the okeene democrat
Copyright by
Frank A. Munsay Co.
CHAPTER XIII—Continued.
—15—
As they rode through the wood the
aounds of their careless passagecame
to the ears of another jungle wayfarer.
It was no other than Korak himself,
who was perched in a tree.
He moved stealthily through the
branches until he came within sight of
the riders. He fell in behind the pair,
following them to Hanson’s camp.
Here the Hon. Morlson penned a brief
note, which Hanson gave into the
keeping of one of his boys, who start-
ed off forthwith with it toward the
south. Out of curiosity Korak re-
mained in the vicinity of the camp.
Baynes was restless, pacing back
and forth beneath the trees when he
should have been resting against the
forced marches of the coming flight.
Hanson lay in his hammock and smok-
ed. They spoke but little. Korak lay
stretched upon a branch among the
•dense foliage above them.
In the garden beside the bungalow
Meriem wandered thoughtfully in the
moonlight. She still smarted from
Bwana’s, to her, unjust treatment of
the Hon. Moripon Baynes.
Meriem loved them both and was
grateful to them for all that they had
done for her, but deep in her hear
surged Ihe savage love of liberty that
her years of untramraeled freedom in
the jungle had made part and parce o
her being. Now, for the first time
since she had come to them, Meriem
felt like a prisoner in the bungalow of
Bwana and My Dear.
Like a caged tigress the girl P^ed
the length of the Inclosure. Once she
paused near the outer fence, 1ber head
upon one side, listening to the pad of
naked human feet just beyond the gar
den. The sound was not repeated.
Then she resumed her restless walk-
ing Down to the opposite end of the
garden she passed, turned and retraced
her steps toward the upper end Upon
the sward near the bushes that hid the
fence, full In the glare of the moon-
llcht lay a white envelope that had
not been there when she had turned
almost upon the very spot a moment
beMeri'-,n stopped short lo her tracks,
listening npiln sod sniffing “0J. d
*ver the tigress—alert, ready. Beyond
the bushes a naked black runnersquat-
ted. peering through the foliage. H
saw her take a step closer to the letter.
She had seen it. He rose quietly «nd
following the shadows of the bushes
that ran down to the corral, was soon
cone from sight.
Meriem’s trained ears henr<lhQ
every move. She made no attempt to
seek closer knowledge of his ldentl
Already she had guessed that he was
a messenger from the Hon. Morlson.
She stooped and picked up th«> envel-
ope. Tearing It open, she read the con-
tents easily by the moons brilliant
llgU was. as she had guessed, from
B% cannot go without seeing yon
again. Come to the clearing early to-
morrow morning ^and say goodby t
me. Come alone.    .. f
There was a little more—words that
made her heart beat faster and a hap-
py flush mount her cLeek.
‘ it was still dark when the Hon.
Morlson Baynes set forth for the trys -
ing place. He Insisted upon having a
guide, saying that he was not sure that
be could tiud his way back to the little ,
As‘•."matter of fact, the thought of >
that lonely ride through the darkness
before the sun roRe had been too much
for his courage, and he craved co |
black, therefore, preceded him on
foot. Behind and above him came ko-
rak. whom the noise in the camp bad
fl"ltkwas* nine o’clock before Baynes
drew rein in the clearing. Meriem had
not vet arrived. The black lay down
to re<t. Baynes lolled In his saddle.
Korak stretched himself comfortnh y
upon a lofty limb, where he could
watch those beneath him without being
^ A°n hour passed. Baynes gave evb I
donee of nervousness. Korak hadI al-
readv guessed that the young Englssh-
man had come here to meet another
Presently the sound of an approach- j
inc horse came to Kornk’s ears. Me-
coining. She had nlmoet
replied the clearing before Baynes
aware of her presence, ami
tp. n «« he looked up the foliage part-
ed to the head and shoulders of her
mount, apd Meriem rode into’ view.
Baynes spurred to meet her.
Korak looked searchingly down upon
her, mentally anathematizing the
broad-brimmed hat that hid her fea-
tures from his eyes. She was abreast
the Englishman now.
Korak saw the man take both her
hands and draw her close to his breast.
He saw the man’s face concealed for
a moment beneath the same broad brim
that hid the girl’s.
When he looked again they had
drawn apart and were conversing earn-
estly. Korak could see the man urg-
ing something. It was equally evident
that the girl was holding back. There
were many of her gestures, and the
way in which she tossed her head up
and to the right, tiptilting her ehin.
that reminded Korak strongly of Me-
riem. And then the conversation was
over, and the man took the girl in his
arms again to kiss her goodby.
She turned and rode toward the
point from which she had come. The
man sat his horse watching her. At
the edge of the jungle she turned to
wave him a final farewell.
