The Cave Twins Part 10

"You can see it down thereon the beach," she said. "I really think it was very clever of them to make such a thing, but of course I didn't tell them so."

"_Of_ course not," said Hawk-Eye.

Now, wasn't that just like parents?

Pretty soon, while Limberleg was cooking supper, Hawk-Eye slipped down to the beach by himself and took a look at the raft. Then he dragged it down to the water and tried it himself. He tried it several times. He didn't say anything about it when he got back to the cave, but the Twins saw how very clean his skin looked. And they nodded knowingly at each other. They had their suspicions.

The Cave Twins--by Lucy Fitch Perkins

CHAPTER NINE.

THE SURPRISE.

What with fish and clams and crabs and periwinkles and roots and game and berries and wild plums and all sorts of other good things to eat, as the summer came on, the Twins and their father and mother began to grow fat.

Limberleg didn't go hunting as she used to. There was no need of it now, for Hawk-Eye could bring home more game than they needed. So she stayed by the cave and kept the hearth fire bright and cooked the food and cured the skins and looked after the children.

The Twins kept the rabbits and fed them every day with fresh leaves and roots, and by and by there were six baby rabbits in the cage too.

"We might make the cage larger and have more rabbits," said Hawk-Eye, "and then in winter, we should always have plenty of fresh meat right at hand."

"What a good idea!" said Limberleg. "The children can feed them."

"Yes," said Hawk-Eye, "if they don't forget it."

"I'll see that they don't forget it," said Limberleg.

The Twins heard her say it.

"I think probably she will," said Firetop. He had great confidence in his mother.

"Will what?" said Firefly.

"Will see that we don't forget it," said Firetop, and they guessed right. She did.

By July they had a large enclosure fenced off and ever so many rabbits in it. For cave people they were now very rich. They had a fine cave home, plenty of skins, and plenty of food.

Limberleg had made herself a good needle out of bone and had sewed nice soft deer-skins into clothes for them, all ready for cold weather. She had even made beautiful necklaces of sh.e.l.ls for Firefly and herself.

One summer evening, as they sat looking at the moon, Limberleg said: "You see I was right about the water G.o.ds. There haven't been any more earthquakes, and we have everything we want to eat, and plenty of warm skins and a fine cave to live in. There is just one thing more I want.

I don't care much for society, but I should like more people to talk to."

"I wish Grannie and the rest were here," said Firetop. "I should like to show Squaretoes our rabbits."

"And I should like to show Robin my necklace," said Firefly.

"It's no use wis.h.i.+ng," said Firetop. "There's all that water."

Hawk-Eye, as usual, said nothing, but all the time he was thinking hard about the floating log that the Twins had crossed the river on, and the raft they had made of the two floating trees.

It was not long after this that Limberleg began to notice that though he was gone all day every day, Hawk-Eye often came home without game. One day she heard the sound of his stone axe, as if he were cutting down a tree, but she thought nothing more about it.

After that she heard the sound of the axe every day for many days. It seemed to come from the bay behind the point of land. At last she said to him: "What in the world are you doing with your axe? I hear such a pounding everyday." Hawk-Eye did not tell her what he was making. He only said, "Maybe some day, when I get it done, you will see."

The Twins heard the axe too, and they made up their minds they were going to find out what was going on. The next day, as they were playing in their cave back of their bluff at low tide, Firefly saw a little column of smoke rising out of the woods near the place where a small stream flowed into the bay. She also heard the axe. The sound seemed to come from somewhere near the smoke. She pointed the smoke out to Firetop, and the two children ran swiftly around the beach and up the little stream for a short distance.

There they found Hawk-Eye. He was working away at the log of a good-sized tree which he had cut down. He had made the log almost flat on one side by chipping off pieces with his axe, and he had shaped the ends a little. Now he was hollowing out the inside. He was doing this partly with his axe and partly by burning it.

Hawk-Eye was working so busily he did not know that any one was near him until Firetop called out, "What are you making, Father?"

Hawk-Eye stopped chopping. "It's a secret," he said. "If I tell you, you'll tell."

"No, we won't. Anyway, there's no one to tell but Mother," said Firefly.

"She's just the one I want to keep it from," said Hawk-Eye. "It's a surprise."

"Oh, well, if it is a surprise, of course we won't tell," said Firetop.

"Do you know what it is, or is it a surprise to you too?" asked Firefly.

"Maybe it is," said Hawk-Eye. "I'm not sure yet. When I get the inside of this log all cut out, I'm going to see if it will float without rolling over. Maybe I can get in it and make it go where I want it to.

If I can, then all sorts of things may happen, but you must _not_ tell Mother."

"Why?" asked Firefly. "Wouldn't she let you play with it?"

"Maybe not," said Hawk-Eye.

"You'd better be careful," said Firefly, shaking her head, "or you know what will happen!"

Hawk-Eye laughed and went on chopping. Every day after that the Twins followed their father to the little cove and watched him work. Every evening they nearly burst trying not to tell. One day when they went down to the cove, they found their father taking out the last chips from the inside of the log.

"When the tide comes in, it backs up into the stream," said Hawk-Eye, "and the next time it does it, I'm going to push the log into the water and then out into the bay. If it floats right side up, I am going for a ride."

"How will you push it?" asked Firetop. "Are you going to let your legs hang over and hitch yourself along that way?"

"I shan't need any turtles to bite me to make me go anyway," said Hawk-Eye. "I'm going to push it with a pole."

The pole was already in the log. The tide began to flow in. As soon as the water was deep enough Hawk-Eye pushed the log into the water. It floated, of course. Hawk-Eye waded along beside it into deeper water.

Then he undertook to get aboard, but he put his weight too much on one side. It rolled over, and he rolled with it, and went splash on his stomach right into the water! Firetop and Firefly danced on the beach with glee.

Hawk-Eye got up all dripping wet and tried again. This time he stepped into the middle of the boat. He got safely in, but it was still very tippy, so he put sand in the bottom of it and made it heavier. Then he tried again.

It was a proud moment when at last he took his pole and pushed off.

"I'm going to keep close to sh.o.r.e and go around the point if I can," he said.

The children tore up the bank and over the hill to get back to the cave in time to see him coming. Limberleg was weaving a berry basket out of strips of bark, when the children came racing into the cave. They were so excited they couldn't keep still.

"What in the world is the matter with you?" cried Limberleg, at last.