The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1917-12-27

aginary blade into her breast above
her heart.
Korak understood. The old man
would kill her.
The girl came to his side again and
stood there trembling. She did not
fear him. Why should shef He had
saved her from a terrible beating at
the hands of the sheik. Never In her
memor had another so befriended her.
She looked up into his face. 1t was a
boyish, handsome face, tut brown like
her WI. She admired the spotted
leopard skin that circled his 1.-THE body
from one shoulder to his knees.
And Korak looked at the girl. He
had always held girls in a species OF
contempt. Boys who associated with
them were. in his estimation, molly
coddles. lie wondered what he should
do.
He stood for several minutes buried
In thought. The girl watched ms lace,
wondering what was passing III NIB
mind. She, too, was thinking OF n
future.
She feared to remain n suffer n
vengeance Of the sheik. There was no
one in all the world to whom she
might turn other than this half naked
stranger who had dropped Miraculous
" from the clouds to save her from
one of the sheik'S accustomed peat
iEgs. Would her new friend leave her
now? Wistfully she gazed mt his In
tent face. She moved n little closer 10
him, laying IA slim, brown hand upon
his arm.
The contact awakened the lad from
his absorption. He looked down at
her. and then his arm went about her
shoulders once more, for he saw tears
upon her lashes.
Come" he said, "the jungle Is kind
err than man. You shall live In the
Jungle, and Korak ard Akut will pro-
tect YOU"
She did not understand his words,
but the pressure of his arm drawing
her away from the PROSTATE Arab and
the tents was quite intelligible. one
little arm crept about his waist, and
together they walked toward the pail.
SADIE.
Beifeath the great tree that had har.
bored Korak while he watched the girl
at play he lifted her In his arms and,
throwing her lightly across his shoul'
ders, lcnped nimbly into the lower
branches.
And so Meriem entered the jungle
with KOrak, trusting, In her childish
innocence, the stranger who had be-
friended her and perhaps influenced In
her belief In him by that strange In
tuitive power possessed by III
The two had one but n short dis
lance from the village when the girl
spied the huge proportions OF the great
Akut. With IA half stifled scream she
chung more closely to korak and point
ed fearfully toward the ape
Akut, thinking that the Killer was
returning with a prisoner, came grOwl.
Ing toward them. A little girl aroused
no more sympathy in the beasts heart
than would IL full grown bull ape. She
WAS "A stranger and therefore to be
killed. He barred his yellow fangs as
he approached, and to his surprise the
Killer barred his likewise, but he barred
them AT Akut and snarled menacingly
"Ah," thought Akut, the Killer has
taken q mate! And so, Obedient ia
the tribal laws of his kind, he left
them alone. become suddenly absorbee
r n fuzzy caterpillar OF peculiarly
s%ucculeht appearance.
The larVa disposed of, he glanced
from the corner of an eye at Korak.
The youth had deposited his burden
upon Il large limb, where she chung
desperately to keep from falling.
"She will accompany US" said kO-
rak to Akut, jerking a thumb in the
direction Of the girl. "DO not harm
her. We will protect her"
Akut shrugged. TO be burdened by
the young of man was In no way to
his liking. He could see from her evil
lent fright at her position on the
branch and from the terrified glanceS
she cast in his direction that she was
hOpelessly unfit.
BY all the ethics of Akut's training
and inheritance the unfit should be
eliminated, but If the Killer wished
this she there was nothing to be done
about it but to tolerate her.
Mcriem spent an evening and a night
Of unmitigated terror.
fTn pr rnNrTNIrEDN