246 THE BABOONS 



was a little vague, except that the immediate 

 flight of the cook had been in no small degree 

 expedited by a vicious bite which he had received 

 in what the late Dean Stanley was wont to de- 

 scribe as the "bosom " of his trousers. 



" And now, Senhor Consul," continued the 

 excited oriental, his voice growing gradually 

 higher and shriller as his mind had leisure to 

 grasp more fully the abuses and indignities to 

 which he had been subjected, " and now, it has 

 broken all my eggs, there is nothing left un- 

 broken in my kitchen, and if you will look from 

 the gardens of the Consulate you will see it sitting 

 upon the wall and eating the Bishop's cold 

 turkey." 



I must confess I felt the position to be one of 

 unusual difficulty : first to secure the delinquent, 

 who, perched upon a high party- wall, was enjoying 

 himself with the air of one who has the world at 

 his feet, and, secondly, successfully to placate the 

 just wrath of the despoiled prelate. Fortunately 

 I succeeded, after some slight difficulty, and a 

 little coldness, in achieving both, and once more 

 Joao was led captive to his accustomed tree. 



I could fill a chapter with other incidents in 

 this graceless creature's criminal career, or such 

 portion of it as was spent within the scope of my 

 own immediate observation. What was his ulti- 

 mate fate I never knew — never indeed had the 

 courage to inquire. Being directed soon after- 

 wards to assume office at the British Consulate 

 at Beira, 1 made all preparations for my departure, 

 and finally locked up the premises preparatory to 



