m.

Day after day Mary prayed for Chief Okurike. At last prayer won out. Chief
Okurike got well. The people were very happy.

"Ma Mary," they said, "we want to learn book." They meant that they wanted
to learn about the Bible.

"I am glad you do," said Mary, "but then you must do what the Book says."

"We will," said the people. "We will make peace with Calabar. We will not
kill the traders who come to our land or the other white people."

"Then I will always be your worker and I will send you a teacher as soon as
I can, who will teach you of the Saviour who died for you to pay for your
sins."

Mary went back to Ekenge. Here she found that Chief Edem was very sick. He
had some very bad boils on his back. Mary put medicine on the boils. Every
day she came to his house and took care of him. One day when she came in
she saw feathers and eggs lying around the room. This was witch doctor
"medicine." On the Chief's neck and around his arms and legs were witch
charms.

"Oh, Chief Edem," said Mary, "how could you do this? Surely you know that
doing witchcraft is a sin against God. I do not see how you could go back
to it after you had learned to know about Jesus."

"Ma, you don't know all about these things. Someone is the cause of this
sickness. You don't know all the badness of the black man's heart. Look,
here are the proofs that someone is working witchcraft against me. The only
one who can fight that is the witch doctor. He is the only one who can
make me well. See, here are the things that were taken from my back."

Chief Edem pointed to a collection of shot, egg shells, seed and other
things which the witch doctor said had come from his back. He believed the
witch doctor. He believed that someone using witchcraft had sent them into
his back.

Mary knew what would happen. Everybody whom the chief thought might have
done the witchcraft would have to take poison. The people thought that if
the person who took the poison died, he was guilty, but if he was not
guilty he would live. The tribe would also use other tortures like pouring
boiling oil on people to get them to confess.

"That is all wrong," said Mary. "The sickness is because you have not eaten
good things or taken care of yourself and kept as clean as you should
have. Don't believe the bad witch doctor." (God said something about that
in Exodus 22:18.)

Chief Edem would not listen. He had everyone he thought might have the
witchcraft made a prisoner