Mary sought out Okon and talked the matter over. "Ma," he said, "it be
proper big palaver, but if you say we must not flog we must listen to
you as our mother and our guest. But they will say that God's word be
no good if it destroy the power of the law to punish evildoers."

He agreed, however, to delay the punishment, and to bring the judges
and the people together in a palaver at mid-day. When all were
assembled she addressed the girls:

"You have brought much shame on us by your folly and by abusing your
master's confidence while the yard is in our possession. Though God's
word teaches men to be merciful, it does not countenance or pass over
sin, and I cannot shelter you from punishment. You have knowingly and
deliberately brought it on yourselves. Ask God to keep you in the
future so that your conduct may not be a reproach to yourselves and the
word of God which you know."

Many were the grunts of satisfaction from the people, and the faces of
the big men cleared as they heard their verdict being endorsed, while
darker and more defiant grew the looks of the girls.

With a swift movement she turned to the gathering:

"Ay, but you are really to blame. It is your system of polygamy which
is a disgrace to you and a cruel injustice to these helpless women.
Girls like these, sixteen years old, are not beyond the age of fun and
frolic. To confine them as you do is a shame and a blot on your
manhood: obedience such as you command is not worth the having."

Frowns greeted this denunciation, and the old men muttered: