Seligor's Castle, where there is so much fun for all of our children in the land. : Blogs

Seligor's Castle, where there is so much fun for all of our children in the land. : Blogs

SELIGOR'S CASTLE

 
THE FIRST AXE

    Outside the cave the world was a blaze of white and green. From where he was sat in the shadow of the over-hanging rock Mo-ha could see a brilliant green and yellow lizard flashing out and in among the flints and stones that lay some little distance from the cave. 
  It was midday, and the  Sun burned high up in the heavens, pouring heat upon the Earth with a fierceness that drove all living things to seek shelter in the shadow of rock or tree. It was the early days of the world, when men lived in caves and trees, before speech as it is now known to us had been invented, and there were no adjectives and adverbs to worry the brains of little boys and girls.  
Speech at this time consisted almost entirely of nouns, names of things and people, so that when Mo-ha said "Food" he really meant "Is my dinner ready please?" so you see the people then used one word instead of many, after all that's what we do when we text today. You would probably have wondered at Mo-ha and his look, for although he was almost twelve he was the size of a nine year old, he was covered in short, fine hair, the face, hands, and inside of the arms being the only parts of his body entirely free; his eyes were smal, deeply sunk and set close together; his nose was flat and broad, with only the merest suggestion of a bridge; his ears large and slightly pointed at the top. But, so small Mo-ha was much stronger than one would think to look at his thin legs and arms. He could leap farther and run faster than most men can nowadays. He could climb and run from tree to tree through the grest forests that existed then almost as fast you or I could walk along a country road. He could hang from his toes from the branch of a tree for ages and shin up the face of a rock like a lightening flash. 
    Behind Mo-ha, half asleep and half awake, lay Nee-na , Mo-ha's little sister, a year younger than Mo-ha himself. From time to time her eyes, which were large and very intelligent in their expression, would open and shut like a cat's, as she watched her brother. There was no change, however, in Mo-ha's attitude, and at last Nee-na raised herself from the cool earth and placed her hand upon the boy's shoulder, and though she used only one word, she was probably asking him what he was thinking?

      Mo-ha made no answer, but, picking up a straight, sharp stick that lay close beside him, he flung it at the lizard, and Nee-na laughed and rubbed her hairy little toes together with delight.   The Sun had fallen down the sky for some time  - and it would be about four o'clock in the afternoon  when Mo-ha accompanied by Nee-na, left the coolness of the cave and walked to where the stick he had thrown still remained, apparently stuck in the ground.     
  When Mo-ha lifted the stick he was greatly surprised to see a stone, a flint sticking on the end of it. Somehow the end of the stick had opened and the stone was wedged in the top, at that moment Mo-ha hadn't realised what he had made, quite by accident but, then, that is quite how many a tool has come into being. Immediately Mo-ha picked it up and without any more ado he swung it round his head a few times and bought it down, hard on a fallen log. They both jumped as the flint hit the log and cut into it like it was a rotten.

      Mo-ha was delighted with his new, hmm! axe, and carried it proudly as he and Nee-na  made there way to the spring to drink some water before settling down to sleep for the night hours.      
    They were half way to the spring, Mo-ha slightly in front when Nee-na, who sensed danger quicker than her brother stopped suddenly with a warning hiss. A heavy musk like odour met Mo-ha's nostrils seconds later and quickly he sprang to the nearest tree and climbed hastily up to the topper-most branches, he moved that fast, it seemed he was being hauled up by a hidden rope. Nee- na was at the same time reaching the upper-most branches of a mighty palm like tree, which she was closest too when sensing danger.


   The next moment the Striped One, old Sabre-tooth the tiger, broke through the dense, fern-like underbrush, and stood immediately below the tree in which Nee-na cowered in complete terror.