he
town who would consent to do so. No, I am afraid that we shall both be
obliged to witness them."

"No," I said. "We must devise some scheme whereby we may both be
exempted. You say that they take place six days hence; it will be
strange indeed if our united ingenuity is not equal to the task of
devising some simple yet efficacious plan. But, tell me, Ama, where do
the victims come from, and how many of them are usually sacrificed?"

"The number sacrificed depends, of course, upon how many can be found,"
answered Ama; "but generally there are at least three hundred; this time
it is hoped that there may be many more. As to where they come from, a
good many are `smelled out' by Mafuta and his assistants, and the rest
are made up of such prisoners as may happen to be in our possession at
the time. There are five hundred hunters out now securing prisoners; we
expect them back to-morrow or the next day. And that reminds me, Dick,"
she added, with a sudden access of gravity, "if you had not been clever
enough to save my life when the snake bit me, you would most certainly
have been one of the victims; indeed it was with a view to sacrificing
you at the Customs that my father accepted you from the Igbo."

"The dickens it was!" ejaculated I, in some dismay. "Then who is to say
that I shall not be still included in the batch?"

"Nay," answered Ama; "you saved my life, and for that my father will
spare you. It is not he whom you have to fear, but Mafuta. Mafuta
hates you, I know, and would willingly `smell you out' if he dared; but
the people will not let him; for where would they get any one else to
play beautiful music to them if you were to die? Besides, do you think
_I_ would allow any one to hurt you? My father is the king; no one, not
even Mafuta, dare dispute his will; and I have more influence than any
one else with the king. Nay, fear not, Dick, none shall hurt you while
I live."

"I would that I could feel as fully assured of that as you appear to be,
Ama," answered I. "With all due respect to your father, I may perhaps
be permitted to remark that he has impressed me as a man of singularly
short and uncertain temper; and if I should ever chance to be so
unfortunate as to offend him--"

At this moment two guards presented themselves at the door of my hut
and, saluting, one of them curtly remarked:

"The king is ill, and commands the presence of the white man at the
palace _at once_!"

"The king-