ore. When he got up and walked about, throwing fresh wood upon
the fire, I saw that he limped with his crippled leg. Whatever it was,
it was a permanent injury. He seemed more dried up and wizened than
ever, and the hair on his face was quite gray.

The other hunters were young men. I noted, lying near them on the
ground, their bows and arrows, and I knew the weapons for what they
were. The Fire-Men wore animal skins around their waists and across
their shoulders. Their arms and legs, however, were bare, and they wore
no footgear. As I have said before, they were not quite so hairy as we
of the Folk. They did not have large heads, and between them and the
Folk there was very little difference in the degree of the slant of the
head back from the eyes.

They were less stooped than we, less springy in their movements. Their
backbones and hips and knee-joints seemed more rigid. Their arms were
not so long as ours either, and I did not notice that they ever balanced
themselves when they walked, by touching the ground on either side with
their hands. Also, their muscles were more rounded and symmetrical than
ours, and their faces were more pleasing. Their nose orifices opened
downward; likewise the bridges of their noses were more developed, did
not look so squat nor crushed as ours. Their lips were less flabby and
pendent, and their eye-teeth did not look so much like fangs. However,
they were quite as thin-hipped as we, and did not weigh much more. Take
it all in all, they were less different from us than were we from
the Tree People. Certainly, all three kinds were related, and not so
remotely related at that.

The fire around which they sat was especially attractive. Lop-Ear and
I sat for hours, watching the flames and smoke. It was most fascinating
when fresh fuel was thrown on and showers of sparks went flying upward.
I wanted to come closer and look at the fire, but there was no way. We
were crouching in the forks of a tree on the edge of the open space, and
we did not dare run the risk of being discovered.

The Fire-Men squatted around the fire and slept with their heads bowed
forward on their knees. They did not sleep soundly. Their ears twitched
in their sleep, and they were restless. Every little while one or
another got up and threw more wood upon the fire. About the circle of
light in the forest, in the darkness beyond, roamed hunting animals.
Lop-Ear and I could tell them by their sounds. There were wild dogs