He stood for several minutes buried in thought. The girl watched
his face, wondering what was passing in his mind. She, too,
was thinking of the future. She feared to remain and suffer the
vengeance of The Sheik. There was no one in all the world to whom
she might turn, other than this half-naked stranger who had dropped
miraculously from the clouds to save her from one of The Sheik's
accustomed beatings. Would her new friend leave her now? Wistfully
she gazed at his intent face. She moved a little closer to him,
laying a slim, brown hand upon his arm. The contact awakened the
lad from his absorption. He looked down at her, and then his arm
went about her shoulder once more, for he saw tears upon her lashes.
"Come," he said. "The jungle is kinder than man. You shall live
in the jungle and Korak and Akut will protect you."
She did not understand his words, but the pressure of his arm
drawing her away from the prostrate Arab and the tents was quite
intelligible. One little arm crept about his waist and together
they walked toward the palisade. Beneath the great tree that had
harbored Korak while he watched the girl at play he lifted her in
his arms and throwing her lightly across his shoulder leaped nimbly
into the lower branches.
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