True to his word Og found a cave that was big and roomy. It was not an easy task, for most of the pleasant caves had been taken. So too had all the caves that were deemed safe, for the hairy men liked caves that were well up from the valley bottom so that prowling beasts could not enter unawares. Traditional caution made Og realize that this was the best kind of abode, too, and he was sorely tempted to use the awe in which he was held to good advantage and crowd out some family that had an unusually desirable cave. That was how it was done among hairy folk. The strongest and most ferocious men occupied the best caves. Og particularly liked the fine, big, roomy cave that Gog possessed, and he was of a mind to walk into it with a fire brand in either hand and demand it. But with all his confidence there was something that made him hesitate. Perhaps it was the vivid recollections that he retained of the old leader at[162] his best, or worst. He was a savage old brute, strong, ugly, treacherous and merciless, yet withal brave as a tiger. Og knew that although Gog stood in awe of his fire weapons the old warrior would fight for his cave home until he no longer had strength to lift his bone-crushing stone hammer. And Og, as courageous as he was, had no stomach for a fight of that sort, especially one of his own provoking, for instinctively he knew that right was on the side of the defender; and Og had somehow sensed that without right to fortify courage he could not fight with valiance.
And so he put aside his covetous desires and searched longer for a home cave. There were several spacious holes in the cliff down near the valley floor. All were big and roomy, yet not too big for comfort; but all had broad doorways, which Og knew was not desirable, for the bigger the doorway the larger the prowler that could enter.
But he found one that was so desirable; so handy to the spring of water from which the hairy men drank, so near the swiftly flowing mountain torrent that ran through the valley, and so near the council rock and the flat, well-tramped stretch of earth where the hairy people’s children played[163] when danger was not near, that he felt a desire to take possession of it despite the fact that it had a huge doorway through which even a hairy mammoth could conveniently enter. That was the reason why it was not already occupied.
Finally, after much hard thinking which gave him a headache, he decided; and, carrying his stone hammers, his knife and his tiger skin down to it, he spread the great skin on the floor and returned to the cave higher up the cliff to help Wab down.
When he led the blind man into the cave and explained to him what cave it was and where it was located, Wab shook his head and smiled sadly.
“Og, where is your caution? This is the great cave, shunned by all the hairy people. No one would think to try to live here. When we came here first it was used as a council cave. We gathered here for council sometimes, but the great cave tiger crept up the valley one day, saw us all inside, and rushed in among us. He killed two and dragged them away before we could climb the cliffs to safety. And so we never even used it for a council cave again. It has a doorway so big that it will let all the night monsters in.”
“I have thought of that,” said Og; “but we[164] have a door guard that they cannot pass. See, I will build a big fire here. That is protection. No one will dare pass it, not even Sabre Tooth were he still hunting the valley.”
“Ah, perhaps,” said the hunter doubtfully, but he sat down on the tiger skin and watched Og build his fire.
Others watched him, too. The whole tribe was amazed at Og’s daring. They chattered and shook their heads and made humorous faces at each other which was their way of saying that Og was either a fool or more powerful than any among them.
But they soon found that the last was the truth, for Og made his home in the big cave and burned his fire steadily night and day, Wab heaping wood upon it while his son was off in the forest hunting by himself or with the others, for the hairy men hunted in gangs more often than they wandered into the forest alone. And while he lived there in the old council cave, three times a great leopard visited the cliffs and stole women and children from the caves, yet though his cave was the easiest to approach, it was never visited, and the hairy folk knew that it was all because of Og’s fire.
Once too, Og, busy among the rocks, as he forever[165] seemed to be when not off hunting, was surprised by the appearance of a woolly rhinoceros, a great, shaggy monster with tiny, wicked, bloodshot eyes and two great horns that grew out of his nose. The beast came upon Og quite unexpectedly while he was chipping away at a stone with another stone, in full sight of all the cliff dwellers. The first that he knew of the beast’s presence was when he was startled by a harsh, grunting snort and a thunderous stamping of feet. Og looked up to see the great animal staring at him and shaking his head menacingly.
With a cry of warning that sent the cliff people scattering and scrambling up toward their caves, Og dropped his stones and turned and fled as swiftly as his legs could carry him. The rhinoceros with a snort of rage charged after him, galloping over the ground with such heavy strides that Og could almost feel the earth tremble.
Og, the fear of death on his face, raced headlong toward his big cave, and the woolly one came after him so swiftly that it seemed as if it were only a matter of a few more steps before he would hook that vicious double horn into Og’s back and toss him skyward and trample his remains among the rocks when he fell.
[166]
But Og reached his cave first and with a yell of triumph leaped over the fire that was blazing in the doorway, then, turning, he hurled defiance at the woolly one. The rhinoceros plunged on until he saw the fire; then, with a frightened snort and much sliding and scrambling, he stopped short not more than his own length away from the blazing fagots. For a moment he stood there irresolute, red-eyed with rage, yet not daring to advance a step farther. And as he stood there Og seized one burning stick after another and hurled them against his bulging flanks until he turned tail and went squealing away, very much like an overgrown pig.
Then it was that the hairy folk knew the power of Og’s weapons. They understood too why he and his father were not afraid to live in the big cave with the wide doorway. And they were all properly impressed. They could see that he had a powerful ally in the Fire Demon, and many of them feared him more and avoided him all they could.
But there were others—thinkers, perhaps—who did not avoid him. Instead they curried friendship with him by bringing him meat and pretty stones. They sought every opportunity to visit[167] his cave if only to chatter with him or with his father, Wab. And always they sat within the circle of heat cast by the fire and reveled in its warmth. They enjoyed this basking, and they enjoyed watching the flickering tongues of flames—at a safe distance, of course. They delighted, too, in watching Og or Wab as they worked about the fire, feeding it or cooking their meat over it.
Perhaps this last operation interested them the most, for always while Og was cooking a delicious, appetizing odor that made one’s mouth water emanated from the big doorway. And the visitor could not help but think that Og feasted on food of the gods. Many of them brought fresh meat and gave it to him just to be able to smell the appetizing aroma that it gave off as he cooked it. And Wab, as he witnessed this and ate of the choice gifts to his son, could not help but think back on former days when they had cast him out and thrown him polished bones and decayed scraps. And as he thought he could not help but marvel at the greatness of his son.
There were some among these visitors who became really friendly with Og. He liked them and encouraged their friendship and gave them scraps of cooked meat so that they could enjoy[168] his feasting with him. For some reason Og found a keen delight in doing this and he always watched the expressions with interest when they pulled apart the steaming morsels with their fingers and teeth and tasted the flavor that the fire had given the meat. Every one of his visitors enjoyed the taste of cooked meat and they all told of the delight among their friends until it was not long before Og was besought by scores to cook meat for them so that they too could try the pleasure of this new-found delight.
Their number grew and grew and Og did the best that he could to favor all of them, but he noticed with interest that never once did Gog appear at the fire. The old leader was often to be seen s............