Chapter 10
As the leopard leaped for the great ape Meriem gasped in surprise andhorror--not for the impending fate of the anthropoid, but at the act ofthe youth who but an instant before had angrily struck his strangecompanion; for scarce had the carnivore burst into view than with drawnknife the youth had leaped far out above him, so that as Sheeta wasalmost in the act of sinking fangs and talons in Akut's broad back TheKiller landed full upon the leopard's shoulders.
The cat halted in mid air, missed the ape by but a hair's breadth, andwith horrid snarlings rolled over upon its back, clutching and clawingin an effort to reach and dislodge the antagonist biting at its neckand knifing it in the side.
Akut, startled by the sudden rush from his rear, and following hoaryinstinct, was in the tree beside the girl with an agility little shortof marvelous in so heavy a beast. But the moment that he turned to seewhat was going on below him brought him as quickly to the ground again.Personal differences were quickly forgotten in the danger which menacedhis human companion, nor was he a whit less eager to jeopardize his ownsafety in the service of his friend than Korak had been to succor him.
The result was that Sheeta presently found two ferocious creaturestearing him to ribbons. Shrieking, snarling and growling, the threerolled hither and thither among the underbrush, while with staring eyesthe sole spectator of the battle royal crouched trembling in the treeabove them hugging Geeka frantically to her breast.
It was the boy's knife which eventually decided the battle, and as thefierce feline shuddered convulsively and rolled over upon its side theyouth and the ape rose and faced one another across the prostratecarcass. Korak jerked his head in the direction of the little girl inthe tree.
"Leave her alone," he said; "she is mine."
Akut grunted, blinked his blood-shot eyes, and turned toward the bodyof Sheeta. Standing erect upon it he threw out his great chest, raisedhis face toward the heavens and gave voice to so horrid a scream thatonce again the little girl shuddered and shrank. It was the victorycry of the bull ape that has made a kill. The boy only looked on for amoment in silence; then he leaped into the tree again to the girl'sside. Akut presently rejoined them. For a few minutes he busiedhimself licking his wounds, then he wandered off to hunt his breakfast.
For many months the strange life of the three went on unmarked by anyunusual occurrences. At least without any occurrences that seemedunusual to the youth or the ape; but to the little girl it was aconstant nightmare of horrors for days and weeks, until she too becameaccustomed to gazing into the eyeless sockets of death and to the feelof the icy wind of his shroud-like mantle. Slowly she learned therudiments of the only common medium of thought exchange which hercompanions possessed--the language of the great apes. More quickly sheperfected herself in jungle craft, so that the time soon came when shewas an important factor in the chase, watching while the others slept,or helping them to trace the spoor of whatever prey they might bestalking. Akut accepted her on a footing which bordered upon equalitywhen it was necessary for them to come into close contact; but for themost part he avoided her. The youth always was kind to her, and ifthere were many occasions upon which he felt the burden of her presencehe hid it from her. Finding that the night damp and chill caused herdiscomfort and even suffering, Korak constructed a tight little shelterhigh among the swaying branches of a giant tree. Here little Meriemslept in comparative warmth and safety, while The Killer and the apeperched upon near-by branches, the former always before the entrance tothe lofty domicile, where he best could guard its inmate from thedangers of arboreal enemies. They were too high to feel much fear ofSheeta; but there was always Histah, the snake, to strike terror toone's soul, and the great baboons who lived near-by, and who, whilenever attacking always bared their fangs and barked at any of the triowhen they passed near them.
After the construction of the shelter the activities of the threebecame localized. They ranged less widely, for there was always thenecessity of returning to their own tree at nightfall. A river flowednear by. Game and fruit were plentiful, as were fish also. Existencehad settled down to the daily humdrum of the wild--the search for foodand the sleeping upon full bellies. They looked no further ahead thantoday. If the youth thought of his past and of those who longed forhim in the distant metropolis it was in a detached and impersonal sortof way as though that other life belonged to another creature thanhimself. He had given up hope of returning to civilization, for sincehis various rebuffs at the hands of those to whom he had looked forfriendship he had wandered so far inland as to realize that he wascompletely lost in the mazes of the jungle.
Then, too, since the coming of Meriem he had found in her that onething which he had most missed before in his savage, jungle life--humancompanionship. In his friendship for her there was appreciable notrace of sex influence of which he was cognizant. They werefriends--companions--that was all. Both might have been boys, exceptfor the half tender and always masterful manifestation of theprotective instinct which was apparent in Korak's attitude.
The little girl idolized him as she might have idolized an indulgentbrother had she had one. Love was a thing unknown to either; but asthe youth neared manhood it was inevitable that it should come to himas it did to every other savage, jungle male.
As Meriem became proficient in their common language the pleasures oftheir companionship grew correspondingly, for now they could converseand aided by the mental powers of their human heritage they amplifiedthe restricted vocabulary of the apes until talking was transformedfrom a task into an enjoyable pastime. When Korak hunted, Meriemusually accompanied him, for she had learned the fine art of silence,when silence was desirable. She could pass through the branches of thegreat trees now with all the agility and stealth of The Killer himself.Great heights no longer appalled her. She swung from limb to limb, orshe raced through the mighty branches, surefooted, lithe, and fearless.Korak was very proud of her, and even old Akut grunted in approvalwhere before he had growled in contempt.
