t the mysterious country from which they came. Whitemen had not
yet entered into the heart of it, but Ma learnt enough to be sure that
it was a far more wicked place even than Okoyong had been. It was called
Iboland, and one of the tribes, the Aros, were so cunning and clever
that they had become a power over a vast region. It was they who were
the slave-stealers, seeking their victims everywhere, and selling them
in markets to the traders. One of their best hunting-grounds was Ibibio,
the country to the south, where the natives were poor and naked and
miserable, and lived in little settlements deep in the forest, because
of their fear of the slave raiders.

[Illustration: THE WAY INTO THE JUJU GLEN.]

The Aros believed that they had a wonderful _chuku_ or juju--which means
the god of the Aros--in a rocky gorge down which a stream flowed. At one
spot there was a dark ravine and a pool overhung by trees and creepers.
Here, amongst the white lilies, swam ugly cat-fish, with fierce-looking
eyes, that were held to be sacred, and which it was death to catch. On a
little island was a hut, guarded by priests, in which the juju was
supposed to live. The people thought it could aid them in time of
trouble, and came in great numbers to the shrine to ask advice and get
their quarrels made up. Though the priests helped many in this way, they
were cunning and greedy, and often acted very cruelly. They took the
food and money which the visitors brought, and then said the juju
wanted a living offering. So some poor man or woman was taken into the
glen blindfolded, and the friends of the victim knew that the sacrifice
was made by seeing the blood flowing past lower down.

Others who entered never came out again. The priests said they had been
seized by the juju, and the blood-red river seemed to show this, but a
dye had been thrown in to colour the water. These persons were taken far
away in secret, and sold into slavery. Any that were not of much value
were slain and eaten in the cannibal feasts.

Now that Ma's dream of conquering Okoyong had come true, she was
dreaming other dreams, and the most fascinating of these was to go to
this terrible cannibal country and put down the evil doings of the
natives. She told the slave-dealers about it.

"All right, Ma," they said, for they liked her, and admired her courage.
"We, who know you, will be glad to welcome you; but we are not sure
about the priests--they may kill you."

"I will r