The Cave Girl - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

Blueblooded mama's boy Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones is swept overboard during a south seas voyage for his lifelong ill health. He finds himself on a jungle island. His bookish education has not prepared him to cope with these surroundings, and he is a coward. He is terrified when he encounters primitive, violent men, ape-like throwbacks in mankind's evolutionary history. He runs from them, but when he reaches a dead end, he successfully makes a stand, astonishing himself. While keeping the hairy brutes at bay, he meets a beautiful girl, Nadara, also on the run. In an uncharacteristic gesture, he saves her from the grasp of one ape-man during their escape. He is shocked that she believes him a hero, mistaking his frightened screams for war cries. She calls him Thandar, meaning the brave one. She teaches him the language, how to swim, how to fish, and basic woodcraft, as he begins to realize that he doesn't know everything. However, Nadara warns him that a newcomer to her tribe must fight the strongest men, who have killed many. When they reach her home village, he is horrified to see that despite her appearance, her tribe seems to be cavemen from the paleolithic era, not much better than the first tribe. In order to avoid death at the hands of the tribal bullies, he vanishes.

As his jungle adventures continue, he finds that he is growing more healthy due to the constant physical demands of primitive living. Although he wants to go back to see Nadara, he recognizes that he will need more strength before he can make a difference. For six months he trains himself, and also makes some weapons. A modern ship stops at the island, but Waldo surprises himself by deciding to stay until he can ensure Nadara's safety. He gives the crew a letter for his mother and returns to the jungle.

Upon reaching Nadara's tribe's caves, he finds them empty, for they routinely move to new caves. He kills one of her oppressors, but then misses her on the trail. He finds the tribe's new home, and her father charges Waldo to give her a packet of her deceased mother's things. Waldo tracks and finds Nadara, and kills the brutal man chasing her. She is uninterested in the packet, discarding it unopened as she knows her tribal mother had no possessions. Then they spy a ship approaching the island. As he suddenly realizes he loves her, and how harshly society would treat her, the two of them agree to head for the hills. The ship's search party finds the packet Nadara carelessly discarded, and discovers that the contents identify a married noble couple from modern society, who disappeared on a voyage less than 20 years previously.