CHAPTER VIII

THE FIRST TRIAL BY FIRE

On the following day, while Owen sat eating his morning meal with a
thankful heart, a messenger arrived saying that the king would receive
him whenever it pleased him to come. He answered that he would be with
him before noon, for already he had learned that among natives one loses
little by delay. A great man, they think, is rich in time, and hurries
only to wait upon his superiors.

At the appointed hour a guard came to lead him to the royal house, and
thither Owen went, followed by John bearing a Bible. Umsuka was seated
beneath a reed roof supported by poles and open on all sides; behind him
stood councillors and attendants, and by him were Nodwengo the prince,
and Hokosa, his mouth and prophet. Although the day was hot, he wore a
kaross or rug of wild catskins, and his face showed that the effects
of the poisoned draught were still upon him. At the approach of Owen he
rose with something of an effort, and, shaking him by the hand, thanked
him for his life, calling him "doctor of doctors."

"Tell me, Messenger," he added, "how it was that you were able to cure
me, and who were in the plot to kill me? There must have been more than
one," and he rolled his eyes round with angry suspicion.

"King," answered Owen, "if I knew anything of this matter, the Power
that wrote it on my mind has wiped it out again, or, at the least, has