His Majesty sat upright in his chair and began to
manifest a little more interest.

"Is that one of the white man's fighting weapons?" he demanded,
stretching forth his hand for it.

"It is," answered I, as I handed it to him. And forthwith I proceeded
to explain to him how it was used. He examined the weapon with much
curiosity, ran his thumb along the edge, remarked that it was not very
sharp, and then, to my unutterable dismay, handed it back to me, saying:

"Good! Thou shalt show me how it is used. One of my warriors, armed
with spear and shield, shall fight thee!"

For a second or two I was too dumbfounded to speak. I knew that savages
were subject to queer and unexpected turns of thought, but this was a
development that I had never foreseen even in my most fantastic
imaginings, and I was utterly at a loss as to how I was to deal with
such an extraordinary situation. It was not that I was exactly afraid
to meet a savage in mortal combat, for I had often done so before; but
that was on the field of battle, when my opponents were the enemies of
my race, thirsting for the white man's blood, and when my only choice
lay between killing and being killed. But to deliberately engage in a
cold-blooded duel with a man against whom I had no grudge, and to incur
the obligation of killing or being killed merely to gratify the whim of
a savage monarch, was quite another matter, and one that, to confess the
simple truth, I had no fancy for. Yet how to escape the dilemma I knew
not, though it was forcibly borne in upon me that it would never do for
me to betray the slightest hesitation, for savage kings are kittle
cattle to deal with, and to cross even their lightest mood may often
result in a ghastly tragedy. Therefore, more in the hope of gaining
time than for any other reason, I said:

"Nay, O King, it were mere waste of good material to slay one of thy
warriors in order to show thee how this weapon is used, nor is it
necessary; I can make the matter quite clear to thee without killing a
man, and will do so in due time. Let me now proceed to display the
remainder of my gifts;" and hastily diving into the parcel I produced
the length of brass chain with the shaving mirror attached, held it up
for an instant that all might see, and then placed it round my own neck,
to show how it was to be worn. And at that moment what seemed to me to
be a brilliant inspiration seized me, and I began to talk somewhat
hurriedly, i