Part 15 (2/2)
Meriem paused in the branches of a near-by tree and scanned the surrounding clearing with quick, penetrating eyes Where was the hunter? Bwana and his people did not hunt thus Who could have tethered this poor little beast as a lure to Numa? Bwana never countenanced such acts in his country and his as law a those who hunted within a radius of es, doubtless, thought Meriem; but where were they? Not even her keen eyes could discover the upon this delicious and defenseless morsel? That he was close by was attested by the pitiful crying of the kid Ah! Now she saw hi close in a cluht The kid was doind fro scent, which did not reach Merie where the trees approached closer to the kid To leap quickly to the little animal's side and cut the tether that held hiht charge, and then there would be scarce tiht be done Meriem had escaped from closer quarters than that ave her momentary pause was caused by fear of the unseen hunters er blacks the spears that they held in readiness for Nuht as readily be loosed upon whoht thus to trap Again the kid struggled to be free Again his piteous wail touched the tender heart strings of the girl Tossing discretion aside, she co Only from Numa did she attempt to conceal her presence At last she reached the opposite trees An instant she paused to look toward the great lion, and at the saht A low roar betokened that he was ready
Merieround A quick run brought her to the side of the kid Nuainst his tawny sides He roared terribly; but, for an instant, he remained where he stood-surprised into inaction, doubtless, by the strange apparition that had sprung so unexpectedly frole
Other eyes were upon Meriem, too-eyes in which were no less surprise than that reflected in the yellow-green orbs of the carnivore A white irl leaped into the clearing and dashed toward the kid He saw Numa hesitate He raised his rifle and covered the beast's breast The girl reached the kid's side Her knife flashed, and the little prisoner was free With a parting bleat it dashed off into the jungle Then the girl turned to retreat toward the safety of the tree from which she had dropped so suddenly and unexpectedly into the surprised view of the lion, the kid and the irl's face was turned toward the hunter His eyes ide as he saw her features He gave a little gasp of surprise; but now the lion de His breast was still covered by the motionless rifle The e at once; but for soirl's face, he hesitated Could it be that he did not care to save her? Or, did he prefer, if possible, to remain unseen by her? It er of the steady hand froreat beast to at least a tele theA second or twoevent consue Nor once did the rifle sights fail to cover the broad breast of the tawny sire as the lion's course took him a little to the man's left Once, at the very last htened ever so little upon the trigger, but al branch and seized it The lion leaped too; but the ni herself beyond his reach without a second or an inch to spare
The h of relief as he lowered his rifle He saw the girl fling a gri, , speed away into the forest For an hour the lion remained about the water hole A hundred tied his prey Why did he fail to do so? Was he afraid that the shot irl and cause her to return?
At last Nule The hunter crawled fro a little careeted his return with sullen indifference He was a great bearded iant, when he entered his tent Half an hour later he eed smooth shaven
His blacks looked at him in astonishment
”Would you know me?” he asked
”The hyena that bore you would not know you, Bwana,” replied one
Theexperience in dodging similar blows saved the presumptuous one
Chapter 17
Meriem returned slowly toward the tree in which she had left her skirt, her shoes and her stockings She was singing blithely; but her song caht of the tree, for there, disporting thes, were a nuns of terror Instead they bared their fangs and growled at her What was there to fear in a single she-Tar
In the open plain beyond the forest the hunters were returning fro to raise a wandering lion on the homeward journey across the plain The Hon Morison Baynes rode closest to the forest As his eyes wandered back and forth across the undulating, shrub sprinkled ground they fell upon the forle where it tere
He reined his mount in the direction of his discovery It was yet too far away for his untrained eyes to recognize it; but as he came closer he saw that it was a horse, and was about to resuht that he discerned a saddle upon the beast's back He rode a little closer Yes, the animal was saddled The Hon Morison approached yet nearer, and as he did so his eyes expressed a pleasurable enized the pony as the special favorite of Meriealloped to the animal's side Meriem must be within the wood The irl alone in the jungle that was still, to hi death He dismounted and left his horse beside Meriele He knew that she was probably safe enough and he wished to surprise her by coone but a short distance into the hen he heard a great jabbering in a near-by tree Co Looking intently he saw that one of the skirt and that others had boots and stockings His heart almost ceased to beat as he quite naturally placed the most direful explanation upon the scene The baboons had killed Merie from her body Morison shuddered
He was about to call aloud in the hope that after all the girl still lived when he saw her in a tree close beside that was occupied by the baboons, and now he saw that they were snarling and jabbering at her To his a, ape-like, into the tree below the huge beasts He saw her pause upon a branch a few feet from the nearest baboon He was about to raise his rifle and put a bullet through the hideous creature that seeirl speak He al, identical with that of the apes, broke fro and listened It was quite evident that they were as much surprised as the Hon Morison Baynes Slowly and one by one they approached the girl She gave not the slightest evidence of fear of them They quite surrounded her now so that Baynes could not have fired without endangering the girl's life; but he no longer desired to fire He was consuirl carried on what could be nothing less than a conversation with the baboons, and then with see alacrity every article of her apparel in their possession was handed over to her The baboons still crowded eagerly about her as she donned them They chattered to her and she chattered back The Hon Morison Baynes sat down at the foot of a tree andbrow Then he rose and ed from the forest a few minutes later she found him there, and he eyed her ide eyes in which were both wonder and a sort of terror
”I saw your horse here,” he explained, ”and thought that I would wait and ride home with you-you do not mind?”
”Of course not,” she replied ”It will be lovely”
As they made their way stirrup to stirrup across the plain the Hon Morison caught hiular profile and wondering if his eyes had deceived him or if, in truth, he really had seen this lovely creature consorting with grotesque baboons and conversing with the was uncanny-impossible; yet he had seen it with his own eyes