I asked with a
thrill of reviving excitement.

"Why not?"

"_Here_?"

"Cert'nly. Why the first one I seen was a-drinkin' into this brook."

"Here! Where I'm sitting?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes, sir, right there. It was this way; I was lyin' down, tryin' to
figure the shortes' way to Fort Coquina, an' wishin' I was nearer
Broadway than I was to the Equator, when I heard a voice say, 'Blub-blub,
muck-a-muck!' an' then I seen two cave-ladies come sof'ly stealin'
along."

"W-where?"

"Right there where you are a-sittin'. Say, they was lookers! An' they
come along quiet like two big-eyed deer, kinder nosin' the air and
listenin'.

"'Gee whiz,' thinks I, 'Longacre ain't got so much on them dames!' An' at
that one o' them wore a wild-cat's skin an' that's all--an' a wild-cat
ain't big. And t'other she sported pa'm-leaf pyjamas.

"So when they don't see nothin' around to hinder, they just lays down
flat and takes a drink into that pool, lookin' up every swallow like
little birds listenin' and kinder thankin' God for a good square drink.

"I knowed they was wild girls soon as I seen 'em. Also they sez to one
another, 'Blub-blub!' Kinder sof'ly. All the same I've seen wilder ladies
on Broadway so I took a chanst where I was squattin' behind a rock.

"So sez I, 'Ah there, sweetie Blub-blub! Have a taxi on me!' An' with
that they is on their feet, quiverin' all over an' nosin' the wind. So
first I took some snapshots at 'em with my Bijoo camera.

"I guess they scented me all right for I seen their eyes grow bigger, an'
then they give a bound an' was off over the rocks; an' me after 'em. Say,
that was some steeple-chase until a few more cave-ladies come out on them
rocks above us an' hove chunks of coquina at me.

"An' with all that dodgin' an' duckin' of them there rocks the cave-girls
got away; an' I seen 'em an' the other cave-ladies scurryin' into little
caves--one whisked into this hole, another scuttled into that--bing! all
over!

"All I could think of was to light a cigar an' blow the smoke in after
the best-lookin' cave-girl. But I couldn't smoke her out, an' I hadn't
time to starve her out. So that's all I know about this here
pree-historic an' extinc' race o' vanishin' cave-ladies."

As his simple and illiterate narrative advanced I became proportionally
excited; and, when he ended, I sprang to my feet in an uncontrollable
access of scientific enthusiasm:

"Was she really pretty?" I asked.

"List