Katharine Atherton Grimes

“ How Stitcher Saved the Clan from Hunger
Many months passed by and in the Valley of Caves all was going well again. The flood was almost forgotten. Nuts and berries were plenty in the woods and the hunters always came home laden. No one thought very much about the time when they had been so hungry and cold and wretched. That is, not many people did. But Stitcher could never forget the days after the great flood when she had wandered about in the hills with little Antelope in her arms, not knowing which way to go, hungry and weary and in danger. ”

“ One after another the youths came forward to try their fortunes with the dice. But no one threw the whites together. Wiki, trembling with eagerness, found them at his feet with all the red sides up, and gave place to Kwasa, who came next.
Carefully placing the sticks in his fingers, and with a quick glance at old Honau, who stood watching with much interest, Kwasa spun the dice high in the air. And when they came down every one knew that the danger and the honor had fallen to Kwasa by the favor of the gods. ”

“ The big bear was growling fiercely and walking around the tree. Often she would stop and reach up as far as she could with her forepaws, tearing viciously at the bark and snarling with rage.
When Fisher saw Bolo coming he shouted for joy. He did not think Bolo would come back. Cave people did not often think of helping each other. Each had to take care of himself.
“Now see me shoot the bear,” called Bolo proudly, fitting one of the precious arrows to the bow. ”

“ Day after day the watcher in the field tower, keen-eyed Haida, had reported everything well, until the last lurking fears of even the old men were almost forgotten. The storerooms were being repaired and made ready for the new crop, and the men were working on a larger granary, or storage cist, some distance below the level of the cavern, where the heavy baskets of corn might be emptied without carrying them up the last steep third of the ascent.
Then, early one morning, a wild-eyed messenger from the field tower came hurtling up the niche stairs in the gray light to report evil tidings. ”

“ They all knew that if the men should carry the meat themselves they might all be killed by wolves or other savage beasts. So the men kept themselves ready to fight while the women bore the burdens.
There was great rejoicing when they reached home again. Every one praised One Eye for his wisdom and courage, and they all agreed that he should be their leader as long as he lived.
“Bolo will be as wise as his father,” said Flame. “Wiser, too, perhaps,” she added, nodding her head sagely, for she thought of the important secret that no one in the Clan knew except herself and the two boys. ”

“ For an hour Kwasa had been sitting stiffly on the stone ledge that ran around the outer wall of the kiva, trying to get used to the smothering mask Mosu had put over his head. This mask was a gorgeously painted affair representing the head of a duck. Feathers of green and black were fastened to the crest, and a huge bill of yellow cane projected from the mouthpiece. In it Kwasa became for the time a Katcina, or one of the supernatural beings which mediate between gods and men. ”

“ I might have died in the water, and then who could have helped the cave people? They must all have died, too. And it is better that two should know than one, for then the secret of the Great Fire will not be so easily lost. You are faithful; you will be faithful. I will teach you. But first you must carry fire to the people.”
Bolo and Fisher each took a lighted torch and started back to where the discouraged cave people were huddled together. How everyone shouted for joy when they saw the fire coming. They knew that again they were safe in their homes in the Valley of Caves. ”

“ So, though the older men of the village still felt some anxiety, the planting was at last to be begun under much more favorable circumstances than they had feared. The women chatted gayly as they brought out the precious seeds to be sorted, sharpened new planting sticks, and baked great sheets of piki to pack in the big food-baskets that were to go with the planters to the distant fields. ”

“ On every terrace, too, were girls and women at work, tying the sharp new ironwood planting sticks into bundles and shelling the sacred colored corn which was to be planted in a specially prepared corner of the field. Great baskets and bags were filled with food: piki, and pounded acorns baked in sheets with meal, and strips of hard, dry meat. There were cakes of buffalo meat, too, pounded fine, and bags of dried peaches, and beans for eating as well as planting. For from now on until the crop was ready for harvest men must stay in the far-away fields to guard as well as work. ”

