Korak jerked his head in the direction of the
little girl in the tree.
"Leave her alone," he said; "she is mine."
Akut grunted, blinked his blood-shot eyes, and turned toward the
body of Sheeta. Standing erect upon it he threw out his great chest,
raised his face toward the heavens and gave voice to so horrid a
scream that once again the little girl shuddered and shrank. It
was the victory cry of the bull ape that has made a kill. The boy
only looked on for a moment in silence; then he leaped into the
tree again to the girl's side. Akut presently rejoined them. For
a few minutes he busied himself licking his wounds, then he wandered
off to hunt his breakfast.
For many months the strange life of the three went on unmarked by
any unusual occurrences. At least without any occurrences that
seemed unusual to the youth or the ape; but to the little girl it
was a constant nightmare of horrors for days and weeks, until she
too became accustomed to gazing into the eyeless sockets of death
and to the feel of the icy wind of his shroud-like mantle. Slowly
she learned the rudiments of the only common medium of thought
exchange which her companions possessed--the language of the great
apes.
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