Chapter 23
Meriem had traversed half the length of the village street when a
score of white-robed Negroes and half-castes leaped out upon her
from the dark interiors of surrounding huts. She turned to flee,
but heavy hands seized her, and when she turned at last to plead
with them her eyes fell upon the face of a tall, grim, old man
glaring down upon her from beneath the folds of his burnous.
At sight of him she staggered back in shocked and terrified surprise.
It was The Sheik!
Instantly all the old fears and terrors of her childhood returned
upon her. She stood trembling before this horrible old man, as a
murderer before the judge about to pass sentence of death upon him.
She knew that The Sheik recognized her. The years and the changed
raiment had not altered her so much but what one who had known her
features so well in childhood would know her now.
"So you have come back to your people, eh?" snarled The Sheik.
"Come back begging for food and protection, eh?"
"Let me go," cried the girl. "I ask nothing of you, but that you
let me go back to the Big Bwana."
"The Big Bwana?" almost screamed The Sheik, and then followed a
stream of profane, Arabic invective against the white man whom all
the transgressors of the jungle feared and hated. "You would go
back to the Big Bwana, would you? So that is where you have been
since you ran away from me, is it? And who comes now across the
river after you--the Big Bwana?"
"The Swede whom you once chased away from your country when he and
his companion conspired with Nbeeda to steal me from you," replied
Meriem.
The Sheik's eyes blazed, and he called his men to approach the shore
and hide among the bushes that they might ambush and annihilate
Malbihn and his party; but Malbihn already had landed and crawling
through the fringe of jungle was at that very moment looking with
wide and incredulous eyes upon the scene being enacted in the street
of the deserted village. He recognized The Sheik the moment his
eyes fell upon him. There were two men in the world that Malbihn
feared as he feared the devil. One was the Big Bwana and the other
The Sheik. A single glance he took at that gaunt, familiar figure
and then he turned tail and scurried back to his canoe calling his
followers after him. And so it happened that the party was well
out in the stream before The Sheik reached the shore, and after a
volley and a few parting shots that were returned from the canoes
the Arab called his men off and securing his prisoner set off toward
the South.
One of the bullets from Malbihn's force had struck a black standing
in the village street where he had been left with another to guard
Meriem, and his companions had left him where he had fallen, after
appropriating his apparel and belongings. His was the body that
Baynes had discovered when he had entered the village.
The Sheik and his party had been marching southward along the river
when one of them, dropping out of line to fetch water, had seen
Meriem paddling desperately from the opposite shore. The fellow
had called The Sheik's attention to the strange sight--a white
woman alone in Central Africa and the old Arab had hidden his men
in the deserted village to capture her when she landed, for thoughts
of ransom were always in the mind of The Sheik. More than once
before had glittering gold filtered through his fingers from a
similar source. It was easy money and The Sheik had none too much
easy money since the Big Bwana had so circumscribed the limits of
his ancient domain that he dared not even steal ivory from natives
within two hundred miles of the Big Bwana's douar. And when at
last the woman had walked into the trap he had set for her and he
had recognized her as the same little girl he had brutalized and
mal-treated years before his gratification had been huge. Now
he lost no time in establishing the old relations of father and
daughter that had existed between them in the past. At the first
opportunity he struck her a heavy blow across the face. He forced
her to walk when he might have dismounted one of his men instead,
or had her carried on a horse's rump. He seemed to revel in the
discovery of new methods for torturing or humiliating her, and among
all his followers she found no single one to offer her sympathy,
or who dared defend her, even had they had the desire to do so.
A two days' march brought them at last to the familiar scenes of
her childhood, and the first face upon which she set her eyes as
she was driven through the gates into the strong stockade was that
of the toothless, hideous Mabunu, her one time nurse. It was as
though all the years that had intervened were but a dream. Had
it not been for her clothing and the fact that she had grown in
stature she might well have believed it so. All was there as she
had left it--the new faces which supplanted some of the old were
of the same bestial, degraded type. There were a few young Arabs
who had joined The Sheik since she had been away. Otherwise all
was the same--all but one. Geeka was not there, and she found
herself missing Geeka as though the ivory-headed one had been a
flesh and blood intimate and friend. She missed her ragged little
confidante, into whose deaf ears she had been wont to pour her many
miseries and her occasional joys--Geeka, of the splinter limbs and
the ratskin torso--Geeka the disreputable--Geeka the beloved.
For a time the inhabitants of The Sheik's village who had not
been upon the march with him amused themselves by inspecting the
strangely clad white girl, whom some of them had known as a little
child. Mabunu pretended great joy at her return, baring her
toothless gums in a hideous grimace that was intended to be indicative
of rejoicing. But Meriem could but shudder as she recalled the
cruelties of this terrible old hag in the years gone by.
