Chapter 13
Meriem, again bound and under heavy guard in Kovudoo's own hut, saw thenight pass and the new day come without bringing the momentarily lookedfor return of Korak. She had no doubt but that he would come back andless still that he would easily free her from her captivity. To herKorak was little short of omnipotent. He embodied for her all that wasfinest and strongest and best in her savage world. She gloried in hisprowess and worshipped him for the tender thoughtfulness that alwayshad marked his treatment of her. No other within the ken of her memoryhad ever accorded her the love and gentleness that was his dailyoffering to her. Most of the gentler attributes of his early childhoodhad long since been forgotten in the fierce battle for existence whichthe customs of the mysterious jungle had forced upon him. He was moreoften savage and bloodthirsty than tender and kindly. His otherfriends of the wild looked for no gentle tokens of his affection. Thathe would hunt with them and fight for them was sufficient. If hegrowled and showed his fighting fangs when they trespassed upon hisinalienable rights to the fruits of his kills they felt no anger towardhim--only greater respect for the efficient and the fit--for him whocould not only kill but protect the flesh of his kill.
But toward Meriem he always had shown more of his human side. Hekilled primarily for her. It was to the feet of Meriem that he broughtthe fruits of his labors. It was for Meriem more than for himself thathe squatted beside his flesh and growled ominously at whosoever daredsniff too closely to it. When he was cold in the dark days of rain, orthirsty in a prolonged drouth, his discomfort engendered first of allthoughts of Meriem's welfare--after she had been made warm, after herthirst had been slaked, then he turned to the affair of ministering tohis own wants.
The softest skins fell gracefully from the graceful shoulders of hisMeriem. The sweetest-scented grasses lined her bower where other soft,furry pelts made hers the downiest couch in all the jungle.
What wonder then that Meriem loved her Korak? But she loved him as alittle sister might love a big brother who was very good to her. Asyet she knew naught of the love of a maid for a man.
So now as she lay waiting for him she dreamed of him and of all that hemeant to her. She compared him with The Sheik, her father, and atthought of the stern, grizzled, old Arab she shuddered. Even thesavage blacks had been less harsh to her than he. Not understandingtheir tongue she could not guess what purpose they had in keeping her aprisoner. She knew that man ate man, and she had expected to be eaten;but she had been with them for some time now and no harm had befallenher. She did not know that a runner had been dispatched to the distantvillage of The Sheik to barter with him for a ransom. She did notknow, nor did Kovudoo, that the runner had never reached hisdestination--that he had fallen in with the safari of Jenssen andMalbihn and with the talkativeness of a native to other natives hadunfolded his whole mission to the black servants of the two Swedes.These had not been long in retailing the matter to their masters, andthe result was that when the runner left their camp to continue hisjourney he had scarce passed from sight before there came the report ofa rifle and he rolled lifeless into the underbrush with a bullet in hisback.
A few moments later Malbihn strolled back into the encampment, where hewent to some pains to let it be known that he had had a shot at a finebuck and missed. The Swedes knew that their men hated them, and thatan overt act against Kovudoo would quickly be carried to the chief atthe first opportunity. Nor were they sufficiently strong in eitherguns or loyal followers to risk antagonizing the wily old chief.
Following this episode came the encounter with the baboons and thestrange, white savage who had allied himself with the beasts againstthe humans. Only by dint of masterful maneuvering and the expenditureof much power had the Swedes been able to repulse the infuriated apes,and even for hours afterward their camp was constantly besieged byhundreds of snarling, screaming devils.
The Swedes, rifles in hand, repelled numerous savage charges whichlacked only efficient leadership to have rendered them as effective inresults as they were terrifying in appearance. Time and time again thetwo men thought they saw the smooth-skinned body of the wild ape-manmoving among the baboons in the forest, and the belief that he mighthead a charge upon them proved most disquieting. They would have givenmuch for a clean shot at him, for to him they attributed the loss oftheir specimen and the ugly attitude of the baboons toward them.
