Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-05-31
ne SONOF TARZAN

sarb, the soles Of her hard little feet and
the palms OF her capable hands remained
/ exceedingly serviceable nor did her grace
and agility suffer
Tne report of the headman plunged
meriem into a period OF despondency, for
% ne nsu round the village of Kovudoo de-
serted nor, search as he would, could he
discover single native anywhere in the
vicinity For some time he had canned
near the village, spending the days in a
systematic search of the envIrons for traces
OF Meriem.s Korak; but in this quest, too
nad ne failed. He had seen neither apes
nor apeman
Merlem at first insisted upon setting forth
herself in search of Korak but Bwana
prevailed upon her 10 wait. He would 20.
ne assured her. soon as he could find
tne time; and at last Meriem consented to
abide by his wishes. But Il was months
petore she ceased to mourn almost hourly
for her Korak
My Dear grieved with the grievinR girl
and did her best to comfort and cheer her.
She told her that IL Korak lived he would
md her but all the time she believed that
horak had never existed beyond the child's
Dreams
She planned amusements to distract Mer-
lems attention from her sorrow and she
instituted a wel-deslgned campaign to i'm
press upon the child the desirability of civ
lllzed life and customs. Nor was this diff
ficult, as she was soon to learn for It rap
IDLY became evident that beneath the un-
couth savagery of the girl was a bedrock
OF innate refnement-a rioety of taste and
prediction that quite equaled that Of her
instructor
My Dear was delighted She was lonely
and childless and so she lavished upon
this little stranger all the mother-love that
would have gone TO her own had she had
one. The result was that by the end of
fvl,t baxy hat
Meriem ever had existed beyond the lap
of culture and luxury-that Is, unless they
had CHANGED to see her ranging the jungle.
She was 16 now though she might easily
nave passed for 10 and she was very good
to look upon, with her black hair and her
tanned skin, and all the freshness and
purity of health and innocence.
Yet she still nursed her secret sorrow,
though she no longer mentioned It to My
Dear Scarce an hour passed that did not
bring its recollection of Korak and Its
poignant yearning to see him again.
Merlem spoke English fuently now and
read and wrote It as we'll. To French she
took like a duck to water, and My Dear
often marveled that she learned this Ian
guage with a facility that was at times
almost uncanny. During the first lessons
Meriem had puclered her narrow, arched
little eyebrows as though trying to force
recollection of something all but forgot
then, to her own astonshment as well as
to that of her teacher she had used other
French words than those in the lessons
used them properly and with pronuncla-
tion that the English woman knew was
more perfect than her own.
You doubtless heard French spoken at
times in your fathers douar," suggested
My Dear as the most reasonable explana-
tion.
Meriem shook her head.
1T may be-" she said but 1 do not re-
call ever having seen Frenchman in my
company-he hated them and
would have nothing whatever to do with
them, and l am quite sure that / never
heard any of these words before; yet at
the same time / find them all familiar I
understand it."
Neither can l." agreed My Dear.
1t was about this time that runner
brought n letter that. when she learned the
filled Meriem with excitement.
Visitors were coming A number of Eng
lish ladies and gentlemen had accepted My
Dear's invitation to spend a month of hunt
ng and exploring with them