The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-01-17
CHAPTER XII.
A Lion and a Lamb.

$500 ~~''o
To Meriem, In her new home, the
days passed quickly. At first she
was all anxiety to be off into the jun
gle searching for her Korak.
BWana, rs she insisted upon call
ing her b%enefactor dissuaded her from
making the attempt at once by dis
patching a head mar with a party Of
blacks to Kovudoo's village, with in
structionS to learn from the old saw
age how he anne into possession Of
the white girl and as much of her
antecedents as might be culled from
ly charged his head man with the duty
Of questioning kovudoo relative to the
strange character whom the girl called
Korak and of seayching for the ape
a 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-
em he'd christened "Ay Dear from
having first heard her thus addressed
by Bwana, took not only q 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 and natural charm of tenn
permanent. And Mcriem, similarly i'm
pressed by like attributes in the gentle.
cultured woman, r~eciprocated the 9th
er's regard and affection.
And SO the days flew by while Me-
-,,.N ,HA;tAl ,I, An. 80 a., I-.I
man and his party from the COUNTRY
of Kovudoo. They We're short days, for
into them We're crowded many hours
Of insidious instruction of the inlet
tered child by the lonely woman.
She commenced ut once to teach the
girl English without forcing it upon
her as a 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.
Ihen there were pretty dresses to be
made 10 take the place of the single
leopard ska, and in this she found the
child as responsive and enthusiastic as
any civilized miss of her acquaintance.
A month passed hefore the head man
returned, a month that had transform
ed the savage. little. half-naked Man
GAM into a daintily frocked girl of at
least outward civilization. Meriem had
progressed rapidly with the intricacies
OF the English language, for Bwana
AnI NV I)nnr lnrsistnnt1r pnfircn1 tn
speak Arabic from the time they had
decided that Meriem must learn Eng
lish, which had been q day or 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
n 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 Il wild
romp through the trees and jungle.
Thus it 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-
Bile hands remained exceedingly serv-
iceable, nor did her grace and agility
suffer.
The report of the head man plunged
Meriem into a period OF dependency.
for he had found the village of Kovu-
doc deserted, nor, search as he would,
could he discover a single native any
where in the vicinity. For some time
he had camped near the village. spend
ing the days in n systematic search Of
the environs for traces of Meriem's
Korak. But in this quest, too, he had
failed. He had seen neither apes nor
ape Il
Meriem at first insisted upon setting
forth herself in search Of Korak, but
Bwana prevailed upon her to wait. He
would go, he'aSsured her. as soon as
he could find the time. and ut last Me-
riem consented TO abide by his wishes.
But it was months before she ceased
to mourn almost hourly for her Korak.
It was about this time that a runner
brought a letter that, when she learn
ed the contents, filled Meriem with
excitement. Visitors were coming! A
number Of English ladies and gentle.