“ By and by more of the cave people began to come back home, one by one. Frantically they searched through the desolate caves for a glimmer of fire, but none could be found. They were in despair. How could they live without fire? There would be no way to cook their food or to warm themselves when it grew cold. And, worst of all, there would now be no way to keep the wild beasts out of the caves, and all of the people would have to go back to the trees to live, as did their fore-parents so long, long ago. ”

“ On the Walpi Trail
If Kwasa had not felt so proud of the honor that had been shown him, he might have feared to go down the long, dark canyons alone. But, boylike, his thoughts were not so much on the danger of his task as they were upon the rewards he might hope for when it was done, for he knew the people of the Cliffs would pay royal honors where they were due. And he never thought of failure, for surely one so high in favor with the gods could not fail, however great the task. ”

“ What is of more interest to us just now is to know that when Flame died, many years after the great hunt, Fisher was made Keeper of the Great Fire in her stead. This was the highest honor the Clan could show, excepting only the honor they had shown to One Eye when they made him their leader.
“Bolo must learn many things,” said One Eye. “I am growing old and the Clan must never again be without a lawmaker. And the man who is to make the laws must be fearless and wise and good.” ”

“ No one knew when the bold savages, encouraged by their success in the valley, might not undertake even so difficult a task as the storming of the cliff fastness. Rumors, too, were constantly afloat of murderous attacks on smaller outlying cliff dwellings, and once a small party that had been down the canyon to look for wild gourds came upon the body of a Cliffman, apparently from one of those distant houses, lying stiff with a Ute arrow in his breast. ”

“ Bolo’s face grew very sober as he fitted it to the string. If he should not kill the bear this time poor Fisher would have to stay where he was until some of the men came home. He might grow so weary that he could not hold on any longer, and then the bear would eat him.
But if he could kill the bear! Ah, then he would be a hero indeed—a great hero like One Eye. And then, too, the cave men would all see what a fine weapon the arrow was, and they would know that One Eye was wiser than they were. But even One Eye had not thought a bear could be killed with arrows. ”

“ When they came to the valley where Bolo had seen the mammoths they found nothing but trampled grass and the broken limbs of trees. They went very slowly and carefully after that. It was not long till a man, who had climbed into a very tall tree on a hilltop, called out excitedly that he could see something moving at the base of a cliff that hung high and steep above the river. One Eye climbed the tree himself, and looked long and closely where the man pointed.
“It is the herd,” he said. “Now let every man do just as I say.”
He divided the cave men into two parties. ”

“ But we must eat, and planting time is near. Those who stay in the village are indeed secure, but what of the men who must plant the seeds and care for the grain in the far fields? We must say farewell to Waka (the sun) with full storehouses, and with heaped fuel for the cold days of winter. And if the thieving Utes swarm down upon our fields and carry off our corn and beans and squashes, what then? Then there is the danger while we plant and harvest. ”

“ How excited Bolo was as he told One Eye and the other cave men about the strange herd he had seen in the distant valley. The whole Clan was at once in a turmoil. One Eye gave it as his opinion that the great animals [27] were mammoths, which rarely came into that region, and were very valuable for their meat, their skins, and the ivory in the long tusks. One mammoth would make meat for all the Clan for many days, and they were all eager to start at once on a great hunt for them.
“We must take spears and harpoons,” said one.
“No, we must take bows and arrows,” said another. ”

“ Mosu quieted the panic-stricken people who crowded about him in the early light as well as he could. One thing was sure, if the people of the Cliff were not to starve when the cold days came, the rest of the crop must be saved. Wisely seeing in vigorous action the best remedy for fear, he hastily organized men and women into bands for taking care of what was left of the grain, giving to the women the actual work of gathering that the men might be left free to protect them. ”

“ But Fisher slipped down to the end of a long, slender limb and hung with his hands. He swung back and forth farther and farther at each swing. Before Bolo could reach him he had flung himself far out toward a [6] tree that stood by itself several yards from the edge of the woods, and with a daring leap, had landed among its branches.
Bolo laughed and started to slide down the limb too. He thought he could leap as far as Fisher could. Then he glanced down to the ground and began to climb back up the tree as fast as he could go.
“The cave bear! the cave bear!” he shouted. ”

