"Having disposed of one king, the onus now rests upon us of appointing another. The question consequently arises: What is to govern us in the somewhat delicate task of choosing a suitable man?" "Yes," agreed Sir Reginald; "and it is a somewhat difficult question to answer: very much too difficult to answer offhand. We want a man--" "Excuse me for interrupting you, old chap," broke in Lethbridge; "but I should like to offer a suggestion, based upon my knowledge of the peculiarities of the savage mind, as acquired in various out-of-the-way corners of the globe. In the light of what this chief, Lobelalatutu, has told us to-day, I am of opinion that we made a rather serious mistake when, on the occasion of our last visit here, we appointed Seketulo as king without consulting the wishes of the other chiefs. I would therefore suggest that we instruct the chiefs to hold a pow-wow to-night for the purpose of deciding upon, and submitting to us to-morrow, the names of such individuals as they consider suitable for the position. What say you, Professor? You, too, have had some experience with natives; what do you think of my plan?" "I think it excellent in every way," answered the professor, heartily; "so excellent, indeed, that I very strongly support it." "All right," agreed Sir Reginald; "I can see no possible objection to the scheme. What do you say, Colonel, and you--Hillo! what has become of Mildmay?" "It would not very profoundly surprise me if it should be found that he is below, doing his best to entertain the ladies," observed Lethbridge, with a grin. "And, if so, there is really no need to disturb him; he is sure to agree to anything that we may decide upon. What think _you of_ our plan, Colonel?" "Well, really, I have had so little experience in matters of the kind, that I do not feel competent to express an opinion. But since my very excellent friend, von Schalckenberg, so thoroughly approves of it, I am certain that it must be a good one," answered Sziszkinski. "Very good, then; that is settled. Will you tell those fellows down there, Professor?" said Sir Reginald. Von Schalckenberg did so, and then dismissed the people to their huts, commanding the chief, Lobelalatutu, however, to ascend to the deck again for a few minutes, as they had one or two further questions to put to him. "And now," remarked the professor, as the chief joined them, "our next business, I take it, is to discover who were those unfortunate white people who died under such barbarous circumstances, to amuse M'Bongwele and set his jealous fears at rest."