His heart sung a song of pride and triumph for he knew that he would no longer be the scorn of the Cave People. No more would he be compelled to sit alone in his cave with the howl of the hyena to make him more lonely.
The day of his triumph was at hand and with tenderness he drew the old woman close to his breast. And the stars laughed and the moon smiled, while the raft floated steadily, noiselessly down the river. But the face of the woman was hard with pain, for she knew that men may come and men may go, but the small brown boy, in the home of the Hairy Folk, would be her boy forever.
Who can know the understanding of the dog, which lost in a strange land, finds his way home again! Or the animals of the forest, how they find the old haunts through the unknown ways! And who among us can say how Run Fast understood that when the moon rose high in the heavens the raft would be nearing the bend in the river which appeared before the Hollow, wherein lay the homes of the Cave People!
For the Cave People were unable to count. One, they made known by the pointing of a fore-finger upward; and two by pointing two fingers. But beyond this, they had no signs for the numbers but flung out their hands as though to say, “many.”
But Run Fast knew even as his brothers would have known under similar circumstances. And when the raft curved about the bend, he paddled with his hand to steer the boat close to the shore.
Very cautiously he pushed the woman on to the bank before him, for the beasts came often to the river edge to drink, but he saw no danger. Then, making fast the boat, he bore the woman of the Hairy Folk over the rocks to his cave and rolled a great stone before the entrance.
And his heart was glad and his blood was warm, for he knew that no longer would he be an outcast among his own people.
Two suns had come and gone again when Run Fast bent his steps toward the forest, and the old woman disappeared. Doubtless she turned her face toward the home of the small brown boy among the Hairy Folk. Run Fast was thus again made lonely, but the voices of his brothers cheered him. Always they said, “man, man,” when he appeared, for he had proven his courage and his bravery among the tribe. The young women looked tenderly at the strength of his limbs and he was become honored among his people.
[Charles Darwin says in his Descent of Man: “In utterly barbarous times the women have more power in choosing, rejecting and tempting their lovers, or of afterwards changing their husbands, than might have been expected.” He gives several illustrations. Page 620, Crowell edition.]