Katharine Atherton Grimes

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Some distance ahead of him a small gray rabbit was hopping slowly along, stopping here and there to take a nibble of tender, young grass, or to stand up on his hind legs and look about him. Bolo was hungry and he thought a little rabbit would make him a good dinner. ”

“ And soon most of the cave people were raising little patches of wheat in the open spaces about their caves.
“We will never be hungry again,” said Stitcher.
Years after that Stitcher lost all her teeth and could not eat the hard grains. So she put some of them into a hollowed stone and pounded them with another stone till they were soft. In this way the cave people came at last to grind grain for bread. But it was many, many years before they learned how to do that. For a long time they ate it just as it came from the husk. ”

“ The women bound new points on the spears with heavy sinews, and Bolo helped his father prepare a number of torches from wood soaked in fat. Flame brought some other torches made from knotty pine limbs. They all knew they would need fire with which to fight the mammoths. ”

“ Biography, introduction and notes. 24c
61 Message to Garcia and Other Inspirational Stories. Introduction and notes. 12c
63 Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Edited by Edwin Erle Sparks, Pres. Pa. State College. 24c
65 The Man Without a Country. With introduction and notes by Horace G. Brown. 12c
67 Democracy and the War. Seventeen Addresses of President Wilson, with others. 24c
69 Treasure Island. Stevenson. Biography, notes, questions, composition subjects. ”