The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-03-24

aside their eooas ana the merry laughter

aside their tools ana the merry Iangnsel
of the little ones was hushed
All the chieftains of the surrounding
country had gathered here with theil
warriors and the whole community was
inspirited by quantities of fermented
sugar cane and palm wine. During the
whole day q deafening rumble was
maintained on the monster wooden
drums, war songs, full Of boastful
threats, were voiced in clustering &C.
cent, and groups of men and women
danced frantically till they dropped T.
the ground from sheer exhaustion; ole
and young were injected with the same
spirit Of frenzied excitement.
Tchecheri, after eight days spent II
the village, was removed to anothe,
place Of confinement; he was trans
ferred to q small compartment in the
chiefs own hut which was a dwelling
composed of two sleeping compart
ments, in the larger of which Ngils
slept, and there was an open veranda a
one end Of the place.
On the first night spent in his new
quarters Tchecheri was lying in the
corner of the hut rejecting upon his
miserable helplessness, when about mid
night he heard . party of men approach
with cautious tread and seat themselves
under the veranda. They proved to be
old Ngila and six other chieftains. An
animated discussion at once commenced
in Whispered words The thin bamboo
partition enabled Tchecheri to overhear
the conversation. He listened breath.
lessly to every word they said. The
speakers so absorbed in their subject
had forgotten the presence of the i'm
prisoned slave within hearing.
This meeting had been called for the
purpose Of making arrangements for a
proposed slave raid, and the whole sub
ject was talked over and decisions made
as to the number Of fighting men to
be employed, and the quantities OF
canoes and the different chieftains who
should command the various ASSEMBLING
parties. 1t was agreed upon that the
expedition should start at next full
moon, in five days time; then twenty
large war canoes would leave the Balui
villages; they would travel only by
night and then with mufi3ed strokes.
During the day time the paddlers would
hide in the forests and the dugouts
would also be hauled out of the water
and concealed With such precantion
they hoped to approach unobserved and
pounce upon their enemies unawares.
Tchecheri had vet more thrilling
news to hear. Listening eagerly to
every utterance he learned that the vii
lage to be attacked was his own home,
Lingunja. The Balui were perfectly
confident Of overcoming this small set
Element with their overwhelming force;
moreover, the charm doctor, whose SUI
pernatural powers enables him to peep
far into the future, avowed that by
means of his magic powers he had dis
covered that the Balui slave-hunting
venture would be thoroughly success
full: the warriors would return home
safely to their villages, their canoes
freighted to the gunwale with slaves
and ivory, to be captured without OPP
position.
Toward the close Of this secret meet
ing old Ngila told his friends that In
order to please the settlement and ami
mate all for the proposed undertaking
he would provide an exciting spectacle
by executing slave, the one recently
captured by the Balui, Tchecheri!
The poor shackled wretch, bound
hand and foot. heard with beating heart
his own death sentence, but he was a
plucky young warrior and he swore be-
low his breath that If he could but es-
cape from his present bondage no nan,
woman or child Of Lingunja should
fall captive into the hands Of the Balui
elavers.
When the meeting broke up old Ngila
rolled himself in his mat and went
to sleep in the main compartment Of
the hut in which the captive was i'm
prisoned. Tcheohri waited till the old
fellows heavy breathing proclaimed
his inconsistencies and he then eau
tiously CROPPED around in his dark COM
partment with faint hopes of finding
something to aid his escape. AS his
hands were tied IL was difficult to CON
duct such operations, but after awhile
his efforts were rewarded by the dis
covery of an old iron blade of hoe.
He clutched this tightly between his
knees and then commenced enthusiastically
to saw through the thongs which bound
his hands. and after two or three hours