But Hammer and I were growing old now and, to me especially, came a weakness which I could not overcome. I was sick long and was well tended, though it did not avail, I know not why, for I had but little pain and still helped to advise, as was my duty as one of the elder council, and still felt every interest in the welfare of my prosperous tribe. Prosperous indeed it was, for now we and what we possessed were known to all. From far and wide came the riches of the time to us--many things--deep furs from the north, amber from the western sea, and a host of other things of worth. And, as the barter grew, so did a greater acquaintance between the tribes of all the land, and all learned much and came to understand each other better and what was beyond the region of each. All this because of our great discovery and of what we had done with it! And might there not yet, I dreamed, be hidden in the rocks other and even more useful metals which men would sometimes find and smelt? These thoughts pleased me much in the days when I lay helpless and weakening from day to day, and much I spoke of them in the times when Hammer sat beside me after bringing such food as I could eat. But it was not for long! CHAPTER XII THE SAILORS I had been sleeping, pleasantly enough, though dreaming of a noisy clanging of hammers in a forest. I awoke to find myself stretched lazily upon the sand, to hear the lapping of waves and look out upon blue waters to the westward, it must be, for it seemed afternoon and the sun was not far above the waters, a little to the left as I faced it. I rose to my feet and looked toward the east and there saw a host of palm trees, beyond them green hills, and beyond these, mountains. From the beach the land lay level to the hills and, not far from the shore and among the palm trees, were many huts with people moving about among them. Near where I had been lying were a number of boats hauled out upon the sand, which boats I studied curiously. They did not seem unknown to me, but I was still half-sleeping, for the sea and the air and the day were drowsy, and the leaves upon the palm trees were idle. Not from the trunk of some great tree had any one of these boats been hewn and hollowed. They were made in quite another manner, with a framework, and keel and ribs of heavy wood, and a sheathing, with the seams made water-tight by caulking, and carried oars instead of paddles. Very good boats they seemed to me, and fit for riding rough water, and, as my sleep-clogged senses cleared, I knew, for had I not helped to build them? Most excellent boats they were, and I could see still larger and finer ones drawn to the beach at a greater distance from me, and others riding the waters of the fair harbour made by the semicircling curve of land. From where the larger boats were hauled up to the shore there came a shout: “Haste thee, Scar; we go out for the fishing!”