ich was
akin to physical hunger, albeit it came often upon me when my stomach
was full. But all my search was vain.

Life was not monotonous at the caves, however. There was Red-Eye to be
considered. Lop-Ear and I never knew a moment's peace except when we
were in our own little cave. In spite of the enlargement of the entrance
we had made, it was still a tight squeeze for us to get in. And though
from time to time we continued to enlarge, it was still too small for
Red-Eye's monstrous body. But he never stormed our cave again. He had
learned the lesson well, and he carried on his neck a bulging lump to
show where I had hit him with the rock. This lump never went away, and
it was prominent enough to be seen at a distance. I often took great
delight in watching that evidence of my handiwork; and sometimes, when I
was myself assuredly safe, the sight of it caused me to laugh.

While the other Folk would not have come to our rescue had Red-Eye
proceeded to tear Lop-Ear and me to pieces before their eyes,
nevertheless they sympathized with us. Possibly it was not sympathy but
the way they expressed their hatred for Red-Eye; at any rate they
always warned us of his approach. Whether in the forest, at the
drinking-places, or in the open space before the caves, they were always
quick to warn us. Thus we had the advantage of many eyes in our feud
with Red-Eye, the atavism.

Once he nearly got me. It was early in the morning, and the Folk were
not yet up. The surprise was complete. I was cut off from the way up
the cliff to my cave. Before I knew it I had dashed into the
double-cave,--the cave where Lop-Ear had first eluded me long years
before, and where old Saber-Tooth had come to discomfiture when he
pursued the two Folk. By the time I had got through the connecting
passage between the two caves, I discovered that Red-Eye was not
following me. The next moment he charged into the cave from the outside.
I slipped back through the passage, and he charged out and around and in
upon me again. I merely repeated my performance of slipping through the
passage.

He kept me there half a day before he gave up. After that, when Lop-Ear
and I were reasonably sure of gaining the double-cave, we did not
retreat up the cliff to our own cave when Red-Eye came upon the scene.
All we did was to keep an eye on him and see that he did not cut across
our line of retreat.

It was during this winter that Red-Eye killed his latest wife with abu