GRIPPED AS IN A VICE. 
II 
Town was called Asuquo. He was a superior speci- 
men of the type — in many things intelligent and in 
palaver procedure very skilful. Once when Egbo 
play had been indulged in, and dancing and drink- 
ing had accompanied it to a liberal extent, Asuquo 
found himself too tired, etc., to sleep properly, but 
just in prime form to show irritation and make 
somebody bear the brunt of it. In between his brief 
snatches of sleep, he was annoyed by the repeated 
coughing bouts of one of his boy-slaves. Shortly 
after daybreak he summoned the offender to his 
presence and sternly demanded of him what he had 
done to offend Ju-ju. It was of no avail for the 
boy to say he had not done anything. The cough 
w^as there — a plain proof to Asuquo that Ju-ju had 
tapped the boy's breast bone in his sleep, as a 
punishment for doing wrong. The tap had caused 
the cough, hence Asuquo's charge. The boy stuck 
to his tale and refused to be frightened into saying 
he had done something he hadn't. Asuquo was 
equally confident he had, so he took two leaves 
plucked from a bush and threw them in the air like 
gamblers throw coins, and declared that Ju-ju would 
make them both come the same w^ay up, and thus 
prove the slave-boy a liar ! Though he threw the 
leaves a number of times and coaxed Ju-ju to help 
him by offering sacrifices of living things, it was a 
long time before he managed to- do the trick. And 
when he did it, he simply and triumphantly 
declared : There I was sure my (Asuquo's) story 
was right," and ordered the boy to' be punished! 
The customs of their ancestors has a like grip upon 
them. They appeal — through worship — to their 
ancestors and to manifest the same spirit and sup- 
B 
