ce, and Chew-chew took her basket and
started up the dry ravine. There she found bitter roots which she
gathered and carried home.

No one knew at that time how to steep roots, for people had not
learned how to boil. So Chew-chew chopped the roots with a stone
chopper and laid them upon hot stones. And while the men breathed the
bitter fumes, Chew-chew threatened the angry god and commanded him to
go away.

In a few days the men were well and it was almost time to go hunting
again. Straightshaft feared the angry god. He talked with the men and
they wondered why it was that Scarface escaped. They looked at his
deep scar which a tiger's claw had made. And then they looked at the
trophies of Scarface which he wore about his neck.

Every Cave-man admired the deep scar of the bravest man in the clan.
Every man wished that he, too, could show such a scar as that. And the
men began to wonder if the scar was a kind of a charm.

[Illustration: "_Chew-chew took her basket and started up the dry
ravine._"]

The more the men talked about the scar, the more they wanted scars.
They talked with Chew-chew about it, and at last decided to let her
make scars.

So Chew-chew muttered prayers to the gods, and asked them not to hurt
the Cave-men. Then she took a flint point and scratched the men's arms
until she made big scars.

Years afterward, when people made scars, they stained them with all
sorts of things. Sometimes they stained the scars with juices of
plants, and sometimes they colored them with paints.

The Cave-men thought they could protect themselves by scars, and by
all sorts of charms. So they kept on making scars, and they hunted for
all sorts of charms.

But no matter how many charms they wore, they often were lame and
stiff. Some one must have noticed that they were more apt to be lame
after sitting on the cold ground while they were warm. For after a
while the custom grew of never sitting on the bare ground while they
were warm.

#THINGS TO DO#

_Draw or paint a pattern which you think the Cave-men might have
tattooed upon their arms. Where do we put the pictures which we
make?_

_Find and name as many roots and herbs as you can that are used as
medicines._

_What animals have you seen eating herbs?_

_What mistakes did the Cave-men make when they tried to cure
themselves?_

[Illustration: "_She took a flint point and scratched the men's arms
until she made big scars.