the Cave Twins

7209c



KD 49431
Harvard College Library
TARVARD
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LIBRARY OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
COLLECTION OF TEXT-BOOKS
CONTRIBUTED BY THE PUBLISHERS


Title The Cave Twins
Author Mrs. Lucy Fitch Perkins, author
of the Twin Series of geographi-
cal readers. Mrs. Perkins is not merely
an author, but is a well known artist
and former teacher of drawing.
Distinctive The purpose of Mrs. Perkins
Features in writing this book is ex-
plained in the Introduction
on "Prehistoric Man". The material is
in story form and is a narration of sup-
posed events in the life of Firetop and
Firefly,children of civilization's dawn.
The habits, customs, home life, mode of
living, means of transportation, personal
peculiarities of prehistoric people are
portrayed in vivid word pictures. The
illustrations by the author are the work
of an artist and will appeal both to
child and adult. There are innumerable
side lights on primitive life, descrip-
tions of inventions, touches of humor,
tales of adventure, the beginnings of
mechanical appliances, that cannot fail
to interest any normal boy or girl. The
teaching equipment is particularly good;
the suggestions are definite and helpful.
Grades The book may be used in Grades
Three, Four and Five.
Price 56 cents.






This book belongs to











THE CAVE TWINS
By Lucy Fitch Perkins
ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR
BOSTON NEW YORK AND CHICAGO
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
@be Riverside Press Cambridge


T65.7209e
KD 49431
bilt of the Publishers
April 11, 1918.
TRANSFERRED TO
HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY LUCY FITCH PERKINS
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The Riverside Press
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
U.S.A


TUM
More
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:
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION — PrehistoRIC MAN . .
I. GRANNIE AND THE Twins . .
II. The Bison Feast . . . .
III. THE RUNAWAYS . .
IV. THE JOURNEY
V. THE TREE CLAN .
VI. THE EARTHQUAKE . . .
VII. THE ISLAND . . . .
VIII. THE RAFT . . . . .
IX. THE SURPRISE . . . .
X. THE VOYAGE . . . . .
L'ENVOI. . . . .
63
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· 89
103
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127
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147
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THE CAVE TWINS


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Map of the
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The end of
1224074


PREHISTORIC MAN
This is a story about things that happened ages
and ages ago, before any of us were born, or our
great-great-grandfathers either, for that matter. It
was so very long ago that there were no houses, or
farms, or roads from one place to another, and
there was not a single city, or a town, or even a
village in the whole earth.
There was just the great, round world, all fresh
and new, and covered with growing things; and
there were wild beasts of all kinds in the forests, and
fishes of all kinds in the seas, and all sorts of birds
and flying creatures in the air.
Besides all these wonderful things in the new, new
world, there was Man.
He was quite new too. He did n't know much of
anything about the world. All that he really knew
was that there was a world, and that he was in it,
and that there were fierce wild animals in it too,
which would kill him and eat him if he did n't kill
them first. And he knew very well that he was not
as swift as the deer, or as big as the elephant, or as


strong as the lion, or as fierce as the tiger, and it
seemed to him as if he had n't much chance to stay
alive at all in a world so full of terrible creatures
who wanted to eat him up.
But this Prehistoric Man was very brave, and he
could do two things which none of the other crea-
tures could do — he could laugh and he could
think.
One day, he sat down on a rock, and took his
head between his hands and thought and thought,
and by and by he lifted up his head and said to his
wife, — for of course he had a wife, — "I have it,
my dear. If we are not as strong as the wild beasts,
we must be a great deal more clever.”
So he got right up off the rock and set about being
clever. And so did his wife. They were so clever
that they hid themselves in trees and rocks where the
wild beasts could not find them. And they found out
the secret of fire.
The other creatures could not find out the secret
of fire to save their lives, and they were dreadfully
afraid of it. Then the Man and his wife made wea-
pons out of stones, and bones, and they made dishes
out of mud, and though these things were n't a bit
like our weapons or our dishes, they got along very
well with them for many years.


In the earliest times of all, the Woman hunted
and trapped the wild creatures, and fished, all by
herself, but by and by she began to let the Man do
the hunting and bring home the game, while she
stayed in the cave house and kept the hearth-fire
bright and took care of the children. She cooked the
food that he brought home, and she made needles out
of bones and sewed skins together for clothes for her
husband and the children and herself. After a long
time she began to plant seeds of the wild things that
she found were good to eat, and to raise food out of
the ground.
All these things they did, and many more that had
never been done before, -- and because they were so
much more clever than all the beasts of the forest, the
Prehistoric Man and his prehistoric wife lived a
long time in a little peace and more happiness than
you might at first think possible.
They taught their children all the clever things
they had thought out, and these children, when they
grew up, taught them to their children, and this
went on for hundreds and thousands of years. Each
generation learned new things and taught them to
the next, until now we have houses and churches and
villages and cities dotted over the whole earth, and
there are roads going from everywhere to everywhere


else. There are railroads and steam-cars and tele-
graph and telephone lines, and printing-presses, so
that to-day everybody knows more about the very
ends of the earth than Prehistoric Man could pos-
away from him.
And all these things we have to-day because the
Prehistoric Man and the Prehistoric Woman did
their part bravely and well when the earth was
young.
This is a story about that far-off time. If you
don't believe it's true, every word of it, just get out
your atlas and find the places on the map. They are
every one of them there.


GRANNIE AND THE TWINS



le
DONA


GRANNIE AND THE TWINS
One bright morning of early spring, long
ages ago, the sun peered through the trees
on the edge of a vast forest, and sent a shaft
of yellow sunlight right into the mouth of
a great, dark cave. In front of the cave a
bright fire was burning, and on a rock be-
side it sat an old woman. In her lap was a
piece of birch-bark, and on the bark was
a heap of acorns. She was roasting them
in the ashes and eating them. At her right
hand, within easy reach, there was a pile of
broken sticks and tree branches, and every
now and then the old woman put on fresh
wood and stirred the coals to keep the fire
bright.
A little path ran from the front of the cave
where the old woman sat down the sloping
hillside to a blue river, and the morning


sun shining across it made a bridge of daz-
zling light from shore to shore.
Beyond the river there were green fields
and forests, and beyond the forests high hills
over which the sun climbed every morning.
What lay beyond those far blue hills neither
the old woman nor any of the clan of the
Black Bear had the slightest idea.
Everything seemed quiet and peaceful on
that spring morning so long ago. The trees
were beginning to turn green and little plants
were already pushing their way through the
carpet of dead leaves. A robin lit upon the
branches of a tree above the cave and sang
his morning song
There was no other sound except the
sizzling of a wet stick on the fire, and the
snapping noise made by the old woman
when she took a roasted acorn from the
fire and cracked it with her teeth.
The old woman was not pretty to look
at. Her face was as brown as leather and
covered with wrinkles, and her hair hung
about it in
ks. It was no


She knew that no wild animal, however
fierce and hungry, would dare come near
the leaping flames. Yet watchful as she
was, she did not see two children who were
creeping stealthily toward her, over the
great rocks which sheltered the mouth of
the cave.
They were a boy and a girl, and from ·
their size they must have been about eight
years old. They both had bright twinkling
eyes and flaming red hair, and were dressed
alike in skins of red foxes of almost the
same color. You could tell at a glance that
they were twins, but it would have puzzled
any one to tell whether they were both boys
or both girls, or one of each kind. They
came down over the rocks so quietly that
not even the quick ears of the old woman
heard the faintest sound.
When they had almost reached the ground,
they stopped, and at the same instant opened
their mouths and howled exactly like two
young wolves !
The noise was so sudden and so near



that the old woman never thought of her
fire at all. She simply screamed and fell
right over backwards into the cave. Then
she rolled over and scuttled on all fours
out of sight in the darkness as fast as she
could go.
The acorns from her lap flew in every
direction and rolled down the hillside. The


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.
boy and girl jumped to the ground, shriek-
ing with laughter. In a moment the old
woman was back again in the door of the
cave. She had a stout stick in her hand
and she looked very angry. She shook the
stick at the Twins and scolded them so fast
that the sound of it was like the chattering
of an angry squirrel in a tree-top.
Now, of course, I cannot tell you just the
10


words she used, but, translated into Eng-
lish, this is what she said:-
"You horrid little catamounts, if I catch
you, I'll teach you better manners! I'll
give you such a taste of this stick that
you'll not need more till the river runs
dry."
The Twins sprang up, still shrieking with
laughter, and danced about the fire just out
of reach of the woman's stick.
“But you can't catch us,” they screamed.
Their red locks of hair flew about in the
wind as they danced, until it looked almost
as if red flames were bursting from their
heads. The old woman glared at them help-
lessly.
“Dance away,” she cried, “dance away,
you red-headed rascals! I shan't need to
put sticks on the fire while you are here.
Your red hair would scare away the saber-
toothed tiger himself! No wonder you are
not afraid to run alone in the forest! With
such heads on you, you are as safe as if
you were in the heart of the cave.”
II


ca
n
ot
are
SIE
M
ore
AGEN
Red
Just then she saw her acorns all spilled on
the ground, and her rage broke out afresh.
“Pick them up, you little rats! They are
the last of my winter's store, and it will be
four moons yet before they will be ripe
again.”
Down went the children on their hands
and knees, and began to gather up the scat-
12


