Chapter 4
And so people learned to stay on their own lands and mothers taught their children what the boundaries were. They taught the children to name them over and over again. They taught them to know how the boundaries looked.
For a long time Pigeon had to tell her mother each day the boundaries of the hunting grounds. She would stand on the cliff and point north to the narrow valley, then south to Little River. Then she pointed to a high ridge of hills toward the east and west to the River of Stones.
While Pigeon was so small that Eagle-eye had to take her by the hand, her mother took her to the boundaries. Eagle-eye had taught her so well that she knew them as soon as she saw them.
Perhaps you have heard the story told about mothers who taught their children the boundary lines. It is told that mothers used to be so anxious to have their children remember the boundaries that they whipped them at each one. Then the story is told that in later times instead of beating the children, people let them beat the boundaries. Some day you may be able to learn more about the strange customs of beating the boundary lines.
#THINGS TO DO#
_Mark out in your sand-box the boundary lines of the hunting ground of the Horse clan. Show a good place for another hunting ground._
_Ask some one to read you the story, "The Goblins will get you if you don't watch out." What do you think the story means?_
_Climb a hill, or look out of a high window, and see if you can find land which at one time was a good hunting ground._
_See if you can make a message-stick._
XIII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What do you think had happened to Fleetfoot?
If strangers found him, what do you think they would do with him?
_What Happened to Fleetfoot_
Perhaps you have been wondering what happened to Fleetfoot. Perhaps you would like to know how he happened to wander away from his clan.
It happened in this way. He cracked all the nuts he could eat; he climbed trees; he threw sticks and stones; he watched the wild hogs eating nuts; he listened to the whistle which Scarface blew to call the men to the hunt. He wished that he could blow the whistle and hunt with the men.
Then a rabbit hopped across his path and stopped and looked at him. How Fleetfoot longed to catch the rabbit and to hold him in his hands! He stood perfectly still; he could hear himself breathe; he tried to breathe more quietly, for he did not want to frighten the rabbit.
The rabbit started. How Fleetfoot wished he would go down the path where he had scattered burrs! But the rabbit took another path and Fleetfoot ran to catch him. He was almost sure he could lay his hands on the rabbit's stumpy white tail.
The rabbit was too quick for him, yet Fleetfoot did not give up. He started on a hard chase and forgot about everything else. Up hill and down the rabbit ran and Fleetfoot followed after. Not until the rabbit was out of sight did Fleetfoot give up the chase. Then he stopped and rested a while and tried to get his breath.
While Fleetfoot was resting he looked at the squirrels which were chattering in the trees. He watched them hold nuts with their forepaws while they gnawed through the shells. He listened to their chattering and then he wandered on.
Fleetfoot did not know that he had crossed the narrow valley. He did not know that he had wandered into a strange land. He thought nothing about where he was until some time had passed. But after a while everything seemed still, and Fleetfoot began to feel lonesome. And so he turned around to go back to the women and children.
Fleetfoot walked and walked, but he did not find them. He called, but no answer came. So he wandered on and on.
Soon Fleetfoot knew he was in a spot he had never seen before. Everything seemed strange. He looked this way and that; but he could not tell which way to go. And so the lost child wandered farther and farther away from home.
He was choking down a sob when he caught sight of some women with packs upon their backs. Fleetfoot thought he had found his people going home with their loads of nuts. He ran and called to his mother.
A strange woman stopped and looked at the child. Then she gave a signal to her clan.
Fleetfoot was within reach of the strange woman before he saw his mistake. He tried to run away. But he could not do it. A big man caught him and lifted him up and put him upon his shoulder. Strange men, women, and children crowded around and stared into his face.
Bighorn asked him where he lived; but Fleetfoot was too frightened to speak. He remembered the stories Chew-chew had told about strange clans. He wondered what the strangers would do. How he wished he were safe at home!
But poor Fleetfoot did not see his home again for many long years. He was in a strange land, and soon he was traveling with the strangers far away from his home.
A woman, whose name was Antler, took charge of Fleetfoot. She took him by the hand until he was too tired to walk. Then she carried him until they came to the place where they camped for the night.
#THINGS TO DO#
_Choose some one for each of the parts and see if you can act out this story. Draw pictures to illustrate the story._
_Name the wild animals you can find in your neighborhood. Notice what they eat. Do they help or harm the people near where they live?_
_Model one of these animals in clay._
XIV
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What kind of a shelter do you think the people will have for the night?
Think of as many easy ways as you can of making a shelter out of trees.
_How the Strangers Camped for the Night_
The camping place was an old one. It had been used many times. The strange clan always used it on their way to and from the lowland plains. It was under a big oak tree, and near a spring of fresh water.
When the strangers reached the camp, Greybeard took charge of Fleetfoot. The women quickly unloaded their packs, and began to build a tent.
