ly. "Besides, I don't like the rain pouring
over me. It's as bad as falling in the river."

Firetop said: "I'd like to get back to tell Squaretoes what I've seen.
He's all the time telling about the wonderful things he can do. He's
never seen the tree-people nor had an earthquake in his whole life. I
guess I can make his eyes stick out."

Hawk-Eye said nothing, but he picked up the wet skins, shook them, bound
them with thongs, and tied them to the shoulders of the others. Then
each took his own weapons and they were ready to start.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two.

From the point where they had spent the night, a chain of hills ran back
inland. They followed these hills to the north for some miles and then,
still keeping to the hill-tops, turned toward the west. In the late
afternoon, under Hawk-Eye's skillful leadership, they came again to the
place where they had crossed the isthmus that connected them with the
mainland.

Hawk-Eye was some distance ahead of the others when he came out upon the
high bluff that overlooked the channel and the isthmus. Suddenly he
stopped with a cry of astonishment and stood still, his eyes staring.

Limberleg and the Twins rushed to his side.

"What is the matter?" they cried. For answer Hawk-Eye only pointed.
Before them there was nothing but open water! A whole section of the
neck of land which they had crossed only the day before had been
swallowed up by the sea!

Where it had been, a mile of blue water now sparkled in the sun! They
were completely shut off from the main land. When she realised what had
happened, Limberleg sat heavily down on a log.

"The world isn't the same after all," she cried. "It's broken! Part of
it has sunk beneath the waters!"

"Won't it ever get mended?" asked Firefly anxiously.

"Shan't we ever get back to the cave, then?" cried Firetop.

"No," sobbed Limberleg. "We'll have to stay here till we die."

Firefly whimpered a little and crept close to her mother on the log, but
Firetop noticed that his father wasn't crying, so he swallowed several
large lumps in his throat and sat up straight. For some time they
stayed on the bluff and looked down the steep banks of broken earth and
rocks into the deep water below.

Great logs were floating about and huge trees, uprooted from the banks,
were lying with their tops in the water.

At last Limberleg said in a discouraged voice, "Wel