tered nuts. Young as they were, they knew
the value of food. They also knew the taste
of Grannie's stick. In those days food could
be found only at the risk of life itself and was
not to be thrown away while hunger lasted.
Besides, the hunting had not been good
for some time. The reindeer had gone far-
ther north, and the great herds of bison had
not yet come back from the warmer re-
gions, where they ranged in winter. There
were wild beasts of many other kinds in the
forest, but the hunters of the clan had not
brought home meat for several days. This
was one reason why the children had ven-
tured so far into the forest. Most of the
time they and the other children of the clan
stayed near the cave under the watchful eye
of the old woman, while their fathers and
mothers went hunting.
“Now, don't be cross, old Grannie-sit-
by-the-fire!” cried the girl. At least, I
think it was the girl, but the Twins looked
so exactly alike I can't be quite sure. “We'll
pick up your nuts for you. And if you'll
13


put your stick down, we'll give you some-
thing we brought for you."
The old woman's face softened. You
might almost have thought there was the
beginning of a smile in the corners of her
mouth, but she only said, “I know your
tricks, worthless ones! You have brought
me nothing but a fright and a tumble in the
ashes.”
The girl poured the acorns she had gath-
ered into the piece of birch-bark which
served the old woman as a plate, and
danced over to the mouth of the cave. She
saucily took the stick out of Grannie's hand
and Aung it on the fire, and then led her
back to the stone seat.
“Go along and get it, Firetop," she called.
I know it was the girl who said this, because
it was the boy who was called Firetop, on
account of his red hair. The girl's hair was
just as red, but they called her Firefly.
Firetop sprang up the rocks down which
he had climbed so carefully only a few mo-
ments before, and came down again slowly,
14



carrying something in each hand. He stood
before the old woman with his hands be-
hind him.
15


"Guess, Grannie, guess !” cried Firefly.
By this time, the smile had got out of the
corners of Grannie's mouth and had spread
all over her face.
"Roots,” she said.
“Wrong,” shouted the children. “Guess
again.”
"Spruce gum.”
“Wrong again,” laughed the Twins.
Grannie thought a while this time. Then
she said, “Snails.”
“No, no, no,” the Twins said both to-
gether; and then Firetop slowly brought
his hands round in front of him and showed
the old woman four large bird's eggs.
You should have seen Grannie's face
then! It was all wreathed in smiles, and
when she smiled she was n't so bad to look
at after all. Almost nobody is for that mat-
ter.
She took the eggs from Firetop's hands
and covered them carefully in the ashes.
“We'll roast them,” she said. “I've had
nothing to eat but acorns for three days
:
16


past. Now, tell me where you have been,
and how you found the eggs."
“We were hungry,” explained Firetop,
"and all the big people had gone off hunt-
ing, and we thought we'd go too. We
thought we knew where we could find some
roots. So we hid ourselves and waited un-
til Robin and Blackbird and Squaretoes
had gone down to the river to hunt frogs,
and then we ran back into the woods."
Robin and Blackbird and Squaretoes were
the other children of the clan.
Firefly could never stay quiet for very
long and now she broke into the story.
“Yes, and we found some roots, too,”
she said. “We were just eating them when
from a hazel bush right in front of us we
heard a loud snort! We did n't wait to dig
any more roots, I tell you! There was a
chestnut tree nearby, and we grabbed a
limb and swung ourselves up just in time.
It was n't only one, it was three wild boars
that rushed out of the bushes, and the
biggest boar had tusks as long as this."
17


Firefly held up a stick about eight inches
long, as she spoke.
." It's lucky we were up in the tree, for
they were all hungry too, and they looked
as if they thought Firetop and I would taste
very good,” she laughed. “Then Firetop
teased them. He hung down from the limb
and tickled their noses with a long stick.
My, but they were mad!”
“Yes,” said Firetop, “they looked just
as mad as you did, when we scared you,
Grannie."
"I wonder one look at you did n't scare
them to death,” said Grannie, “because
animals are so afraid of fire! I am used to
the flames on your heads, but if I were to
come upon you for the first time I think
I'd climb a tree myself! Or else I should
think the woods were on fire and run away.”
Grannie poked Firefly in the ribs and
laughed at her own joke.
“Maybe our red hair helped some,” said
Firefly, “for pretty soon they all three turned
and ran grunting off through the woods.".
18



“And then,” said Firetop, “we thought
we'd come back by the tree path. We went
out on the limb of the chestnut as far as we
could go, and swung into the big oak tree
that stood next. There are a lot of oak trees
together there and we were going along
19


from one to the other, when there was a
loud whirring noise and a big bird flew out
of the top branches right over our heads !
We looked up and saw the nest. It was
made of sticks. I got the eggs and handed
them down to Firefly, and then we came
home.”
“You did n't come all the way by the
tree path and carry the eggs, did you?"
cried Grannie admiringly.
“Oh, no,” said Firefly. “The eggs were
too big to carry in our mouths. So Firetop
dropped to the ground and I handed the
eggs down to him. Then we ran back home
as fast as we could.'
“ You will be as great hunters as your
father and mother one of these days if you
keep on,” said Grannie. “And no one in
the whole clan can do better than they can.
My, my, I can remember when your father
was a boy, how he used to hunt eggs!
That 's how he got the name of Hawk-Eye.
He could find eggs, and other things too,
where nobody else could find anything at
20


all. How he could swing along through the
trees! No wild creatures could ever get the
start of him. And then your mother. She
could run faster than the wind could blow.
She was n't easily scared, I can tell you.
She had always her legs to depend upon!
I've seen her run from a mad buck so fast
that she made just a streak of light through
the forest. And when the buck got too near,
she swung herself into a tree and then hung
by her legs safe above his head and teased
the buck crazy because he could not reach
her. Ah! She was a wild one in those days,
and well she earned her name of Limber-
leg!”
“I'm sure the eggs must be done by this
time,” said Firetop.
Grannie reached down and poked the
ashes away from the eggs. They were very
hot, but her hands were so tough and horny
that she could even handle live coals. She
gave one egg to Firefly. Firefly took it in
her hand, but her hands were not quite so
tough as Grannie's and it burned her like
21


-5
E4311
12
everything! She dropped it on the ground,
squealing with pain. It was cooked so hard
that it did not spill, though the shell was
broken. Grannie laughed.
“Aha,” she said, “I'm even with you
now for giving me such a scare.”
“Ho,” boasted Firetop, “ that 's nothing.
Watch me! I guess if you can handle them
I can.” He reached down and picked up
an egg and held it in his hand. It was just
22


as hot as a coal of fire, but he pretended it
did n't hurt him. He cracked and ate it in
two bites, and though I'm sure it must
have burned a red path all the way to his
stomach, he never said a word. But when
Firefly was n't looking he did suck the air
into his mouth to cool his tongue!
“Grannie can have the other egg, can't
she, Firetop, because we scared her so,”
said Firefly, when they had each eaten
one.
"You may scare me every day that you
bring me bird's eggs,” said Grannie.
Grannie took the last egg from the ashes
and was just cracking it when suddenly
there was a shout which made them all
jump. Those were pretty jumpy times, I
can tell you, for a new sound might mean
almost any kind of danger. There were so
many wild beasts in the forest that no one
could feel safe a single minute unless he
was deep in a cave. Even then the cave
had to have an entrance so narrow that no
man-hunting animal could get into it, or
23


else a fire must be kept burning before it
to frighten them away.
The moment they heard the sound, Gran-
nie dropped her egg and sprang to her feet.
Firetop and Firefly popped into the cave
and were out of sight in an instant. Gran-
nie threw fresh sticks on the fire, and as
it blazed up, she looked fearfully about in
every direction. Now she heard another
sound besides the shouts and screams of
children's voices. From far away down the
river came a long low roar and the tramp,
tramp of many feet. A group of children
came tearing up the path toward the cave,
shouting at the top of their lungs, “The
bison are coming, the bison are coming!"
· Grannie took up the cry. “The bison are
coming, the bison are coming!” she shouted
into the cave, and out tumbled Firetop and
Firefly in the twinkling of an eye.
“Where, where ?” they screamed.
“There, there, in the river bottom,"
panted Squaretoes, the biggest of the boys.
“We were hunting for frogs and all of a
24


sudden there was a roar, -- at first so faint
we could hardly hear it, — then far down
the river we saw them coming! Run, run
to the big rock, and you can see them
too."
Grannie threw a great heap of dry wood
upon the fire and ran with the children to
the big rock, which lay part way down the
path toward the river. From the top of this
25


rock the whole valley was spread out be-
fore them like a map.
Squaretoes pointed toward the south, and
there in the green marshy land bordering
the river were hundreds and hundreds of
great dark hairy beasts. They were run-
ning, and as they ran, they made a low
roaring sound that was frightful to hear.
"We shall have fresh meat to-night,”
said Grannie to the children. “The herd
has been frightened. I could not see the
leaders. Some of our hunters have surely
found them.”
They stood on the rock until the great
herd had thundered by and was out of sight
around a bend in the bluff. Then Grannie
said, “Come, let us go back to the fire and
gather plenty of fuel, so we can cook the
meat when it comes, and have a great feast.”


