The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Beginning, by Henry Hasse

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Title: The Beginning

Author: Henry Hasse

Illustrator: Virgil Finlay

Release Date: December 28, 2008 [EBook #27645]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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_Relentlessly, a narrative as old as time drives forward to a climax
as old as man--and points a finger as grim as Death._

[Illustration]

the BEGINNING

By HENRY HASSE

Illustrated by FINLAY

In the purely cerebral sense, there was no particular point-of-sequence
at which Gral could have been said to Know. The very causality of his
existence was a succession of brute obedience to brute awareness, for it
was only thus that one survived. There was the _danger-sense_ on
those days when the great-toothed cats roamed the valley, and the
males-who-will-bring remained huddled and sullen in the caves above the
great ledge; there was the _hunger-sense_ when provender was low, and
Gor-wah drove them out with grunts and gibes to hunt the wild-dogs and
lizards and lesser beasts; and not infrequently there was the other
sense, the _not-hunger_, when the bring had been exceptional and there
was somnolence after the gorging.

Gral could not remember when he had experienced the latter, for it was
the dictate of Gor-wah, the Old One, that who did not bring did not
eat--not until the others had gorged. Gral was small, and weakest of all
the males. Not often did he bring. _Once_ on a spurious moment he had
scaled the valley-rim, and came out upon the huge plain where it was
rumored the little three-toed horses roamed. And he had seen them, he
had seen them! He pursued, armed only with blunt shaft and a few of the
throw-stones such as Otah used; but he was less swift than the tiny
horses, and his throw-stones fell wide, and it was rumored that here
roamed the long-tusked shaggy ones that were larger than the very caves
... trembling, Gral had retraced his way, to arrive at the ledge and
meekly await Gor-wah's word that he could partake of the