Among the Arabs who had come in her absence was a tall young fellow
of twenty--a handsome, sinister looking youth--who stared at her
in open admiration until The Sheik came and ordered him away, and
Abdul Kamak went, scowling.
At last, their curiosity satisfied, Meriem was alone. As of old,
she was permitted the freedom of the village, for the stockade was
high and strong and the only gates were well-guarded by day and
by night; but as of old she cared not for the companionship of
the cruel Arabs and the degraded blacks who formed the following
of The Sheik, and so, as had been her wont in the sad days of her
childhood, she slunk down to an unfrequented corner of the enclosure
where she had often played at house-keeping with her beloved Geeka
beneath the spreading branches of the great tree that had overhung
the palisade; but now the tree was gone, and Meriem guessed the
reason. It was from this tree that Korak had descended and struck
down The Sheik the day that he had rescued her from the life of
misery and torture that had been her lot for so long that she could
remember no other.
There were low bushes growing within the stockade, however, and
in the shade of these Meriem sat down to think. A little glow of
happiness warmed her heart as she recalled her first meeting with
Korak and then the long years that he had cared for and protected
her with the solicitude and purity of an elder brother. For months
Korak had not so occupied her thoughts as he did today. He seemed
closer and dearer now than ever he had before, and she wondered
that her heart had drifted so far from loyalty to his memory. And
then came the image of the Hon. Morison, the exquisite, and Meriem
was troubled. Did she really love the flawless young Englishman?
She thought of the glories of London, of which he had told her in
such glowing language. She tried to picture herself admired and
honored in the midst of the gayest society of the great capital.
The pictures she drew were the pictures that the Hon. Morison had
drawn for her. They were alluring pictures, but through them all
the brawny, half-naked figure of the giant Adonis of the jungle
persisted in obtruding itself.
Meriem pressed her hand above her heart as she stifled a sigh, and
as she did so she felt the hard outlines of the photograph she had
hidden there as she slunk from Malbihn's tent. Now she drew it
forth and commenced to re-examine it more carefully than she had
had time to do before. She was sure that the baby face was hers.
She studied every detail of the picture. Half hidden in the lace
of the dainty dress rested a chain and locket. Meriem puckered
her brows. What tantalizing half-memories it awakened! Could this
flower of evident civilization be the little Arab Meriem, daughter
of The Sheik? It was impossible, and yet that locket? Meriem
knew it. She could not refute the conviction of her memory. She
had seen that locket before and it had been hers. What strange
mystery lay buried in her past?
As she sat gazing at the picture she suddenly became aware that
she was not alone--that someone was standing close behind her--some
one who had approached her noiselessly. Guiltily she thrust the
picture back into her waist. A hand fell upon her shoulder. She
was sure that it was The Sheik and she awaited in dumb terror the
blow that she knew would follow.
No blow came and she looked upward over her shoulder--into the eyes
of Abdul Kamak, the young Arab.
"I saw," he said, "the picture that you have just hidden. It is
you when you were a child--a very young child. May I see it again?"
Meriem drew away from him.
"I will give it back," he said. "I have heard of you and I know
that you have no love for The Sheik, your father. Neither have I.
I will not betray you. Let me see the picture."
Friendless among cruel enemies, Meriem clutched at the straw that
Abdul Kamak held out to her. Perhaps in him she might find the
friend she needed. Anyway he had seen the picture and if he was
not a friend he could tell The Sheik about it and it would be taken
away from her. So she might as well grant his request and hope
that he had spoken fairly, and would deal fairly. She drew the
photograph from its hiding place and handed it to him.
Abdul Kamak examined it carefully, comparing it, feature by feature
with the girl sitting on the ground looking up into his face.
Slowly he nodded his head.
"Yes," he said, "it is you, but where was it taken? How does it
happen that The Sheik's daughter is clothed in the garments of the
unbeliever?"
"I do not know," replied Meriem. "I never saw the picture until
a couple of days ago, when I found it in the tent of the Swede,
Malbihn."
Abdul Kamak raised his eyebrows. He turned the picture over and
as his eyes fell upon the old newspaper cutting they went wide. He
could read French, with difficulty, it is true; but he could read
it. He had been to Paris. He had spent six months there with a
troupe of his desert fellows, upon exhibition, and he had improved
his time, learning many of the customs, some of the language, and
most of the vices of his conquerors. Now he put his learning to
use. Slowly, laboriously he read the yellowed cutting. His eyes
were no longer wide. Instead they narrowed to two slits of cunning.
When he had done he looked at the girl.
"You have read this?" he asked.
