Love stories; Nobility -- Great Britain -- Fiction; Switzerland -- Fiction
Then the Chief, Jaga, spoke. He traversed all the arguments of Alulu,
whom he denounced in no measured terms, saying that he was plotting
against him. Finally he came down heavily on the side of the British,
remarking that he knew who were the would-be traitors and that they
should suffer in due course.
“It has been whispered in my ears,” he concluded, “that there
is a plot afoot against my friend, the white Teacher, who has done us
all so much good. It has even been whispered that there are those,”
here he looked hard at Alulu, “who have declared that it would be
well to kill this great white Lord who is our guest,” and he pointed
to Godfrey with his little chief’s staff, “so that he may not
return to tell who are the true traitors among the people of Jaga. I
say to you who have thought such things, that this Lord is the greatest
of all lords, and as well might you lay hands on our father, the mighty
King of England himself, as upon this his friend and counsellor. If a
drop of his blood is shed, then surely the King’s armies will come,
and we shall die, every one of us, the innocent and the guilty
together. For terrible will be the vengeance of the King.”
This outburst made a great impression, for all the multitude cried:
“It is so! We know that it is so,” and Alulu interposed that he
would as soon think of murdering his own mother (who, Mr. Tafelett
whispered to Godfrey, had been dead these many years) as of touching a
hair of the great white chief’s head. On the contrary, it was their
desire to do everything that he ordered them. But concerning the matter
of the new custom of having one wife only, etc.
This brought Mr. Tafelett to his feet, for on monogamy he was especially
strong, and the meeting ended in a theological discussion which nearly
resulted in blows between the factions. Finally it was adjourned for a
week, when it was arranged that an answer should be given to
Godfrey’s demands.
Three nights later an answer was given and one of a terrible sort.
Shortly after sundown Godfrey was sitting in the missionary’s house
writing a report. Mr. Tafelett, it being Sunday, was holding an evening
service in the church, at which Jaga and most of the Christians were
present. Suddenly a tumult arose, and the air was rent with savage
shouts and shrieks. Godfrey sprang up and snatched his revolver just as
some of his servants arrived and announced that the people in the
church were being killed. Acting on his first impulse, he ran to the
place, calling to his guard to follow him, which they did so tardily
that he entered it alone. Here a sight of horror met his eyes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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