that of a student; for he
had studied and thought. He would smile and frown, laugh and shout,
growl and whine, the pitch and timbre of his inarticulate utterance
indicating the emotion which prompted it to about the same degree as
does an intelligent dog's language to his master. But dogs and other
social animals converse in a speech beyond human ken; and in this
respect he was their inferior, for he had not yet known the need of
language, and did not, until, one day, in a section of his domain that
he had never visited before,--because game avoided it,--down by the sea
on the side of the wall opposite to his cave, he met a creature like
himself.

He had come down the wooded slope on the steady jog-trot he assumed
when traveling, tomahawk in hand, careless, confident, and happy
because of the bright sunshine and his lately appeased hunger, and, as
he bounded on to the beach with a joyous whoop, was startled by an
answering scream.

Mingled with the frightful monsters in the dreams of his childhood
had been transient glimpses of a kind, placid face that he seemed
to know--a face that bent over him lovingly and kissed him. These
were subconscious memories of his mother, which lasted long after
he had forgotten her. As he neared manhood, strange yearnings had
come to him--a dreary loneliness and craving for company. In his
sleep he had seen fleeting visions of forms and faces like his
reflection in a pool--like, yet unlike; soft, curving outlines,
tinted cheeks, eyes that beamed, and white, caressing hands
appeared and disappeared--fragmentary and illusive. He could not
distinctly remember them when he wakened, but their influence made
him strangely happy, strangely miserable; and while the mood lasted
he could not hunt and kill.

Standing knee-deep in a shallow pool on the beach, staring at him with
wide-open dark eyes, was the creature that had screamed--a living,
breathing embodiment of the curves and color, the softness, brightness,
and gentle sweetness that his subconsciousness knew. There were the
familiar eyes, dark and limpid, wondering but not frightened; two white
little teeth showing between parted lips; a wealth of long brown hair
held back from the forehead by a small hand; and a rounded, dimpled
cheek, the damask shading of which merged delicately into the olive
tint that extended to the feet. No Venus ever arose from the sea with
rarer lines of beauty than were combined in the picture of loveliness
whi