Love Letters 
ranged in certain ways and thrown over the 
dividing wall, they settled all their love matters 
to their satisfaction if not to mine. There 
seemed to be some very decided “cases” among 
them and I found out that love laughs at mud 
walls as well as at locksmiths. 
The betrothals were consummated several years 
afterward, but not all the unions proved to be 
entirely happy. A few of the girls were not in¬ 
cluded in this affair, because they had been be¬ 
trothed before coming to the mission, and their 
friends were not willing that the covenant should 
be broken. One of these was required to marry 
a man in Ebaddan. She was one of the brightest 
and best looking among them and her betrothed 
husband demanded either his wife or her dowry, 
and she was compelled to go to be the wife of a 
man whom she had never seen, and of whose 
character she knew nothing. She died early. 
Although deprived of Christian society, she was 
true to her faith to the last. Another of the girls 
unfortunately attracted the attention of the pow¬ 
erful Egbar chief, Ogoodookpeh, who took ad¬ 
vantage of an anti-English riot to violently trans¬ 
fer her to his harem. After a few years, she 
succeeded in escaping to Lagos, leaving a little 
son in care of its father. 
219 
