stones that fell near to him. Once l
whizzed down stone, and just at the
right moment he looked up. 1t caught
him full on the end of his nose, and
he went straight up in the air, all four
feet of him, roaring and caterwauling,
what of the hurt and surprise.
He was beaten, and he knew it. Re-
covering his dignity, he stalked out
solemnly from under the rain of stones.
He stopped in the middle of the open
space and looked wistfully and hun
grily back at us. He hated to forego
the meal, and we were just so much
meat cornered, but inaccessible. This
sight of him started us to laughing.
We laughed derisively and uproarious-
ly, all Of us. Now, animals do not like
mockery. To be laughed at makes
them angry. And in such fashion our
laughter affected Saber Tooth. He
turned with roar and charged the
bluff again. This was what we want
ed. The fight had become a game,
and we took huge delight in pelting
him.
But this attack did not last long. He
quickly recovered his common sense
and, besides, our missiles were shrewd
to hurt. Vividly do / recollect the vi
sion of one bullying eye of his, swollen
almost shut by one of the stones we
had thrown. And wildly do l retain
the picture of him as he stood on the
edge of the forest whittier he had
| finally retreated. He was looking back
at us, his writhing lips lifted clear of
the very roots of his huge fangs, his
hair bristling and his tail flashing. He
/ gave one last snarl and slid from view
among the trees.
And then such a chattering as went
ND. We swarmed out of our holes, eX-
/ aminging the marks his claws had
made on the crumbling rock Of the
bluff, all of us talking at once. One Of
| the two folk who had been caught in
the double cave was part grown, half
child and half youth. They had come
out proudly from their refuge, and we
surrounded them in an admiring crowd.
Then the young fellows mother broke
through and fell upon him in ire
mendous rage, boxing his ears, pulling
his hair and shrieking like a demon
She was a strapping big woman, very
hairy, and the thrashing she gave him
was a delight to the horde. We roar
ed with laughter, holding on to one
another or rolling on the ground in our
glee.
In spite of the reign of fear under
which we lived the folk were always
great laughers. We had the sense or
humOr. Our merriment was Gargan-
tuan. It was never restrained. There
was nothing halfway about it. When
q thing was funny we were CONFUSED
with appreciation Of it, and the SIM
nlest crudest things were funny to us.
oh. we were great lapghers, can
tell you'll