“Who is that?” asked Hairi.
“The mother,” Pic replied. “The baby belongs to her.”
“Oo-wee! You said it was yours,” the Rhinoceros sternly corrected. “Which is right?”
“Both. It is hers and mine too. I am the father; she is the mother. We both own it.”
Pic turned to his mate. “These were—are still my friends,” he explained. “Once they saved me from the Cave Lion just as you saved me from the butcher-block.”
But the mother merely stared and made no reply.
“You must understand,” cried Pic, “they are animals—the Mammoth and Rhinoceros—but my friends, your friends, once the best I ever had; and now they must be yours as they are mine. As for the little one, they would not touch a hair of his head.” He stopped and grinned, then handed her the infant and stepped beneath the Mammoth’s mighty chest.
“Quick,” he whispered, “your foreleg; help me to mount your neck.” At this almost forgotten command, Hairi uttered a joyous bellow and assisted his rider to his accustomed seat. For a moment Pic’s face lay buried in the matted locks crowning the great head-peak. One hand stole downward and patted the Mammoth’s cheek.
“Good old friend,” he said in a low voice. “The child; give it to me, and as you would be gentle with me, use tenderly that which is mine.” Then as the woman gazed upward with mingled feelings of awe and fear at the great Mammoth head and its rider, Hairi’s trunk reached forward and curled about the infant like a python’s fold. In a twinkle, the child was plucked from its mother’s arms and whirled aloft. With a loud cry, the poor woman fell upon her knees with face in the dirt as though to shut out the terrible sight; but when she raised her head—lo and behold!—she saw naught of fearful things, merely the faces of her two treasures beaming upon her from on high. The infant was kicking and crowing with delight and Pic’s grin threatened to engulf his own ears.
Thus assured, the anxious mother gained hope and courage and smiled weakly in response. A radiant warmth of joyous understanding swept over the little gathering.