THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

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 grass 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. Grassy 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.

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.

As Straightshaft watched the second day, chamois and ibexes played on the hills. Herds of horses came from the grassy 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 passed 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 mass, 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 mass 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

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