A distant village of blacks had furnished her with a mantle of fur andfeathers, with copper ornaments, and weapons, for Korak would notpermit her to go unarmed, or unversed in the use of the weapons hestole for her. A leather thong over one shoulder supported the everpresent Geeka who was still the recipient of her most sacredconfidences. A light spear and a long knife were her weapons ofoffense or defense. Her body, rounding into the fulness of an earlymaturity, followed the lines of a Greek goddess; but there thesimilarity ceased, for her face was beautiful.
As she grew more accustomed to the jungle and the ways of its wilddenizens fear left her. As time wore on she even hunted alone whenKorak and Akut were prowling at a great distance, as they weresometimes forced to do when game was scarce in their immediatevicinity. Upon these occasions she usually confined her endeavors tothe smaller animals though sometimes she brought down a deer, and onceeven Horta, the boar--a great tusker that even Sheeta might havethought twice before attacking.
In their stamping grounds in the jungle the three were familiarfigures. The little monkeys knew them well, often coming close tochatter and frolic about them. When Akut was by, the small folk kepttheir distance, but with Korak they were less shy and when both themales were gone they would come close to Meriem, tugging at herornaments or playing with Geeka, who was a never ending source ofamusement to them. The girl played with them and fed them, and whenshe was alone they helped her to pass the long hours until Korak'sreturn.
Nor were they worthless as friends. In the hunt they helped her locateher quarry. Often they would come racing through the trees to her sideto announce the near presence of antelope or giraffe, or with excitedwarnings of the proximity of Sheeta or Numa. Luscious, sun-kissedfruits which hung far out upon the frail bough of the jungle's wavingcrest were brought to her by these tiny, nimble allies. Sometimes theyplayed tricks upon her; but she was always kind and gentle with themand in their wild, half-human way they were kind to her andaffectionate. Their la
nguage being similar to that of the great apesMeriem could converse with them though the poverty of their vocabularyrendered these exchanges anything but feasts of reason. For familiarobjects they had names, as well as for those conditions which inducedpain or pleasure, joy, sorrow, or rage. These root words were sosimilar to those in use among the great anthropoids as to suggest thatthe language of the Manus was the mother tongue. At best it lentitself to but material and sordid exchange. Dreams, aspirations, hopes,the past, the future held no place in the conversation of Manu, themonkey. All was of the present--particularly of filling his belly andcatching lice.
Poor food was this to nourish the mental appetite of a girl just uponthe brink of womanhood. And so, finding Manu only amusing as anoccasional playfellow or pet, Meriem poured out her sweetest soulthoughts into the deaf ears of Geeka's ivory head. To Geeka she spokein Arabic, knowing that Geeka, being but a doll, could not understandthe language of Korak and Akut, and that the language of Korak and Akutbeing that of male apes contained nothing of interest to an Arab doll.
Geeka had undergone a transformation since her little mother had leftthe village of The Sheik. Her garmenture now reflected in miniaturethat of Meriem. A tiny bit of leopard skin covered her ratskin torsofrom shoulder to splinter knee. A band of braided grasses about herbrow held in place a few gaudy feathers from the parakeet, while otherbits of grass were fashioned into imitations of arm and leg ornamentsof metal. Geeka was a perfect little savage; but at heart she wasunchanged, being the same omnivorous listener as of yore. An excellenttrait in Geeka was that she never interrupted in order to talk aboutherself. Today was no exception. She had been listening attentivelyto Meriem for an hour, propped against the bole of a tree while herlithe, young mistress stretched catlike and luxurious along a swayingbranch before her.
"Little Geeka," said Meriem, "our Korak has been gone for a long timetoday. We miss him, little Geeka, do we not? It is dull and lonesomein the great jungle when our Korak is away. What will he bring us thistime, eh? Another shining band of metal for Meriem's ankle? Or asoft, doeskin loin cloth from the body of a black she? He tells methat it is harder to get the possessions of the shes, for he will notkill them as he does the males, and they fight savagely when he leapsupon them to wrest their ornaments from them. Then come the males withspears and arrows and Korak takes to the trees. Sometimes he takes theshe with him and high among the branches divests her of the things hewishes to bring home to Meriem. He says that the blacks fear him now,and at first sight of him the women and children run shrieking to theirhuts; but he follows them within, and it is not often that he returnswithout arrows for himself and a present for Meriem. Korak is mightyamong the jungle people--our Korak, Geeka--no, MY Korak!"
Meriem's conversation was interrupted by the sudden plunge of anexcited little monkey that landed upon her shoulders in a flying leapfrom a neighboring tree.
"Climb!" he cried. "Climb! The Mangani are coming."
Meriem glanced lazily over her shoulder at the excited disturber of herpeace.
