George Kibbe Turner

“ In the midst of this herd of wild boys, the Cannibal King—a great, black, morose, raw-boned savage—stalked alone. He was a guaranteed African prince, taken in an excess of zeal by a returning missionary enthusiast. The African prince was much paraded at missionary gatherings, and soon began to give lectures on his own account. He was prospered in his work. In the eyes of the women of a score of sewing societies he was a heroic figure of almost Old Testament proportions. ”

“ White boys and dark boys, big boys and small boys, seethed and yelled and galloped to and fro together in one indistinguishable, motley mass. Boys from all the corners of the earth came up to old Middleton—rich men's sons, with soft hands and hard hearts, under a contract to be managed ”

“ You can get a good deal of expression with a tick-tack, if you work it right. You take it one—two—three—four—like that—just like tollin' a bell."
The King being away that afternoon, the tick-tack was easily established. It worked that night beyond belief. The Twins retired to bed highly gratified.
"Say, we've struck it rich," said the Chinee proudly. "I'll bet you there ain't many fellers of our age ever saw anything like that in a civilized country like this before."
"That's so," said Pink. ”

“ You will have to take the consequences."
"Didn't you say you were glad he was exposed, sir?" asked the innocent Chinee.
"When I want to discuss these things with you, young man," said Mose savagely, "I'll tell you so. You come and see me to-morrow in my study. And you, too, young man. I want you both."
"Yes, sir."
The Twins, covered with a proper sobriety, marched in silence out of the principal's sight and up into the dormitory. There, for, the first time since their triumph, they met the football captain.
"Oh!" said the Twins, in simultaneous admiration. ”

“ The principal quickly verified the Texan's position from the spasms of the King. Nothing could be done to calm the frenzy of the victim. He lay on his back and called loudly for the lives of the Twins. The minister and Mose failed utterly to pacify him. In the meantime the men and boys in the foreground wondered, and the women, huddled together in the rear of the vestry, feared greatly. The Twins were the only really calm individuals in the building. ”

“ The Twins were accordingly soon seated in Mose's library during study hours, solemnly looking over the "Encyclopedia of Nations." The Chinee was reading:
"'Zozo, The.—An extremely savage tribe in Western Africa, best known from their strange susceptibility to religious excitement. These strange people are extreme fetish [that's a kind of idol] worshipers, and are supposed to be cannibals. They are said to have a belief that if they lose their personal fetish in any way they are destined to meet their death immediately, and such happenings render them uncontrollably ferocious. ”

“ They went down together in the most approved style, the big knife clanking and clattering on the floor as the negro dropped it. Half a dozen boys and a couple of big farmers were upon the prostrate King in an instant, and the face of Mose was looking sternly and wonderingly down upon him. The Twins, having concealed the remains of the idol, looked sadly and innocently down upon the scene from where they stood upon their settees. Mose appreciated the situation immediately.
Illustration: "THE BLOOD OF A THOUSAND HOWLING ANCESTORS RUSHED TO HIS BRAIN"
"What have you been doing now?" ”

“ The Chinee then explained his plan. It was found eminently reasonable, and exhilarating as well. Even Bill, the aged senior and football captain, renewed his lost youth and entered into the spirit of the thing.
"Only," said the Chinee, in conclusion, "don't let him have anything to throw. You know those spears and things—we'll have to swipe 'em."
The rattling wagons of the farmers were gathering along dark country ways to the little vestry. It was the night of the lecture by the Heir of the Zozos. ”

“ There are hundreds similar to it in little forgotten corners of New England—the old academies, remnants of the old-time aristocratic education, being brought down to desolation and ruin by the rise of the great democratic school system. ”