prayers and that peace and quiet will again be in the villages."

Mary had a true friend in Ma Eme, the sister of Chief Edem. She helped Mary
often. She did everything she could to help Mary and the mission, but one
thing she never did, that was to confess Christ openly. She and Mary talked
of many things as they worked together. One day Ma Eme said,

"When my husband died, I had to go through the chicken test."

"What is that?" asked Mary.

"All of my husband's wives, I too, were put on trial. The witch doctors
were trying to find who caused my husband, a great chief, to die. Each of
us had to bring a chicken. The witch doctor chopped off the heads of the
chickens one at a time. If the headless chicken fluttered one way, the
witch doctor said the wife was innocent. If it fluttered the other way, he
said she was guilty."

"What happened when they cut off the head of your chicken?" asked Mary.

"It fluttered wildly in the right direction. The witch doctor said I was
innocent. But the strain had been so great I fainted and had to be carried
to my hut. But many of the other wives were killed."

"You do not believe in the witch doctors, do you?" asked Mary.

Ma Eme looked all around. Then she stepped close to Mary and whispered,
"No, but I would not tell anyone else. They are too strong and tricky. They
could cause me much trouble if they knew I was against them."