Cave dwellers -- Juvenile literature; Prehistoric peoples -- Juvenile literature
And every man in the whole tribe forgot his desire for safety to answer
the cry for help that Light Foot sent up. For, among the Cave Dwellers,
there was a great tenderness among the men and women of the tribe. The
word of a woman bore great weight, for it was the joy of every man to
please and aid her.
So Strong Arm threw himself into the water, with a cry to his brothers,
while Quack Quack remained upon the top of the cave holding Laughing Boy
in her arms, lest he be harmed.
Long the members of the tribe struggled with the current, till at last
they reached the cave of Light Foot where she struggled with the logs
that shut her in. With all their strength these strong men tugged and
plucked at the trees. But with every effort the waters bore back on
them, jamming the logs into a wedge again, between the cave and the
rocks, till the Old Woman thought they should all be drowned.
At last, however, Strong Arm thrust a great stick between the cave and
the jam of trees and Big Nose and Light Foot were able to add their
strength in diverting the danger. Soon they were free and making their
way, with those who had saved them, toward the woods. It is well to note
here, too, that the cave men thought always of the women, lending them
every aid and that there was not one forgotten amid grave peril.
Not till it was too late to effect his rescue, however, did the Cave
People remember Old Grey Beard, who had also become imprisoned in his
cave. At that time the waters tore about the tops of the rocks and they
knew it was too late to help him.
Although many swam for the woods, few arrived there. Strong Arm, Quack
Quack and Laughing Boy, who had followed their friends, soon found
themselves regretting the rocks above their cave. For all the drift
borne down the river by the swift waters, seemed hemmed and wedged about
the woods. Over these logs it was impossible to pass. For they rolled
and dipped under the feet, dumping the Cave People back into the boiling
water, sometimes crushing them between the great logs.
Strong Arm progressed beneath the debris, but he was unable to find an
opening to come up, and was compelled to return to Quack Quack and
Laughing Boy, who swam about the edge of the great mass of logs,
awaiting him. Very dizzy he was and his lungs collapsed with his breath
as he appeared, for the struggle against the current was almost beyond
his strength.
Again and again they sought to reach the woods where they might find
shelter in the trees, but each time they failed. It was impossible to
advance and the strong current rendered it still more difficult to go
back.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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