urt, he roared his satisfaction and jabbed the harder.

I began to grow angry. I had a temper of my own in those days, and
pretty considerable courage, too, albeit it was largely the courage of
the cornered rat. I caught hold of the stick with my hands, but such was
his strength that he jerked me into the crevice. He reached for me with
his long arm, and his nails tore my flesh as I leaped back from the
clutch and gained the comparative safety of the side-wall.

He began poking again, and caught me a painful blow on the shoulder.
Beyond shivering with fright and yelling when he was hit, Lop-Ear did
nothing. I looked for a stick with which to jab back, but found only
the end of a branch, an inch through and a foot long. I threw this at
Red-Eye. It did no damage, though he howled with a sudden increase of
rage at my daring to strike back. He began jabbing furiously. I found a
fragment of rock and threw it at him, striking him on the chest.

This emboldened me, and, besides, I was now as angry as he, and had lost
all fear. I ripped fragment of rock from the wall. The piece must have
weighed two or three pounds. With my strength I slammed it full into
Red-Eye's face. It nearly finished him. He staggered backward, dropping
his stick, and almost fell off the cliff.

He was a ferocious sight. His face was covered with blood, and he was
snarling and gnashing his fangs like a wild boar. He wiped the blood
from his eyes, caught sight of me, and roared with fury. His stick was
gone, so he began ripping out chunks of crumbling rock and throwing them
in at me. This supplied me with ammunition. I gave him as good as he
sent, and better; for he presented a good target, while he caught only
glimpses of me as I snuggled against the side-wall.

Suddenly he disappeared again. From the lip of the cave I saw him
descending. All the horde had gathered outside and in awed silence was
looking on. As he descended, the more timid ones scurried for their
caves. I could see old Marrow-Bone tottering along as fast as he could.
Red-Eye sprang out from the wall and finished the last twenty feet
through the air. He landed alongside a mother who was just beginning
the ascent. She screamed with fear, and the two-year-old child that was
clinging to her released its grip and rolled at Red-Eye's feet. Both he
and the mother reached for it, and he got it. The next moment the frail
little body had whirled through the air and shattered against the wall.
T