Thus feeling at home in my labors, My plan was successful, of course, And when they came round with appointments They gave me a job on "the force." And such was my skill as a roundsman, And talent in keeping the peace, That I rose in a year to be Captain, And then to be Chief of Police! [Illustration] [Illustration] [Illustration] And then, as my years were advancing, So great was their honor and trust, That they twined me a chaplet of laurel And sculptured in marble my bust. [Illustration] [Illustration] Yet often I dreamed of the jungle-- Its song and the rustle of wing-- And sometimes still talked in my slumber With Tusky, our elephant king. When, lo, my political party, That now was in power and supreme, Conferred a most noble appointment That realized all of my dream. [Illustration] [Illustration] For they made me their African envoy, And soon I went sailing again, To meet my old playmates and tell them The ways and the customs of men. To calm the dusk native, and gather My people in sun-haunted nooks To tell them my story, and teach them The wisdom that cometh of books; [Illustration] [Illustration] The words and the ways of _their fathers_, And deliver my race from its ban, For man did not spring from the monkey, But monkey _descended from man!_ [Illustration] [Illustration]