The Later Cave-Men Part 4

Straightshaft let him try, but Fleetfoot was not strong enough to press off hard flint flakes. So he listened to the story that Scarface told of the young man who first made a flaker.

Holding up a little bone flaker, Scarface turned to the men and said: "When I was a boy, no one pressed off flakes of flint. No one had a flaker. We hammered off flint flakes.

"One summer when there were plenty of salmon, the neighboring clans had a great feast. Nimble-finger came. I saw him. I heard him speak.

The third day of the feast I saw him flake flint."

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A flaker._]

As Scarface went on he told how Nimble-finger invented the flaker. He did it one day when he was making a bone handle for a knife. When he was sc.r.a.ping a bone with a flint sc.r.a.per he happened to press off a flint flake.

Nimble-finger did not know how it happened. He tried again and again.

At last he pressed off another flake; and this time he knew that he did it by pressing the point of the bone against one edge of the flint.

Nimble-finger never finished that bone-handled hunting knife. But he showed the people how to make a flaker. He became an inventor; for he gave the world a tool it had never had before.

When the people returned from the feast many forgot about the flaker.

Others longed for delicate spear points like those Nimble-finger made.

So, at length, they tried to make flakers of their own. Some tried to make them of wood; but the wood was too soft to break the stone.

Others tried to make them of ivory; but ivory was too hard to get a hold. At length all the Cave-men made flakers of antler and bone, for they were hard enough to break the stone and soft enough to get a hold.

When Scarface finished, Fleetfoot began to talk about Nimble-finger.

He asked Scarface, "Where does Nimble-finger live? Does he always come to the great feasts?"

To the child's questions Scarface replied, "While Nimble-finger was still a young man he went far away. For many years he lived far north in a cave beside the River of Stones. But years have come and gone since then. If he still lives, he is an old man; but of that I know not."

#THINGS TO DO#

_If you can find a piece of flint strike off a flake with a hammer-stone. Strike off a flake with an angular stone. Strike off a flake by using a hammer and punch._

_Sort out the flakes that are good for knives. Put handles on them.

Sort out the flakes that are good for making into spearheads. See if you can strike off tiny flakes until the large flake looks like a spearhead._

_Find something which you can use as a flaker. When you have made one, see if you can use it._

_Make a collection of stones which you can chip or flake. Tell all you know about each of those stones._

_Think of Scarface as he was telling the story. Draw the picture._

VII

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

What do our horses and cattle eat? Where do we get their food? What do wild cattle and horses eat? See if you can find out whether wild cattle or horses have ever lived in a place where the ground is covered with snow part of the year.

Did you ever see cattle pawing the ground? Did you ever see horses pawing the ground? Did you ever see them paw the snow?

See if you can find out something about the great herds of bison that used to live in this country. What has become of them?

Can you think why bison live in herds? What officers does a herd of bison have? Can you think how the officers of a herd of bison are chosen?

_The Return of the Bison_

Ever since the reindeer went away the Cave-men had been looking for the return of the bison. Each summer the herds came up the valley to feed on green gra.s.s and tender shoots. Each winter they went to the forests of the lowlands where they found shelter from the cold.

The snow was now gone from the wooded hills and the days were warm again. The dingy brown coats of the hillsides were changing to the palest green. The buds were beginning to swell. Everything seemed to say that summer was coming.

Each day the Cave-men watched for signs of the coming of the great herd. Each night they danced the bison dance and tried to make the bison come.

One morning Straightshaft climbed the cliff and looked far up and down the valley. Looking north he could see the River of Stones with high cliffs on one or both banks. He could see dense forests of evergreen that grew on the low banks. He could see hills and valleys beyond the cliffs where many wild animals lived.

Looking south, near at hand, was the Fork of the River where Little River joined the River of Stones. Here the cliffs were not very high; farther down, they became lower, and at last there were no cliffs. The edge of the lowland forest where the bison wintered could be seen far away. Gra.s.sy lowlands near the forests stretched farther than the eye could see. It was here that the bison and cattle found the best winter pastures. It was in the lowland forests that they found shelter from the cold.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "_Straightshaft saw the herd at sunrise and made a sign to the men._"]

Straightshaft looked toward the lowlands, hoping to see a bison.

Mammoths were feeding not far away, and beyond were woolly rhinoceroses. But there was not one bison.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _An ibex._]

As Straightshaft watched the second day, chamois and ibexes played on the hills. Herds of horses came from the gra.s.sy uplands and returned after drinking at the ford. But no sign of a bison yet appeared.

The third day Straightshaft saw a black spot in the distance. It was far down on the river trail. As he watched, it became larger and larger. And then Straightshaft knew that it was a bison coming in advance of the great herd.

The morning of the fourth day the great herd came. A powerful bison led the way. Strong sentinels guarded either side. The herd followed blindly, galloping eight or ten abreast.

Straightshaft saw the herd at sunrise and made a sign to the men.

Those who saw it pa.s.sed it along, and soon all the people had seen the sign. Then everybody climbed up a hill or a high cliff and watched the coming of the bison.

Nearer and nearer the great herd came, like a sea of tossing manes and horns. The earth trembled beneath their tread and the air was filled with their bellowing.

When the bison reached the ford, the foremost creatures stopped to drink. But the solid ma.s.s, pressing on from the rear, crowded them up the river. Soon the ford was packed with struggling beasts. Some tried to escape by swimming up the river. Others swam down the stream. And still the solid ma.s.s from the rear kept crowding on and on.

At length the herd divided. One part followed the river trail, while the other went up the narrow valley. Whenever a herd reached a branching valley, a big bison led off a small herd. This happened many a time. And at the close of the day there was not a little valley in the surrounding country that did not have a herd of two or three hundred bison.

#THINGS TO DO#

_Play you are a herd of bison, and show how the herd marched. Show how it divided. Show how you think it would come together again._

_Show in your sand-box where Straightshaft stood while he watched.

Show the trails the bison followed._

_Think of the herd as it galloped up the river trail. Draw the picture._