How tall and fine she was! Had she changed suddenly within the few
hours of his absence, or had his battle with the ape affected his
vision? He might have been looking at Meriem through new eyes for the
many startling and wonderful surprises his gaze revealed. How long it
had been since he had found her in her father's village, a little Arab
girl, he did not know, for time is of no import in the jungle and so he
had kept no track of the passing days. But he realized, as he looked
upon her now, that she was no longer such a little girl as he had first
seen playing with Geeka beneath the great tree just within the
palisade. The change must have been very gradual to have eluded his
notice until now. And what was it that had caused him to realize it so
suddenly? His gaze wandered from the girl to the body of the dead
bull. For the first time there flashed to his understanding the
explanation of the reason for the girl's attempted abduction. Korak's
eyes went wide and then they closed to narrow slits of rage as he stood
glaring down upon the abysmal brute at his feet. When next his glance
rose to Meriem's face a slow flush suffused his own. Now, indeed, was
he looking upon her through new eyes--the eyes of a man looking upon a
maid.

Akut had come up just as Meriem had speared Korak's antagonist. The
exultation of the old ape was keen. He strutted, stiff-legged and
truculent about the body of the fallen enemy. He growled and upcurved
his long, flexible lip. His hair bristled. He was paying no attention
to Meriem and Korak. Back in the uttermost recesses of his little
brain something was stirring--something which the sight and smell of
the great bull had aroused. The outward manifestation of the
germinating idea was one of bestial rage; but the inner sensations were
pleasurable in the extreme. The scent of the great bull and the sight
of his huge and hairy figure had wakened in the heart of Akut a longing
for the companionship of his own kind. So Korak was not alone
undergoing a change.

And Meriem? She was a woman. It is woman's divine right to love.
Always she had loved Korak. He was her big brother. Meriem alone
underwent no change. She was still happy in the companionship of her
Korak. She still loved him--as a sister loves an indulgent
brother--and she was very, very proud of him. In all the jungle there
was no other creature so strong, so handsome, or so brave.

Korak came close to her. Th