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THE BISON FEAST
For hours Grannie and the children worked
together to get a huge pile of fuel ready for
a feast which they hoped to have at night.
It was something like getting ready for
Thanksgiving.
"It is likely that old Saber-tooth will be
having a feast too,” said Grannie. “He is
as glad as any of us to see the bison come
back. Maybe now he won't catch any bad
children who stray too far into the wood.”
You see, the fierce saber-toothed tiger
was the beast they feared most of all, but
they always had to be on the watch for
wolves and hyenas, and for the dreadful
cave bear as well. There were wild horses.
too, and elephants, and mammoths, and
lions. Grannie had to keep telling the
children about these dangers, just as our
27


mothers tell us to-day to keep out of the
way of trolley-cars and steam-engines and
automobiles. Only trolley-cars and steam-
engines don't run after us and stick their
heads right into our front doors and try to
eat us up, as the wild creatures did in those
days.
It seems to us now that no one could
possibly have had any happiness in a world
so full of dangers, but you see Grannie and
all the rest of the clan did not know that life
could be any different. Just because there
were so many dangers, they grew brave to
meet them, and a brave man among dan-
gers is far happier than a coward in a safe
place. So perhaps they had just as good a
time living as we do, after all.
By the time the children had gathered a
heap of wood large enough to cook the big-
gest kind of a feast, it was afternoon. There
was nothing in the cave to eat, and they
grew hungrier and hungrier, but there were
no signs of any hunters. Shadows began
to gather in the woods. Now and then there
28



was a cry of some night bird, or of a dis-
tant wolf. These were lonely sounds. Fire-
fly began to be discouraged.
“Suppose they should n't bring home
any meat after all,” she said.
“Then we'll just have to go hungry,"
said Grannie.
Firetop laid his hand on his stomach and
groaned.
“Men never complain of such things,"
said Grannie.


Grannie took three sticks of pine and laid
the ends in the fire. When they were burn-
ing well, she gave one of them to each of
the boys for a torch.
"It is n't dark yet, but you will be safer
with these, anyway,” she said.
As soon as the three boys had gone skip-
ping and whooping down the path to the
river, Grannie and the girls set about get-
ting a kettle ready. They hollowed out a
hole in the ground, not far from the fire.
When it was deep enough they lined it with
a heavy piece of hide. They put stones
around the edge of it to keep it in place.
Then they gathered piles of small stones
and threw them in the fire to get hot. By the
time all this was done the boys were back
with the pig-skin full of water. Grannie
poured it into the hollow dish in the ground.
It was almost dark, and it seemed to the
children that they could not wait another
minute, when they heard a welcome sound.
It was the noise of voices, talking and laugh-
ing together.
31


kept taking the stones out of the water with
sticks as they grew cool and putting them
back into the fire to get hot again. In this
way they soon got the water to boil.
The smell of the roasting and boiling
meat was too much for Firetop. It made
him so hungry that he could n't wait. He
just snatched a piece of meat from the
ground and ate it raw! But he was ready
to eat again when the meat was cooked
and the real feast began.
Then the great fire blazed and crackled
outside the entrance and filled the cave with
a warm red glow. The whole clan gathered
in the front of the cave near the fire.
Hawk-Eye was the leader of the clan,
because he was the strongest man and the
best hunter. He was a large man with little
sharp eyes and red hair which covered his
breast and legs as well as his head. Around
his neck was a string of bear's teeth.
There were four other men. They were
called Eagle-Nose, Gray Wolf, Big Ear,
and Long Arm. There were three other
34


women besides Limberleg and Grannie.
They were the wives of the men. There
were four big boys, who were already hunt-
ing with the men, and there were Blackbird,
Robin, and Squaretoes, besides Firetop
and Firefly. These were all there were in
the clan of the Bear.
When the feast began, the people all sat
down in a circle, all but Grannie. Grannie
stood up and handed out great chunks of
meat to the others and kept the fire bright.
But she had a bone in her hand all the
time, and whenever she had a chance, she
gnawed it. There were no knives or forks or
plates, of course. They all took their meat
in their hands and just gnawed and gobbled
as fast as they could! Nobody had any
manners, and not a single mother said,
"Have you washed your hands ?" or
"Don't take such large mouthfuls or you
will choke yourself,” or anything like that.
There were some things about those days
that must have been very pleasant, after
all.
35



valley. Two black specks moved beside it.
They were the leader and his two sentinels,
and behind them came the herd.”
“We saw the herd, too,” cried Firetop.
"I saw them first,” said Squaretoes. “I
saw them just as quick as you,” shouted
Blackbird.
"Shut up,” said his mother, and Black-
bird did. Fathers and mothers in those
days used just such language as that, and
37


if the children did n't mind at once, they
were likely to get something worse than
just language. It was n't a polite age at
all.
“We crept down the bluffs as quietly as
snakes,” went on Hawk-Eye, when every-
body was still again. “I was in front.
When the leader of the herd got to our
hiding-place, I sprang from the bushes and
threw my spear with all my strength. He
gave a mighty roar. He stood on his hind
legs and thundered. Then Big Ear sprang
forward and threw his spear. The leader
fell. The herd broke and ran. The sen-
tinels could not control them. Then we
ran toward them. We killed two young
cows with our axes. The rest of the herd
rushed past. The leader and the two cows
were left behind. The leader was old and
tough. We pulled out our spears and left
him to the jackals and hyenas. The two
cows were small. We skinned them and
cut them into pieces and started for the
cave. At the foot of the path we met the
38


9
22
ASO
TESAR
SAD
Yes
CL
“Then I am going, too.” It was Limber-
leg who spoke. “I can hunt. I can trap as
well as anybody. And I can throw a spear
as straight. I am not afraid. Grannie will
look after the children while we are gone."


When he heard that, Firetop poked Fire-
fly in the ribs.
"I am going with them,” he whispered.
“They 'll never let you," Firefly whis-
pered back.
“I'm going anyway,” Firetop answered.
"Don't you tell.”
"If you go, I'm going,” said Firefly.
“I can go as well as you can.”
"Sh-sh-sh — ” said Firetop, for Grannie
was speaking.
“The river is wide and dangerous,” she
said. “The current is swift, and who knows
what monsters may be in it? I myself saw
a rhinoceros wallowing in the mud only a
few days ago. Some say they have seen a
serpent as large as the trunk of a tree.”
“We can go up the river until we find a
shallower place to cross,” said Hawk-Eye.
“I have killed a tiger and a rhinoceros and
a cave bear in my time. We can take care,
of ourselves."
When Limberleg heard him say "We".
she knew that she was going, and she was
42


glad. She was as brave as Hawk-Eye and
almost as good a hunter.
When they saw that Hawk-Eye had
really made up his mind to go, nobody else
said anything. They knew it would be a
waste of words; and in those days there were
fewer words to waste than we have now.
“We must start early," Hawk-Eye said
to Limberleg. “We will take one extra skin
apiece and our axes and spears.”
Limberleg rose at once and went over to
the corner of the cave where the Twins were.
The Twins shut their eyes tight and pre-
tended to be sound asleep. Firetop even
snored a little. Limberleg spread the skins
of two bears upon the cave floor and threw
herself on one of them. Hawk-Eye went
to the cave-mouth, took a look at the stars,
yawned, warmed himself at the fire, and
then he too went to bed. The rest of the
men and women found their own places in
other shadowy corners of the cave, and
soon the whole clan of the Bear was sound
asleep.


இ
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வ


III
THE RUNAWAYS


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ra
“They won't like it,” said Firefly. "What
do you think they will do to us?”
"They 'll wallop us,” said Firetop, “but I
don't care. It won't hurt when it is over, and
I've just got to go. We shall see all kinds
of things that we've never seen before."
“Well," sighed Firefly, “I do hate that
part of it, but I guess it's worth it. Come
on. Let's climb this tree.”
The children could climb like monkeys,
but they had their weapons and the meat
47


and that made it a little difficult. They leaned
their spears against the trunk of the tree,
took the meat in their teeth, and up they
went as easily as you could go upstairs.
Then they hid themselves in a fork of the
tree and ate their breakfast. .
The thick branches made a screen around
them so they could see without being seen.
They watched the cave. It was not long be-
fore they saw Grannie come out and take a
look at the weather. Then she put more fuel
on the fire and sat down on a rock to gnaw
a bone for her breakfast.
Soon Hawk-Eye and Limberleg ap-
peared. They each had their weapons, and
a reindeer-skin strapped by leather thongs
across their shoulders. Limberleg had a
gourd tied to her belt. They were each
gnawing bones, too. They stopped to speak
to Grannie. The Twins leaned forward and
listened with all their ears. They heard
Hawk-Eye say, “The children are still
asleep. You can tell them when they wake
up."
18


Then they came along the path, eating
as they came. They passed almost under
the tree where the Twins were hiding. This
seemed to the Twins so funny that they
stuffed their mouths full of meat and then
clapped their hands over them to keep from


21
AC
berleg should turn round, yet near enough
to keep them in sight.
For miles and miles they walked and ran.
It was hard with their short legs to keep
the pace set by their father and mother, but
they knew very well they had to do it. There
was no turning back then.
On and on walked Hawk-Eye and Lim-
51


berleg. The sun climbed higher and higher.
The children were thirsty, but they did not
dare to run down to the river for a drink.
They were hungry, but they had nothing
to eat. They snatched little green leaves
from the bushes as they passed, but this was
hardly enough to fill their empty stomachs.
“We'll just have to call them,” said Fire-
fly at last. “I'm so hungry I've simply got
to have something to eat, and if we stop to
hunt for roots, we'll never catch up with
them again."
“They 'll be as mad as mad bulls when
they see us,” said Firetop.
“Yes, of course. We'll get a good beat-
ing," answered Firefly. “We expected that.
But it won't hurt after it is over; you told
me so yourself.”
“Jimminy!" said Firetop, - orif it wasn't
"Jimminy” it was something that meant the
same thing, — "I just hate to think of it.
Can't you go on a little longer?"
“What's the difference?” moaned Fire-
fly. “It's got to come some time. We might
. 52


