But the smile on his face was transformed into an expression of horror, for as he looked toward the end of the crevice he saw to his consternation that the walls on either side were slowly drawing closer together. Clods of earth and heavy stones were falling, jarred loose by the slow but irresistible movement of the walls. The earth that had been pushed upward by volcanic action was slowly settling again. The crevice was closing and they would be buried alive.
CHAPTER IV
THE FIRST CAMP FIRE
All the horrors of such a terrible death were apparent to Og and the two wolf cubs. The hairy boy stood with staring, fear-bulged eyes and watched the slow, irresistible movement of the earthy walls as they came together. He could feel the movement of the ground beneath his feet as it began to sink downward and he could feel the vibration of a rumbling thunderous noise that came up from the nethermost depths of the earth. A great fear clutched his heart; a fear that somehow he and the now whimpering wolf cubs had put themselves into the clutches of a great and evil spirit who owned this cave; this huge wound in the hillside.
Yet though almost paralyzed with fear Og’s brain worked. The Mountain That Walked had been defeated. He had withdrawn. Perhaps he was waiting outside in the steam fog or perhaps he had gone back down into the valley. If he were waiting outside, to go out meant death. But to stay in here meant death too, the horrible death of being buried alive. Outside death was uncertain. Then too he had a marvelous new weapon in this fiery stick of his. Perhaps with its aid and his swift legs he could defeat the mammoth. It was worth trying. They were deep inside the crevice. They would have to move quickly to get out in time for the walls were closing fast. Already one of the wolf cubs had started for the opening. Og turned and called to the other one. It was struggling under a heavy clod of earth that had fallen upon it and held it down. Og saw its plight. He was about to turn and bolt and leave it to its death. But something made him hesitate. He could not understand this strange feeling. He did not know that within him was growing a sense of loyalty and unselfishness that the hairy people never knew. He did not realize that this marked him as being a higher type of human than any hairy man had ever been, but he did know that an overmastering desire to help the struggling wolf dog swept away any selfish thoughts of his own safety, and he sprang back toward the rear of the crevice, dug the wolf dog from beneath the caved-in earth, then, gathering it under one arm and with the burning resinous torch in the other hand, he began a mad scramble for the opening of the crevice.
The rumbling beneath his feet grew louder and more ominous. Earth and rock broke loose from the walls above and fell about him and on him. One huge stone struck him on the shoulder and its jagged corners cut deep through his hair and flesh. Og cried out with pain and staggered under the impact. Yet he stumbled and struggled onward while great beads of perspiration stood out on his low forehead, and his eyes dilated with fear. On and on he pushed, while the rumbling beneath him grew to an angry growl and the earthy walls on either hand and overhead rocked and swayed dizzily. The opening was only a little way ahead now. The first wolf cub had gained it and scrambled out into the steam filled air. Og envied him his salvation. He wondered vaguely whether he could make it or whether, there within a few short paces of freedom, he would be caught between the crunching, caving walls of earth and crushed to death.
He made a mighty effort to gain the opening. His great muscles swelled under the strain. Blood leaped through his arteries, the cords of his neck stood out and his breath came in great sobs as he struggled toward the air and light. One leap more and he would be free, one stride and he would be out of that terrible cave of grumbling noise, and crumbling walls. Og leaped.
At the same instant the rumbling developed to a roar, and a grinding crash, as the wall on either side of the crevice caved in and the earth settled. Og reached the air in a cloud of dust and a shower of earth and stones, and, in a perfect avalanche of debris, rolled over and over down the hillside, until he stopped with stunning impact at the foot of a huge bowlder. For the space of several seconds he and the wolf cub lay there in a semi-conscious condition. Then slowly Og came to and sat up. And the first thing that he looked for when he became himself again was his fire stick. He found it close at hand for he had clung to it even in his mad plunge down the hillside. But of course its flames were out.
Og picked it up and viewed this fact with disappointment. The knotty end was a mass of glowing smoking coals but the flames were gone. Og crouched beside the bowlder and looked at the hot end of the stick turning it over and over, and wondering the while how to rekindle it. He began to blow upon it softly. Why he did this he could not tell. But as he breathed upon it the coals grew redder and hotter and suddenly a tiny flame appeared, then another and another until the torch was rekindled.