nd then,
with a good deal of difficulty, managed to wriggle in his toes, after
which he drew the boot above his ankle, rose up with a smile of
gratified pride upon his countenance, and began to strut up and down
before his companion.

There was something very laughable in the scene, for it did not seem to
occur to the Zulu boy that he required anything else to add to his
costume. He had on one English boot, the same as the white men wore,
and that seemed to him sufficient, as he stuck his arms akimbo, then
folded them as he walked with head erect, and ended by standing on one
leg and holding out the booted foot before his admiring companion. This
was too much for the other boy, whose eyes glittered as he made a snatch
at the boot, dragged it off, and was about to leap up and run away; but
his victim was too quick, for, lithe and active as a serpent, he dashed
upon the would-be robber, and a fierce struggle ensued for the
possession of the boot.

John Rogers, otherwise Jack, a frank English lad of about sixteen,
sprang forward to separate the combatants, but Dinny, his father's
servant, who had been groom and gardener at home, restrained him.

"No, no, Masther Jack," he cried, "let the young haythens fight it out.
It'll make them behave betther by-an'-by."

"I won't; I don't like to see them fight," cried Jack, slipping himself
free, and seemingly joining in the fray.

"Don't, Masther Jack," cried Dinny; "they'll come off black on your
hands. Masther Dick, sir, tell him to lave them alone."

The lad appealed to, a pale delicate-looking youth, clenched his fists
and sprang forward to help his brother. But he stopped directly and
began to laugh, as, after a short scuffle, Jack Rogers separated the
combatants, and stood between them with the boot in dispute.

For a moment it seemed as if the two Zulu lads were about to make a
combined attack, but there was something about the English lad which
restrained them, and they stood chattering away in their native tongue,
protesting against his interference, and each laying claim to the boot.

"Speak English," cried Jack. "And now you two have got to shake hands
like Englishmen, and make friends."

"Want a boot! want a boot! want a boot!" the Zulu lads kept repeating.

"Well, you do as I tell you, and you shall each have a pair of boots."

"Two boot? Two boot?" cried the boy who had lost his treasure.

"Yes; two boots," said Jack. "You've got an old pair, haven'