Anxious to pacify the rage of the chiefs, father and uncle, Mary
undertook to do honour to the dead lad by dressing him in the style
befitting his rank. Fine silk cloth was wound round his body, shirts
and vests were put on, over these went a suit of clothes which she had
made for his father, the head was shaved into patterns and painted
yellow, and round it was wound a silk turban, all being crowned with a
tall black and scarlet hat with plumes of brilliant feathers. Thus
attired the body was carried out into a booth in the women's yard,
where it was fastened, seated in an arm-chair, under a large umbrella.
To the hands were tied the whip and silver-headed stick that denoted
his position, while a mirror was arranged in front of him, in order
that he might enjoy the reflection of his grandeur. Beside him was a
table, upon which were set out all the treasures of the house,
including the skulls taken in war, and a few candles begged from Mary.
When the people were admitted and saw the weird spectacle they became
frenzied with delight, danced and capered, and started on a course of
drinking and wantonness.
"You'll have to stop all work," Mary said to Mr. Ovens, who felt as if
he were moving in some grotesque fantasy of sleep; "this is going to be
a serious business. We can't leave these prisoners for a moment. I'll
watch beside them all night and you'll take the day."
And time and time about in that filthy yard, through the heat of the
day and the chill of the night, these two brave souls kept guard
opposite the wretched band of prisoners, with the half-naked people,
armed with guns and machetes, dancing drinking about them. As one
barrel of rum was finished another was brought in, and the supply
seemed endless. The days went by, and Mr. Ovens lost patience, and
declared he would go and get a chisel and hammer and free the prisoners
at all costs. "Na, na," replied Mary wisely, "we'll have a little more
patience."
One day she went to Mr. Ovens and said, "They want a coffin."
"They'll have to make one," he retorted.
"I think you'd better do it," she rejoined; "the boy's father has some
wood of his own, of which he was going to make a door like mine, and he
is willing to use it for the purpose."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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