Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-11-02

could prevail upon Them to remain
longer in this country. They would
not even return to the village for their
belongings Instead they insisted upon
continuing their fight until they had
put many miles between themselves
and the stamping ground Of the white
demon whose hordes had so bitterly
attacked them.
And thus it befel that Korak drove
from their homes the only people who
might have aide! him in search for
iMeriem and cut off The only .conpect-
ing hirk between MIN and Slier from
.,whoplsoever might come in search of
him from the douar of the kindly Bwa-
IA who had befriended his little jungle
4 Sweetheart. y = q . s*@s A7*3 .
II was a~our and ,ss~~s--lse~wk- WV,
,hliss., farewell TO his ,babo9p allies ppQp
the fOlfoW1ng morning. They "Wr1shSsif1I
him 10 accompany them, but the ape
man had no heart for society. Jungle
life had encouraged taciturnity in him
His sorrow had deepened this to sui.
len moroseness that could not brook
even the savage companionship Of the
ill-natnred balloons.
Bcooding and Respondent, he took
MS solitary way into the deepest jun.
gle. He moved along the ground when
he knew that Numa was abroad and
hungry. He took to the same trees
mat harbored Sheeta. the panther. He
courted death in hundred ways and
hundred forms. His mind was ever
occupied with "reminiscences of Meri-
EN- and the happy years that they had
spent together
He realized now to the full what she
had meant to him. The sweet face,
the tanned, supple little body, the
bright smile that always had welcomed
his return from the hunt haunted him
continually.
lnnctl0n soon threatened him with
ma,lness. He must be on the 90. He
cltement that he might forget-that
night might find him so exhausted that
he should sleep in blessed unconscious.
ness of his misery until a new day had
come.
HAD he guessed that by any posi-
blllty Meriem might still live he would
hux hnL IL,
could have been devoted to searching
for her, but he believed implicitly that
she was dead.
For long year he led his solitary.
roaming life. Occasionally he fell in
with Akut and bis tribe, hunting with
them for day or two, or he might
travel to the hill country, where the
balloons had come to accept him as a
matter of course. But most of all was
he with Tantor, the elephant-that
great gray battleship Of the Jungle,
the superdreadnaught of his savage
world.
The peaceful quiet of the monster
bulls. the watchful solcitude of the
mother cows. the awkward playfulness
of the calves, rested, Interested and
amused Korak. The life of the huge
beast took his mind temporarily from
his own grief. He came to love them
as he loved not even the great upes.
and there was one gigantic tuskef in
particular of which he was very fond
the lord of the herd, Il savage beast
that was wont to charge Il stranger
upon the slightest provocatIon or upon
no provocaton whatsoever.
And TO Korak this mountain of de-
struction was as docile and affections.
ate as lapdog.
He came when korak called. He
wound his trunk about the ape mans
body and lifted him to his broad neck
In response to Il gesture, and there
would korak lie at full length kick
Ing his toes affectionately into the
thick hide and brushing the flies from
about the tender ears of his colossal
chnm with Il leafy branch torn by
Tantor FROM nearby tree.
And all the while Meriem was scarce
II hundred miles away.
CHAPTER XII.
A Lion and a Lamb.
la. 4.