Firetop put his hands to his mouth and
gave a long sharp cry. It was the distress
signal of the Bear Clan. Hawk-Eye and
Limberleg stopped instantly. They looked
up the river; they looked down the river.
Then they caught a glimpse of two red
heads and two very scared faces, far back on
the bluff. They came tearing back through
the underbrush to the two small figures on
the log.
They could hardly believe their eyes.
“Where did you come from, you naughty
little weasels ?” cried Limberleg angrily.
“From the cave,” said Firefly. “We
followed you because we want to see what
lies beyond the blue hills across the river,
too. And if you are going to spank us,
please do it right away, because we are
awfully hungry.” .
"Oh, no,” cried Firetop. “You need n't
do it now if you 'd rather not! Could n't
you put it off until we get home again?
We're willing to wait, and you'd have
more time then.”
54


Limberleg and Hawk-Eye did n't discuss
the matter. They sat right down on the
log and began. Limberleg took Firefly
and Hawk-Eye took Firetop, and they
spanked and spanked.
"Now, can we have something to eat?"
sniffled Firetop when it was over. Limber-
leg looked at Hawk-Eye. “We can't send
them back alone,” she said. Firetop saw
that they were going to give in.
"The hyenas would surely get us,” he
said plaintively. “We're pretty small to
go back alone,” sobbed Firefly. “And be-
sides, we want to see what lies beyond the
blue hills across the river."
It may be that Hawk-Eye was a little
pleased at their courage in following them.
Anyway, he said: “Well, you can climb
like squirrels. We shall not be gone many
days. Come along.” Firetop sprang up and
whooped for joy. Firefly turned a somer-
sault. Hawk-Eye and Limberleg laughed.
They could n't help it. You see, even in
those early times parents were fond of
55


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PL
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OMAN
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beyond them down the slope, struggling
with the wounded bird. When they reached
him, he had killed it. Limberleg was de-
lighted. She patted Firetop and called him
a great hunter, and said she was glad he
had come with them after all.
Maybe you think Firetop was n't a proud
57


boy then! He waggled his red head and
swaggered up the slope toward the big oak
tree with the huge bird on his shoulder.
Limberleg and Firefly stayed behind to hunt
in the bushes for the grouse's nest. Fire-
fly found it, and there were seven eggs in
it! Then Limberleg patted Firefly. “Your
father and I will not need to get any food
for you,” she said. “Maybe you will hunt
for us.” They went up the slope after
Firetop, carrying the eggs.
When they reached the big oak tree on
the bluff, Limberleg took the feathers off
the grouse and cut it into chunks with her
Aint knife. They had no fire, so they ate it
raw. They ate five of the eggs and left
two for Hawk-Eye. They saved the legs
of the grouse for him, too. They waited and
waited, but still Hawk-Eye did not come.
They began to get a little frightened, he
was gone so long. At last there was a call,
" Hoo, hoo, hoooooo,” like the hooting of
an owl, and he appeared crashing through
the bushes. He had a rabbit hanging from
58


Firetop, Firefly, and Limberleg laughed
at this until they nearly choked. Then Fire-
top wagged his head at his father.
“You should n't have followed me,” he
said. “I shall have to spank you. But you
are too small to send alone to the cave, so
I'll have to let you come with me."
ente
CAN
SCINA


KE
VENTA


IV
THE JOURNEY


IV
THE JOURNEY
All the rest of the day they followed the
river, looking for a place where it was shal-
low enough for them to cross without se-
rious danger of drowning. They did not
know how to swim. For their supper they
had only the rabbit. They ate it sitting on
the bluff, with their backs to each other so
they could watch in every direction for
signs of danger. When the shadow of the
bluff grew long across the meadows, Lim-
berleg said:-
“Darkness will soon be upon us. Where
are we going to sleep?"
"We won't sleep in a cave anyway,”
said Hawk-Eye, “even if we could find
one. We might find the cave bear at home
in it. In that case, we should probably
63


spend the night in his stomach, and I am
sure that would be too crowded to be com-
fortable.”
“We can't spend the night on the ground
surely,” said Limberleg. “Or we might
wake up in the stomach of old Saber-tooth
instead.” This was just their way of joking,
because I never heard of any one waking
up after being swallowed, except Jonah and
Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother.
And of course, this story happened long
before either Jonah or Red Riding Hood
or her grandmother did.
Hawk-Eye took out his flint knife. I al-
most said he took it out of his pocket, be-
cause it seems queer to think of a man
without pockets. Of course, he did n't really
have any, though. The flint knife was fas-
tened to his belt by a thong.
“Go and find all the grape-vines you
can,” he said. Limberleg and the Twins
flew back into the forest to search for vines.
There were plenty of them, and they pulled
up a great heap of long, tough stems, and
64


AS
brought them back to Hawk-Eye. Hawk-
Eye had another bunch which he had cut.
On the bluff overlooking the valley there
was a great oak tree with giant branches
spreading in every direction.
“We'll sleep here,” said Hawk-Eye.
“Nothing can harm us unless a wildcat or
some such climbing creature should visit
us, and I think I could make him wish he
65


3
appe
.
.
had n't come. I shall have my spear beside
me and shall sleep on the lower limbs.”
"Shall we roost like the birds?” asked
Firefly anxiously.
Limberleg laughed, and took a leap into
the air, and caught one of the branches.
She swung herself into the tree and ran
along the branch to the great thick trunk.
“ Hand up the vines,” she called down,
“and I will show you how we will roost.”
Hawk-Eye tossed them up to her. She
66


or:
climbed higher in the tree and found a place
where two limbs came together like those
shown in the picture: She wove the vines
back and forth over the two branches until
she had made a rough net-work like a very
coarse hammock.
“Now, up you come,” she called to Fire-
fly, “and I will put you to bed.”
Firefly climbed the tree. This was the
way she went upstairs to bed.
Limberleg took off the wolf-skin which
was still tied over her shoulders, and spread
it over the vine hammock. Then Firefly
crawled into her bed. Her mother took the
leather thong which had been around the
wolf-skin and tied her securely to one of
67


co
thought perhaps he had dreamed it all. “I
often go to all sorts of strange places when
I am asleep,” he said to himself. “Pretty
soon I'll wake up in the cave." He waited
to wake up, but he did n't wake up. He kept
right on being out of doors and up a tree,
and his parents kept on being gone. Then
he remembered all about everything. He
called to Firefly, “Are you there?” She
answered in a sleepy voice, “Yes.” “Are
you sure?" Firetop called back; “because
Father and Mother are n't.”
“Are n't what?" said Firefly, getting wider
awake.
"Are n't there,” Firetop answered.
Firefly liſted her head and tried to roll
over. If she had not been tied she would
have rolled out of bed. She looked down,
too. The branches were certainly empty.
What would you do if you were to wake
up in the morning and find yourself tied in
bed and your father and mother gone and
no breakfast ready? Well, they did just the
same thing! They simply yelled. They had
70


good strong lungs and they made a great
deal of noise. When they stopped, they
heard a distant shout that sounded like their
own. “Ow, ow, ow.” It came back to them
from two different directions.
“That's not Father's voice,” said Fire-
top.
“Nor Mother's,” said Firefly.
"It's somebody's. It must be theirs.
Let's call again,” said Firetop.
They nearly split their throats that time.
"Ow, ow, ow,” they screamed, and “Ow,
ow, ow,” came back from the forest and the
river.
"It must be the spirits of the water and
the trees, mocking us,” said Firetop. “It
sounded just like us.".
You see, they did not know what an echo
was.
"I'm scared,” said Firefly.
"I am too, a little,” Firetop admitted.
“Let's not call any more. If we keep
still, maybe the spirits won't find us,” whis-
pered Firefly.
71



வ
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-வது
KAR
*


there were! It would have been of no use
to ask the Twins. Neither they nor their
father and mother could have told you. They
had n't any of them learned to count that
far. Nobody could in those days.
They made short work of the eggs, even
if they could n't add or multiply or divide.
When they had finished eating them, they
strapped their skins on their shoulders once
more and started up the river. All the morn-
ing they tramped steadily along, looking for
a good place to ford it. The sun was al-
ready in the west, when suddenly Limber-
leg stopped at a turn in the bluff.
“See, see,” she cried. “Two rivers."
They all stopped and looked. The river
forked at that point, or rather two smaller
streams came together making one big one.
There was a high V-shaped point of land
between the two streams.
“Now we can cross,” cried Limberleg,
joyfully. She led the way, running and
leaping down the bluffs to the river's edge.
The banks at this point were sandy and the
74


ing such alarming things, the Twins were in
a tight place. There was nothing to do but
jump. So Firetop took a flying leap, and
Firefly followed him. Unluckily she came
just a little too soon. She jumped on to
Firetop. His feet flew out from under him,
he lost his footing on the stone, and they
both rolled into the cold water.
The crying they had done before was n't
anything to what they did then, I can tell
you. That is, as soon as their heads were
out of the water again.
They might have been carried away by
the current, if Hawk-Eye had n't instantly
thrown his spear across to the farther shore
and jumped in after them. He seized one of
them with each hand and waded with them
to land. Then he picked up his spear again
from the ground where it had fallen.
If you will believe me, the Twins held
tight to their own little spears all the time,
even when they were under the water! It
was all they had to hold to, to be sure, and
besides, they loved those spears more than
77


