Publisher's Synopsis
They laughed boisterously, like big children, at recollection of a previous story hiswords called up. Long-Beard laughed, too, the five-inch bodkin of bone, thrustmidway through the cartilage of his nose, leaping and dancing and adding to hisferocious appearance. He did not exactly say the words recorded, but he madeanimal-like sounds with his mouth that meant the same thing."And that is the first I remember of the Sea Valley," Long-Beard went on. "We werea very foolish crowd. We did not know the secret of strength. For, behold, eachfamily lived by itself, and took care of itself. There were thirty families, but we gotno strength from one another. We were in fear of each other all the time. No oneever paid visits. In the top of our tree we built a grass house, and on the platform 4outside was a pile of rocks, which were for the heads of any that might chance totry to visit us. Also, we had our spears and arrows. We never walked under the treesof the other families, either. My brother did, once, under old Boo-oogh's tree, andhe got his head broken and that was the end of him."Old Boo-oogh was very strong. It was said he could pull a grown man's head rightoff. I never heard of him doing it, because no man would give him a chance. Fatherwouldn't. One day, when father was down on the beach, Boo-oogh took aftermother. She couldn't run fast, for the day before she had got her leg clawed by abear when she was up on the mountain gathering berries. So Boo-oogh caught herand carried her up into his tree. Father never got her back. He was afraid. Old Boooogh made faces at him."But father did not mind. Strong-Arm was another strong man. He was one of thebest fishermen. But one day, climbing after sea-gull eggs, he had a fall from the cliff.He was never strong after that. He coughed a great deal, and his shoulders drewnear to each other. So father took Strong-Arm's wife. When he came around andcoughed under our tree, father laughed at him and threw rocks at him. It was ourway in those days. We did not know how to add strength together and becomestrong.""Would a brother take a brother's wife?" Deer-Runner demanded.
