By and by I was taught to use the saw, and became one of the staff of pit sawyers who were cutting up wood for house building. We worked from sunrise to sunset, with two hours off for rest mid-day; but sometimes we did piece-work, and then our hours were shorter. We received a monthly wage, and a weekly allowance for rations; and as our wives kept their own gardens, and sometimes went fishing, we were well supplied with food and soon got strong and well. Each morning before we commenced work there was a service in the chapel which we all had to attend, and later on there was school for the boys and domestic servants of the white people and for our children and any who liked to attend from the villages. Some evenings there were preaching services or classes for inquirers, and occasionally the white man showed us pictures with a lamp. The pictures appeared on a large cloth which was hung from above, and we liked seeing them very much. But we were also somewhat afraid of them, especially when we saw some of our own people who were dead—we thought it must be their spirits! And when we went round to the other side to see their backs, behold, they had none, but only another front, so we thought there must be something strange about them; for we have never seen people with two fronts and no backs! Every first day of the week we did no work, but went with our wives and other people to hear the teaching. Before this time I knew but very little of it: I knew that it was about one Jesus, but who or what He was, or why they talked so much about Him I could not understand. Now I began to learn that He was the Son of God, and came to earth for us. I heard about His birth, life and death, and how He died for us—instead of us—just as the peace-offering is killed in our country to save the whole village. We kill a slave; but God sent His Son, and Jesus came willingly and gave His life for us. Truly, He must have loved us! After a time I joined the inquirers’ class, for I wanted to learn more about Him, and to belong to His company. The time passed very quickly, it seemed but a little until my book, which was for twelve moons, was finished. I received my payment—brass rods, cloth, salt, &c.—and felt quite a rich man. Never had I possessed so much before; and I wanted to go to Ekaka and show off my riches. When my master asked what I purposed doing I said that I was tired and would like to go home for a while to rest. I went, and soon after that my master went to Europe for his rest also. CHAPTER VII BACK TO SLAVERY My welcome at home—My respite and its end—The forest sentry—The little boy—My father’s appeal and its result—I intervene—The sentry’s revenge—A rubber slave once more—I appeal to the man of God—Disappointment—“Nothing but rubber till I die!”—The hopeless toil—The coming of the pestilence—The witch-doctor’s medicine—The desolation—But still the rubber!