OP
we love dolls and roller skates and marbles
and baseball, all put together.
Limberleg laughed at the dripping little
figures.
“You look like a pair of water-rats," she
cried. The Twins could not see anything
funny in that. Little streams of water trickled
down their backs, and they did n't like it.
The rock that was on the point of land
78


between the two rivers was not far away
from the place where they landed.
"Let's go to the top,” said Limberleg to
the Twins. “That will warm you up."
It was quite a steep climb, and I wish you
could see what they saw from that summit.
They could look a long way up each of the
two rivers and a long way down the big one.
There were deep, silent woods along the
shores. They looked back on the land be-
tween the two streams. They were all be-
ginning to be hungry again by this time,
and they hoped that they might see their
supper wandering about somewhere over
the rocks.
“We'll see who has the sharpest eyes,”
said Limberleg
"I see something white right now, way
down there in the bushes,” said Firefly.
“ It's bouncing around.”.
“I see it, too,” said Hawk-Eye, “It's the
tail of a deer. There's a herd down there!”
Hawk-Eye started down the rocks in a
hurry. “I'll not be gone long,” he called
... 79


back to Limberleg. “Get a fire started be-
fore I come back."
Limberleg and the Twins watched Hawk-
Eye until he disappeared in the underbrush.
Then she and the children began to gather
wood for the fire. Firetop found a piece
of hard wood that was round. Limberleg
pointed the end of it with her Aint knife.
Then they hunted for a piece of soft wood.
In the soft wood Limberleg made a little
hollow place that would fit the end of the
stick.
“Now, Firefly, you stay with me," said
she. “I want you to gather little tendrils of
dry moss and watch beside me while I twirl
the stick. The moment I tell you to, you
must drop little pieces of dry moss into the
hollow place in the wood. Firetop, you
gather a great heap of sticks here on top of
the rock.” Limberleg knelt on the edge
of the rock and began to twirl the stick be-
tween her hands. As she twirled, she mum-
bled a prayer to the fire god.
Firefly held the soft wood firmly in place
80



3
while Limberleg worked. She twirled and
twirled until a tiny thread of smoke began
to curl from the hollow. “Drop in the
moss,” cried Limberleg. The smoke grew
thicker. Limberleg worked faster and faster.
Soon a tiny flame burst forth. Firefly fed
the flame with the dried moss until it was
big enough to burn little twigs and dead
leaves. Soon a brisk fire was burning.
Firetop had brought a great pile of wood
81


to the rock, and had also found some long
willow branches to use in broiling meat.
“The fire is ready, but where is the
food ?” said Firefly. It was not long in
coming. Hawk-Eye soon appeared climb-
ing up the rock with a young doe on his
shoulder. He and Limberleg skinned it
and cut up the meat, and they had all the
broiled venison they could possibly eat for
supper.
“We shall have to spend the night
here," said Hawk-Eye, when they could n't
eat any more. “We could n't find a better
place anyway. There is water around the
rock except on the land side. We'll keep
the fire bright, and we shall be just as safe
as if we were in the cave.”
Hawk-Eye spread the fire in a long line
across the land side of the rock. He built
a sort of wall of sticks and branches to feed
it, and all night long it blazed and smoul-
dered. They spread their skins on the rock
and slept peacefully in its warm glow.
The next morning dawned bright and
82


clear, and the whole family got up with the
birds. They had more venison for break-
fast, and when that was out of the way,
Hawk-Eye said: “We'd better get across
the other river early. There's no telling
how far we may have to go to-day, or what
we may find on the way.”
"I hate to leave this place,” cried Fire-
fly, “it's so beautiful, and I am sure there
is lots of game here."
"I hate to leave the doe-skin behind,”
said Limberleg, “but of course I can't dry
and stretch and cure it while we are travel-
ing."
“We can carry enough meat to last us
all day,” said Hawk-Eye, "and that will
save lots of time. We won't have to stop
to hunt for our dinner.”
He tied a great piece of meat over the
shoulders of Firetop and Firefly and Lim-
berleg, and took the biggest piece on his
own back, and off they started.
83



A
III
It would take too long to tell you all
about what a time they had getting across
the river. It was deeper than the first one
they crossed, and if it had n't been for a
lucky accident, they might never have got
across at all. When they came to the
water's edge, Firetop saw some turtles sun-
ning themselves on a log a little way down
the stream. The log had floated down the
84


$
4
……
...….
but they held on because it was the only
thing there was to hold on to, and Firetop
kept kicking with all his might to get away
from the turtle. Firefly did some kicking,
too, because she was trying to find the bot-
tom with her feet and there was n't any
bottom there. The current was not very
swift at this point, and though they did n't
know it, the children were really swimming
with their legs, and they made the log go
toward the other shore.
While all of this was happening, where
do you suppose Hawk-Eye and Limberleg
were? They were chasing after them as
fast as they could go, but the children had
86


quite a start and got farther away every min-
ute. The w
he water was almost over Limber-
leg's head, and you know how hard it is to
walk in deep water. Besides, they had the
meat. The meat that the Twins were carry-
ing got loose in their struggles and fell off
in the water. Perhaps the turtle saw it and
decided that it was better eating than Fire-
top's toe, or maybe he got homesick. I
can't tell about that, but anyway he let go.
The Twins kept on reaching for the bottom
and kicking with all their might and scream-
ing, too, and before long the log ran its nose
into the farther bank and they seized the
branches of a willow tree that hung over the
water and pulled themselves up on the shore.
In a moment Hawk-Eye and Limberleg
came tearing up the river-bank to them.
They had come straight across the river,
while the children had been carried some
distance by the current. You can just think
how glad they all were when they found
that they were across and not a single one
of them had been drowned.
87



BALO
WA
ves


reason for it in those days. The different
groups of people in the forests had nothing
to do with one another, and when they met,
they were much more likely to fight than to
be friendly.
“Can't we go up the river-bank and not
go into the woods at all?" asked Limber-
leg. For answer Hawk-Eye pointed down
the river. Far away in the green meadow
they saw two mammoths feeding. Even at
that distance they looked like giant rocks
looming out of the grass. Their long ivory
tusks gleamed in the sun.
“We can't go that way,” said Limber-
leg, “and it's no use to go back.”
“We'll go up the path to the edge of the
wood, then follow the river,” said Hawk-
Eye. “Maybe no one will see us. It's the
best we can do. Be quiet and be quick.”
He set off at a swift trot, his spear in his
hand. The two children followed with their
mother.
"I see shadows moving in the trees,”
said Firefly. Both twins wished very much
90


They were terribly frightened, but they
did as they were told. If they had looked
up, they would have seen a terrifying sight.
On the edge of the bluff there was a strange
group of people. At least we must call them
“ people,” though they looked more like
monkeys than like human beings. They
were grinning horribly and dancing about
and chattering to each other. Their bodies
were covered with dark hair. Their arms
were long and strong, their legs short. They
had little eyes set near together, and almost
no forehead at all. Every one of them had
something in his hand to throw at the trav-
elers.
Hawk-Eye kept straight on. “Run,” he
cried. “We can't fight; they are too many."
On, on they ran, panting and breathless.
A little way ahead there were some large
rocks on the edge of the wood. There they
might find a momentary shelter. They had
almost reached the rocks, when suddenly
a woman of the wild tribe let herself down
out of a tree on the edge of the bluff and
92


They pulled in opposite directions and
screamed, and if it had not been for Hawk-
Eye, there's no telling what might have be-
come of poor Firefly. She might have been
pulled in two, or she might have been car-
ried off and adopted into the wild clan. But
Hawk-Eye was there in almost no time,
and though the people on the bluff rained
down sticks and stones upon them, Hawk-
Eye drove his spear into the woman's arm.
With a shriek of pain she let go of Firefly
and dashed away into the forest.
“Run for your lives,” cried Hawk-Eye,
and they started again at top speed for the
rocks. They reached them none too soon,
for the people on the bluff, infuriated by the
injury to the woman, came dashing down
the slope after them. Once in the shelter of
the rocks, Hawk-Eye turned and faced his
pursuers. When they had almost reached
his hiding-place he gave a fierce yell and
threw his spear. It was a very well made
spear with a bone barb on the end, and it
struck the leader of the wild tribe in the
94


keys. Hawk-Eye again ran after his spear.
This time he pulled it out of the wounded
man's flesh himself, and left him rolling on
the ground, too much hurt to attack him or
defend himself. Then Hawk-Eye ran back
to the little group hidden behind the rock.
Everything was now as quiet as if no
one lived in the forest at all. There was
not a single tree-dweller in sight except the
first wounded man, and he was already
crawling as fast as he could up the bluff.
In spite of everything, Hawk-Eye and
Limberleg had held on to their meat, and
now they felt the need of food. They cut
Limberleg's load into four great chunks, and
each took one. They ate as they walked.
They ran along past the place where the
mammoths were feeding and then turned
their backs on the river and plunged into
the deep forest toward the east. The ground
began to rise a little, and Hawk-Eye said,
“If we keep on climbing in the direction of
the rising sun, we are bound to reach the
blue hills at last.”
96


T
NOV
199
.
All that day they journeyed, and that
night they spent in a tree. The next morn-
ing found them still climbing. At last, about
noon of the second day, they reached the
crest of the range and climbed out upon the
high, bald summit of the highest hill.
97


