And presently, as today, she
found the features of Korak slowly dissolve and merge into those of
another, and the figure of a tanned, half-naked tarmangani become
a khaki clothed Englishman astride a hunting pony.
And while she dreamed there came to her ears from a distance,
faintly, the terrified bleating of a kid. Meriem was instantly
alert. You or I, even had we been able to hear the pitiful wail
at so great distance, could not have interpreted it; but to Meriem
it meant a species of terror that afflicts the ruminant when a
carnivore is near and escape impossible.
It had been both a pleasure and a sport of Korak's to rob Numa of
his prey whenever possible, and Meriem too had often enjoyed in
the thrill of snatching some dainty morsel almost from the very
jaws of the king of beasts. Now, at the sound of the kid's bleat,
all the well remembered thrills recurred. Instantly she was all
excitement to play again the game of hide and seek with death.
Quickly she loosened her riding skirt and tossed it aside--it was
a heavy handicap to successful travel in the trees.
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