It did not take long to make the tent, for it was almost ready-made. It was an old oak, which reached out long and low-spreading branches. The branches had been bent to the ground many times, and now they nearly touched it. So all that the women had to do was to fasten the ends firmly. They did it by rolling a stone over the end of a branch, and sometimes they tied the end of a branch to a peg which they had driven in the ground.
All the Cave-men made such tents in the summer when they were away from the caves. When the branches were not thick enough for a shelter, the women broke saplings and leaned them against the tree.
While Chipper worked at a spearhead, the other men were moving about. Bighorn feared that Fleetfoot's clan might follow their tracks.
Long after Fleetfoot fell asleep, the strangers talked quietly. They held their ears close to the ground and listened. They went and looked at Fleetfoot, now fast asleep. Then they all sat down by the fire.
At length the men turned to Greybeard. And Greybeard spoke to them and said, "When I was young my clan lived in a cave near Sweet Briar River. Every year, in the salmon season, the neighboring clans met at the rapids. The Horse clan came from the Fork of the River, where the Sweet Briar joins the River of Stones. They may live there still. This boy may belong to them."
"Do you think they will follow us?" asked Bighorn.
Greybeard looked up, but did not speak. He seemed to be trying to think. At length he turned to the men and said, "Sleep until the moon sets; I'll watch and wake you."
So the Cave-men went to the tent and slept while Greybeard kept watch. Not a sound escaped his ear that night. Not a leaf rustled that he did not hear. Not a twig broke, as wild animals passed, but that he found out what it meant.
As Greybeard watched in the moonlight he heard many a familiar sound. Now he heard the roar of a tiger, and again the "hoo-hoo" of an owl; now the howling of hyenas, and again an eagle's scream.
Among all these sounds Greybeard heard nothing that seemed to come from the lost child's clan. But when the moon was set he roused the people, and under cover of the darkness they hurried toward home.
They let Fleetfoot sleep, for fear he might answer if he were called. And so the child slept while he was hurried away through the darkness. At daybreak, when he awoke, he found himself in a new home.
#THINGS TO DO#
_See if there is a tree in your neighborhood that could be made into such a tent as the Cave-men made._
_Find a thick branch and make such a tent in your sand-box._
_Draw one of these pictures:--_ _The council of the clan before going to sleep._ _Greybeard watching in the moonlight._ _Hurrying home under cover of the darkness._ _Fleetfoot awakes and finds himself in his new home._
_Act out part of this story and let some one guess what it is._
_Write as many calls of the birds as you know. Model one of the birds in clay. If you know its nest, model that._
XV
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
How do you think Fleetfoot felt the first few days he was with the strange clan?
What do you think he will learn of them? What do you think he can teach them?
_Fleetfoot is Adopted by the Bison Clan_
For a few days Fleetfoot missed his mother and Chew-chew more than he could tell. He missed little Pigeon, too. He missed the people he had always seen. But he said very little about them.
It was Greybeard who told him that he was now living with the Bison clan. Not all of the people belonged to that clan, but there were more of that clan than of any other. And so they were known as the Bison clan.
At first Fleetfoot was afraid of the men and large boys. Most of all he was afraid of Bighorn, for it was Bighorn who captured him.
But before one moon had passed, he was adopted by the Bison clan. And soon after that, he began to feel at home. Greybeard told him stories, and gave him little spears. Antler was kind to him, and the children were always ready to play.
Fleetfoot liked to play with the children. He liked to play with Flaker best of all. Flaker was Antler's child, and he was about the size of Fleetfoot.
As the days became cold, the women worked upon skins. There was not a smooth spot near the cave which was not covered with a skin. Fleetfoot watched Antler as she cut little slits in the edges. He helped stretch the skins out on the ground and drive little pegs through the slits. He watched her stretch a skin on a frame and put it near the fire.
Antler scraped a skin until the fat was off, and the inner skin was removed. Then she roughened it by scraping it crosswise, so as to make it flexible.
When Fleetfoot saw Antler roll the skins in a loose roll, he asked if she was going to chew them. Antler smiled as she asked Fleetfoot how his mother softened skins.
Fleetfoot showed how his mother did it. And he told Antler about Chew-chew. He told her that Chew-chew got her name because she learned to chew the skins.
While Antler and Fleetfoot were talking, all the women and children gathered around. They wanted to see what they were doing, and to hear what Fleetfoot said.
Then Antler said to the women and children, "These skins are ready to soften. Come, join hands and show Fleetfoot how we soften hard skins."
What a noisy time they had for a little while! Each group wanted to finish first. Some of them stamped the skins, and kept time by singing. Others pounded the skins with their hands, and still others pounded with hammers of reindeer horn.
