and gathering these about her she held a little service, telling them
in her simple and direct way the story of the Christ who came from the
Unseen to make their lives sweeter and happier.

It was the first faint gleam of a better day for Okoyong.




IV. FACING AN ANGRY MOB

The room allotted to Mary was one of those in the women's yard or harem
of Edem the chief, and had been previously used by a free wife, who had
left its mud floor and mud walls in a filthy state. At one entrance she
caused a door to be hung, while a hole was made in the wall and a
window frame fitted in. The work was rude and gaps yawned round the
sides, but she ensured sufficient privacy by draping them with
bedcovers. The absence of the villagers at Ifako gave her time to
complete the work, and with her own hands she filled in the spaces with
mud. She also cleared a portion of the ground set apart for her and
circled it with a fence, and within this did her washing. But soon
there were calls upon her.

"_He took a little child and set him in the midst_." Her work began
with a child. In a fight between Okoyong and Calabar a man of Ekenge
had been beheaded. His head was recovered and sent home, thus removing
the disgrace, but his wife did not survive the shock, and left a baby
girl, which was now brought to Mary. It had been fed on a little water,
palm oil, and cane juice, and looked less like an infant than a half-
boiled chicken. Its appearance provoked mirth in the yard, but she