"It is French," she replied, "and I do not read French."
Abdul Kamak stood long in silence looking at the girl. She was
very beautiful. He desired her, as had many other men who had seen
her. At last he dropped to one knee beside her.
A wonderful idea had sprung to Abdul Kamak's mind. It was an idea
that might be furthered if the girl were kept in ignorance of the
contents of that newspaper cutting. It would certainly be doomed
should she learn its contents.
"Meriem," he whispered, "never until today have my eyes beheld you,
yet at once they told my heart that it must ever be your servant.
You do not know me, but I ask that you trust me. I can help you.
You hate The Sheik--so do I. Let me take you away from him. Come
with me, and we will go back to the great desert where my father
is a sheik mightier than is yours. Will you come?"
Meriem sat in silence. She hated to wound the only one who had
offered her protection and friendship; but she did not want Abdul
Kamak's love. Deceived by her silence the man seized her and
strained her to him; but Meriem struggled to free herself.
"I do not love you," she cried. "Oh, please do not make me hate
you. You are the only one who has shown kindness toward me, and
I want to like you, but I cannot love you."
Abdul Kamak drew himself to his full height.
"You will learn to love me," he said, "for I shall take you whether
you will or no. You hate The Sheik and so you will not tell him,
for if you do I will tell him of the picture. I hate The Sheik,
and--"
"You hate The Sheik?" came a grim voice from behind them.
Both turned to see The Sheik standing a few paces from them. Abdul
still held the picture in his hand. Now he thrust it within his
burnous.
"Yes," he said, "I hate the Sheik," and as he spoke he sprang
toward the older man, felled him with a blow and dashed on across
the village to the line where his horse was picketed, saddled and
ready, for Abdul Kamak had been about to ride forth to hunt when
he had seen the stranger girl alone by the bushes.
Leaping into the saddle Abdul Kamak dashed for the village gates.
The Sheik, momentarily stunned by the blow that had felled him, now
staggered to his feet, shouting lustily to his followers to stop
the escaped Arab. A dozen blacks leaped forward to intercept the
horseman, only to be ridden down or brushed aside by the muzzle of
Abdul Kamak's long musket, which he lashed from side to side about
him as he spurred on toward the gate. But here he must surely be
intercepted. Already the two blacks stationed there were pushing
the unwieldy portals to. Up flew the barrel of the fugitive's
weapon. With reins flying loose and his horse at a mad gallop the
son of the desert fired once--twice; and both the keepers of the
gate dropped in their tracks. With a wild whoop of exultation,
twirling his musket high above his head and turning in his saddle
to laugh back into the faces of his pursuers Abdul Kamak dashed
out of the village of The Sheik and was swallowed up by the jungle.
Foaming with rage The Sheik ordered immediate pursuit, and then
strode rapidly back to where Meriem sat huddled by the bushes where
he had left her.
"The picture!" he cried. "What picture did the dog speak of? Where
is it? Give it to me at once!"
"He took it," replied Meriem, dully.
"What was it?" again demanded The Sheik, seizing the girl roughly
by the hair and dragging her to her feet, where he shook her
venomously. "What was it a picture of?"
"Of me," said Meriem, "when I was a little girl. I stole it from
Malbihn, the Swede--it had printing on the back cut from an old
newspaper."
The Sheik went white with rage.
"What said the printing?" he asked in a voice so low that she but
barely caught his words.
"I do not know. It was in French and I cannot read French."
The Sheik seemed relieved. He almost smiled, nor did he again
strike Meriem before he turned and strode away with the parting
admonition that she speak never again to any other than Mabunu and
himself. And along the caravan trail galloped Abdul Kamak toward
the north.
As his canoe drifted out of sight and range of the wounded Swede
the Hon. Morison sank weakly to its bottom where he lay for long
hours in partial stupor.
It was night before he fully regained consciousness. And then he
lay for a long time looking up at the stars and trying to recollect
where he was, what accounted for the gently rocking motion of the
thing upon which he lay, and why the position of the stars changed
so rapidly and miraculously. For a while he thought he was dreaming,
but when he would have moved to shake sleep from him the pain of
his wound recalled to him the events that had led up to his present
position. Then it was that he realized that he was floating down
a great African river in a native canoe--alone, wounded, and lost.
Painfully he dragged himself to a sitting position. He noticed
that the wound pained him less than he had imagined it would. He
felt of it gingerly--it had ceased to bleed. Possibly it was
but a flesh wound after all, and nothing serious. If it totally
incapacitated him even for a few days it would mean death, for by
that time he would be too weakened by hunger and pain to provide
food for himself.
