After eating all the bark that they wished, they played with the children among the trees. The mothers strapped bundles on the little girls’ backs, but took the larger bundles themselves. They strapped the cradles on top of their loads. They followed the river path on their way home and stopped when they came to the drinking-place. After drinking the fresh cool water, they dug shallow holes near the edge of the stream. They dug little troughs from these holes, so that the water of the river could flow in. Then they put the spruce branches into these holes and left them there to soak. When they reached the cave that night they were tired and hungry, too. But the men soon came with plenty of meat, and soon they were all eating and resting around the open fire. THINGS TO DO _Go out to some uncultivated spot and see if you can find twigs or branches that can be made into baskets._ _See if you can peel the bark from the stems._ _Soak some twigs in water and see how much easier they will bend than dry twigs do._ _See if you can find hardened sap on a spruce tree. Make it into gum._ _Show how Firekeeper and the women called back and forth._ XXVIII THINGS TO THINK ABOUT What have you seen that is made of splints of wood? Find branches that can be made into splints. See if you can do anything to the wood to make it split more easily. How many splints do you think the women split the stems into at first? How could they make flat splints? How could they make splints that were the same width? _How the Women Made Splints for Baskets_ After the spruce branches had soaked a few days, the women brought them to the cave. While the children played with sticks and stones, their mothers made some splints. [Illustration: _Making splints for baskets_] They peeled off the bark with their teeth and nails, and split one end of the stem. Then they held one piece with their teeth and pulled the other two pieces with their hands. The splints that they made in this way were neither round nor flat. They had three sharp corners. Two of these corners were hard and tough, but one was soft and pithy. So they bit the pithy corner and pulled off a long strand of pith. This left a thick splint that was nearly flat. The women found that it was hard work to split the larger stems. They were about to give it up when Firekeeper found a large stem whose layers of wood peeled easily. So they all tried to find such stems. It was not long before they found that the stems that peeled the most easily were the ones that the children had pounded. So they all picked up hammer stones and pounded the large stems. At first each hammered to suit herself, but soon they learned to strike together. It was easier for them all when they worked in the same time. People who have made splints for baskets since then have worked in the same time.