“ At last all was ready, and the lads stood forth to be sprinkled with the sacred meal from the handsome red and black bowl in Mosu’s hands.
“The Old Ones be with you,” muttered the priest, as he strewed the meal in a circle about them, and upon the boys’ bowed heads.
“Come back quickly,” called many anxious voices as, one by one, the lads dropped down the niche stairway. Kwasa, the last one to descend, stooped as he left the court and picked up the three red and white dice with which he and Wiki had been playing so short a time before. ”

“ The men seemed pleased at this for they thought Bolo deserved some honor.
When the cave men had surrounded the herd in this fashion they were to close in upon them, each man carrying a blazing torch, and try to drive the animals up the landward slope of the cliff, and over it into the river. They knew they could never kill one of these huge beasts with any weapons they had. So they thought to kill them by driving them over the cliff and making them fall upon the rocks below. Some of the cave men who had never seen a mammoth were very much frightened at the terrible beasts. ”

“ The Watcher in the High Tower must indeed be keen of eye to guard every path that leads to the fields. It is of these things we must think. And in the meantime,” he broke off abruptly, “this lad is weary and hungry. See that he has refreshment and rest. We must not send him back to the Seven Cities to tell of our ingratitude for a friendly deed.”
But Sado shook his head.
[12]
“There are many others to warn,” he said earnestly. “I must not stay, though the thought of rest is tempting. But first I will eat—”
“Has the Snake Clan no runners?” interrupted Mosu proudly. ”

“ She thought it was coming to the cave. But when she found out the danger Fisher was in she stood for a minute thinking.
“The men are all gone,” she said. “They have all the spears and harpoons. Here is a strong bow, but there are only three arrows. You can not kill a bear with arrows.”
“I will try,” said Bolo eagerly.
Not many men in the Clan could shoot with a bow. They had always used spears and harpoons. They made the heads of them out of flintstones. One Eye had been the first man in the Clan to make arrows. He had learned how from a stranger who had once visited the Clan. ”

“ In a consultation of the old men it was at last decided that the best thing to be done was to send messengers to the Rainbow and Bear Clans on the south, which were probably so far free from attack, and to the Seven Cities on the North, asking them to be ready to send aid should the threatened danger fall. Mosu, standing stern and tall in the middle of the court, told the people of this decision and asked for messengers.
“The Walpi road is a dangerous one,” he said, “to be undertaken by no one who is afraid to lose his life. ”

“ The women, with Stitcher to teach them, pounded the skins soft or sewed them into garments. The men busied themselves making new points for their spears and harpoons. But One Eye always made arrow heads instead, and since Bolo killed the cave bear many of the men came to his cave to be taught how to make them, too. Many were beginning to think arrows much better than their old weapons, but some of the old men still declared they were of no use. ”

“ New earthenware bowls must be made while they could be baked in the summer sun. Garments of soft, exquisitely wrought feather-cloth, and of fur strips wound on heavy cords and woven into fabric, must be made ready for cold weather. There were new rooms to be built, too, for the rapidly increasing population of the village made the old quarters too crowded for winter comfort. So the men brought great gray and brown rocks from the slopes of the canyon, carrying them suspended from head bands as the women carried their baskets. ”

“ So Bolo tried and tried, but when he was done no one could have told what it was he had been trying to draw.
“I will make pictures yet some day,” cried Bolo, throwing down the stone. “I will make the cave bear I killed, and the mammoths.”
“See here, now,” said Bek.
He took a large, smooth piece of the tusk of the mammoth the cave men had killed. One Eye had given him one of the ivory tusks because he knew the old man loved beautiful things, and the ivory was very smooth and beautiful. Then he took a sharp flint awl and began to make deep, careful marks in the ivory. ”