“Tonight!” she cried, throwing back
her head ns she called the words to
him across the little distance which
separated them—throwing back her
head and revealing her face for the
first time to the eyes of the Killer in
the tree above.
Korak started as though pierced
through the heart with an arrow. He
trembled and shook like a leaf. He
closed his eyes, pressing his Pal“*
across them, and then he opened them
again and looked.
But the girl was gone. Only the
waving foliage of the jungle s run
marked where she had disappeared.
It was impossible! It could not be
true! And yet with his own eyes he
had seen his Meriem—older a little,
with figure more rounded by nearer
maturity, and subtly changed In other
consciousness the thought ’ she loves
Tould he slay the creature Meriem
loved? Sadly he shook his head. No,
lie could not.
Then came a partial decision to fol-
low Meriem and speak with her. ti
half started and then was ashamed.
He, the son of a British peer, had thus
thrown away his life, had thus degrad-
ed himself to the level of a beast so
that lie was ashamed to go to the wo-
man he loved and lay his love at her
feet. He was ashamed to go to the
little Arab maid who had been his jun-
gle playmate. For what had he to of-
fer her?
For years circumstances had pre-
vented a return to his father and moth-
er, and at last pride hud stepped In
and expunged from his mind the last
vestige of any Intention to return. In
a spirit of boyish adventure he had
cast his lot with the Jungle ape. The
killing of the crook in the coast in
had filled his childish mind with terror
of the law und driven him deeper into
the wilds. The rebuffs that he had met
with at the hands of men, both black
and white, had had their effect upon
his mind while It was yet In the forma-
tive state and easily influenced.
Meriem was not for him—not for the
savage ape. No, sh* was not for him,
but he still was hers. If he could not
have her and happiness, he would at
least do all that lay in his power to
assure happiness to her. He would fol-
low the young Englishman. In the first
place, he would know that he meant
Meriem no harm and after that, though
jealousy wrenched his heart, he would
watch over the man Meriem loved for
Meriem’s sake.
And so it came that a few minutes
after the Hon. Morlson Baynes entered
the camp to be greeted by Hanson.
Korak slipped noiselessly into a near-
by tree. There he lay until late after-
noon,' and still the young Englishman
made no move to leave cainp. Korak
wondered if Meriem were coming there.
A little later Hanson and one of his
black boys rode out of camp. Korak
merely noted the fact. He was not
particularly interested in the doings of
any other member of tlie company than
the young Englishman.
upon her. Soinewnero, s,»uie time do*
fore she had known this man. K was
evident thut he had not shaved for
several days. A blond stubble had
commenced to cover his neck and
cheeks and chin, and with it the as-
surance that lie was no stranger con
tinued to grow upon the girl.
It was not until the second day, how-
ever, that Meriem rebelled. She drew
in her pony at last and voiced her
doubts. Hunsou nssured her that the
cump was but a few miles farther on.
It was mldafternoon when they sud-
denly broke out of the jungle upon the
banks of a broad and placid river. Be-
yond, upon the opposite shore, Meriem
descried a camp surrounded by a high
thorn boinu.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
TOUR SICK CHIU)
IS CONSTIPATED!
LOOK IT TONGUE
HURRY, MOTHER! REMOVE POI-
SONS FROM LITTLE STOMACH,
LIVER, BOWELS.
GIVE “CALIFORNIA SYRUP OF
FIGS” IF CROSS, BILIOUS
OR FEVERISH.
HISTORIC OLD *SUN TAVERN
One of Boston's Landmarks, Built In
1690, for Many Years Used as
a Fish Market.
Sounds of Their Passage Came to the
Ears of Another Jungle Wayfarer.
ways; more beautiful than ever, yet
still his little Meriem. Yes, he had
seen the dead alive again; he had seen
his Meriem In the flesh. She lived I
She had not died!
He had seen her—he had seen his
Meriem—In the arms of another man!
And that man sat below him now with-
in easy rench.
Korak the Killer fondled his heavy
spear. He played with the grass rope
dangling from his gee string. He
stroked the hunting knife at his hip.
And the man beneath him called to his
drowsy guide, bent the rein to his
pony’s neck and moved off toward the
north.
Still sat Korak the Killer alone
among the trees. Now his hands hung
idly at his sides. His weapons and
what he had intended were forgotten
for the moment. Korak was thinking.
He had noted that subtle change la
Meriem. When last he had seen her
she had been his little, half-naked
Manganl—wild, savage and uncouth.
She had not seemed uncouth to him
then. But now, in the change that had
come over her. he knew that such she
had been, yet no more uncouth than
he. and he was still uncouth.
In her had taken place the change.
In her he hud Just seen a sweet and
lovely flower of refinement and civiliza-
tion, and he shuddered os he recalled
llie fate that he himself had planned
for her—to be the mate of an ape man.
his mate. In the savage Jungle.
