And so he easily maintained the
reputation of being a most democratic and likeable fellow, and
indeed he was likable. Just a shade of his egotism was occasionally
apparent--never sufficient to become a burden to his associates.
And this, briefly, was the Hon. Morison Baynes of luxurious European
civilization. What would be the Hon. Morison Baynes of central
Africa it were difficult to guess.
Meriem, at first, was shy and reserved in the presence of the
strangers. Her benefactors had seen fit to ignore mention of her
strange past, and so she passed as their ward whose antecedents
not having been mentioned were not to be inquired into. The guests
found her sweet and unassuming, laughing, vivacious and a never
exhausted storehouse of quaint and interesting jungle lore.
She had ridden much during her year with Bwana and My Dear. She
knew each favorite clump of concealing reeds along the river that
the buffalo loved best. She knew a dozen places where lions laired,
and every drinking hole in the drier country twenty-five miles back
from the river. With unerring precision that was almost uncanny she
could track the largest or the smallest beast to his hiding place.
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