word
in one of the great ears and Tantor, the elephant, raised his trunk
aloft, swinging it high and low to catch the scent that the word had
warned him of. There was another whispered word--was it a
command?--and the lumbering beast wheeled into an awkward, yet silent
shuffle, in the direction of Numa, the lion, and the stranger
Tarmangani his rider had scented.

Onward they went, the scent of the lion and his prey becoming stronger
and stronger. Numa was becoming impatient. How much longer must he
wait for his meat to come his way? He lashed his tail viciously now.
He almost growled. All unconscious of their danger the man and the
girl sat talking in the little clearing.

Their horses were pressed side by side. Baynes had found Meriem's hand
and was pressing it as he poured words of love into her ear, and Meriem
was listening.

"Come to London with me," urged the Hon. Morison. "I can gather a
safari and we can be a whole day upon the way to the coast before they
guess that we have gone."

"Why must we go that way?" asked the girl. "Bwana and My Dear would
not object to our marriage."

"I cannot marry you just yet," explained the Hon. Morison, "there are
some formalities to be attended to first--you do not understand. It
will be all right. We will go to London. I cannot wait. If you love
me you will come. What of the apes you lived with? Did they bother
about marriage? They love as we love. Had you stayed among them you
would have mated as they mate. It is the law of nature--no man-made
law can abrogate the laws of God. What difference does it make if we
love one another? What do we care for anyone in the world besides
ourselves? I would give my life for you--will you give nothing for me?"

"You love me?" she said. "You will marry me when we have reached
London?"

"I swear it," he cried.

"I will go with you," she whispered, "though I do not understand why it
is necessary." She leaned toward him and he took her in his arms and
bent to press his lips to hers.

At the same instant the head of a huge tusker poked through the trees
that fringed the clearing. The Hon. Morison and Meriem, with eyes and
ears for one another alone, did not see or hear; but Numa did. The man
upon Tantor's broad head saw the girl in the man's arms. It was Korak;
but in the trim figure of the neatly garbed girl he did not recognize
his Meriem. He only saw a Tarmangani with his she. And then Numa
charged.