They had such a merry time that Fleetfoot could not keep still. He was soon stamping and singing as well as any one.
When the skins were softened, Antler told Fleetfoot that once her people chewed the skins. But since they had found an easier way, they chewed only the edges they wished to sew.
And so Fleetfoot began to learn lessons of the Bison clan. But once he was the teacher. It was when he showed Flaker what happened the day Pigeon played with hot stones. Flaker told his mother, and Antler told Greybeard. And then Greybeard asked Fleetfoot to drop the hot stones in the water again.
All the Cave-men gathered around to see what Fleetfoot did. When the steam began to rise from the water, they stepped back. But when they saw that the child was not afraid, they came forward cautiously.
When the water began to bubble, they were all filled with fear. They looked upon Fleetfoot in silence. They called him a wonderful child.
#THINGS TO DO#
_Tell a story about dressing skins. Draw pictures which will show all that is done in dressing the skin._
_Dramatize the part of the story that tells what Fleetfoot taught the Bison clan. Draw a picture of it._
_Make a song that people might sing in stamping upon the skins._
_Make a song to sing while beating the skins._
XVI
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What kind of clothes do you wear in winter? What do you think the Cave-men wore? Can you think how they learned to fit skins to their bodies? What part of an animal's skin could they use for sleeves? What part could they use for leggings?
How do you think they learned to make mittens and gloves?
How many ways do you know of fastening garments? Which of these do we use? Which of these do you think the Cave-men used?
What did they use instead of a needle? What kind of thread did they have?
_How the Cave-men Protected Themselves from the Cold_
One morning Fleetfoot started out of the cave, but a cold wind drove him back. Snow had fallen during the night, and the air had grown very cold. It was not fit for a bare-backed boy to go out on such a day. So Fleetfoot stayed in the cave all day long.
All the Cave-men stayed in the cave nearly all the day. Once Chipper went out and found fresh tracks. He followed the tracks until he came within close range of a reindeer. But his bare arms shook with the cold, and he missed his aim.
The next day was bitterly cold. The river was frozen almost into silence. Only the ripples of the swiftest currents laughed aloud at the frost. The snow was deep on the hillsides. It was deeper in the valleys, and the narrow ravines were almost filled with snow.
The third day was still very cold and everybody was hungry and cross. The children were crying for food, and since Antler had nothing to give them, she was trying to get them to play.
At length the children began to take turns at playing they were cave-bears. Now it was Fleetfoot's turn to be the bear, and when Antler saw him she laughed.
The Cave-men looked up in surprise. Everybody was so hungry and cross it seemed strange to hear any one laugh. But Antler really was laughing.
Fleetfoot had found a cave-bear's skin on a ledge in the cave. He had wrapped it around him so that he looked like a little cave-bear. The children kept calling him "little bear," and he was trying to act like one.
Soon all the people were laughing. They forgot, for the time, how hungry they were. And the next day they had meat, for it was warm enough to go hunting.
Many times after that the children played cave-bear. Many times the people laughed when they saw the children dressed in cave-bears' skins. Once when Antler looked at them, she got an idea about making clothes.
When Antler took a large skin and wrapped it around her, Fleetfoot thought that she was going to play "bear." But Antler was not playing. She was thinking of the cold days when the children had no food. She was thinking that if she could make a warm dress, perhaps she could go out in the bitter cold.
Antler talked with Birdcatcher about it, and Birdcatcher helped her fit the skin. Birdcatcher fitted the skin of the head over Antler's head so as to make a warm hood. Then she run a cord through the slits along the edges and tied the ends under Antler's chin.
Antler fastened the skin down the front with buckles. She covered her arms with the skin of the forelegs. She cut off the skin that hung below the knees, and afterward used it to make a pair of leggings.
When the garment was fitted, Antler took it off. Then the women sat down and worked until it was done. They punched holes through the edges with a bone awl. Then they threaded the sinew through the holes in an "over-and-over seam."
When the men saw the new garment, they wondered how it was made. So Antler and Birdcatcher showed them how it was done, and helped them to make warm garments of their own.
And so all the Cave-men soon had warm garments of fur. Sometimes they fastened them with buckles, and sometimes they used bone pins. They made long leggings of soft skins, and moccasins for their feet.
Perhaps you can think how they learned to make mittens and gloves. We know that they had warm mittens and gloves, for we have found pictures they made of them. When they dressed in their warm fur garments, the Cave-men did not fear the cold. If they wanted food, they put on their garments and went wherever they pleased.
