Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1916-03-22

q
/ the excitement close to the base Of the
1 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 sudden become desert
ed | sat down fOrlornIy and whim
pcred could not understand VIII
had the fol1 run away from ne? III
later time. when cane to know thejl
WAYS. | was TO learn Wien they saw
me dashing out OF the forest at fop
/ speed they concluded that was ben"
pursued by some hunting animal r
my unce~emnni0us approach ! had
Stampeded them
AS | sat and watched the cave
mouths | became aware that the f0lE
were watching me Soon they were
thruSting their heads out. A little lat
cr they were calling back and forth to
one another In the hurry and con
fusion it had happened that al ha
not gainPd their own caves. Some 1T
the yOung ones had sought refuge in
other caves The mothers did not cal
for them by name because that was
an invention we had not yet made All
were namceSS The mothers uttered
uueruOuS anxious cries. which were
recognized by the young ones Thus
had ny mott or been there calling to
me | should lave recognized her voice
among the voices of a thousand moth
erS. and in tie same way would she
have reco~niEp1 mine among tbOu
sand
This calling back and forth continued
for some time, but they were too eau
tious to come out OF their caves anu
descend to the ground. Finally one did
come. He was destined 20 play large
part in nly life, and for that matter h
already played large part in the lives
Of all the members Of the horde II
was he whom | shall call Red Eye III
the pages Of this history-so called be
cause of his infamed eyes. the lids be
ing always red, and by the pecGlia"
effect they produced, seeming to adver
tise the terrible savagery o. him. The
color of his soul was red.
He was a monster in all ways. f'hys
ically he was a giant. He must have
weighed 170 pounds. He was the
largest one Of our kind ever saw. NOI
did | 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 0.
our modern bruisers and priEefghterS
wonder what chance the best of then.
would have had against him.
| am afraid not much of Il chance
With one grip of his iron fingers and
pull he could have plucked muscle
say a biceps. by the roots. clear out OF
their bodies A backhanded. loose blow
Of his fist could have smashed theiI
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 | know that with a single crunch
of his jaws be could have pierced al
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 sitting position. He was
abOminably hairy. 1t was a 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 Soes
of his hands and feet and beneath his
eyes. He was frightfully ugly. his Zero
ciOuS grinning mouth and huge down
hanging under lip being but i'll 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 benz
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 o
him. He was awkward in the semi
erect position of walking that be AZ
sumed, and he really touched his knurk
les to the ground in order to balance
himself But, oh, | tell COu be could
run on all IOuIS. NOW, lulS was SpIue
thing at which we were particularly
awkward. Furthermore it was rar.
individual among US who balanced
himself with his knuckles when walk
ing. Such an individual was an ata
vism and Red Eye was IN even great
er ataviSm.
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 goiu2
through this change, and our bodies
and carriage had likewise changed
But Red Eye had reverted to the more
primitive tree dwelling type. Per
force because he was born i'm our horde
he stayed with Us, but i'll actually b.
was an atavism. and his place was
elsewhere.
Very circumspect and very alert, &c
moved here and there about the open