The Later Cave-Men Part 18

But Greybeard and Chipper did not make fun of the weapons Flaker made.

They tried the dagger next day, and found that it stood the test. So they asked Flaker to make each of them daggers and javelins of reindeer horn.

#THINGS TO DO#

_Tell all you know about the antlers of full-grown stags. Tell all you know about the antlers of other reindeer._

_Look at the antlers in the pictures on pages 16, 17, 108, and 121.

Find the part that would make such a wedge as is shown on page 119.

Find the part that would make such a hammer as is shown on page 74.

Find a part for a chisel or sc.r.a.per. Find the long beam that was used in making such a dagger as is shown on page 123. Do you think that Flaker's first dagger was carved in this way? Can you tell why the Cave-men carved their weapons?_

_Act out the part of this story you like best._

_Draw one of these pictures:_-- _Flaker watching for Fleetfoot's return._ _The children bringing antlers to Flaker._ _The women at work making tools._ _Fleetfoot showing the dagger to Bighorn._ _Greybeard and Chipper asking Flaker to make daggers._

_Make as many simple tools as you can out of bone or horn. Find ways of using them._

XXVIII

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

What do you think Flaker used in cutting the antler? What tools will he need to use in making weapons of bone or horn?

What do you think the first saws were? How do you think people came to use saws? How large do you think they were?

What are files used for? Can you think what the first files were like? What do you think they were used for?

_How Flaker Invented the Saw_

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A small antler._]

How glad Flaker was when Greybeard and Chipper asked him to make them some daggers! He looked at all the antlers the children had brought.

He thought of the reindeer he had seen with antlers such as these. He remembered the handsome reindeer with their deadly weapons, and at length he chose the large antlers which had belonged to a handsome stag.

Flaker looked at the long beams and decided to use them for daggers.

He took his knife to cut off the p.r.o.ngs, but he could scarcely cut them with a knife.

Flaker knew that the women cut the p.r.o.ngs with a chopper, but a chopper was a woman's tool. And Flaker wanted to be like the men. And so he kept working with his knife, but he wished he had taken a beam which the women had left.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A knife with two blades, a saw, and a file, all in one._]

When he was tired using his knife, he played with some flint flakes.

He ran his fingers over the sharp edges. Then he carelessly pressed off tiny flakes.

But Flaker soon tired of this and he picked up the antler again. He pushed a flint flake back and forth upon one of the p.r.o.ngs of the antler.

Flaker was simply playing at first; but when he saw that the flint was cutting, his play became real work. And he kept on pushing and pulling the flake until the p.r.o.ng fell to the ground. Then he sawed off other p.r.o.ngs, but he did not know he was sawing.

Flaker had never seen a saw and he did not know what it was. He did not know that when he pressed off the tiny flakes he made the teeth of a flint saw.

But Flaker had made a saw. It was only the rough edge of a flint flake. No doubt such rough edges had been made many times before. But Flaker learned to use the rough edge by pushing and pulling it back and forth.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A Cave-man's dagger of carved antler._]

When Flaker sawed the p.r.o.ngs from the beam, some of the places were rough. So he rubbed them with the face of the flint until he made them smooth. When Flaker did this, the flake, which had been only a knife, became a file as well as a saw.

Greybeard and Chipper tried the new daggers and found that they were sharp and strong. And the next time they went on the chase they took the new weapons along.

Bighorn saw the new weapons, but he said little about them. For Bighorn knew better than to make fun of weapons Greybeard used.

Nothing pleased Flaker more than to be able to help Greybeard. And so he cherished the new tool that he used in shaping reindeer horn.

Sometimes he showed it to Greybeard, who was always kind to the boys.

But even the wise old man had no idea of what a wonderful tool it was.

The other Cave-men saw the tool, but they thought very little about it. They cared a great deal about the weapons they used in the chase.

But few of the Cave-men ever thought of making anything they did not need right away.

And so little was said about the new tool which was a knife with two blades, a saw, and a file, all in one. n.o.body dreamed at that time that the little tool was the forerunner of a great change.

#THINGS TO DO#

_If you can strike off a large flint flake with three faces, see if you can make it into a knife-saw-file._

_Look at the picture, or at the real tool you have made, and find the plain face that can be used as a file._

_Find the two edges which can be used as knives. Find the edge which has a crest of teeth, and which can be used as a saw._

_Draw one of these pictures:_-- _The women chopping p.r.o.ngs from the beam of the antler._ _Flaker sawing the p.r.o.ngs off the antler._

XXIX

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Can you think why the females and the young males of the reindeer herd could drive the old stags away during the winter? Could they do it in the summer?

Why can the reindeer walk easily in the snow or on slippery places?

What is it that makes the clicking sound when reindeer walk or run?

Why were the Cave-men careful to make no mistake in the dance?