Then come the males with spears and arrows and Korak takes
to the trees. Sometimes he takes the she with him and high among
the branches divests her of the things he wishes to bring home to
Meriem. He says that the blacks fear him now, and at first sight
of him the women and children run shrieking to their huts; but he
follows them within, and it is not often that he returns without
arrows for himself and a present for Meriem. Korak is mighty among
the jungle people--our Korak, Geeka--no, MY Korak!"
Meriem's conversation was interrupted by the sudden plunge of an
excited little monkey that landed upon her shoulders in a flying
leap from a neighboring tree.
"Climb!" he cried. "Climb! The Mangani are coming."
Meriem glanced lazily over her shoulder at the excited disturber
of her peace.
"Climb, yourself, little Manu," she said. "The only Mangani in
our jungle are Korak and Akut. It is they you have seen returning
from the hunt. Some day you will see your own shadow, little Manu,
and then you will be frightened to death."
But the monkey only screamed his warning more lustily before he
raced upward toward the safety of the high terrace where Mangani,
the great ape, could not follow.
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