you can imagine how glad alila's mother was to see him back once more, safe and sound. she kissed him tenderly in the odd fashion of her people. when he had told her all his adventures, he said:
"oh, mother, i want to go again. i haven't seen half of the strange things in those forests. and, besides, hunters have told me of queer people who live high up in the mountains beyond us. they are very wild, and have such strange customs. it is said that they lived in these islands before our people came here, hundreds and hundreds of years ago. they must have been driven[82] up into the thick forests to save themselves from being captured.
"the men call them negritos. they are very black, and do not look at all like us. their hair is a great ball of curls. they do not know much more than animals."
"yes, my child, i have not only heard about these savages, i have seen one of them," replied his mother. "your father has been among them, and will tell you about their queer ways of living. they have no homes, but sleep at night under the trees. if you heard them talking, you would think at first it was the chattering of monkeys. they have very few words in their language.
"when they plant their gardens, they do not plough them as we do. they only scrape away the top of the earth, and then scatter their seed. they do not even clear places in the forests."
while she was telling alila these things, his[83] father was not there. as soon as he got back from the hunt, he went off to look over the farm to see if the hemp was growing well. when he returned from this work alila went up to him, and said:
"why is it, father, you have never told me about the negritos? i never even heard of them till i went on the hunt with you and your friends."
"i knew how you like daring deeds, my boy, and felt you would be anxious to go among these savages and see them for yourself. so i waited till you should be older. now you have shown how much you can bear, i will take you into strange places, and you shall see things for yourself. the negritos are a cowardly race, yet they are dangerous; they always use poisoned arrows, and, from their safe hiding-places in the mountains, often succeed in killing any people who dare to come near them."
[84]
then he told alila how the negrito children are taught to use their bows and arrows when very young. they learn to shoot so well they can hit the fish swimming in the water. they seldom fail to hit what they aim at.
these savages live mostly on roots and fruits. still, they do know how to make a fire and cook some of their game. but they have no dishes, and the bird or animal to be eaten is thrown among the embers and allowed to stay there till the outside is burned to a crisp. when any one among them is very ill, they do not wait for him to die, but bury him alive.
one of the most laughable things alila's father ever saw was a negrito wedding. the young bride pretended to run away from her future husband. after he had caught her, they were carried up a bamboo ladder by their friends, and sprinkled with water out of a cocoanut shell. then they came down and[85] knelt on the ground, and an old man touched their heads together. that made them man and wife.
alila was much interested, and begged his father to tell more stories of the negritos and other savage tribes living in the depths of the island forests.
he listened to tales of the igorrotes, who live in huts like beehives and creep into them like insects. they are people whom the white men have tried again and again to conquer and to teach of god, but they prefer to go naked and lead their own savage life.
and then his father described to him some of the sights he had seen. he told him of a wonderful cave right there in his own island of luzon. it was equal in beauty to the cave aladdin himself had entered.
wonderful pendants of crystallised lime reached down from the lofty roof, shining like diamonds. there were pillars of the[86] snowy lime a hundred feet in height, glittering in dazzling beauty. there were spacious halls leading one from another in this underground palace. it was a dangerous journey into this wonderful cave, but sometime alila must go there, his father said.
he should visit the volcano island, too,—an island in the middle of a lake, from which terrible floods of lava and boiling water have poured forth many times. what sorrow and destruction it has caused!
a long, long time ago, the boy's father cannot tell how many years have passed, there was a terrible eruption. it lasted for many days. there were quakings of the earth and horrible sounds under ground. the air was filled with darkness save for flashes of lightning. great columns of mud and sand arose from out the lake. torrents of lava poured over the sides of the volcano and destroyed whole villages on the shores of the lake.
[87]
ah! it was a fearful time for the people, and few of those who were there lived to tell the story to their children.
alila's eyes grew larger as he listened to the wonders of the world around him. yes, he would travel and see these things for himself. he was growing impatient. he could not wait much longer, for now he was nearly a man grown.
sometime, let us hope, we shall meet our little alila. we will ask him what he himself has learned that no one else can tell us.
