t which was on the ground close to the
workshop. Hearing a sound, Chipper looked just in time to see the wolf
spring toward the meat.

The spear flew from Chipper's hand before he stopped to think. And
Chipper sprang upon the wolf and engaged in a hand-to-hand fight.

At the first sound of the combat the Cave-men rushed to the spot.
There they found that Chipper had already secured his prize.

While the Cave-men looked at the wolf, Chipper told them what had
happened. He showed them the reed which he had used in hurling his new
spear point. The men looked at the hollow reed and tried it to see how
it worked. Other reeds were on the ground. So the men fitted
spearheads into the reeds and practiced throwing that way. They played
with the reeds the rest of the day.

[Illustration: _A barbed point._]

When they worked at their weapons again, Chipper, alone, tried a new
way. He made a loose shaft with a socket in the end. During the next
chase they lost many weapons. Chipper lost many spearheads; but he
always found his loose shaft.

When the Cave-men noticed that Chipper never lost his shaft they began
to make loose shafts. And they got the idea of a barbed spearhead from
a wound which was made by a broken point. They found such a point deep
down in the wound of a bison. The sharp edge had caught in the
bison's flesh. And every movement of the bison had driven the
spearhead deeper.

[Illustration: _A harpoon._]

It was by paying attention to such little things that the Cave-men
learned to make barbed spears. When the Cave-men learned that barbed
spearheads made very dangerous wounds, they were willing to take the
trouble of making the barbed points.

But no Cave-man was willing to lose one of his barbed spear points.
Perhaps that is why the men began to tie the barbed heads to the loose
shaft. When they first did this, they did not know that their spears
had become harpoons.

#THINGS TO DO#

_Find a hollow reed and use it for a shaft. Make a shaft with a
socket in it. Fit a spearhead into the socket. Change the spear so
as to make a harpoon._

_Draw a picture of the chase of the wild horses._

_Think of a wild horse running very fast. See if you can model a
wild horse in clay so as to show that it has great speed._

XXII

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Why was the harpoon a better weapon for hunting than the spear or
javelin? What could hunters do to keep smooth