ry
available man, woman, and child, not only in the village but in the
entire district, should be mustered by noon next day, to make one grand
and final attempt to move the ship to the village, pending which the
king decided to hold no further communications with his prisoners. The
attempt was made in due course, and, like the others, it proved, as
might be expected, a miserable failure. Poor M'Bongwele was now
completely at a loss; he knew not what to do. He was most anxious to
have the white women cured; but he had a powerful presentiment that if
those singular beings, whom he certainly to some extent had in his
power, once again set foot upon that curious thing they called a "ship,"
his power over them would be gone for ever. And in such a case he felt
that his fate was certain; he had laid unholy hands upon them, and dire
would be his punishment. No; he was convinced that at all costs they
must be debarred from access to that terrible "ship," unless he could
first of all gain their forgiveness, amity, and good-will, and interest
them in his fortunes to the extent of securing their active co-operation
in his schemes of conquest and aggrandisement. How to do this was,
however, the question which puzzled king M'Bongwele; and it puzzled him
so long that--but stay, we must not forestall the story.

Thus engaged in a futile endeavour to discover a way out of his dilemma,
the king kept himself strictly secluded in his palace day after day,
allowing no one access to him unless upon business of the utmost urgency
and importance. Meanwhile, Seketulo, deeming the period a favourable
one for the furtherance of his own schemes, first exhibited an increased
amount of precaution in the proper posting of the guard over the
prisoners, and then a gradually growing disposition to converse with the
prisoners themselves. From this he proceeded to develop an interest,
which, after a suitable lapse of time, was allowed to merge into anxiety
for their welfare and greater comfort, and, finding these cautious
advances well received, he then set to work in real earnest upon the
delicate task of unfolding his proposals. He was so very cautious,
however, and took so long a time about this, that he missed his
opportunity altogether, and that, too, through a very simple accident.

It happened one night that, after an unusually long, disjointed, and
desultory conversation with this same chief, Mildmay failed to get to
sleep with his usua