The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1917-11-16
CHAPTER XXI.
A Lion and a Lamb.

CHAPTER XXI.
A Lion and a Lamb.
To Meriem, in her new home, tn,
days passed quickly. At first She
was all anxiety to be off into the jun
gle searching for her Korak.
Bwana, as she insisted upon call
ing her benefactor, dissuaded her from
making the attempt at once by dis
patching head man with q party OF
blacks to Kovudoo's village, with in
structiOns to learn from the old say.
age how he came into possession OF
the white girl and as much Of her
antecedents as might be culled from
the black chieftaiR. Bwana particular
| ly charged his head man with the duty
of questioning kOvudOo relative to the
strange character whom the girl called
korak and of searching for the ape
man if he found the slightest evidence
upon which to ground a belief in the
existence of such an individual.
The white mans wife, whom Meri-
EN- had christened "My Dear" from
! having first heard her thus addressed
by Bwana, took not only deep inter-
est in the little jungle waif because Of
her fOrlorn and friendless state, but
grew to love her as well for her sunny
disposition e. lSnatural charm Of tenn
permanent. And Meriem, similarly i'm
pressed by like attributes in the gentle,
cultured woman, reciprocated the 9TH
er's regard and affection.
And SO the days flew by while Me-
riem waited the return of the head
man and his party from the country
Of Kovudoo. They were short days, for
into them were crowded many hours
of insidious instruction of the inlet
tered child by the lonely woman.
She commenced at once to teach the
girl English without forcing it upon
her as task. She varied the instruc-
ton with lessons in sewing and de-
pertinent, nor once did she let Meriem
guess that it was not all play. Nor
was this difficult, since the girl was
avid to learn.
Then there were pretty dresses to 10
made to take the place Of the single
leopard skin. and in this she found the
child as responsive and enthusiastic as
any civilized miss Of her acquaintance.
A month passed before the head man
returned, month that had transform
ed the savage. little. half-naked Man
gani into daintily frOcked girl Of at
least outward civilization. Meriem had
progressed rapidly with the intricacies
Of the English language. for Ewana
and Ny Dear persistently refused to
speak Arabic from the time they had
decided that Meriem must learn Eng
lish, which had been day OF two after
her introduction into their home
But, dOcile as Meriem was in these
matters, there was one thing that she
insisted on during her entire stay with
the kind white folk. and that was her
personal freedom to make excursions
into the jungle, attired very much as
she had been when with KOrak. when
ever she chose. Bwana and My Dear
got used In time to finding her room
empty and to have her turn up hours
later. flushed and radiant, after wild
romp through the trees and jungle.
Thus 1t was that, despite the civiliz-
ed boots she wore and the combining
feminine garb. the soles of her hard
little feet and the palms Of her capa-
bic hands remained exceedingly serv-
iceable, nor did her grace and agility
suffer.
/. The report Of the head man plunged
Neriem into q period Of dependency.
for he had found the village Of Kovu-
doc deserted. nor. search as he would,
could he discover q single native any.
where in the vicinity. For some time
he had camped near the village, spend
Ing the days In a systematic search Of
the environs for traces Of Merlesu's
Kofak. But in this quest. too. he had
failed. He had seen neither apes nor
ape man.
Meriem at first insisted upon setting
forth herself in search of Korak. but
Bwana prevailed upon her to wait. He
would 60, he'assured her, as soon as
ne could find the time. and at last Me-
riem consented to abide by his wishes.
But 1t was months before she ceased
to mourn almost hourly for her Korak.
1t was about this time that a runner
brought a letter that, when she learn
ed the contents, filed Meriem with
excitement. Visitors We're coming! A
number Of English ladies and gentle
men had accepted My Bears invita-
ton to spend a month Of hunting and
exploring with them.
Meriem was all expectancy. What
would these strangers be like? Would
they be as nice to her as had Bwana
and My Dear, or would they be like
the other white folk she had known
cruel and relentless? My Dear assured
her that they all were gentlefolk and
that she would find them kind, consid-
crate and honorable,
At last the visitors arrived. There
were three men and two women-the |