it was a long way to where bolo had seen the herd, and they were all afraid the animals might have wandered away. bolo and fisher ran eagerly ahead, and bolo pointed out to fisher the things he had noticed while searching for his mother. one eye said very little, but he sent men up into every tall tree they passed to see if they could discover the herd. they traveled all day, and when night came they built a great circle of fire and lay down to rest. one eye chose four men to carry torches, and it was their duty to see that the fires did not go out.
when they came to the valley where bolo had seen the mammoths they found nothing but trampled grass and the broken limbs of trees. they went very slowly and carefully after that. it was not long till a man, who had climbed into a very tall tree on a hilltop, called out excitedly that he could see something moving at the base of a cliff that hung high and steep above the river. one eye climbed the tree himself, and looked long and closely where the man pointed.
“it is the herd,” he said. “now let every man do just as i say.”
he divided the cave men into two parties. one was to move up very slowly from the side where they were, the other was to travel rapidly around through a valley[30] behind some hills and come upon the herd from the other side. bolo, young as he was, was appointed to lead the first party, while one eye himself led the second division through the valley. the men seemed pleased at this for they thought bolo deserved some honor.
when the cave men had surrounded the herd in this fashion they were to close in upon them, each man carrying a blazing torch, and try to drive the animals up the landward slope of the cliff, and over it into the river. they knew they could never kill one of these huge beasts with any weapons they had. so they thought to kill them by driving them over the cliff and making them fall upon the rocks below. some of the cave men who had never seen a mammoth were very much frightened at the terrible beasts. they said they were going back to the caves. but the others taunted them and called them women, until they grew ashamed and went on with the rest.
very stealthily and carefully the two bodies of cave men drew toward the great herd of grazing animals. one of the older men told in whispers of another such hunt he had taken part in when a young man. he said he had never tasted any meat so good as that of the mammoth.
bolo watched carefully for his father’s signal. at last it came, and when he saw the tossing torch he motioned his men to light their torches and go on quickly.
in a very few minutes the surprised mammoths found themselves attacked from three sides by a screaming, leaping line of cave men, each swinging a fiery torch[31] above his head. at first the huge beasts stood still. then they turned and went awkwardly up the long slope on the landward side of the bluff. the men followed as closely as they dared, for they feared that when the animals came to the edge of the bluff they would swing around and rush through the line of their attackers, trampling them under their great feet.
one eye was again leading the entire band. always he was at the very front, shouting and waving his torch. one man, more daring than the rest, ran up and thrust his burning firebrand right against the shaggy side of the nearest mammoth. the frenzied beast, with a bellow of rage, turned and tore back through the yelling mass of hunters. in spite of all their efforts to escape, two men were killed and three more badly hurt. the rest of the herd, terrified by the confusion, huddled together on the edge of the bluff.
“close in! close in!” shouted one eye, brandishing his torch in a fury of excitement. but the cave men were too much frightened to obey. they were scattered by the stampeding mammoth, and were too scared and confused to obey their leader. what made things worse was that they had never been used to obeying the orders of anyone.
but bolo and fisher obeyed. bolo had drawn a little away from the rest of the hunters. he had swung his stout bow down from his shoulder and carefully fitted an arrow to the taut string. no one noticed the sharp twang as the arrow left the bowstring, but all saw one of the mammoths rear suddenly with pain and plunge into the[32] midst of the herd. startled at this sudden onslaught, the herd pressed a little closer to the edge of the cliff, and then—
never in all his life did bolo hear again such a terrific shriek as the falling mammoth gave. for many nights after that he covered his ears as he lay down to sleep so that he might not hear it again in his dreams. then came the sickening crash as the gigantic body struck the rocks below. the men turned and fled, and the remaining mammoths, in a frenzy of fear, tore back down the landward side of the cliffs into the valley. for some moments the hunters, wide-eyed and breathless, watched the herd as it lumbered down the valley, until at last it passed behind the hills and was gone.
when the cave men hurried down to the river’s edge they found the immense, shaggy carcass of the dead mammoth lying in the shallow water at the base of the cliff. they could not move it to dry land, so they waded out to it and went to work to cut it up with their long flint knives right where it was.
but first they sent four of the swiftest runners back to the valley of caves, and to another clan who lived far up the river, to tell them all to come and partake of the feast. from every direction they came, men, women and children, and by the time the hunters had the great carcass cut up and carried to the shore there was a great gathering of hungry cave people who all rejoiced at the prospect of so delicious a feast.
they stayed here several days, feasting and resting. then, every woman, loaded with meat, and every man,[33] carrying a heavy club to protect the party from attacks of wild beasts, they took their way back to the valley of caves. they all knew that if the men should carry the meat themselves they might all be killed by wolves or other savage beasts. so the men kept themselves ready to fight while the women bore the burdens.
there was great rejoicing when they reached home again. every one praised one eye for his wisdom and courage, and they all agreed that he should be their leader as long as he lived.
“bolo will be as wise as his father,” said flame. “wiser, too, perhaps,” she added, nodding her head sagely, for she thought of the important secret that no one in the clan knew except herself and the two boys.
“then bolo shall be our leader after his father is dead,” said old bek. but he suspected what flame meant.
