We hid behind a little knoll, And waited for our prey To take his usual morning stroll Along the fatal way. All unsuspecting and alone He came into the danger zone, The range of which we knew To be one furlong and a third, And then--an incident occurred Which, I will pledge my sacred word, Is absolutely true. [Illustration ** Our three travellers aiming guns at the African king from protected positions.] Blood took a very careful aim, And Sin and I did just the same; Yet by some strange and potent charm The King received no kind of harm! He wore, as it appears, A little fetish on a thread, A mumbo-jumbo, painted red, Gross and repulsive in the head, Especially the ears. [Illustration ** A little fetish on a thread....] Last year I should have laughed at it, But now with reverence I admit That nothing in the world is commoner Than Andrew Lang’s Occult Phenomena. On getting back to England, I Described the matter to the Psy- Chological Committee. Of course they thanked me very much; But said, “We have a thousand such, And it would be a pity To break our standing resolution, And pay for any contribution.” XII. The King was terribly put out; To hear him call the guard and shout, And stamp, and curse, and rave Was (as the Missionaries say) A lesson in the Godless way The heathen will behave. He sent us to a Prison, made Of pointed stakes in palisade, And there for several hours Our Leader was a mark for bricks, And eggs and cocoanuts and sticks, And pussy-cats in showers. Our former porters seemed to bear A grudge against the millionaire. [Illustration ** Our three travellers tied with their backs to a stake in a stockade with human bones on the ground.] And yet the thing I minded most Was not the ceaseless teasing (With which the Captain was engrossed), Nor being fastened to a post (Though that was far from pleasing); But hearing them remark that they “Looked forward to the following day.” XIII. At length, when we were left alone, Sin twisted with a hollow groan, And bade the Master save His comrades by some bold device, From the impending grave. Said Blood: “I never take advice, But every man has got his price; We must maintain the open door, Yes, even at the cost of war!” He shifted his position, And drafted in a little while A note in diplomatic style Containing a condition.