"The fellow must be the same we fired on several years ago," saidMalbihn. "That time he was accompanied by a gorilla. Did you get agood look at him, Carl?"
"Yes," replied Jenssen. "He was not five paces from me when I fired athim. He appears to be an intelligent looking European--and not muchmore than a lad. There is nothing of the imbecile or degenerate in hisfeatures or expression, as is usually true in similar cases, where somelunatic escapes into the woods and by living in filth and nakednesswins the title of wild man among the peasants of the neighborhood. No,this fellow is of different stuff--and so infinitely more to be feared.As much as I should like a shot at him I hope he stays away. Should heever deliberately lead a charge against us I wouldn't give much for ourchances if we happened to fail to bag him at the first rush."
But the white giant did not appear again to lead the baboons againstthem, and finally the angry brutes themselves wandered off into thejungle leaving the frightened safari in peace.
The next day the Swedes set out for Kovudoo's village bent on securingpossession of the person of the white girl whom Kovudoo's runner hadtold them lay captive in the chief's village. How they were toaccomplish their end they did not know. Force was out of the question,though they would not have hesitated to use it had they possessed it.In former years they had marched rough shod over enormous areas, takingtoll by brute force even when kindliness or diplomacy would haveaccomplished more; but now they were in bad straits--so bad that theyhad shown their true colors scarce twice in a year and then only whenthey came upon an isolated village, weak in numbers and poor in courage.
Kovudoo was not as these, and though his village was in a way remotefrom the more populous district to the north his power was such that hemaintained an acknowledged suzerainty over the thin thread of villageswhich connected him with the savage lords to the north. To haveantagonized him would have spelled ruin for the Swedes. It would havemeant that they might never reach civilization by the northern route.To the west, the village of The Sheik lay directly in their path,barring them effectually. To the east the trail was unknown to them,and to the south there was no trail. So the two Swedes approached thevillage of Kovudoo with friendly words upon their tongues and deepcraft in their hearts.
Their plans were well made. There was no mention of the whiteprisoner--they chose to pretend that they were not aware that Kovudoohad a white prisoner. They exchanged gifts with the old chief,haggling with his plenipotentiaries over the value of what they were toreceive for what they gave, as is customary and proper when one has noulterior motives. Unwarranted generosity would have aroused suspicion.
During the palaver which followed they retailed the gossip of thevillages through which they had passed, receiving in exchange such newsas Kovudoo possessed. The palaver was long and tiresome, as thesenative ceremonies always are to Europeans. Kovudoo made no mention ofhis prisoner and from his generous offers of guides and presents seemedanxious to assure himself of the speedy departure of his guests. Itwas Malbihn who, quite casually, near the close of their talk,mentioned the fact that The Sheik was dead. Kovudoo evinced interestand surprise.
"You did not know it?" asked Malbihn. "That is strange. It was duringthe last moon. He fell from his horse when the beast stepped in ahole. The horse fell upon him. When his men came up The Sheik wasquite dead."
Kovudoo scratched his head. He was much disappointed. No Sheik meantno ransom for the white girl. Now she was worthless, unless heutilized her for a feast or--a mate. The latter thought aroused him.He spat at a small beetle crawling through the dust before him. Heeyed Malbihn appr
aisingly. These white men were peculiar. Theytraveled far from their own villages without women. Yet he knew theycared for women. But how much did they care for them?--that was thequestion that disturbed Kovudoo.
"I know where there is a white girl," he said, unexpectedly. "If youwish to buy her she may be had cheap."
Malbihn shrugged. "We have troubles enough, Kovudoo," he said,"without burdening ourselves with an old she-hyena, and as for payingfor one--" Malbihn snapped his fingers in derision.
"She is young," said Kovudoo, "and good looking."
The Swedes laughed. "There are no good looking white women in thejungle, Kovudoo," said Jenssen. "You should be ashamed to try to makefun of old friends."
Kovudoo sprang to his feet. "Come," he said, "I will show you that sheis all I say."
