ne,
while the grown-ups regarded him with wary eyes when he drew near, and
stepped aside to give him the centre of the path.

As twilight came on, the open space was deserted. The Folk were seeking
the safety of the caves. Lop-Ear led the way to bed. High up the bluff
we climbed, higher than all the other caves, to a tiny crevice that
could not be seen from the ground. Into this Lop-Ear squeezed. I
followed with difficulty, so narrow was the entrance, and found myself
in a small rock-chamber. It was very low--not more than a couple of feet
in height, and possibly three feet by four in width and length. Here,
cuddled together in each other's arms, we slept out the night.

CHAPTER VI

While the more courageous of the youngsters played in and out of the
large-mouthed caves, I early learned that such caves were unoccupied.
No one slept in them at night. Only the crevice-mouthed caves were used,
the narrower the mouth the better. This was from fear of the preying
animals that made life a burden to us in those days and nights.

The first morning, after my night's sleep with Lop-Ear, I learned the
advantage of the narrow-mouthed caves. It was just daylight when old
Saber-Tooth, the tiger, walked into the open space. Two of the Folk were
already up. They made a rush for it. Whether they were panic-stricken,
or whether he was too close on their heels for them to attempt to
scramble up the bluff to the crevices, I do not know; but at any rate
they dashed into the wide-mouthed cave wherein Lop-Ear and I had played
the afternoon before.

What happened inside there was no way of telling, but it is fair to
conclude that the two Folk slipped through the connecting crevice into
the other cave. This crevice was too small to allow for the passage of
Saber-Tooth, and he came out the way he had gone in, unsatisfied and
angry. It was evident that his night's hunting had been unsuccessful and
that he had expected to make a meal off of us. He caught sight of the
two Folk at the other cave-mouth and sprang for them. Of course, they
darted through the passageway into the first cave. He emerged angrier
than ever and snarling.

Pandemonium broke loose amongst the rest of us. All up and down the
great bluff, we crowded the crevices and outside ledges, and we were
all chattering and shrieking in a thousand keys. And we were all making
faces--snarling faces; this was an instinct with us. We were as angry
as Saber-Tooth, though our ang