His Meriem loved another 1 For a
long time he let that awful truth sink
deep, and from It he tried to reason
out his future plan of action. In his
heart was a great desire to follow the
man and slay him. but there rose in hla
CHAPTER XIV.
A Tryst by Proxy.
Hanson and his boy hud ridden di-
rectly to the clearing. It was already
dark when they arrived. Leaving the
boy there, Hanson rode to the edge of
the plain, leading the boy’s horse.
There he waited. It was nine o’clock
before he saw a solitary figure gallop-
in-' toward him from the direction of
the bungalow. A few moments later
Meriem drew In her mount beside him.
She was nervous and flushed.
When she recognized Hanson she
drew back, startled.
“Mr Baynes’ horse fell on him and
sprained his ankle,” Hanson hastened
to explain. “He couldn’t very well
come, so he sent me to meet you and
briug you to camp.”
The girl could not see In the dark-
ness the gloating, triumphant expres-
sion on the speaker’s face.
“We had better hurry,” continued
Hanson, “for we’ll have to move along
pretty fast If we don’t want to be
overtaken.”
“Is he badly hurt?” asked Meriem.
“Only a little sprain,” replied Han-
son “He can ride all right, but we
both thought he’d better lie up tonight
and rest, for he’ll have plenty hard
riding In the next few weeks.”
“Yes,” agreed the girl.
. Hanson swung his pony about, and
Meriem followed him. They rode north
along tlie edge of the jungle for a mile
and then turned straight into It toward
the west. Meriem, following, paid lit-
tle attention to directions. She did not
know exuctly where Hunson’s camp
lay, and so she did not guess that he
was not leading her toward it.
All night they rode straight toward
the west. When morning- carnq, Han-
son permitted a short halt for break-
fast, which he had provided in well-
filled saddlebags before leaving his
camp. Then they pushed on again,
nor did they halt a second time until,
in the heat of the day, he stopped and
motioned the girl to dismount.
“We will sleep here for a time and
let the ponies graze,” he said.
“I had no idea the camp was so far
away,” said Meriem.
“1 left orders that they were to move
on at daybreak,” explained the trader,
“so that we could get a good start I
knew that you und I could easily over-
take a laden safari. It may not be
until tomorrow that we’ll catch up
with them.”
But. though they traveled part of tbe
night and all the following day. no
sign of the safari appeared ahead of |
them. Meriem, an adept in Jungle
craft, knew that none had passed ahead
of them for many days. Occasionally
she saw Indications of an old spoor
a very old spoor—of many men. or
the nmst part they followed this well-
marked trail along elephant paths ami
through parklike groves. It was on
ideal trail for rapid traveling.
Meriem at last became suspicious.
Gradually the attitude of the man at
her side had begun to change. Often
she surprised him devouring her with
Ins eyes.
Steadily the former sensation of pre-
vious acquaintanceship urged Itself
One of the early taverns of Boston
was the Sun tavern which stood but a
few feet from the water’s edge and
was built about 1690. For some years
It was kept by a Huguenot from Ro-
chelle named Cogneau. He made
one of the most popular of taverns and
It was particularly popular with the
young men of Boston and surrounding
country, partly for the reason that
mine host Cogneau had several very
attractive and lively daughters who
added a great deal to the charms of
the hostelry. Their father had the
privllige of seeing two of them mar-
ried in the tavern, one of them becom-
ing the wife of Col. William Palfrey,
the famous Revolutionary patriot. He
became the grandfather of the noted
writer, John G. Palfrey.
Another daughter of this genial host
of the Sun tavern married a successfu
printer named Fleet. During the siege
ot Boston the British seized the house
and they changed Its
King’s Arms. But when the Ivtt
had been chased out of Boston the sign
of tbe King’s Arms Quickly disup-
neared and the old sign of the Sun
Tavern took Us place and the tavern
took on its olden time popularity. It
has for many years been used us a hah
market.
Explaining the Universe.
I suppose that we have all had mo-
ments of sudden illumination when 1
occurred to us that we had explained
the universe, and it was so easy for
us that we wondered why we had not
done U before, says S. M. Ootber. In
the Atlantic. Some thought drifted
into our mind und filled u. with. vague
forebodings of omniscience. It was
not an ordinary thought that explained
onlv a fragment of existence. It ex
plained everything. It proved one
thing and It proved the opposite Just
as well. It explained why things are
as they are, and If It should turn ou
that they are not that way’ at all,. It
would prove that fact also. In the
light of our great thought chaos
seemed rational. Such thoughts usual-
ly occur about four o’clock In the
morning. Having explained the uni-
verse “e relapse Into satisfied slum-
ber When, a few hours later, we rise,
we’wonder what tbe explanation was.
