"The meeting broke up in confusion just about then, because his soldiers down below began to run amuck among our boys, and the King heard the row and went for me. However, I'd my big lead tobacco box handy, and I wiped him over the head with that, and as the boys below were frightened, and had got our surf boat ready for launching, I saw that they intended to quit, whatever I might say, and I didn't see the force of holding the fort here alone. So I went to sea with them, and spent the evening preaching them a long sermon on the vice of cowardice. I hadn't much faith that the King would be fool enough to swallow my prophecy, but as I say, you can never be sure which way the African brain will twist. And here you see's the factory untouched."
"When Mr. K. gets a report on this, sir, I fancy you'll have a letter you will like."
"Maybe. But I shan't wear myself out expecting it. Look here"--Mr. Smith produced a letter from the breast pocket of his stained pyjamas--"came in just after you'd left. Sent by canoe and special runner from our factory on the Monk River. Agent there says he wants to charge me seven pound ten for forwarding my mail. If that's K. O'Neill's idea of running a business economically, I wish he'd come out to the Coast here and find a way of making profits to correspond."
Carter had a shrewd suspicion that if Mr. K. had ordered an expenditure of seven pounds ten shilling sterling over the forwarding of a letter, it contained an idea which that very astute business man was sure would produce at least seventy pounds in the near future. But he did not irritate his superior by mentioning this aloud. Instead he asked, "Any instructions for me, sir?"
"Well, yes. First of all there is a direct one. K. says, 'As Mr. Carter seems a good hand at collecting native curios, I should be glad if he would get me some ivory war horns. I want a row of them on my drawing-room wall.' So, young man, you had better get hold of some escribellos and your carving tools and set to work."
"I don't propose," said Carter shortly, "to start faking curios for Mr. K. A man like that would spot them at once. But I'll send my model horn, and see to it he has some other good specimens of the real thing."