Now, day by day for something over a month Owen preached the Gospelbefore the king, his councillors, and hundreds of the head men of thenation. They listened to him attentively, debating the new doctrinepoint by point; for although they might be savages, these people werevery keen-witted and subtle. Very patiently did Owen sow, and atlength to his infinite joy he also gathered in his first-fruit. Onenight as he sat in his hut labouring as usual at the work oftranslation, wherein he was assisted by John whom he had taught toread and write, the Prince Nodwengo entered and greeted him. For awhile he sat silent watching the white man at his task, then hesaid:--"Messenger, I have a boon to ask of you. Can you teach me tounderstand those signs which you set upon the paper, and to make themalso as does John your servant?""Certainly," answered Owen; "if you will come to me at noon to-morrow,we will begin."The prince thanked him, but he did not go away. Indeed, from hismanner Owen guessed that he had something more upon his mind. Atlength it came out.
"Messenger," he said, "you have told us of baptism whereby we areadmitted into the army of your King; say, have you the power of thisrite?""I have.""And is your servant here baptised?""He is.""Then if he who is a common man can be baptised, why may not I who ama prince?""In baptism," answered Owen, "there is no distinction between thehighest and the lowest; but if you believe, then the door is open andthrough it you can join the company of Heaven.""Messenger, I do believe," answered the prince humbly.
Then Owen was very joyful, and that same night, with John for awitness, he baptised the prince, giving him the new name ofConstantine, after the first Christian emperor.
On the following day Nodwengo, in the presence of Owen, who on thispoint would suffer no concealment, announced to the king that he hadbecome a Christian. Umsuka heard, and for a while sat silent. Then hesaid in a troubled voice:--"Truly, Messenger, in the words of that Book from which you read tous, I fear that you have come hither to bring, 'not peace but asword.' Now when the witch-doctors and the priests of fire learn this,that he whom I have chosen to succeed me has become the servant ofanother faith, they will stir up the soldiers and there will be civilwar. I pray you, therefore, keep the matter secret, at any rate for awhile, seeing that the lives of many are at stake.""In this, my father," answered the prince, "I must do as the Messengerbids me; but if you desire it, take from me the right of successionand call back my brother from the northern mountains.""That by poison or the spear he may put all of us to death, Nodwengo!
Be not afraid; ere long when he learns all that is happening here,your brother Hafela will come from the northern mountains, and thespears of his /impis/ shall be countless as the stars of the sky.
Messenger, you desire to draw us to the arms of your God--and myself,I am at times minded to follow the path of my son Nodwengo and seek arefuge there--but say, will they be strong enough to protect us fromHafela and the warriors of the north? Already he gathers his clans,and already my captains desert to him. By-and-by, in the spring-time--may I be dead before the day--he will roll down upon us like a floodof water----""To fall back like waters from a wall of rock," answered Owen. "'Letnot your heart be troubled,' for my Master can protect His servants,and He will protect you. But first you must confess Him openly, asyour son has done.""Nay, I am too old to hurry," said the king with a sigh. "Your taleseems full of promise to one who is near the grave; but how can I knowthat it is more than a dream? And shall I abandon the worship of myfathers and change, or strive to change, the customs of my people tofollow after dreams? Nodwengo has chosen his part, and I do not blamehim; yet, for the present I beseech you both to keep silence on thismatter, lest to save bloodshed I should be driven to side againstyou.""So be it, King," said Owen; "but I warn you that Truth has a loudvoice, and that it is hard to hide the shining of a light in a darkplace, nor does it please my Lord to be denied by those who confessHim.""I am weary," replied the old king, and they saluted him and went.
In obedience to the wish of Umsuka his father, the conversion ofNodwengo was kept secret, and yet--none knew how--the thing leakedout. Soon the women in their huts, and the soldiers by their watch-fires, whispered it in each other's ears that he who was appointed tobe their future ruler had become a servant of the unknown God. That hehad forsworn war and all the delights of men; that he would take butone wife and appear before the army, not in the uniform of a general,but clad in a white robe, and carry, not the broad spear, but a crossof wood. Swiftly the strange story flew from mouth to mouth, yet itwas not altogether believed till it chanced that one day when he wasreviewing a regiment, a soldier who was drunk with beer openlyinsulted the prince, calling him "a coward who worshipped a coward."Now men held their breaths, waiting to see this fool led away to dieby torture of the ant-heap or some other dreadful doom. But the princeonly answered:
"Soldier, you are drunk, therefore I forgive you your words. WhetherHe Whom you blaspheme will forgive you, I know not. Get you gone!"The warriors stared and murmured, for by those words, wittingly orunwittingly, their general had confessed his faith, and that day theymade ribald songs about him in the camp. But on the morrow when theylearned how that the man whom the prince spared had been seized by alion and taken away as he sat at night with his companions in thebivouac, his mouth full of boasting of his own courage in offeringinsult to the prince and the new faith, then they looked at each otheraskance and said little more of the matter. Doubtless it was chance,and yet this Spirit Whom the Messenger preached was one of Whom itseemed wisest not to speak lightly.
But still the trouble grew, for by now the witch-doctors, with Hokosaat the head of them, were frightened for their place and power, andfomented it both openly and in secret. Of the women they asked whatwould become of them when men were allowed to take but one wife? Ofthe heads of kraals, how they would grow wealthy when their daughtersceased to be worth cattle? Of the councillors and generals, how theland could be protected from its foes when they were commanded to laydown the spear? Of the soldiers, whose only trade was war, how itwould please them to till the fields like girls? Dismay took hold ofthe nation, and although they were much loved, there was open talk ofkilling or driving away the king and Nodwengo who favoured the whiteman, and of setting up Hafela in their place.
At length the crisis came, and in this fashion. The Amasuka, like manyother African tribes, had a strange veneration for certain varietiesof snakes which they declared to be possessed by the spirits of theirancestors. It was a law among them that if one of these snakes entereda kraal it must not be killed, or even driven away, under pain ofdeath, but must be allowed to share with the human occupants any hutthat it might select. As a result of this enforced hospitality deathsfrom snake-bite were numerous among the people; but when they happenedin a kraal its owners met with little sympathy, for the doctorsexplained that the real............