Malbihn and Jenssen rose to follow him and as they did so their eyesmet, and Malbihn slowly drooped one of his lids in a sly wink.Together they followed Kovudoo toward his hut. In the dim interiorthey discerned the figure of a woman lying bound upon a sleeping mat.
Malbihn took a single glance and turned away. "She must be a thousandyears old, Kovudoo," he said, as he left the hut.
"She is young," cried the savage. "It is dark in here. You cannotsee. Wait, I will have her brought out into the sunlight," and hecommanded the two warriors who watched the girl to cut the bonds fromher ankles and lead her forth for inspection.
Malbihn and Jenssen evinced no eagerness, though both were fairlybursting with it--not to see the girl but to obtain possession of her.They cared not if she had the face of a marmoset, or the figure ofpot-bellied Kovudoo himself. All that they wished to know was that shewas the girl who had been stolen from The Sheik several years before.They thought that they would recognize her for such if she was indeedthe same, but even so the testimony of the runner Kovudoo had sent toThe Sheik was such as to assure them that the girl was the one they hadonce before attempted to abduct.
As Meriem was brought forth from the darkness of the hut's interior thetwo men turned with every appearance of disinterestedness to glance ather. It was with difficulty that Malbihn suppressed an ejaculation ofastonishment. The girl's beauty fairly took his breath from him; butinstantly he recovered his poise and turned to Kovudoo.
"Well?" he said to the old chief.
"Is she not both young and good looking?" asked Kovudoo.
"She is not old," replied Malbihn; "but even so she will be a burden.We did not come from the north after wives--there are more than enoughthere for us."
Meriem stood looking straight at the white men. She expected nothingfrom them--they were to her as much enemies as the black men. Shehated and feared them all. Malbihn spoke to her in Arabic.
"We are friends," he said. "Would you like to have us take you awayfrom here?"
Slowly and dimly as though from a great distance recollection of theonce familiar tongue returned to her.
"I should like to go free," she said, "and go back to Korak."
"You would like to go with us?" persisted Malbihn.
"No," said Meriem.
Malbihn turned to Kovudoo. "She does not wish to go with us," he said.
"You are men," returned the black. "Can you not take her by force?"
"It would only add to our troubles," replied the Swede. "No, Kovudoo,we do not wish her; though, if you wish to be rid of her, we will takeher away because of our friendship for you."
Now Kovudoo knew that he had made a sale. They wanted her. So hecommenced to bargain, and in the end the person of Meriem passed fromthe possession of the black chieftain into that of the two Swedes inconsideration of six yards of Amerikan, three empty brass cartridgeshells and a shiny, new jack knife from New Jersey. And all but Meriemwere more than pleased with the bargain.
Kovudoo stipulated but a single condition and that was that theEuropeans were to leave his village and take the girl with them asearly the next morning as they could get started. After the sale wasconsummated he did not hesitate to explain his reasons for this demand.He told them of the strenuous attempt of the girl's savage mate torescue her, and suggested that the sooner they got her out of thecountry the more likely they were to retain possession of her.
Meriem was again bound and placed under guard, but this time in thetent of the Swedes. Malbihn talked to her, trying to persuade her toaccompany them willingly. He told her that they would return her toher own village; but when he discovered that she would rather die thango back to the old sheik, he assured her that they would not take herthere, nor, as a matter of fact, had they had an intention of so doing.As he talked with the girl the Swede feasted his eyes upon thebeautiful lines of her face and figure. She had grown tall andstraight and slender toward maturity since he had seen her in TheSheik's village on that long gone day. For years she had representedto him a certain fabulous reward. In his thoughts she had been but thepersonification of the pleasures and luxuries that many francs wouldpurchase. Now as she stood before him pulsing with life and lovelinessshe suggested other seductive and alluring possibilities. He camecloser to her and laid his hand upon her. The girl shrank from him.He seized her and she struck him heavily in the mouth as he sought tokiss her. Then Jenssen entered the tent.
"Malbihn!" he almost shouted. "You fool!"
Sven Malbihn released his hold upon the girl and turned toward hiscompanion. His face was red with mortification.
