whether they were both boys or both girls, or one of each kind. They came down over the rocks so quietly that not even the quick ears of the old woman heard the faintest sound.

When they had almost reached the ground, they stopped, and at the same instant opened their mouths and howled exactly like two young wolves!

The noise was so sudden and so near that the old woman never thought of her fire at all. She simply screamed and fell right over backwards into the cave. Then she rolled over and scuttled on all fours out of sight in the darkness as fast as she could go.

The acorns from her lap flew in every direction and rolled down the hillside. The boy and girl jumped to the ground, shrieking with laughter. In a moment the old woman was back again in the door of the cave. She had a stout stick in her hand and she looked very angry. She shook the stick at the Twins and scolded them so fast that the sound of it was like the chattering of an angry squirrel in a tree-top.

Now, of course, I cannot tell you just the words she used, but, translated into English, this is what she said:—

“You horrid little catamounts, if I catch you, I’ll teach you better manners! I’ll give you such a taste of this stick that you’ll not need more till the river runs dry.”

The Twins sprang up, still shrieking with laughter, and danced about the fire just out of reach of the woman’s stick.

“But you can’t catch us,” they screamed.

Their red locks of hair flew about in the wind as they danced, until it looked almost as if red flames were bursting from their heads. The old woman glared at them helplessly.

“Dance away,” she cried, “dance away, you red-headed rascals! I shan’t need to put sticks on the fire while you are here. Your red hair would scare away the sabre-toothed tiger himself! No wonder you are not afraid to run alone in the forest! With such heads on you, you are as safe as if you were in the heart of the cave.”

Just then she saw her acorns all spilled on the ground, and her rage broke out afresh.

“Pick them up, you little rats! They are the last of my winter’s store, and it will be four moons yet before they will be ripe again.”

Down went the children on their hands and knees, and began to gather up the scattered nuts. Young as they were, they knew the value of food. They also knew the taste of Grannie’s stick. In those days food could be found only at the risk of life itself and was not to be thrown away while hunger lasted.

Besides, the hunting had not been good for some time. The reindeer had gone farther north, and the great herds of bison had not yet come back from the warmer regions, where they ranged in winter. There were wild beasts of many other kinds in the forest, but the hunters of the clan had not brought home meat for several days. This was one reason why the children had ventured so far into the forest. Most of the time they and the other children of the clan stayed near the cave under the watchful eye of the old woman, while their fathers and mothers went hunting.

“Now, don’t be cross, old Grannie-sit-by-the-fire!” cried the girl. At least, I think it was the girl, but the Twins looked so exactly alike I can’t be quite sure. “We’ll pick up your nuts for you. And if you’ll put your stick down, we’ll give you something we brought for you.”

The old woman’s face softened. You might almost have thought there was the beginning of a smile in the corners of her mouth, but she only said, “I know your tricks, worthless ones! You have brought me nothing but a fright and a tumble in the ashes.”

The girl poured the acorns she had gathered into the piece of birch-bark which served the old woman as a plate, and danced over to the mouth of the cave. She saucily took the stick out of Grannie’s hand and flung it on the fire, and then led her back to the stone seat.

“Go along and get it, Firetop,” she called. I know it was the girl who said this, because it was the boy who was called Firetop, on account of his red hair. The girl’s hair was just as red, but they called her Firefly.

Firetop sprang up the rocks down which he had climbed so carefully only a few moments before, and came down again slowly, carrying something in each hand. He stood before the old woman with his hands behind him.

“Guess, Grannie, guess!” cried Firefly.

By this time, the smile had got out of the corners of Grannie’s mouth and had spread all over her face.

“Roots,” she said.

“Wrong,” shouted the children. “Guess again.”

“Spruce gum.”

“Wrong again,” laughed the Twins.

Grannie thought a while this time. Then she said, “Snails.”

“No, no, no,” the Twins said both together; and then Firetop slowly brought his hands round in front of him and showed the old woman four large bird’s eggs.

You should have seen Grannie’s face then! It was all wreathed in smiles, and when she smiled she wasn’t so bad to look at after all. Almost nobody is for that matter.

She took the eggs from Firetop’s hands and covered them carefully in the ashes.

“We’ll roast them,” she said. “I’ve had nothing to eat but acorns for three days past. Now, tell me where you have been, and how you found the eggs.”

“We were hungry,” explained Firetop, “and all the big people had gone off hunting, and we thought we’d go too. We thought we knew where we could find some roots. So we hid ourselves and waited until Robin and Blackbird and Squaretoes had gone down to the river to hunt frogs, and then we ran back into the woods.” Robin and Blackbird and Squaretoes were the other children of the clan.

Firefly could never stay quiet for very long and now she broke into the story.

“Yes, and we found some roots, too,” she said. “We were just eating them when from a hazel bush right in front of us we heard a loud snort! We didn’t wait to dig any more roots, I tell you! There was a chestnut tree nearby, and we grabbed a limb and swung ourselves up just in time. It wasn’t only one, it was three wild boars that rushed out of the bushes, and the biggest boar had tusks as long as this.” Firefly held up a stick about eight inches long, as she spoke.

“It’s lucky we were up in the tree, for they were all hungry too, and they looked as if they thought Firetop and I would taste very good,” she laughed. “Then Firetop teased them. He hung down from the limb and tickled their noses with a long stick. My, but they were mad!”

“Yes,” said Firetop, “they looked just as mad as you did, when we scared you, Grannie.”

“I wonder one look at you didn’t scare them to death,” said Grannie, “because animals are so afraid of fire! I am used to the flames on your heads, but if I were to come upon you for the first time I think I’d climb a tree myself! Or else I should think the woods were on fire and run away.”

Grannie poked Firefly in the ribs and laughed at her own joke.

“Maybe our red hair helped some,” said Firefly, “for pretty soon they all three turned and ran grunting off through the woods.”

“And then,” said Firetop, “we thought we’d come back by the tree path. We went out on the limb of the chestnut as far as we could go, and swung into the big oak tree that stood