No one of their clan had ever been so
far from the cave, and no one of them had
ever seen what Hawk-Eye and Limberleg
and the Twins now saw. There was the
world spread out before them! They looked
back far away in the blue distance toward
the west, and there they saw a little silver
thread. That silver thread was their river.
They looked toward the south, and far, far
away they saw more water than they had
ever dreamed there was in the whole earth.
They did n't know what it was. They were
not even sure that it was water. They had
never heard of the sea. They stood silent
and breathless with wonder and gazed at
it. At last Hawk-Eye said in an awestruck
tone, “ It's the end of the world.”
“Let's go to the very edge and look over
it,” said Limberleg. “Maybe we can find
out where the sun hides during the dark-
ness."
You see what a brave woman she was.
“Then are these the blue hills ?” asked
Firetop. “They don't look blue a bit.”
98


country to get to the end of the world
then,” said Firetop.
All this time Hawk-Eye had been stand-
ing on the highest point, studying the view
and choosing landmarks. He knew how to
find his way through forests as well as we
know the way to the post-office. When he
had the route all planned out, he called the
children and Limberleg to his side. He
pointed to the south. “Do you see far
away that little neck of land which leads
out to the very end of the world ?” he said.
“We will keep the sun on this side of us
the first half of the day and on the other
side the other half of the day and we shall
surely reach it. Then we shall see what lies
beyond.”
Hawk-Eye led the way over the crest
of the hill and down into the forest below,
the Twins and Limberleg close behind him.
All day they pressed on, over hills, through
dense woods, and across little streams,
keeping always to the south. At last they
found the narrow neck of land which they
100


sky. It was more wonderful than they had
dreamed.
“To-morrow, if we wake early, we shall
see where the sun comes from,” said Lim-
berleg.
They sat on the rocks and watched the
stars come out and saw the moon sail away
to the west, and then, when they were too
weary to stay awake longer, they spread
their skins on the rocks and slept under the
open sky, with the boom of the surf for a
lullaby.
heka
312
.
pl


VI
THE EARTHQUAKE


VI
THE EARTHQUAKE
I
They slept so soundly that they did not
hear low rolling sounds of thunder or see
the moon go out of sight behind a black
cloud. Even lightning did not rouse them,
but when at last the rain came splashing
down over their bare skins they woke up.
There was no shelter for them, so they hud-
dled together in a wet heap and waited for
the rain to be over and for the morning to
come. It was no gentle spring shower.
The water poured down like a deluge.
They were very wretched, and Firefly be-
gan to cry.
“Now, see here,” Limberleg said to
her, “there's water enough already! You
need n't add your tears, or we shall all be
103


drowned! The rain will be over some time.
It won't hurt you."
When the lightning flashed, they could
see the trees waving and bending in the
wind and great breakers rolling up over the
sandy beach.
But the rain was n't the worst that was to
happen. After a while there came a strange
shivering feeling in the rocks beneath them.
It grew stronger and stronger till the whole
earth shook and trembled.
Hawk-Eye and Limberleg had felt earth-
quakes before, but never one like this. It
seemed as if the world were shaking itself
to pieces. They huddled closer together and
clasped their arms around the Twins.
“Oh,” shrieked Limberleg, “the water
gods are angry because we tried to find out
the secret of the sun!” She and Hawk-Eye
prayed to them at the top of their lungs. .
“Spare us, oh, spare us,” they cried.
As they prayed, there came a long, fear-
ful cracking noise, and the sound of falling
rocks. It was as if the thunder had fallen to
104


the earth and were rumbling round over it.
A gigantic wave came roaring against the
rocks as if it would dash them to pieces.
The Twins burrowed their heads in their
mother's lap, and shook almost as if they
were having little earthquakes of their own.
The great wave marked the crest of the
storm. After that the winds grew gradually
less violent, the rain ceased, and the waves
crept farther and farther away down the
beach.
The earth ceased its trembling. The
clouds rolled away like great curtains, and
the thunder went grumbling off toward the
west.
When the gray dawn came stealing over
the wet earth and the birds began to sing,
Limberleg raised her head.
“Look,” she said, “and listen ! The birds
are singing! I thought the world had come
to an end, but it is still here, and so are
we.”
Then they all opened their eyes, which
they had kept shut for terror. A wonderful
105


sight met them! Over the water toward the
east the sky was blushing like a rose. Little
pink clouds were hurrying away to lose
themselves in the blue sky. Then the great
fiery red disk of the sun rose slowly out of
the water!
They watched it in awed silence as it
climbed higher and higher into the blue.
Then, trembling again with fear, the little
group of watchers prostrated themselves
before it in a blind impulse of worship.
When the sun was out of the water and
up again in its regular place in the sky, all
nature seemed so gay and joyous that the
Twins and their father and mother forgot
the fears of the night, and began to think
about breakfast. They found it in the hol-
low of a rock far down the gorge.
The giant wave which had so frightened
them, had left a fish flapping about in a little
pool of water. When she saw it, Limberleg
shouted: “The water gods are n't angry,
after all! See, they have sent us a fine fish
for our breakfast!”
106


crossed the isthmus that connected them
with the mainland.
Hawk-Eye was some distance ahead of
the others when he came out upon the high
bluff that overlooked the channel and the
isthmus. Suddenly he stopped with a cry
of astonishment and stood still, his eyes
staring
Limberleg and the Twins rushed to his
side. .
“What is the matter?” they cried. For
answer Hawk-Eye only pointed. Before
them there was nothing but open water! A
whole section of the neck of land which they
had crossed only the day before had been
swallowed up by the sea!
Where it had been, a mile of blue water
now sparkled in the sun! They were com-
pletely shut off from the main land. When
she realized what had happened, Limberleg
sat heavily down on a log.
“The world is n't the same after all,” she
cried. “It's broken! Part of it has sunk
beneath the waters!”
109


A2
oth
ce
14
CV
“Won't it ever get mended ?" asked Fire-
fly anxiously.
“Shan't we ever get back to the cave,
then?” cried Firetop.
“No," sobbed Limberleg. “We'll have
to stay here till we die."
Firefly whimpered a little and crept close
to her mother on the log, but Firetop noticed
that his father was n't crying, so he swal-
lowed several large lumps in his throat and
ΙΙο


sat up straight. For some time they stayed
on the bluff and looked down the steep
banks of broken earth and rocks into the
deep water below.
Great logs were floating about and huge
trees, uprooted from the banks, were lying
with their tops in the water.
At last Limberleg said in a discouraged
voice, “Well, what shall we do?”
“The first thing to do," said Hawk-Eye,
"is to go down to the beach and see what
we can find to eat."
Beyond the steep cliffs on which they
stood there was a bay with a wide beach.
Beyond the bay great rocks extended in a
chain out into the water. If you have been
to England, you may have passed those
very rocks. They are called “The Needles.”
Hawk-Eye and Limberleg and the Twins
climbed down to the beach. ‘They were so
hungry that they were almost ready to eat
sand and pebbles, like chickens, if they could
find nothing else.
But there was plenty of seaweed on the
III


1.UZ
cen
n
hoc
beach and they found little mussels clinging
to it. They ate both the seaweed and the
mussels, as they walked along.
“See all the little holes in the sand,”
cried Firetop, when they were quite far
out on the beach. “Water spurts out of
them every time I step.”
“Let 's dig down and see what does it,”
said Firefly. “ Maybe it's something good
to eat.”
II2


They took a large shell and scraped away
the sand. They had never seen clams be-
fore, and Firefly got her finger pinched.
Hawk-Eye opened a shell and ate one.
He smacked his lips, and then he said,
“"Dig as many as you can, while I make a
fire. Our supper is right here."
The Twins worked like beavers, while
Hawk-Eye and Limberleg made a drift-
wood fire far back on the beach in a shel-
tered place near the cliffs.
Then Limberleg made a bed of seaweed
in the coals and put in the clams as fast
as the children brought them up from the
sand. They must have steamed at least half
a bushel ! They ate every one, and I am
quite sure this was the very first clam-bake
that any one ever had in this world.
As they rested beside the fire after sup-
per, warmed and fed, they began to feel
more. cheerful. Hawk-Eye said: “Any-
way, we shall never be hungry while we
stay here. Perhaps we shall like it just as
well as we liked our forest cave.”
113


VII
THE ISLAND


VII
THE ISLAND
If I were to tell you all the things that the
Twins and their father and mother did on
that island, it would make a book as big
as the dictionary; so I can only tell you a
very little about the wonderful days that
followed. In the first place, they soon found
out that it was a wonderful island. Small
as it was, it had the most astonishing things
in it.
There were great cliffs and jagged rocks
along its coast in some places, and there
were beautiful broad sandy beaches right
next to them. The waves had washed
holes clear through some of these great
rocks and left them standing there like
huge ruins.
The beaches were covered with star-fish
115


and beautiful shells and seaweed and crabs
and jelly-fish and stones of all colors. The
Twins found something new every time
they played there.
Inland there were hills and valleys with
sparkling streams of clear water running
through them. There were sunny open
meadows where bison grazed. In the woods
there were deer and small game of all
kinds, but though Hawk-Eye went every-
where in the days that followed the earth-
quake, he never saw a sign of a cave bear
or of tigers or lions, or any of the more
savage beasts which made life in their old
home so full of terror.
Neither did he find a trace of any other
human beings.
The season was early on the warm south-
ern side of the island. The wild fruit trees
were already in blossom, making the air
sweet with fragrance, and giving promise
of fruit later on.
There were all sorts of wild flowers and
all kinds of trees in the woods, and every-
116


