Page:Scented isles and coral gardens- Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, by C.D. Mackellar, 1912.pdf/119

 examples of the converted native, the fewer the better, say I. [In 1904 Father Rascher, four Brothers, and five of the good Sisters were all massacred by the natives at the new mission station of St. Paul's.Their bodies, however, were left untouched.]

The most amusing of my fellow-passengers is, however, King Peter, who is a great character, and a great friend of mine. Not being a Society personage, I number very few kings amongst my friends. I don't meet them about much, so I sup- pose we move in different sets. I remember――― whose ambition it was to be taken for " a smart woman in a smart set," saying once, " Yes, Queen Victoria-no doubt a very noble, good woman and all that, don't you know--but one never meets her about, and she is not a bit in the smart set." Anyway, I don't know many kings-- which, I am sure, is a great pity for the kings-- and so feel I have " riz " with having this one as a daily companion. I always wanted to be a king myself, but a real one that could cut off heads. It must be so beautiful if any one bores you to be able to say " Kopf ab! " and there is no more about it. The good kings do not interest me; I like the ones who " wade through seas of blood to a Throne " and have no consciences. None of them can possibly, like me, have a strain of dour Scottish Covenanting blood in their veins, which makes itself felt on the most inappropriate occasions and spoils everything. It ought to be a Royal recipe for fighty kings to inject some of this Covenanting blood into their veins now and again; there would be little frivolity left in them. My fortune has been told several times, and I am always promised " a crown," but whether it is a Royal crown or five shillings, it has not arrived yet. I am, however, still waiting.