Part 9 (1/2)
”Cliani in our jungle are Korak and Akut It is they you have seen returning from the hunt Some day you will see your own shadow, little Manu, and then you will be frightened to death”
But themore lustily before he raced upward toward the safety of the high terrace where Mangani, the great ape, could not follow Presently Merieh the trees She listened attentively There were two and they were great apes-Korak and Akut To her Korak was an ape-a Mangani, for as such the three always described themselves Man was an eneer to the sareat white ape, which described the white reat black ape, or Negro-described none of theani
Merien slumber and play a joke on Korak So she lay very still with eyes tightly closed She heard the two approaching closer and closer They were in the adjoining tree now and must have discovered her, for they had halted Why were they so quiet? Why did not Korak call out his custo? The quietness was ominous It was followed presently by a very stealthy sound-one of the a joke upon his own account? Well, she would fool him Cautiously she opened her eyes the tiniest bit, and as she did so her heart stood still Creeping silently toward her was a huge bull ape that she never before had seen Behind hiility of a squirrel Meriereat bull lunged for her Leaping frole while close behind her ca, chattering ani, and encourage Merie ever upward toward the sht of her pursuers Faster and faster caers of the foreain, but she eluded them by sudden bursts of speed or reckless chances as she threw herself across dizzy spaces
Slowly she was gaining her way to the greater heights where safety lay, when, after a particularly daring leap, the swaying branch she grasped bent low beneath her weight, nor whipped upward again as it should have done Even before the rending sound which followed Merieave slowly at first Then there was a ripping as it parted fro the foliage beneath, clutching for a new support She found it a dozen feet below the broken limb She had fallen thus many times before, so that she had no particular terror of a fall-it was the delay which appalled her htly, for scarce had she scrae ape dropped at her side and a great, hairy arm went about her waist
Almost at once the other ape reached his coe at Merie fangs and growled oled to escape She struck at the hairy breast and bearded cheek She fastened her strong, white teeth in one shaggy forearm The ape cuffed her viciously across the face, then he had to turn his attention to his felloho quite evidently desired the prize for his own
The captor could not fight to advantage upon the swaying bough, burdened as he was by a squirround beneath The other followed hi their duel to pursue and recapture the girl who took every advantage of her captors' preoccupation in battle to break away in attempted escape; but always they overtook her, and first one and then the other possessed her as they struggled to tear one another to pieces for the prize
Often the girl came in for many blows that were intended for a hairy foe, and once she was felled, lying unconscious while the apes, relieved of the distraction of detaining her by force, tore into one another in fierce and terrible co hither and thither in a frenzy of hysterical excitement Back and forth over the battle field flew countless birds of gorgeous plue and defiance In the distance a lion roared
The larger bull was slowly tearing his antagonist to pieces They rolled upon the ground biting and striking Again, erect upon their hind legs they pulled and tugged like hus found their bloody part to play until both coore
Merieround At last one found a perular of the other and thus they went down for the last tile It was the larger bull who arose alone frorowl rumbled from his hairy throat He waddled back and forth between the body of the girl and that of his vanquished foe Then he stood upon the latter and gave tongue to his hideous challenge The littlenoise broke upon their ears The gorgeous birds took wing and fled Once again the lion roared, this tireat ape waddled once irl's side He turned her over upon her back, and stooping commenced to sniff and listen about her face and breast She lived TheThey came in swarms, and from above hurled down insults upon the victor
The ape showed his displeasure by baring his teeth and growling up at theirl to his shoulder waddled off through the jungle In his wake followed the angryfro of the excitedwas seriously amiss Histah, the snake, had doubtless coiled his slimy folds about some careless Manu The youth hastened ahead The monkeys were Meriem's friends He would help the the middle terrace In the tree by Meriem's shelter he deposited his trophies of the hunt and called aloud to her There was no answer He dropped quickly to a lower level She reat branch where Merieainst the tree's great bole What could it mean? Meriem had never left Geeka thus alone before Korak picked up the doll and tucked it in his belt He called again, more loudly; but no Merie of the excited Manus was growing less distinct
Could their excitement be in any way connected with Merieh Without waiting for Akut as co rapidly in the direction of the chattering mob But a few ht of hi doard ahead of theht of the cause of their rage
The youth's heart stood still in terror as he saw the lireat ape That she was dead he did not doubt, and in that instant there arose within hi which he did not try to interpret nor could have had he tried; but all at once the whole world seeraceful body, that frail little body, hanging so pitifully li shoulders of the brute
He knew then that little Merie had gone all light and warroan escaped his lips, and after that a series of hideous roars, more bestial than the beasts', as he dropped plummet-like in mad descent toward the perpetrator of this hideous crime
The bull ape turned at the first note of this new andvoice, and as he turned a new flae and hatred of The Killer, for he saw that the creature before hi ape which had driven hireat anthropoids to who the body of the girl to the ground the bull turned to battle anew for possession of his expensive prize; but this tinized Korak Had he not chased hi or paw upon hi for the sht to his prey
They ether tearing and striking Korak forgot his knife Rage and bloodlust such as his could be satisfied only by the feel of hot flesh between rending fangs, by the gush of new life blood against his bare skin, for, though he did not realize it, Korak, The Killer, was fighting for soreatanother male for a she of his own kind
So impetuous was the attack of the man-ape that he found his hold before the anthropoid could prevent hiular, and there he clung, with closed eyes, while his fingers sought another hold upon the shaggy throat
It was then that Merieht before her they ide
”Korak!” she cried ”Korak! My Korak! I knew that you would co eyes and heaving boso to her feet, ran to Korak's side to encourage hi it as he charged the ape The girl saw it and snatched it up No faintness overcame her in the face of this battle primeval at her feet For her there was no hysterical reaction from the nerve strain of her own personal encounter with the bull She was excited; but cool and entirely unafraid Her Korak was battling with another Mangani that would have stolen her; but she did not seek the safety of an overhanging bough there to watch the battle froani Instead she placed the point of Korak's spear against the bull ape's side and plunged the sharp point deep into the savage heart Korak had not needed her aid, for the great bull had been already as good as dead, with the blood gushi+ng fro with a word of approbation for his helper