Cast Among Robbers 
protestations of friendship. He then told the 
men trying to get into the canoe that they would 
touch me at their peril. He showed me the place 
on his wrist from which 1 had taken a bone after 
the defeat of the Egbars in Ejahyay, and was 
telling me about his troubles since that time, 
when their chief suddenly appeared among them, 
rod in hand, and struck right and left over their 
naked shoulders, storming at the same time, 
“ Don’t you see me ? Don’t you see me ?” My 
friend fled with the rest, but I was now safe. 
Again “ man’s extremity had been God’s oppor¬ 
tunity,” for I was becoming desperate and was 
about to resort to something violent when the 
Ejahyay soldier appeared and helped to restrain 
the crazy mob. 
Having dispersed, for the moment, his drunken 
followers, the chief excitedly shouted to me that 
the message was all right and then urged me to 
hurry away as quickly as possible. Even after 
the canoe had gotten some distance from the 
bank, a crowd ran down to the river and de¬ 
manded all sorts of things from us. When the 
uproar had ceased, the children showed their 
perspiring but happy faces. It had been a severe 
ordeal to them, for if their presence had been dis¬ 
covered by the robbers, nothing but a fight could 
2G9 
