ens.

[Illustration: _A stone borer, used in making a necklace._]

Fleetfoot, faint from his long fast, took courage from these signs.
The winds seemed to be messengers bearing his prayer to the gods. The
dark clouds seemed to be the enemies he would meet on the way. The
peals of thunder sounded to him like promises of strength. The bright
lightning in the sky flashed a message of hope. A flock of swallows
circling near seemed to point the way. And so Fleetfoot refreshed
himself and started toward the mountains.

It would take too long to tell all the things that happened to
Fleetfoot before he returned. One of the first things he did was to
kill a cave-bear and take the trophies.

When Fleetfoot started out again, he wore a necklace of bear's teeth.
He wore them partly because they were trophies and partly because
they were charms.

Fleetfoot followed the trail along the edge of the forest until he
reached a ridge of hills. Behind him lay the River of Stones and all
the places he had known. Before him lay a pretty valley about a day's
journey across. To his left the snow-covered mountain peaks shone with
a dazzling light.

He stopped only to sleep and to make offerings to the gods. Fleetfoot
was full of courage, and yet he was weak from his fast. He longed to
be strong against all foes. He longed to be a great hunter. He longed
to strengthen his people and to meet the dangers which threatened his
clan.

At midday he reached the river, where he sat down to rest. Then he
went up the little river, which flowed over a rocky bed.

Fleetfoot followed the river until he came to a spot where it seemed
to end. Great masses of snow and ice covered the river bed. Farther up
they reached the top of the cliffs and stretched out into the valley.

It was the melting of this glacier which fed the little stream.

Fleetfoot stood and gazed at the glacier with its rough billows of
snow and ice. He looked at the green forests which stretched to its
very edge. He looked at the great ice sheets which covered the
mountain peaks. He looked at the bare crags which jutted out from the
rocks. And he wondered if the Big Bear's cave was in one of these
rocks.

[Illustration: "_It was the melting of this glacier which fed the
little stream._"]

Then he crossed the stream and approached the cliff on the opposite
side. There he found a cave, and he looked about, but he found no one
at home.

As Fleetfoot was looking about, he began