"What the devil are you trying to do?" growled Jenssen. "Would youthrow away every chance for the reward? If we maltreat her we not onlycouldn't collect a sou, but they'd send us to prison for our pains. Ithought you had more sense, Malbihn."
"I'm not a wooden man," growled Malbihn.
"You'd better be," rejoined Jenssen, "at least until we have deliveredher over in safety and collected what will be coming to us."
"Oh, hell," cried Malbihn. "What's the use? They'll be glad enough tohave her back, and by the time we get there with her she'll be only tooglad to keep her mouth shut. Why not?"
"Because I say not," growled Jenssen. "I've always let you bossthings, Sven; but here's a case where what I say has got to go--becauseI'm right and you're wrong, and we both know it."
"You're getting damned virtuous all of a sudden," growled Malbihn."Perhaps you think I have forgotten about the inn keeper's daughter,and little Celella, and that nigger at--"
"Shut up!" snapped Jenssen. "It's not a matter of virtue and you areas well aware of that as I. I don't want to quarrel with you, but sohelp me God, Sven, you're not going to harm this girl if I have to killyou to prevent it. I've suffered and slaved and been nearly killedforty times in the last nine or ten years trying to accomplish whatluck has thrown at our feet at last, and now I'm not going to be robbedof the fruits of success because you happen to be more of a beast thana man. Again I warn you, Sven--" and he tapped the revolver that swungin its holster at his hip.
Malbihn gave his friend an ugly look, shrugged his shoulders, and leftthe tent. Jenssen turned to Meriem.
"If he bothers you again, call me," he said. "I shall always be near."
The girl had not understood the conversation that had been carried onby her two owners, for it had been in Swedish; but what Jenssen hadjust said to her in Arabic she understood and from it grasped anexcellent idea of what had passed between the two. The expressionsupon their faces, their gestures, and Jenssen's final tapping of hisrevolver before Malbihn had left the tent had all been eloquent of theseriousness of their altercation. Now, toward Jenssen she looked forfriendship, and with the innocence of youth she threw herself upon hismercy, begging him to set her free, that she might return to Korak andher jungle life; but she was doomed to another disappointment, for theman only laughed at her roughly and told her that if she tried toescape she would be punished by the very thing that he had just savedher from.
All that night she lay listening for a signal from Korak. All aboutthe jungle life moved through the darkness. To her sensitive ears camesounds that the o
thers in the camp could not hear--sounds that sheinterpreted as we might interpret the speech of a friend, but not oncecame a single note that reflected the presence of Korak. But she knewthat he would come. Nothing short of death itself could prevent herKorak from returning for her. What delayed him though?
When morning came again and the night had brought no succoring Korak,Meriem's faith and loyalty were still unshaken though misgivings beganto assail her as to the safety of her friend. It seemed unbelievablethat serious mishap could have overtaken her wonderful Korak who dailypassed unscathed through all the terrors of the jungle. Yet morningcame, the morning meal was eaten, the camp broken and the disreputablesafari of the Swedes was on the move northward with still no sign ofthe rescue the girl momentarily expected.
All that day they marched, and the next and the next, nor did Korakeven so much as show himself to the patient little waiter moving,silently and stately, beside her hard captors.
Malbihn remained scowling and angry. He replied to Jenssen's friendlyadvances in curt monosyllables. To Meriem he did not speak, but onseveral occasions she discovered him glaring at her from beneath halfclosed lids--greedily. The look sent a shudder through her. Shehugged Geeka closer to her breast and doubly regretted the knife thatthey had taken from her when she was captured by Kovudoo.
It was on the fourth day that Meriem began definitely to give up hope.Something had happened to Korak. She knew it. He would never comenow, and these men would take her far away. Presently they would killher. She would never see her Korak again.
On this day the Swedes rested, for they had marched rapidly and theirmen were tired. Malbihn and Jenssen had gone from camp to hunt, takingdifferent directions. They had been gone about an hour when the doorof Meriem's tent was lifted and Malbihn entered. The look of a beastwas on his face.
The Son of Tarzan Page 13