From his own troubles his mind turned to Meriem's. That she had been
with the Swede at the time he had attempted to reach the fellow's
camp he naturally believed; but he wondered what would become of
her now. Even if Hanson died of his wounds would Meriem be any
better off? She was in the power of equally villainous men--brutal
savages of the lowest order. Baynes buried his face in his hands
and rocked back and forth as the hideous picture of her fate burned
itself into his consciousness. And it was he who had brought this
fate upon her! His wicked desire had snatched a pure and innocent
girl from the protection of those who loved her to hurl her into
the clutches of the bestial Swede and his outcast following! And
not until it had become too late had he realized the magnitude of
the crime he himself had planned and contemplated. Not until it
had become too late had he realized that greater than his desire,
greater than his lust, greater than any passion he had ever felt
before was the newborn love that burned within his breast for the
girl he would have ruined.
The Hon. Morison Baynes did not fully realize the change that had
taken place within him. Had one suggested that he ever had been
aught than the soul of honor and chivalry he would have taken
umbrage forthwith. He knew that he had done a vile thing when he
had plotted to carry Meriem away to London, yet he excused it on
the ground of his great passion for the girl having temporarily
warped his moral standards by the intensity of its heat. But, as
a matter of fact, a new Baynes had been born. Never again could
this man be bent to dishonor by the intensity of a desire. His moral
fiber had been strengthened by the mental suffering he had endured.
His mind and his soul had been purged by sorrow and remorse.
His one thought now was to atone--win to Meriem's side and lay
down his life, if necessary, in her protection. His eyes sought
the length of the canoe in search of the paddle, for a determination
had galvanized him to immediate action despite his weakness and
his wound. But the paddle was gone. He turned his eyes toward
the shore. Dimly through the darkness of a moonless night he saw
the awful blackness of the jungle, yet it touched no responsive
chord of terror within him now as it had done in the past. He did
not even wonder that he was unafraid, for his mind was entirely
occupied with thoughts of another's danger.
Drawing himself to his knees he leaned over the edge of the canoe
and commenced to paddle vigorously with his open palm. Though it
tired and hurt him he kept assiduously at his self imposed labor for
hours. Little by little the drifting canoe moved nearer and nearer
the shore. The Hon. Morison could hear a lion roaring directly
opposite him and so close that he felt he must be almost to the
shore. He drew his rifle closer to his side; but he did not cease
to paddle.
After what seemed to the tired man an eternity of time he felt the
brush of branches against the canoe and heard the swirl of the
water about them. A moment later he reached out and clutched a
leafy limb. Again the lion roared--very near it seemed now, and
Baynes wondered if the brute could have been following along the
shore waiting for him to land.
He tested the strength of the limb to which he clung. It seemed
strong enough to support a dozen men. Then he reached down and
lifted his rifle from the bottom of the canoe, slipping the sling
over his shoulder. Again he tested the branch, and then reaching
upward as far as he could for a safe hold he drew himself painfully
and slowly upward until his feet swung clear of the canoe, which,
released, floated silently from beneath him to be lost forever in
the blackness of the dark shadows down stream.
He had burned his bridges behind him. He must either climb aloft
or drop back into the river; but there had been no other way. He
struggled to raise one leg over the limb, but found himself scarce
equal to the effort, for he was very weak. For a time he hung
there feeling his strength ebbing. He knew that he must gain the
branch above at once or it would be too late.
Suddenly the lion roared almost in his ear. Baynes glanced up.
He saw two spots of flame a short distance from and above him.
The lion was standing on the bank of the river glaring at him,
and--waiting for him. Well, thought the Hon. Morison, let him
wait. Lions can't climb trees, and if I get into this one I shall
be safe enough from him.
The young Englishman's feet hunt almost to the surface of the
water--closer than he knew, for all was pitch dark below as above
him. Presently he heard a slight commotion in the river beneath
him and something banged against one of his feet, followed almost
instantly by a sound that he felt he could not have mistaken--the
click of great jaws snapping together.
"By George!" exclaimed the Hon. Morison, aloud. "The beggar nearly
got me," and immediately he struggled again to climb higher and
to comparative safety; but with that final effort he knew that it
was futile. Hope that had survived persistently until now began
to wane. He felt his tired, numbed fingers slipping from their
hold--he was dropping back into the river--into the jaws of the
frightful death that awaited him there.
And then he heard the leaves above him rustle to the movement of
a creature among them. The branch to which he clung bent beneath
an added weight--and no light weight, from the way it sagged; but
still Baynes clung desperately--he would not give up voluntarily
either to the death above or the death below.
He felt a soft, warm pad upon the fingers of one of his hands
where they circled the branch to which he clung, and then something
reached down out of the blackness above and dragged him up among
the branches of the tree.
