“The winds and birds have carried seeds up here, and acorns,” she answered in an awed voice. “Think of the time that must have passed. Years and years.
“But tell me,” and her brow wrinkled with a sudden wonder, “tell me how we've ever lived so long? I can't understand it.
“Not only have we escaped starvation, but we haven't frozen to death in all these bitter winters. How can that have happened?”
“Let it all go as suspended animation till we learn the facts, if we ever do,” he replied, glancing about with wonder.
“You know, of course, how toads have been known to live embedded in rock for centuries? How fish, hard-frozen, have been brought to life again? Well--”
“But we are human beings.”
“I know. Certain unknown natural forces, however, might have made no more of us than of non-mammalian and less highly organized creatures.
“Don't bother your head about these problems yet a while. On my word, we've got enough to do for the present without much caring about how or why.
“All we definitely know is that some very long, undetermined period of time has passed, leaving us still alive. The rest can wait.”
“How long a time do you judge it?” she anxiously inquired.