“Pooh,” said Firetop, “I'm not afraid.
Come along."
They hunted up and down and sideways
for some distance along the bluff, and were
almost ready to give up, when a branch that
Firetop was holding broke and he fell back-
ward down the slope. He rolled over two
or three times, and when he stopped rolling
and sat up he was looking directly into the
mouth of a great dark cave. A lot of stones
and dirt came tumbling down with him, and,
with that and some noise that Firetop made
himself, there was quite a disturbance.
The cave was full of owls, and when the
stones and dirt and a boy dropped in on
them suddenly, they were very much sur-
prised. No fewer than six of them flew out
of the cave, and as they were blinded by the
light, they bumped right into Firetop.
Those still in the cave few about and
beat their wings against the rocks. This
made a terrible sound in the hollow cave,
and besides that, they hooted. Firetop
had never met an owl at such short range
119


they roosted in a row, staring solemnly at
the Twins.
They neither moved nor spoke. Some-
how the Twins expected them to speak and
say something very reproving. They looked
just that way. The Twins did n't wait to
find out what it would be, however. They
went crashing through the bushes and back
to the top of the rock as fast as they could go.
That afternoon, when Hawk-Eye and
Limberleg came home, bringing a young
deer on their shoulders, the children told
them about the cave and pointed it out from
the top of the rock. Hawk-Eye at once
threw down the deer and made a fire. Then
he took a flaming torch in one hand and
his spear in the other and started down the
bluff.
“How did you get to the cave?” he
asked Firetop.
“We went part way down the bluff and
fell in,” said Firetop.
Hawk-Eye laughed. “I'll see if I can't
find a better way,” he said.
I 21


might be living in it. It was just the sort of
cave where one might expect to find wolves
at least.
The owls came hooting out again just
as they had when Firetop visited them, but
nothing else stirred, and Hawk-Eye went
boldly in. The cave was quite large, and as
it was in a chalk cliff, it was white and clean
except where the owls had made their nests.
Hawk-Eye did n't like the looks of owls.
He did n't like their staring ways. So he
tore up their nests and threw them down
the bluff.
Then he came out of the cave and began
to climb about on the slope, as if he were
searching for something. It was not long
before he gave a shout of joy and beckoned
to Limberleg and the Twins, who were
watching him eagerly.
They came bounding down the hillside
at once. Hawk-Eye met them at the cave-
entrance. "Here's our home,” he said, point-
ing to the cave. “Nothing could be better.
I have found a spring of fresh water near
123


VIII
THE RAFT


重
​了​,
举重
​4
以上第
​了​。
能
​,
Yes
“这是一
​


ate children or not. Probably the fish did n't ,
know, either. They had never had any to
try. Anyway, the Twins thought they would
not find out what their tastes were in the
matter, and so they stayed near the shore,
- or at least they meant to.
Ever since the great storm there had
been logs and broken tree branches float-
ing about in the water, and on this morn-
ing, the Twins found two of them bobbing
about near the beach-line. They were not
very large, and the Twins thought it would
be fun to play with them. They waded out
and pulled them in toward shore.
“Let's ride on these the way we rode
that log in the river,” said Firetop.
Firefly was always ready to do whatever
Firetop did, so she got astride one, and
Firetop mounted the other, and they went
bouncing along through the water, half float-
ing and half walking on the sandy bottom.
It was great fun, but the long branches
stuck in the sand and scratched their legs,
so they drew the logs nearer shore and
129


20
-
.
Whe
LS
e2
tried to pull off the branches. But some of
them were too tough.
"We can twist them together,” said Fire-
top. “That will keep them out of the way
and maybe the logs won't roll so much.”
They twisted the branches of the two
logs roughly together, so they could not
stick down into the water and then mounted
their sea horses again and rode away. They
were delighted to find that now the logs be-
haved much better, and they grew so bold
that they ventured out into deeper water.
They had made a wonderful plaything.
130


All the morning they rode the logs, and
when the tide began to come in, they had the
best time of all. It picked up the little raft
and floated the children, screaming with joy,
far up the beach on a long, low, rolling wave.
Limberleg had been so busy making a
frame of sticks to stretch the deer-skin on
that she had paid no attention to the Twins.
But when she heard their screams, she came
to the door of the cave and looked out on
the beach. When she saw what they were
doing, she came running down the bluff.
She ran so fast she was all out of breath,
but she gasped out: “You naughty, care-
less children! You must not do that any
more — ever! You will certainly be eaten
up by a big fish -- or get drowned — or
maybe both — if you do!” The Twins
thought that their mother was very foolish,
and, being cave twins, and not knowing
any better, they said: “Aw, mother, we
have been doing it all the morning, and
never got drowned or eaten up once! Try
it yourself and just see how easy it is.”
131


But Limberleg was very unreasonable.
She only said, “If you do it again, you
know what will happen,” and started back
up the bluff. When she was out of sight,
Firetop said: “Let's do it once more. She
won't see us!” This shows just how wicked
and disobedient cave children could be!
They pushed their raft out into the wa-
ter and got on board. They were at the
very farthest point from shore, when sud-
denly Limberleg came right out of the
bushes and looked at them! When they
saw her, the Twins were very much em-
barrassed. They thought perhaps they had
better stay off shore a while.
They reached their feet down and dug
their toes in the sand, but the tide was still
coming in, and in spite of all they could
do, it liſted them up and carried them right
to where Limberleg stood. She looked at
them very sternly. She had a switch in her
hand. She said: “I told you what would
happen! I shall have to punish you, but it
hurts me worse than it hurts you.” I sup-
132


one passing by would certainly have thought
from the sounds that a pack of wildcats
lived there. At last Limberleg said to them,
“Now, you see, I will be minded,” and
then she made them sit still in the corner of
the cave until she had finished the wooden
frame and stretched the deer-skin over it.
I suppose that if she had been a reason-
able and kind mother she would have let
them go on and get drowned or eaten up
by a shark. But she was n't, and so they
were n't, or else you can very well see that
this story would have had to end right here.
When Hawk-Eye came home that after-
noon with two live rabbits which he had
snared, the Twins were so delighted with
them that they forgot all about their troubles
of the morning
“Can't we keep the rabbits alive?" they
begged.
“How can you keep them?” said Hawk-
Eye. “They 'll run away.”
“We can tie them by their legs,” said
Firetop.
134


aan
re
“We can cut sticks and drive them
down in the ground, and keep the rabbits
inside the sticks,” cried Firefly.
"What will you cut them with ?” asked
Hawk-Eye.
“With your stone axe,” Firefly answered
as quick as a wink.
Hawk-Eye looked very solemn. “Will
you be sure to bring it back to the cave,
if I let you take my axe ?” he said.
"Of course," cried the Twins. They
took the axe at once and rushed out to
begin the fence of sticks, while Hawk-Eye
tied the rabbits by their hind legs to a little
tree near the cave.
135


IX
THE SURPRISE


have more rabbits,” said Hawk-Eye, “and
then in winter, we should always have
plenty of fresh meat right at hand.”
“What a good idea!” said Limberleg.
“The children can feed them.”
"Yes,” said Hawk-Eye, “ if they don't
forget it.”
“I'll see that they don't forget it,” said
Limberleg
The Twins heard her say it.
"I think probably she will,” said Fire-
top. He had great confidence in his
mother.
“Will what?" said Firefly.
"Will see that we don't forget it,” said
Firetop, and they guessed right. She did.
By July they had a large enclosure
fenced off and ever so many rabbits in it.
For cave people they were now very rich.
They had a fine cave home, plenty of skins,
and plenty of food.
Limberleg had made herself a good
needle out of bone and had sewed nice soft
deer-skins into clothes for them, all ready
138


It was not long after this that Limberleg
began to notice that though he was gone all
day every day, Hawk-Eye often came home
without game. One day she heard the sound
of his stone axe, as if he were cutting down
a tree, but she thought nothing more about it.
After that she heard the sound of the axe
every day for many days. It seemed to come
from the bay behind the point of land. At
last she said to him: “What in the world
are you doing with your axe? I hear such
a pounding every day.” Hawk-Eye did not
tell her what he was making. He only said,
“Maybe some day, when I get it done, you
will see."
The Twins heard the axe to), and they
made up their minds they were going to find
out what was going on. The next day, as
they were playing in their cave back of their
bluff at low tide, Firefly saw a little column
of smoke rising out of the woods near the
place where a small stream flowed into the
bay. She also heard the axe. The sound
seemed to come from somewhere near the
140


smoke. She pointed the smoke out to Fire-
top, and the two children ran swiftly around
the beach and up the little stream for a short
distance.
There they found Hawk-Eye. He was
working away at the log of a good-sized
tree which he had cut down. He had made
the log almost flat on one side by chipping
off pieces with his axe, and he had shaped
the ends a little. Now he was hollowing out
the inside. He was doing this partly with
his axe and partly by burning it.
Hawk-Eye was working só busily he did
not know that any one was near him until
Firetop called out, “What are you making,
Father ? ”
Hawk-Eye stopped chopping. “It's a
secret,” he said. “If I tell you, you 'll tell.”
“No, we won't. Anyway, there 's no one
to tell but Mother,” said Firefly.
“She's just the one I want to keep it
from,” said Hawk-Eye. “It's a surprise."
“Oh, well, if it is a surprise, of course we
won't tell,” said Firetop.
141


“Do you know what it is, or is it a sur-
prise to you too ?” asked Firefly.
“Maybe it is,” said Hawk-Eye. “I'm
not sure yet. When I get the inside of this
log all cut out, I'm going to see if it will
float without rolling over. Maybe I can get
in it and make it go where I want it to. If
I can, then all sorts of things may happen,
but you must not tell Mother.”
“Why?”asked Firefly. “Would n't she
let you play with it ? ”
“Maybe not,” said Hawk-Eye.
"You'd better be careful,” said Firefly,
shaking her head, “or you know what will
happen!”
Hawk-Eye laughed and went on chop-
ping. Every day after that the Twins fol-
lowed their father to the little cove and
watched him work. Every evening they
nearly burst trying not to tell. One day
when they went down to the cove, they
found their father taking out the last chips
from the inside of the log.
"When the tide comes in, it backs up into
142


