Presently they came, picked men all of them, under the command of an
Asiki captain, and with them the Ogula, whom she summoned also.
"Go where the white lord sends you," she said in an indifferent voice,
"carrying with you these packages. I do not know where it is, but
these man-eaters will show you some of the way, and if you fail in the
business but live to come back again, you shall be sacrificed to Bonsa
at the next feast; if you run away then your wives and children will be
sacrificed. Food shall be given you for your journey, and gold to buy
more when it is gone. Now, Vernoon, tell them what they have to do."
So Alan, or rather Jeekie, told them, and these directions were so
long and minute, that before they were finished the Asika grew tired
of listening and went away, saying as she passed the captain of the
company:
"Remember my words, man, succeed or die, but of your land and its
secrets say nothing."
"I hear," answered the captain, prostrating himself.
That night Alan summoned the Ogula and spoke to them through Jeekie in
their own language. At first they declared that they would not leave
their chief, preferring to stay and die with him.
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