People looked at the strange young man as he lay pale and still on the ground. They looked and looked again, then said, “How like he is to Scarface.”
Eagle-eye had not forgotten Fleetfoot. She never spoke of him, but she still hoped that he was alive and that she would see him again. When strangers came she always inquired for tidings of the lost boy.
And so when Eagle-eye heard what the people said, she pushed her way through the crowd. The moment she saw him, she cried, “Fleetfoot!” and then bent over his lifeless form.
Chew-chew, hearing Eagle-eye’s cry, hurried to the spot. She knelt by his side and murmured his name, and thought of Scarface when he was young.
Those who stood near turned and asked, “Who is Fleetfoot?” Many of the people had never heard of him. Others had heard of Eagle-eye’s boy. All were curious to know more about the strange young man. All were anxious to know if he was dead or alive.
Fleetfoot was not dead. He was only stunned by the tiger’s blow. When Eagle-eye bathed him with cold water, he began to show signs of life. When at length he opened his eyes, he knew that he was recognized.
When those who stood near found out who the young man was, they shouted the tidings to those who were farther away. Then the people rejoiced and thanked the gods for thus befriending them.
Before Fleetfoot slept that night, he wondered how the meeting would end. He wondered if he could find a way to prevent an attack upon the Bison clan. And, turning once more to the Big Bear, he soon fell asleep. Next morning the people caught salmon just below the rapids. They feasted a while and then played games in which Fleetfoot took part.
When the games were over, the young men crowded around him. They asked him how he could throw a spear so as to strike a deadly blow. Fleetfoot told all he knew about the use of spears and harpoons, but he scarcely knew himself how he had thrown with such force.
But he took two spearheads in his hand, just as he had held them when he saw the tiger. He threw one at a mark and the spear went with such force that the young men shouted for joy. Then they all practiced throwing until they could throw in the same way. It was in this way that people learned to hurl weapons with a throwing-stick. Instead of hurling one spear by resting the butt against the barb of another, as Fleetfoot had done when he threw at the tiger, they learned to shape sticks for throwing spears, and they called them “throwing-sticks.”