Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-02-09
CHAPTER XII.
a Lion and a Lamb.

To Meriem, in her new home. the
days passed quickly. At nrst she
was all anxiety to be off into the Jun
Gle searching for her Korak.
Bwana. as she insisted upon cali
inc her benefactor. dissuaded her from
making the attempt at once By dis
patching head man with a party Of
blacks to Kovudoos village. with In
struc;!cns 10 learn from the old saw
age how he came into possession Of
the white girl and as much Of her
antecedents as might be culled from
the black chieftain. 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 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 forIorn and friendless state, but
grew to love her as well for her sunny
disposition and natural charm of tenn
permanent. And Meriem, similarly i'm
pressed by like attributes in the gentle.
cultured woman. reciprocated the 9TH
ers 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 1t upon
her as task. She varied the instruc-
ton with lessons in sewing and de-
pertinent. nor once did she let Meriem
guess that 1t was not all play. Nor
was this difficult, since the girl was
AVID to learn.
Then there were pretty dresses to be
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 al
least outward civilization Meriem haG
progressed rapidly with the intricaciet
Of the English language, for Bwant
and My Dear persistently refused u
speak Arabic from the time they hat
decided that Meriem must learn Eng
fish, which had been day or two aftel
her introduction into their home.
But. docile as Meriem was these
matters. there was one thing that sht
insisted on during her entire stay Will
the kind white folk, and that was hel
personal freedom to make excursions
into the jungle, attired very much az
she had been when with Korak, whe1
ever she chose. Bwana and My Deal
got used in time to finding her room
empty and to have her turn up hours
later, flushed and radiant, after a wilt
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 hare
little feet and the palms Of her capa
bic hands remained exceedingly serv
iceable, nor did her grace and agilit,
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 tim
he had canped near the village, spend
ing the days in systematic search @
The environs for traces of Meriem'
korak. But in this quest, TOO he ha
failed. He had seen neither apes no
ape man.
Meriem nj first insisted upon settin
forth herself in search of Korak, bu
Bwana prevailed upon her to wait. Fl
would go. he assured her, rs soon a
he could find the time. and at last Me
riem consented TO abide by his wishes
But it was months before she cease
to mourn almost hourly for her Koral
II was about this time that rune
brought a letter that, when she learr
ed the contents, filled Meriem wit
excitement. Visitors were coming.
number of English ladies and gentle
men had accepted My Bears invita