Law of the Family.
No man lives for himself alone.
Whether we will or not, we are de-
pendent on the exertions of others and
others are affected by our good or
Tacts, says Parris T. Farwell In the
Congregatlonallst. We belong to a
family, a town, a state, a nation, to the
grout family of mankind. Absolute
Pberty is not possible even for he
members ol a family «cept as the lib-
erty Is guided by good will, f lu »
home each member considered himself
alone,, disregarding the wishes an
welfare of others, tlie result would be
destruction. That Is the best society
n which the law of the family Is up-
Dlledouthelargest scale. The Gulfieu
Buie is the only law by which ideal so-
lely can be obtained. “We are mem-
bers one of another.
Win Victoria Crosses.
Since the Victoria Cross was first
Instituted, sixty-odd years ago. asi a
reward for conspicuous valor In th
Crimea the bestowals have not
amounted to a thousand. Five hun-
Srod unci twenty-two was the number
of the recipients before the beginning
S he present tear, and during the lust
tree years 317 men have won lh»
most coveted of all decorations.
Another Poor Guess.
Charles Darwin was the subject o
n very drastic parental Ptt>Phe<^
which went very far iron* He w
very fond of country life, and ns
father’s taste did not He the same
direction, that stern parent said t
Charles: “You care for nothing l>u
si,noting, dogs, and rat-catching an-
von will be n disgrace to yourself and
all your family.”
Kindliness Necessary.
We can dispense with a great many
qualities in the people we lore. It •»
not necessary for them to be brill nn
nr Wise or witty or rich or beautiful.
But we cannot Imagine loving anyone
who is incapable of kindliness. That
u the characteristic we cannot do
^ without—Exchange.
No matter what ails your child, a
gentle, thorough laxative should ul-
ways he the first treatment given.
If your little one is out of sorts,
half-sick, isn’t resting, eating and act-
ing naturally—look, Mother! see if
tongue is coated. This is a sure sign
that the little stomach, liver and bow-
els are clogged with waste. When
cross, irritable, feverish, stomach sour,
breath bad or has stomach-ache, diar-
rhea, sore throat, full of cold, give a
teaspoonful of “California Syrup of
Figs,” and in a few hours all the con-
stipated poison, undigested food and
sour bile gently moves out of the lit-
tle bowels without griping, and you
have a well, playful child again.
! Mothers can rest easy after giving
this harmless “fruit laxative," because
it never fails to cleanse the little one s
liver and bowels and sweeten the stom-
ach and they dearly love Its pleasant
taste Full directions for babies, chil-
dren’of all ages and for grown-ups
printed on each bottle.
Beware of counterfeit fig
Ask your druggist for a bottle of Cal-
ifornia Syrup of Figs;” then see that
it is made by the “California Fig Syrup
Company.”—Adv.
Cut Off the List.
“Do you know any pro-Germans?’
“No, and what’s more, If I did, la
cease knowing them.”
is sir-
ME OF YOU
Strands of Gray Hair May Be
Removed.    /
Strands of gray hair are unattractive
and very unnecessary and accelerate
the appearance of approaching age.
Why not remove all traces of gray In
the hair and possess an even shade
of beautiful dark hair In bounteous
quantities by the use of “La Creole"
Hair Dressing? Used by thousands of
people every day—everywhere—with
perfect satisfaction. No one need be
annoyed with gray hair—hair streaked
with gray, diseased scalp or dandruff
when offered such a preparation as
“La Creole” Hair Dressing. Apply it
freely to scalp and hair, rubbing it in
well, and after a few applications you
will be delightfully surprised with the
results.
TRY
“LA CREOLE” HAIR DRESSING
for grnv or faded hair and retain the
appearance of youth. Used by gentle-
men in every walk of life to restore an
even dark color to their gray hair,
heard or mustache. Sold and guaran-
teed bv all good    stores every-
where, or sent direct for $1*20 >by \ an
Vleet-Mansfield Drug Co.. Memphis,
Tenn.—(Advt.)
Next One.
“Can you tell me why a dog licks
vour hand?" “Certainly; to put on
you the stamp of his approval.
GREEN’S AUGUST FLOWER
Has been used for all ailments that
are caused by a disordered stomach
and inactive liver, such as sick head-
ache. constipation, sour stomach,
nervous indigestion, fermentation of
food, palpitation of the heart caused by
sases in the stomach. August Flower
is n gentle lnxative. regulates digestion
both in stomach and intestines, cleans
and sweetens the stomach and alimen-
tary canal, stimulates the liver to se-
crete the bile and impurities from the
blood. Sold in all civilized countries.
Give It a trial.—Adv. _
It’s small consolation to a man to
know that his neighbor’s wife is lea*
I extravagant than his own.