, too, soon learned that the fire was their friend.
So they sat around the fire each evening.
They talked about the wild animals they had seen.
As long as they sat by the fire, they felt safe.
So they came to the fireplace each night.
They began to live together.
They formed a clan.
Their clan was the fire clan.
The women with babies stayed near the fire.
All the others went farther away.
Each one hunted for his own food.
Each ate what he found on the spot.
But all came back to the fireplace at night.

[Illustration: "_They talked about the wild animals they had seen_"]

All were tired and needed to rest.
Since they had no chairs they squatted on the ground.
They talked and they played in the firelight.
When they got drowsy they fell asleep.
But Sharptooth kept watch of the fire.
Her sisters helped, but she was the clan mother.
It was she who took charge of the fire.
She knew how the fire became their friend.
She knew that it needed care.
She knew that it gave them their first home.
So she taught the people to worship the fire.

THINGS TO DO

_Play that you are Tree-dwellers just beginning to form a clan._
_Plan how you will divide your work._
_Choose sides and let those on one side tell a story of the
Tree-dwellers before they had fire. Let those on the other side
tell a story of the Tree-dwellers after they had fire._
_Look at the picture on page 100 and tell such a story about it as
you think the tree-dwellers would tell after they had seen such a
fight._

XXV.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

How were the Tree-dwellers sheltered from the wind and rain?
How did they keep warm after they used fire?
How did they find shelter from the rain?
What trees offer the best shelter from the rain?
Where is the rain that falls on those trees carried?
Do you know what kind of roots those trees have?
What trees do not give a good shelter from the rain? Why?
What trees would give the best shelter in the winter? Why?
How did the fire clan find shelter from the cold winds?
If they were living in places that were not well sheltered, what kind
of a shelter do you think they might make?

_How the Women Made a Shelter_

When people slept in trees, they did not need to make a shelter.
They were sheltered by the trees.
Long after they began to sleep on the ground, the trees still
sheltered them.
The leaves of