ld native rajah; when he turned
lamp-oil into the ice cream, and when he broke a rare Satsuma bowl
in trying to catch a lizard. He was always so penitent after each
misadventure!

We had heard that Hamat had sailed for Jedda with a shipload of
pilgrims and were therefore expecting him back soon; but we had
decided not to give up Lepas. He had become a sort of necessity about
the house.

Next door to us, lived a high official of the English service. He was
a sour, cross old man and did not like pets. Even the monkeys in the
trees knew better than to go into his "compound," or inclosure.

But Lepas started off on a voyage of discovery one day, and not only
invaded his compound, but actually entered his house. The official
caught him in the act of hiding his shaving-set between the palm
thatch of the roof and the cheese-cloth ceiling. Recognizing Lepas,
he did not kill him, but took him by his leathern girdle and soused
him in his bath-tub, until he was so near dead that it took him hours
to crawl home.

Lepas went around with a sad, injured expression on his wrinkled
little face, for days. Not even a mangosteen sprinkled with sugar
could awaken his enthusiasm.

He went so far as to make up with the monkeys in the trees, and once
or twice I caught him condescending to have a game of leap-frog with
them. I made up my mind that he had determined to turn over a new leaf,
but the syce shook his head knowingly and said:--

"Lepas all the time thinking. He thinks bad things."

And so it proved.

One night the mistress gave a very big dinner party. The high official
from next door was there. So were several other high officials of
Singapore, the general commanding her Majesty's troops, and the
foreign consuls and members of Legislative Council.

It was a hot night, and the punkah-wallah outside kept the punkah, or
mechanical fan, switching back and forth over our heads with a rapidity
that made us fear its ropes would break, as very often happened.

Suddenly there was a crash, and a champagne glass struck squarely in
the high official's soup and spattered it all over his white expanse
of shirt front. We all looked up at the punkah. At the same instant
a big, soft mango smashed in the high official's face and changed
its ruddy red color to a sickly yellow.

The women screamed, and the men jumped up from the table. Then began
a regular fusillade of wine glasses and tropical fruits.

Sometimes they hit the high offic