and had with me an electric lantern, but the increasing
sunlight in the cave as I went on had rendered the latter needless.

There he sat, a huge figure, clad in a great wolfskin. Besides him lay
a great club. Across his knee was a spear round which he was binding
sinews that tightened under his muscular hand. His head was bent over
his task. His matted hair had fallen over his eyes. He did not see me
till I was close beside him on the sanded floor of the cave. I gave a
slight cough.

"Excuse me!" I said.

The Cave-man gave a startled jump.

"My goodness," he said, "you startled me!"

I could see that he was quite trembling.

"You came along so suddenly," he said, "it gave me the jumps." Then
he muttered, more to himself than to me, "Too much of this darned
cave-water! I must quit drinking it."

I sat down near to the Caveman on a stone, taking care to place my
revolver carefully behind it. I don't mind admitting that a loaded
revolver, especially as I get older, makes me nervous. I was afraid that
he might start fooling with it. One can't be too careful.

As a way of opening conversation I picked up the Cave-man's club.

"Say," I said, "that's a great club you have, eh? By gee! it's heavy!"

"Look out!" said the Cave-man with a certain agitation in his voice as
he reached out and took the club from me. "Don't fool with that club!
It's loaded! You know you could easily drop the club on your toes, or on
mine. A man can't be too careful with a loaded club."

He rose as he said this and carried the club to the other side of the
cave, where he leant it against the wall. Now that he stood up and I
could examine him he no longer looked so big. In fact he was not big at
all. The effect of size must have come, I think, from the great wolfskin
that he wore. I have noticed the same thing in Grand Opera. I noticed,
too, for the first time that the cave we were in seemed fitted up, in a
rude sort of way, like a dwelling-room.

"This is a nice place you've got," I said.

"Dandy, isn't it?" he said, as he cast his eyes around. "_She_ fixed
it up. She's got great taste. See that mud sideboard? That's the real
thing, A-one mud! None of your cheap rock about that. We fetched that
mud for two miles to make that. And look at that wicker bucket. Isn't
it great? Hardly leaks at all except through the sides, and perhaps
a little through the bottom. _She_ wove that. She's a humdinger at
weaving."

He was moving about as he s