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"Now," said the baronet, "ten minutes in which to strip, rub down, and don dry garments, and then we will be off to the rescue of those poor women, after which I think we must give our friend M'Bongwele a salutary lesson on the evil and impolicy of treachery."
The king would not listen to any such proposal; he was evidently anxious to exhibit his skill; and the professor, reassured, attached the rosette to Lethbridge's coat in the exact spot indicated, M'Bongwele and his companions watching the operation with the keenest interest.
And, having done that, he further attempted to gain possession of this ship," this fact having leaked out in Seketulo's previous conversations "profanely and audaciously thinking he could subdue her to his will and control her as we do. Now, therefore, be it understood by all present that, for his base treachery, M'Bongwele is dethroned, and Seketulo will, from this moment, reign in his stead.
King M'Bongwele had evidently been keenly on the watch for the return of the four prisoners, for they had scarcely had time to enter their hut when the monarch presented himself before them, and, with some little impatience of manner, began his interrogations with the single word: "Well?" "We can cure them," briefly answered the professor.
When 'Nkuni dies the chiefs who think as I do will be strong enough to act without fear of opposition, and we shall be able to destroy Lobelalatutu and restore the system which prevailed when M'Bongwele reigned, the system by which the chiefs and the witch doctors were able to acquire much wealth instead of living, as we do now, in comparative poverty."
The Flying Fish and her inmates remained in the country for rather more than three months from that date; quite long enough to satisfy the party that they had really acted wisely, and for the benefit of the nation, in deposing M'Bongwele; and long enough to enable them to make several most surprising and interesting discoveries among the ruins discoveries which it is not necessary to describe or particularise here, since the professor has prepared, and is now revising for the press, an elaborate and exhaustive treatise upon the subject.
They are perfectly trustworthy indeed, they are actively aiding and abetting us in the exceedingly disagreeable but necessary deception we are practising upon king M'Bongwele. The wretch!" she continued, starting indignantly to her feet. "Would you believe it? He actually has the audacity and impudence to to to " "To aspire to a matrimonial alliance with one, if not all, of you.
This imposing person we rightly judged to be none other than M'Bongwele himself; and in a few minutes the whole cavalcade, charging down upon us, divided into two and, wheeling right and left, reined up and stood motionless as so many bronze statues, within a few yards of the ship. Then M'Bongwele a fine but very stout man rather laboriously dismounted and, after some hesitation, came on board.
This attempt, it is scarcely necessary to say, also resulted in complete failure, and with this failure king M'Bongwele was at last compelled to recognise himself as beaten.
"Behold, he lies there, dead, slain by the mighty magic of the Great Spirits!" answered a chief, pointing to the prostrate body of the man who had fallen before the professor's rifle. The king threw a single keen glance at the dead man, grunted inarticulately, and was silent. "Listen, M'Bongwele!" said von Schalckenberg.
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