Burr took some of the little threads and twisted them together and made
a good strong thread for sewing.

One day she sat before the door of her cave sewing together skins of
wild oxen.

[Illustration: Sewing together skins of wild oxen]

"What is the big skin for, mother?" asked Pineknot, who ran up.

"To lay on sticks above our door," said Burr. "Then, even when it
rains, we can sit outside."

"Oh, that will be fine!" said the boy.

Burr went on with her sewing. She made holes along the edge of the
skins with a sharp stone. Then she threaded her needle. She put it
through a hole in each of the skins and pulled it tight. She worked on
in this way and sewed the skins together.

"Where did you get the needle, mother?" Pineknot asked next, looking at
it closely.

"I made it," said Burr. "When your father brings birds or deer from
the hunt, I sometimes take a little bone from the leg of a deer or the
wing of a bird. This I put in the cave to dry. When it is dry, I rub
it smooth with sandstone. Then I must have a hole in one end to carry
the thread. I take a sharp stone and turn it round and round on the
little bone, pressing down. It is not hard work. In that way I make a
smooth hole in my needle."