autiously, for I thought I heard a voice
within, I peeped through the half-opened gate. Four or five feet away
was the verandah from which a doorway led into one of the rooms of the
house where stood a table on which was food.

Kneeling on mats upon this verandah were--_two white women_--clothed in
garments of the purest white adorned with a purple fringe, and wearing
bracelets and other ornaments of red native gold. One of these appeared
to be about forty years of age. She was rather stout, fair in colouring,
with blue eyes and golden hair that hung down her back. The other might
have been about twenty. She also was fair, but her eyes were grey and
her long hair was of a chestnut hue. I saw at once that she was tall and
very beautiful. The elder woman was praying, while the other, who knelt
by her side, listened and looked up vacantly at the sky.

"O God," prayed the woman, "for Christ's sake look in pity upon us two
poor captives, and if it be possible, send us deliverance from this
savage land. We thank Thee Who hast protected us unharmed and in health
for so many years, and we put our trust in Thy mercy, for Thou alone
canst help us. Grant, O God, that our dear husband and father may still
live, and that in Thy good time we may be reunited to him. Or if he be
dead and there is no hope for us upon the earth, grant that we, too, may
die and find him in Thy Heaven."

Thus she prayed in a clear, deliberate voice, and I noticed that as she
did so the tears ran down her cheeks. "Amen," she said at last, and
the girl by her side, speaking with a strange little accent, echoed the
"Amen."

I looked round at Brother John. He had heard something and was utterly
overcome. Fortunately enough he could not move or even speak.

"Hold him," I whispered to Stephen and Mavovo, "while I go in and talk
to these ladies."

Then, handing the rifle to Hans, I took off my hat, pushed the gate
a little wider open, slipped through it and called attention to my
presence by coughing.

The two women, who had risen from their knees, stared at me as though
they saw a ghost.

"Ladies," I said, bowing, "pray do not be alarmed. You see God Almighty
sometimes answers prayers. In short, I am one of--a party--of white
people who, with some trouble, have succeeded in getting to this place
and--and--would you allow us to call on you?"

Still they stared. At length the elder woman opened her lips.

"Here I am called the Mother of the Holy Flower