asked Thorn.

"In that case he would likely have short time to live," said Flint.
"For the rhinoceros is a furious beast when angry. If he gets his
terrible two-horned snout under the body of his enemy and gives an
upward fling of his powerful neck, the end is near. So fierce is the
rhinoceros when angry, that even the mammoth is afraid of him and keeps
out of his way."

[Illustration: Tiger's tooth]

CHAPTER VIII

THE MAKING OF STONE WEAPONS

Thorn and his grandfather walked for a long time, but at last Flint
pointed to a cave in the side of the hill and said, "We rest there."

As they came up, Thorn saw his grandmother sitting in the sun at her
door. Flint said to her, "Here is Thorn, your grandson."

"The little man!" she said, and laid her rough hand on his shoulder
gently.

Then she quickly cut off big pieces of the rhinoceros meat and ran a
long stick through them, and placed the stick over the burning fire.
While the meat was cooking, Flint was telling about Burr and her little
family; and of Strongarm's surprise at the making of fire; and of the
lion hunt; and of the sleeping tiger they had seen on the way home.

After the hungry man and boy had eaten great pieces of the roasted
meat, they went to the stone yard. There Thorn heard the sound of
stone hammers and saw a big rocky place in the hillside. Three men sat
on the ground at work. Other men sat about talking. Pointing to
these, Flint said, "They are waiting to buy axes."

There were piles of bowlders on the ground, and little piles of stone
chips around each ax maker.

Flint went up to one of them and said, "Redtop, my boy wants to make
axes. Show him how."

Redtop grinned at Thorn, and threw him a smooth oval bowlder.

"That is your hammer stone," he said. "Now take a stone about the size
you want your ax, and chip it this way."

Redtop sat on the ground. He held a flint bowlder and began chipping
it with his hammer stone. Every time he struck the bowlder, a chip
flew off. He kept on striking, first on one side and then on the
other. Thorn watched with shining eyes. Redtop worked fast and
easily, and after some time held up a beautiful ax. It was broad at
the sharp end and narrow at the head. Thorn saw the little places all
over it where the chips had come off.

He looked at it and laughed, and then sat down and tried to do what
Redtop had done. He struck with his hammer stone, but the bowlder did
not chip. He w