“Now, up you come,” she called to Firefly, “and I will put you to bed.”
Firefly climbed the tree. This was the way she went upstairs to bed.
Limberleg took off the wolf-skin which was still tied over her shoulders, and spread it over the vine hammock. Then Firefly crawled into her bed. Her mother took the leather thong which had been around the wolf-skin and tied her securely to one of the limbs with it. That was her way of tucking her in so that she would not fall out of bed. She didn’t hear her say her prayers, because in those days they didn’t know there was anything to pray to, unless it was to giants, or the spirits of water or of fire, or of thunder and lightning. They prayed to them sometimes when they were frightened. I don’t believe she kissed her good night, either. There was not much kissing in those days.
When Firefly was safely stowed away, Limberleg climbed farther up the tree to find a place for Firetop. But he had already found one for himself and was beginning to make his bed. When he was swung from his branches like a big cocoon, Hawk-Eye and Limberleg made themselves as comfortable as they could on the lower limbs of the tree. The western sky was all aflame with yellow and red, as they settled themselves for the night, and the birds sang them to sleep.
Two.
When Firetop opened his eyes the next morning, he couldn’t think where he was. He tried to flop over, as he could so easily do when sleeping on his wolf-skins in the cave. But he found himself securely tied. He lifted his head and looked out. The sun was just rising over the blue hills across the river. He looked down through the tree-branches to see his father and mother.
They were not there! For a moment he thought perhaps he had dreamed it all. “I often go to all sorts of strange places when I am asleep,” he said to himself. “Pretty soon I’ll wake up in the cave.” He waited to wake up, but he didn’t wake up. He kept right on being out of doors and up a tree, and his parents kept on being gone. Then he remembered all about everything.
He called to Firefly, “Are you there?”