Before Adam

together, with our arms and legs about each other, blue-faced and with chattering teeth. It got particularly crisp along toward mor

er of the horde, and he had never seen anything like it before. I remember the worried, plaintive look that came into his eyes as he examined the ice. (This plaintive look always came into our eyes when we did not understand a thing, or when we felt

hat that cold winter was a fore-runner of the countless cold winters to come, as the ice-sheet from farther north crept down over the face of the land. But we never saw

ted. We ate when we were hungry, drank when we were thirsty, avoided our carnivorous enemies

as no seriousness about us, except when we were in danger or were angry, in

ch we possessed so little. Occasionally, however, especially in the realm of the emotions, we were capable of long-cherished purpose. The faithfulness of the monogamic couples I have r

the rain. The water was sweet, and I drank it. I even took the gourd down to the stream and filled it with more water, some of which I drank and some of which I poured over Lop-Ear. And then I threw the gourd away. It ne

yet, it was not long after this that the using of gourds for storing water became the general practice of the horde. But I was not the invento

who permitted him to occupy a corner of it. We used to see Marrow-Bone filling his gourd at the drinking-place and carrying it carefully up to his cave. Imitation was stron

son. And after that, even when Marrow-Bone was well again, Long-Lip continued carrying water for him. By and by, except on unusual occasions, the men never carried any water at all, leaving the task to

ayed. What little we learned, was usually in the course of play, and was due to our curiosity and keenness of appreciation. For that matter, the one big i

gourds. The idea, once started, had to go on. Another evolution of the carrying-receptacle was due to the women. Without doubt, some woman's gourd was too small, or else she had forgotten her g

ied tough vines about the bundles of ferns and branches that they carried to the caves to sleep upon. Possibly in ten or twenty generations we might have worked up to the weaving of baskets. And of this, on

ted, and we could not go far in a single generation. We were without weapons, without fire, and in the raw

of Lop-Ear I might have brought about the domestication of the dog. And this was something that the Fire People who lived to the northeast had not yet achiev

hills. These were little frequented for two reasons. First of all, there was no food there of

were perfectly safe. We chanced upon him in the forest, early in the morning, and from the safety of the branches overhead we chattered down at him our dislike and ha

il, and sometimes he paused and stared up at us quietly for a long time, as if debating in his mind some w

time. It was our revenge; for more than one member of the horde, caught unexpectedly, had gone the way of the tiger's belly or the lion's. Also, by such

his tail between his legs and fled from our gibing like a beaten cur. We did our best to keep up

the edge of the rocky hills. We did not go far. Possibly at no time were we more than a hundred yards from the trees. Coming around a shar

r mother had left them, and where they should have remained had they been obedient. But the growing life, that in Lop-Ear and me had impelled us to

except into the lair, and we headed them off. One rushed between my legs. I squatted and grabbed him. He sank his sharp li

ungler that I was. This made me ashamed and spurred me to valor. I grabbed the remaining puppy by the tail. He got his teeth into m

at made such a racket belonged to the wild dogs. Well we knew them, running in packs, the terror of the grass-eating animals. We had watched them following the herds of cattle and bison and dragging down the calves, the aged, and the sick. We had been chased by them oursel

es, we ran for the woods. Once in the security of a tall tree, we held up the puppi

using our hands for climbing, most of the time they were occupied with holding our squirming captives. Once we tri

to climb. He was jubilant, and did not wait for me to finish tying my puppy's legs, but started on. There was one difficulty, however. The puppy wouldn't stay slung on Lop-Ear's back. It swung around to the side and then on in front. Its teeth were not tied, and the next thing it did wa

ting to carry the puppy to the cave, except that I WANTED to; and I stayed by my task. I made the work a great deal easier by elabor

w me lugging the puppy up to my high little cave, but I did not mind. Success crowned my efforts, and there was the puppy. He was a plaything such as none

bits. (We Folk were meat-eaters, as well as vegetarians, and we were adept at catching small game.) The puppy ate the meat and thrived. As well as I can estimate, I must have had him over a week. And then, coming

uls, and scratched and bit and gouged. Then we sulked and made up. After that we ate the puppy. Raw? Yes. We