ghting and terrible bloodshed must occur ere the struggle
ended, we felt assured, but with our mere handful of Dagombas we were
certainly no match for the trained hosts of the Naya.

Presently we began to discuss the matter among ourselves. Kona,
enthusiastic, yet hardly sanguine, wondered whether the people were
armed, and if not, where we could procure guns and ammunition. Omar, on
the other hand, assured us that nearly every civilian possessed a gun,
being bound by law to acquire one so that he might act his part in an
immediate defence in case of invasion. He had no apprehensions regarding
the materials for war; he only feared that Goliba might be mistaken in
the estimate of his popularity.

"If they will only stand by me they shall have freedom," he said
decisively. "If they do not, death will come to all of us."

"We are ready," Kona answered, his black face glistening in the ray of
light shed by a single lamp lit by a slave on the opposite side of the
court. "We will serve thy cause while we have breath."

A few minutes later footsteps sounded on the paving, and from the
darkness of the colonnade Goliba, accompanied by six other younger men,
all tall, erect and stately, emerged from the shadow and approached us.
Addressing Omar, the sage said:

"All these men are known to thee, O Master. I need not repeat their
names, but they have known thee since their birth, and are of a verity a
power in our land. They have come hither to see thee."

My friend rising gave them greeting, snapped fingers with them, and
answered:

"I forget no face. I remember each, and I know ye are men of might and
justice. Each was ruler of a province----"

"All are still governors," interrupted the sage. "They have come hither
to swear allegiance to thee."

"It is even so, O Master," exclaimed one of the men, hitching his rich
cloak of gold-coloured silk more closely around his shoulders. "We have
met and resolved to ask thee to defy the sentence of banishment that the
Naya hath imposed upon thee."

"Already have I decided so to do," Omar answered. "Have I the support of
thy people, O Niaro?"

"To a man," the Governor answered. "For the military we cannot, however,
answer. They are ruled by unscrupulous place-seekers, who may defend the
Naya, expecting to reap rich rewards; but such will assuredly discover
that their confidence was misplaced. If the Naya seriously threateneth
thee and thy friends, then assuredly she shall be ove