ade him so hungry that he couldn't wait. He just snatched a piece of
meat from the ground and ate it raw! But he was ready to eat again when
the meat was cooked and the real feast began.

Then the great fire blazed and crackled outside the entrance and filled
the cave with a warm red glow. The whole clan gathered in the front of
the cave near the fire.

Hawk-Eye was the leader of the clan, because he was the strongest man
and the best hunter. He was a large man with little sharp eyes and red
hair which covered his breast and legs as well as his head. Around his
neck was a string of bear's teeth.

There were four other men. They were called Eagle-Nose, Grey Wolf, Big
Ear, and Long Arm. There were three other women besides Limberleg and
Grannie. They were the wives of the men. There were four big boys, who
were already hunting with the men, and there were Blackbird, Robin, and
Squaretoes, besides Firetop and Firefly. These were all there were in
the clan of the Bear.

When the feast began, the people all sat down in a circle, all but
Grannie. Grannie stood up and handed out great chunks of meat to the
others and kept the fire bright. But she had a bone in her hand all the
time, and whenever she had a chance, she gnawed it. There were no
knives or forks or plates, of course. They all took their meat in their
hands and just gnawed and gobbled as fast as they could! Nobody had any
manners, and not a single mother said, "Have you washed your hands?" or
"Don't take such large mouthfuls or you will choke yourself," or
anything like that. There were some things about those days that must
have been very pleasant, after all.

For a long time they ate and said nothing. You see, food had been
scarce for so many days that they had to make up for lost time. But by
and by, when they were all stuffed full, Firetop rolled over on to the
skin of a bear which was lying on the cave floor, and said to his
father: "Tell us about the hunting. Who killed the meat, and how was it
you all came back together? Did you hunt in a pack, like the wolves?"

"Not just like the wolves," said Hawk-Eye, laughing. "There were five
of us after the bison. The women went off to set snares for rabbits,
and the boys to hunt eggs along the bluffs up the river. I felt in my
bones that we should see the bison to-day. So the men and I took our
way toward the lowlands. We knew they would come from that direction.
We followed the bluffs f