lamba's
satisfaction, he entered the palace to make his report to the king, who
was anxiously expecting him. M'Bongwele listened attentively to all the
details of the capture, and, upon its completion, rose and, accompanied
by the chief, made his way to the hut, which he cautiously entered,
placing himself at the foot of each hammock in succession, and long and
anxiously regarding the countenances of the sleepers. He had been
successful in his bold enterprise beyond his most sanguine hopes; but it
was evident that even in the very moment of his triumph he was anxious
and disturbed in his mind. He trembled at the audacity which had led
him to pit himself against these extraordinary beings, and the very ease
with which he had accomplished his purpose frightened him. Had these
men--if men they were--been encountered and overcome awake, and in the
full possession of their senses, he would have been happy, for he would
then have felt that his own power was superior to theirs. But they had
been surprised whilst under the influence of a subtle and potent drug
prepared by the chief witch-doctor; and when they awoke and discovered
what had been done to them, what might not the consequence be? But what
was done was done; he had now gone too far to retreat; besides which,
his ambition overmastered his fears, and he determined to go on and risk
the consequences.

Having obtained possession of the persons of these formidable beings,
obviously the next thing would be to secure that wonderful thing which
they called a "ship;" and this M'Bongwele determined to do at once: who
knew but that its possession might give him a much-needed and decisive
power over its former owners? He accordingly retired from the prison
hut, and gave orders for the immediate assembling of all his available
cavalry; at the head of which he soon dashed off in the direction of the
ruins, leaving Lualamba in charge of the guard and of the prisoners, a
position of responsibility which that chief by no means coveted, and
which he accepted with much inward perturbation.

Proceeding at a gallop, the impatient M'Bongwele and his troopers soon
reached the _Flying Fish_, which they immediately surrounded. The king
then dismounting, and summoning some fifty of his most famous braves to
follow him, cautiously approached the ship, with the purpose of boarding
her. But the rope-ladder, by means of which he had on a former occasion
accomplished this feat, was no lo