Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-01

| that the earth shook.
And Korak built me a lair high among
| the branches of mighty tree. He brought
me fruits and flesh. He fought for me and
| was kind to me--until came to Bwana
| and My Dear do not recall that any other
than Korak was ever kind to me-
There was wIstful note in the girls
voice now, and she had forgotten that she
| was bantering the Hon Morrison. She was
thinking OF Korak. She had not though OF
him a great deal Of late.
| For a time both were silently absorbed
| In their own reflections as they rode on
toward the bungalow Of their host The
| girl was thinking Of a godlike figure,
| leopard skin half concealing his smooth
/ brown hide as he leaped nimbly through
| the trees to lay an Offering of food before
her on his return from a successful hunt.
Behind him, shaggy and powerful swung
hugh anthropoid ape, while She Meriem,
| laughing and shouting her welcome, swung
upon a swaying limb before the entrance
| to her sylvan bower.
It was pretty picture as She recalled It.
| The other side seldom obtruded itself upon
| her memory-the long, black nights-the
| chill, terrible Jungle nghts-the cold and
damp and discomfort of the rainy season
the hldeous mouthings Of the savage car
nivora as they prowled through the Stygian
/ darkness beneath-thc constant menace of
| Sheeta the panther, and Hista, the snake
| the singing insects--the loathsome vermin.
IL
| by the happiness of the sunny days, the
| freedom of It all, and, most, the companion
ship of Korak.
The mans thoughts were rather jun
| bled He had suddenly realized that he had
| come nightly near falling In love with this
| girl of whom he had known nothing up to
| the previous moment when she had volun-
| tarily revealed n portion of her past to him.
| The more he thought upon the matter the
more evident 1t became to him that he had
| given her his love-that he had been upon
| the verge of Offering her his honorable
name
He trembled little at the narrowness of
! his escape Yet he still loved her. There
was no objection to that according to the
| ethics of the Hon. Morrison Baynes and his
kind. She was of meaner clay than he.
| He could no more have taken her in mar
riage than he could have taken one of her
baboon friends. nor would she, of course.
expect such an offer from him. To have
| his love would be sufficient honor for her
| his name he would, naturally bestow upon
one In his own elevated social sphere.
| A girl who had consorted with apes who.
according to her own admission had lived
| almost naked among them. could have no
| considerable sense of the fined qualities of
virtue The love that he would offer her,
| then, would, far from offending her, prob
| ably cover all that she might desire or
| expect.
| thought upon the subject the more fully
convinced he became that he was contem-
| plating most chivalrous and unselflsh act,
Europeans will better understand his point
of view than Amercans-poor, benighted
provincials, who are denied true apprecia-
tion of caste and of the fact that 'the King
can do no wrong"
He did not even have to argue the point
that she would be much happier amid the
luxuries of London apartment. fortified
as she would be by both his love and his
bank account than lawfully wed to such a
one as her social position warranted. There
was one question however, which he wished
to have definitely answered before he COM
mtted himself even to the program he was
considering.
''who were Korak and A'ht7" he asked
"A'ht was a Mangani" replied Meriem
"and Korak a Tarmangani."
"And what, pray, might Mansani be.
and Tarmangani?"
The girl laughed.
"You are Tarmangani" she replied
THE Mangani are covered with hair-you
would call them apes"
Then Korak was white MANI" he
asked.
yes"
"And he was-ah--your-er--yo He
paused, for he found It rather difficult to
go on with that line of questioning while
the girls clear, beautiful eyes were looking
straight into his.
my what?" insisted Meriem, far too un-
sophisticated in her unspolled innocence to
guess what the Hon. Morrison was driving
at.
''why-ah-your brother?" he stumbled.
mo, Korak was not my brother" she
replied.
was he your husband, then7" he finally
blurted.
my husband !" she cried. why how old
do you think am? I am too young to
have husband. I had never thought of
such a thing. Korak was-why-" and
now she hesitated, tooi for she never be-
fore had attempted to analyze the relation
ship between herself and Korak. why,
Korak was just Korak," and again she
broke into gay laugh, as she realized the
illuminating quality of her description.
Looking at her and listening to her. the
man beside her could not believe that de-
pravity OF any sort or degree entered into
the girls nature. yet he wanted to believe
that she had not been virtuous, for the Hon.
Morrison was not entirely without con-
science.
For several days the Hon Morrison made
no appreclable progress toward the con-
summation of his scheme. Sometimes he
almost abandoned It, for he found himself
time and again wondering how slight might
be the provocation necessary to trick him
into making a bona fde offer OF marriage
to Meriem. II he permitted himself to fall
more deeply in love with her. and It was
difficult to see her daily and not love her
There was a quality about her which, all
unknown to the Hon Morrison, was making
his task an extremely difficult one--it was
that quality of Innate goodness and clean
ness which is good girls stoutest bull
wark and protection-an impregnable bar
rIer that only degeneracy has the anrrontery
TO assail.
CONTINUED TOMORROW