BURADOR
NES
haye
PA
WARTA
**
!
at by
ARUAN
the stream,” said Hawk-Eye, “and the next
time it does it, I'm going to push the log
into the water and then out into the bay. If
it floats right side up, I am going for a ride."
“How will you push it?" asked Firetop.
"Are you going to let your legs hang over
and hitch yourself along that way?”.
"I shan't need any turtles to bite me
to make me go anyway,” said Hawk-Eye.
“I'm going to push it with a pole.”
143


The pole was already in the log. The tide
began to flow in. As soon as the water was
deep enough Hawk-Eye pushed the log into
the water. It floated, of course. Hawk-Eye
waded along beside it into deeper water.
Then he undertook to get aboard, but he
put his weight too much on one side. It
rolled over, and he rolled with it, and went
splash on his stomach right into the water!
Firetop and Firefly danced on the beach
with glee.
Hawk-Eye got up all dripping wet and
tried again. This time he stepped into the
middle of the boat. He got safely in, but it
was still very tippy, so he put sand in the
bottom of it and made it heavier. Then he
tried again.
It was a proud moment when at last he
took his pole and pushed off.
“I'm going to keep close to shore and go
around the point if I can,” he said.
The children tore up the bank and over
the hill to get back to the cave in time to
see him coming. Limberleg was weaving
144


X
THE VOYAGE


!
RES
.


ney. They had always been more used to
hunting game than to fishing, anyway. Now
with a sea full of fish right at hand, waiting
to be caught, they began to think more
about it.
“If we could catch fish, we should have
more food right at hand than we could pos-
sibly eat, without ever hunting at all, if we
did n't want to,” said Hawk-Eye.
After that Limberleg spent days and days
tying leather thongs together in a coarse net,
while Hawk-Eye made bone fish-hooks for
himself and Limberleg and the Twins, and
fastened them to long fine strings of leather.
By August, Hawk-Eye had taught the
Twins how to fish the streams for trout,
and he himself had learned how to fasten
his net between two of the gull rocks and
catch the fish that swam in deep water.
There was nothing Hawk-Eye liked so
much as going out in his boat. He went up
and down the coast for miles, and it was not
long before he knew every little creek and
inlet and bay on the eastern end of the island.
149


* kov popolnoma
B
.
They butted Firetop in the stomach and
knocked him flat, and spun Firefly around
in the sand to show how glad they were to
see them.
When at last the prow of the boat grated
on the sand, and Grannie and Hawk-Eye
got out, the four children ran round them
in circles like puppies, screaming with joy.
Even Limberleg danced. Grannie clapped
her hands over her ears.
154


When the noise had calmed down a lit-
tle, she seized Firetop and Firefly and
shook them soundly.
“You little red-headed wretches,” she
cried. “Here you are alive and well, and
fat as rabbits, and all this time I've worried
the heart nearly out of me wondering what
had become of you!”.
It had been such a long time since the
spring morning when the Twins had stolen
away out of the cave that at first they did
not know what Grannie was talking about.
They had never thought how she must
have felt when she found that they were
gone.
Hawk-Eyelaughed. “I've brought Gran-
nie back with me on purpose to give you
what you deserve,” he said. “She told me
she was going to take a stick to you as
soon as she saw you, for playing such a
trick on her.”
“Just you wait until I get a stick,” cried
Grannie. She looked fierce as she said it,
but the Twins knew very well she was just
155


02
DAY
SA
.
10
J
YES
S
.
AN
Shando
as glad to see them as they were to see
her. They seized her hands, one on each
side, and began to pull her up the hill.
Blackbird and Squaretoes pushed from
behind.
“Go along with you,” screamed Gran-
nie, holding back with all her might. “I
can't run so fast; I am all out of breath.”
156


songs
WAN
Tume
om
NANTES
were leaping high in the air to welcome
them.
“See,” cried Limberleg, “even the fire
dances with joy at your coming.”
She took Grannie into the cave and
showed her the piles of warm skins, and
the heaps of nuts: then she showed Gran-
nie how to cook clams.
158


end of the point of land which we crossed
when we came here.
“I knew our river must empty into the big
water not far away, and so I paddled up the
first stream I found. I slept in the boat at
night. The first night I was awakened by
the howling of wolves. But I had only to
push my boat out into the stream. They
would not follow me there.
“For two days I paddled up-stream. The
second day I began to see things that I knew,
and on the morning of the third I reached
the river path just as Grannie was coming
down for water."
“Yes, yes,” cried Grannie. “I thought I
was dreaming! The boat frightened me.
I thought Hawk-Eye was dead and that I
saw his spirit. I started to run to the cave.”
"Did you think we were all dead?” asked
Limberleg.
“Yes,” said Grannie. “I thought some
cave bear or tiger had got you. You were
always so bold and venturesome. And as
for these worthless ones,” she added, pat-
160


and the coast, and where to cross,” said
Hawk-Eye. “They can't help finding the
island, and if they find the island, they can't
help finding us. I told them we were on the
side where the sun rises out of the water."
It had grown very dark as they talked.
There was only firelight in the cave, but
just then Limberleg saw a bright streak on
the edge of the water toward the east.
“Look, Grannie, look,” she cried, point-
ing to it. “We have discovered the secret
of the sun and the moon! They both sleep
in the water !”
The children and Grannie and Hawk-
Eye and Limberleg all watched together
until the white streak grew brighter and
stretched in a silver path across the water
to the beach below. They saw the pale disk of
the moon slowly rise into the deep blue of the
night sky, and the stars wink down at them.
“I suppose no one else in the whole world
knows the secret,” said Limberleg solemnly.
"You see this is the end of the world. You
can't go any farther.”
162


L'ENVOI
Long, long ago, when the Earth was young
And Time was not yet old,
Ere all the stars in the sky were hung,
Or the silver moon grown cold;
When the clouds that sail between the worlds
Were fanned with fluttering wings,
And over all the land there curled
The fronds of growing things;
When fishes swarmed in all the seas,
And on the wooded shore
There roamed among the forest trees
A million beasts or more;
Then in the early morn of Time,
Called from the formless clod,
Came Man, to start the weary climb
From wild beast up to God, -- .
Oh, bravely did he dare and do,
And bravely fight and die,
Or you to-day could not be you,
And I could not be 1.





SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS
This is the first volume in the “ Twins Series” of sup-
plementary reading in history. It follows the general
plan of the similar series of supplementary reading in
geography (in five volumes) which is extensively used in
public and private schools.
Its purpose is suggested in the author's introductory
paragraphs on “ Prehistoric Man” (pages 1-4), where
she shows that because prehistoric men and women “did
their part bravely and well when the earth was young,"
we find that same earth —- now so old — a most beauti-
ful place in which to live. The contrast between the
brief, turbulent lives of our savage - but none the less
human - forbears and our own lives of ease and com-
fort furnishes a valuable lesson. To arouse the chil-
dren's interest and thus to make the reading of the
story most valuable as a school exercise, it is suggested
that before the reading is begun children be allowed to
look at the pictures in the book in order to get ac-
quainted with “Firetop” and “ Firefly," and with the
scenes illustrating their home life and surroundings.
kinen har forbehold
During the•reading, the teacher should tell the chil-
chil
dren something about the parts of the world in which it
is supposed the human race first appeared, about the way
in which prehistoric man clothed and fed himself, and
about the prehistoric animals against which he had to
defend himself. A file of the National Geographic Maga-
sine, accessible in most public libraries, will be found to
contain a wealth of illustrative articles which will be
invaluable in this connection.
The text is so simply written that any fourth or fifth
grade child can read it without much preparation. In
the fourth grade it may be well to have the children
read the story first in a study period, in order to work
out the pronunciation of the more difficult words. . In
the fifth grade the children can usually read it at sight
without this preparatory study.
y without i to have order toas. In





THE TWINS SERIES OF
GEOGRAPHICAL READERS
By LUCY FITCH PERKINS
This series of supplementary reading books aims to picture
vividly the life and conditions in countries whose children have
come to form a numerous portion of our own population, or in whose
history America has a keen interest, and to foster a kindly feeling
and a deserved respect for the various nations. The following vol.
umes are now ready.
THE ESKIMO TWINS.
Grade II.
THE DUTCH TWINS.
Grade III.
THE JAPANESE TWINS.
Grade IV.
THE IRISH TWINS.
Grade V.
THE MEXICAN TWINS.
Grade VI.
Each volume, 50 cents. Postpaid
OPERA STORIES FROM WAGNER
By FLORENCE AKIN
Primary Teacher in the Irvington School, Portland, Oregon.
Illustrated by E. POLLAK-OTTENDORFF. 45 cents. Postpaid
Miss Akin here interprets for the child one of the world's lit-
crary masterpieces. In simple, conversational style so much enjoyed
by children, she tells the four stories of Wagner's The Nibelung
Ring, which weaves into one the strange and beautiful myths and
legends of Northern Europe. From the heart of the race they bear
their lesson of good and evil. The text is especially adapted to the
development of expression and to dramatization. Careful consider
ation has been given to the selection of words that they may not re-
quire too much explanation by the teacher, and yet may afford reason-
able growth for the child's vocabulary. The book is planned for
use in the second and third grades.
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO
1620