#THINGS TO DO#
_If you can get a small skin, fit it to a doll the way you think the Cave-men fitted skins to their bodies. If you cannot get a skin, cut a piece of cloth so as to make it the shape of a skin, and show how the new suit was made._
_Find as many things as you can that you can use for pins, buttons, and buckles._
_Find as many ways as you can of sewing a simple seam. When you go to a museum notice how the seams are sewed. Why do you think people invented new stitches? Visit a shoemaker and notice how he sews._
_Draw one of these pictures:_-- _The cold wind drives Fleetfoot into the cave._ _Playing "Cave-bear."_
XVII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
How do you think the children played in the winter? What do you play in the winter?
How do you think the Cave-men would hunt when there was only a light fall of snow?
How would they hunt when the snow was deep?
How would they hunt when there was a hard crust on the snow?
_How the Children Played in Winter_
When the children saw their fathers and mothers go out of doors, they, too, wanted to go. But they had no warm clothing, so their mothers tried to keep them in doors.
Sometimes Fleetfoot and Flaker teased to go out and play in the snow. And when the days were warm enough, Antler let them go out and play. But on very cold days they had to stay in the cave.
The children had good times in the cave. They played many animal games. They played they were grown men and women, and they made believe do all sorts of work. They peeked out of the cave many times each day. They heard their fathers and mothers talk. And they listened to Greybeard's stories.
And so the children always knew what the men and women were doing. After a heavy fall of snow, they knew they would trap the animals in the drifts. When a hard crust formed, they knew they would dig pitfalls.
Antler often wished that the children might play out doors every day. Greybeard wanted the boys to learn to make pitfalls and traps. But neither Antler nor Greybeard had thought of making clothing for little children.
The day Antler thought of making clothes for the boys, was the day they ran away to the pitfall. It was soon after Chipper came to the cave and said that two reindeer were in the pit.
When the boys heard what Chipper said, they were playing they were Bighorn and Chipper. They had tied the skins of wolves' heads over their heads, and they let the rest of the skins hang down as if they were capes.
When the news came about the reindeer, everybody was excited. Everybody hurried to the pitfall so as to see the reindeer. Nobody noticed the boys steal out of the cave. Nobody noticed them run to the pitfall.
But soon after she started, Antler saw the tracks of their bare feet. She guessed at once where the boys had gone. And it was then that she thought of making them clothing.
While the children slept that night, Antler talked with the women. And when morning came, the women took skins and made the children warm clothes and moccasins.
When the children put on their wolf-skin suits, they looked like a pack of wolves. Sometimes they played they were wolves. Then they chased make-believe wild horses.
Sometimes when the children were playing in the snow, they found the antlers of a full-grown stag. The children began to look for the antlers of the full-grown stags in early winter. But they knew that the other reindeer kept their antlers until early spring.
An old stag's antlers were large and strong, and the children liked to find them. They would pick them up and hold them in their hands and would then make believe they were Cave-men trapping reindeer in the snow.
One day Greybeard showed Fleetfoot and Flaker how to trap the reindeer in the snow. He showed them how to dig a pitfall in the drifts. The boys found a large drift near the trail and they cut out a large block of snow. They hollowed a deep pit under the crust which they took pains not to break. Then they fitted the block of snow in its place, thus covering the pit.
To make sure that the reindeer would come to the pitfall they scattered moss over the thin crust. Then Greybeard taught them to say,
"_Come down to the river, reindeer;_ _Come down to the river to drink._ _Come eat the moss I have spread for you,_ _Come and fall into my trap._"
All the Cave-men believed that these words would charm the reindeer to the spot. They always muttered such lines as charms when they went out to hunt. And so Greybeard taught the boys the lines, for he wanted them to know all the Cave-men's charms.
#THINGS TO DO#
_Name the animals which you know by their tracks. Draw a picture of the tracks you know best._
_Tell a story about hunting an animal by tracking it._
_Next time there is a heavy fall of snow, play hunting animals by driving them into the drifts._
_See if you can show in your sand-box how the pitfall was made._
_See if you can think of a way of having real drifts in your sand-box._
_Draw a picture of the children playing with the antlers of the reindeer._
_Draw a picture of the reindeer in the pitfall._
XVIII
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Do you know whether we can tell what the weather is going to be?
Have you ever heard any one talking about the signs of the weather? What signs do you know?
Notice animals and see how they act before a storm.
Notice what animals and birds are here in summer that are not here in winter. Are any here in winter that are not here in the summer?
Why did the bison go away from the Cave-men's hunting grounds each winter? When they went away would they go in large or small herds?
If the weather kept pleasant how do you think they would travel? What would they do if it looked like a storm?
Notice the animals that live near you and see whether they turn their heads or backs toward the storm.
_Overtaken by a Storm_
Winter passed and summer came and now it was almost gone. The cattle had gone to the forests in the lowlands where they spent the winter. Straggling lines of bison were moving down the valley. Now and then they stopped a few days to eat the tall grass. Then they slowly moved onward toward the lower lands.