"Climb, yourself, little Manu," she said. "The only Mangani in ourjungle are Korak and Akut. It is they you have seen returning from thehunt. Some day you will see your own shadow, little Manu, and then youwill be frightened to death."
But the monkey only screamed his warning more lustily before he racedupward toward the safety of the high terrace where Mangani, the greatape, could not follow. Presently Meriem heard the sound of approachingbodies swinging through the trees. She listened attentively. Therewere two and they were great apes--Korak and Akut. To her Korak was anape--a Mangani, for as such the three always described themselves. Manwas an enemy, so they did not think of themselves as belonging anylonger to the same genus. Tarmangani, or great white ape, whichdescribed the white man in their language, did not fit them all.Gomangani--great black ape, or Negro--described none of them so theycalled themselves plain Mangani.
Meriem decided that she would feign slumber and play a joke on Korak.So she lay very still with eyes tightly closed. She heard the twoapproaching closer and closer. They were in the adjoining tree now andmust have discovered her, for they had halted. Why were they so quiet?Why did not Korak call out his customary greeting? The quietness wasominous. It was followed presently by a very stealthy sound--one ofthem was creeping upon her. Was Korak planning a joke upon his ownaccount? Well, she would fool him. Cautiously she opened her eyes thetiniest bit, and as she did so her heart stood still. Creepingsilently toward her was a huge bull ape that she never before had seen.Behind him was another like him.
With the agility of a squirrel Meriem was upon her feet and at the sameinstant the great bull lunged for her. Leaping from limb to limb thegirl fled through the jungle while close behind her came the two greatapes. Above them raced a bevy of screaming, chattering monkeys,hurling taunts and insults at the Mangani, and encouragement and adviceto the girl.
From tree to tree swung Meriem working ever upward toward the smallerbranches which would not bear the weight of her pursuers. Faster andfaster came the bull apes after her. The clutching fingers of theforemost were almost upon her again and again, but she eluded them bysudden bursts of speed or reckless chances as she threw herself acrossdizzy spaces.
Slowly she was gaining her way to the greater heights where safety lay,when, after a particularly daring leap, the swaying branch she graspedbent low beneath her weight, nor whipped upward again as it should havedone. Even before the rending sound which followed Meriem knew thatshe had misjudged the strength of the limb. It gave slowly at first.Then there was a ripping as it parted from the trunk. Releasing herhold Meriem dropped among the foliage beneath, clutching for a newsupport. She found it a dozen feet below the broken limb. She hadfallen thus many times before, so that she had no particular terror ofa fall--it was the delay which appalled her most, and rightly, forscarce had she scrambled to a place of safety than the body of the hugeape dropped at her side and a great, hairy arm went about her waist.
Almost at once the other ape reached his companion's side. He made alunge at Meriem; but her captor swung her to one side, bared hisfighting fangs and growled ominously. Meriem struggled to escape. Shestruck at the hairy breast and bearded cheek. She fastened her strong,white teeth in one shaggy forearm. The ape cuffed her viciously acrossthe face, then he had to turn his attention to his fellow who quiteevidently desired the prize for his own.
The captor could not fight to advantage upon the swaying bough,burdened as he was by a squirming, struggling captive, so he droppedquickly to the ground beneath. The other followed him, and here theyfought, occasionally abandoning their duel to pursue and recapture thegirl who took every advantage of her captors' preoccupation in battleto break away in attempted escape; but always they overtook her, andfirst one and then the other possessed her as they struggled to tearone another to pieces for the prize.
Often the girl came in for many blows that were intended for a hairyfoe, and once she was felled, lying unconscious while the apes,relieved of the distraction of detaining her by force, tore into oneanother in fierce and terrible combat.
Above them screamed the little monkeys, racing hither and thither in afrenzy of hysterical excitement. Back and forth over the battle fieldflew countless birds of gorgeous plumage, squawking their hoarse criesof rage and defiance. In the distance a lion roared.
The larger bull was slowly tearing his antagonist to pieces. Theyrolled upon the ground biting and striking. Again, erect upon theirhind legs they pulled and tugged like human wrestlers; but always thegiant fangs found their bloody part to play until both combatants andthe ground about them were red with gore.
Meriem, through it all, lay still and unconscious upon the ground. Atlast one found a permanent hold upon the jugular of the other and thusthey went down for the last time. For several minutes they lay withscarce a struggle. It was the larger bull who arose alone from thelast embrace. He shook himself. A deep growl rumbled from his hairyth
roat. He waddled back and forth between the body of the girl andthat of his vanquished foe. Then he stood upon the latter and gavetongue to his hideous challenge. The little monkeys broke, screaming,in all directions as the terrifying noise broke upon their ears. Thegorgeous birds took wing and fled. Once again the lion roared, thistime at a greater distance.
The great ape waddled once more to the girl's side. He turned her overupon her back, and stooping commenced to sniff and listen about herface and breast. She lived. The monkeys were returning. They came inswarms, and from above hurled down insults upon the victor.
The ape showed his displeasure by baring his teeth and growling up atthem. Then he stooped and lifting the girl to his shoulder waddled offthrough the jungle. In his wake followed the angry mob.