nd against which to place
himself, noticed a large clump of trees with olive-green foliage growing
at a short distance directly astern of the ship. Against these his
white-clad figure would stand out in strong relief. He accordingly
stepped leisurely out to a suitable position on the deck, and, with one
hand in his pocket and his smouldering cigar in the other, patiently
awaited the decisive moment. M'Bongwele in the meantime snatched a bow
from one of his followers, and, selecting a long straight arrow from the
sheaf, retired to the other end of the deck, a distance of about one
hundred and fifty feet from his living target. He strung the bow
carefully, adjusted the arrow to the string with the utmost nicety, drew
it to the head, and then paused for a full minute, apparently waiting
for some indication of flinching on Lethbridge's part. In this,
however, he was disappointed, not the faintest suggestion of uneasiness
could be detected in the colonel's face--indeed, he seemed to be
absorbed in a critical contemplation of the smoke which lazily wreathed
upward from the end of the cigar. Suddenly the bow twanged loudly, the
arrow whizzed through the air, and, striking fair upon the rosette, fell
in splinters to the deck. Lethbridge somewhat contemptuously kicked the
fragments aside, unpinned the rosette from the breast of his coat, and
sauntered back to his former seat. The group of chiefs gathered on the
deck glanced at each other and uttered suppressed ejaculations of
dismay. As for M'Bongwele, he was thoroughly discomfited; he had been
shrewd enough to suspect in the professor's proposal some preconcerted
arrangement, which he flattered himself he had skilfully baffled;
instead of which his _ruse_ had simply redounded to his own more
complete confusion.

The professor rose and picked up the pierced rosette, which he handed to
the king.

"You are very skilful," he remarked, pointing to the puncture; "I
compliment you." Then, changing his tone, he continued: "We have
allowed you to do this in order that you may be thoroughly convinced of
the impossibility of injuring us. Now you shall have a further example
of our power. Order your warriors to dismount and try their best to
lift this ship from off the ground."

The king turned to Lualamba and gave him the necessary order; whereupon
the chief, descending the ladder to the ground, advanced to the troops,
and, dismounting them, assembled them all round the hul