CHAPTER XII.
The two lovers had no other adventure until they came the next afternoon to the farther side of the swamp, where the Lali were settled. There they were astonished at the multitude of the Lali, who greatly outnumbered the Ammi, fairly swarming in the trees and in the open country beyond.
It was not deemed safe to venture out of the Swamp in the presence of so many apes, some of whom would doubtless recognize them as belonging to the Ammi; so they determined to hide in the bushes till night, and then reconnoitre.
In the meantime they had abundant opportunity to watch the movements of the Apes, who kept in groups, as if fearing an attack, although an occasional one was seen alone, and some few came even into the Swamp. The two lovers did not fear the approach of single apes, or even of a small group; for, as there were many varieties among the Lali, and not a single kind only, as among the Ammi, the appearance of a new kind raisedno suspicion. The Ammi, or Men, moreover, were hardly distinguishable from certain of the Lali, at least by the Apes.
“The chance of finding Orlee among so many,” said Sosee, “is not good; and if we find her we cannot take her from them.”
“Wait till it is dark,” replied Koree, “and the groups will disperse, when we can both approach them without suspicion, and carry her off without resistance. Trust your lover.”
“I trust you, or I should have not come with you, or have asked you to come,” she answered; “but I see no way to accomplish our object.”
“Do you see that big baboon beyond the crowd walking alone with an ape?” he next asked. “He looks like the fellow that struck me when Orlee was carried off.”
“It must be the same,” replied Sosee; “for there is a child near him which looks like Orlee.”
“I think that is only a young monkey,” replied Koree, “which has been taken out by its parents.”
“The three pay no attention to the other Apes,” replied Sosee, “and are wandering still farther from them. Let us approach them; in their absorption it will cause no alarm.”
“If it is the baboon which I think it is, he will know me,” replied Koree. “At least I cannot mistake him.”
“If we could get a little nearer,” said she, “I could tell whether it is Orlee or not.”
“But we cannot get near the child without getting near the parents,” replied Koree.
“She has wandered off from her keepers,” retorted Sosee. “Let us approach slowly.”
“Wait till it is darker,” said he. “We can then get near enough to recognize her without being recognized by them.”
“They pay no attention to the child,” continued she, “which is moving away from them; and if she goes much farther we can get near enough to see her distinctly without their noticing us.”
“They seem, however,” said he, “to be much interested in something. Such earnestness among monkeys has a meaning.”
“It cannot concern the child,” replied she, “and between their absorption and her distance, we can get her away while they are thinking about themselves.”
“I hate the looks of that baboon,” mused Koree.
“I like the looks of that child,” replied Sosee.
“I will get her if it is Orlee,” he said, “but I want to avoid a blow from that brute. We had better be sure it is Orlee before we take the risk of a broken head in finding out.”
“The child keeps upright far more than the others, which makes me think it is not theirs,” said Sosee.
“I should like to have the child just to avenge the blow I received,” said Koree; “but I don’t want to have a second blow to avenge.”
“I will take the blow if you will get the child,” replied Sosee.
“As long as the two old apes are so near it, we could not carry it off if we got it,” he said. “They would pursue us and overtake us with our load.”
“Two ought to be able to resist two; and Orlee would help us,” replied she.
“Before our fight could end the other apes would come to their succor,” said he.
“Perhaps,” suggested Sosee, “they would give up Orlee if I would stay with them instead.”
“I do not like that suggestion,” replied Koree, “I will get Orlee and keep you. Would you rather have Orlee than me?”
“I was not thinking of that, but only of Orlee.”
They had now approached near enough to see the girl distinctly, whom they recognized to be Orlee. She had wandered so far from her keepers that they did not observe the approaching lovers. Koree and Sosee concluded to steal up to Orlee, and, without raising any suspicion, lead her in the direction of the Swamp and then hurry with her into the bushes where they could not be followed. As it was getting dark the time seemed propitious for their scheme.
The couple in charge of Orlee, were, as will be surmised, Oboo, the ape who had carried her off, and the woman Oola, in whose charge she had been placed. This ape continued his attendance on this woman without interruption, having, while the other Lali were amusing themselves in groups, wandered off with her and the child to be alone. This accounts for their distance from the rest of the Apes. They were so much absorbed, moreover, with each other, that they did not notice that the child, Orlee, had wandered away from them, and was now almost out of their sight, and entirely out of theirthoughts. Oboo and the woman simply kept up their love-making, while Koree and Sosee were approaching their prize. What made one pair of lovers forgetful made the other pair alert. Love shuts and opens the eyes of mortals in turn, and lays off the harness from one which it puts on another.
As soon as Orlee recognized her sister she gave a scream of joy which disconcerted the plans of Sosee and Koree. It also startled Oboo and the woman out of their bliss, who now experienced all the horrors of interruption which the other two lovers had suffered the day before on the appearance of the mammoth. Oboo felt most disappointed, and the woman most frightened. They sprang up, and, for a minute, were bewildered, thinking that some curious apes, perhaps rivals, had come suddenly upon them, through jealousy or stupidity, to interrupt theirtète-a-tète. The woman instinctively sprang in the direction of the child, while Oboo looked around to see who was the cause of the interruption. Soon they both took in the situation and started in pursuit of the child.
Koree, perceiving that no time was to be lost, had picked up the child and started for the Swamp, Sosee following at full speed. The child, frightened by the bustle, set up a combined screaming and chattering, which attracted the attention of the other Apes and called a large number of them into the pursuit. The scene for a few minutes was like that of a couple of foxes pursued by a pack of hounds, in which the foxes were fast making for the woods.