THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

How the Cave-men Tested Fleetfoot and Flaker

Winters came and went, and Fleetfoot and Flaker grew to be large boys. They watched the men; they heard them talk; they learned what a Cave-man had to do.

Greybeard told them stories of brave hunters that lived long ago. He told them about the animals they must learn to hunt. The boys listened to the stories. And they thought there was no animal too fierce for them to fight. They thought there was no river too swift for them to cross. They thought there was no mountain too steep for them to climb.

But the boys had not learned how fierce a bison can be. They had never crossed a raging river nor climbed a mountain peak.

The men knew that the boys needed to try their strength before they could be really strong. They knew they must do brave deeds before they could be really brave. They knew they must suffer patiently before they could have self-control. And so the Cave-men tested the boys in many different ways.

If the boys stood the tests, the Cave-men shouted praises; but if they showed any sign of fear, the Cave-men jeered at them.

Sometimes the boys were given nothing to eat until they brought food from the hunt. And even then they were not always allowed to touch the food which was near. When the boys were fasting, the Cave-men tempted them with food. And if the boys took even a bite, they failed in the test. So Fleetfoot and Flaker learned to fast without a word of complaint.

One of the hardest things which the boys had to do was to make their own weapons. At first, Greybeard helped them; but, later, they had to do their own work.

So the boys learned to go to the trees that had the best wood for shafts. They learned to cut, and peel, and scrape, and oil, and season, and polish the sticks before they were ready to use. No wonder the boys became tired before all this work was done.

Then they worked very carefully before they could make good spearheads. They hunted for the best stones and learned to shape them very well. When they forgot and struck hard blows, they spoiled the flint points. Then Greybeard would tell them that the strongest and bravest hunters were those who could strike the gentlest blows.

It was work of this kind that was harder for the boys than chasing a wild horse or a reindeer. If they had not known that they must have weapons, they would not have had patience to do it.

While the boys worked at their weapons, they thought of what they would do with them. They thought of the trophies they would bring home and what the people would say. And they learned to sing at their work and to mark the time for each blow. And so they managed to keep at work until the weapons were done. One day when the boys were flaking spear points, Fleetfoot turned to Flaker and said, “Do you know who made the first flaker?”

“Yes,” answered Flaker, “it was Greybeard.”

“No, no!” said Fleetfoot, “Nimble-finger did it.”

Greybeard heard Fleetfoot speak his name and he came to the spot. Then it was that Fleetfoot learned that Greybeard was Nimble-finger.

After that Fleetfoot took great pains to learn how to flake flint points. He watched Greybeard as he worked and he listened to all he said.

Before many years had passed, the boys could make good weapons. They knew every spot on their own hunting ground. They knew the wild animals that lived there and what they liked to do. They knew each animal by its track. Each sound of the woods, each patch of light, they learned to read as you read a book.

THINGS TO DO

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