e last of them was
set free--Old Poe, whom I think I must have mentioned to you, the
father-in-law of my cook, was one that I had had a great deal of trouble
with. I had taken the doctor to see him, got him out on sick leave, and
when he was put back again gave bail for him. I must not forget that my
wife ran away with him out of the prison on the doctor's orders and with
the complicity of our friend the gaoler, who really and truly got the
sack for the exploit. As soon as he was finally liberated, Poe called a
meeting of his fellow-prisoners. All Sunday they were debating what they
were to do, and on Monday morning I got an obscure hint from Talolo that
I must expect visitors during the day who were coming to consult me.
These consultations I am now very well used to, and seeing first, that I
generally don't know what to advise, and second that they sometimes
don't take my advice--though in some notable cases they have taken it,
generally to my own wonder with pretty good results--I am not very fond
of these calls. They minister to a sense of dignity, but not peace of
mind, and consume interminable time, always in the morning too, when I
can't afford it. However, this was to be a new sort of consultation. Up
came Poe and some eight other chiefs, squatted in a big circle around
the old dining-room floor, now the smoking-room. And the family, being
represented by Lloyd, Graham, Belle, Austin and myself, proceeded to
exchange the necessary courtesies. Then their talking man began. He
said that they had been in prison, that I had always taken an interest
in them, that they had now been set at liberty without condition,
whereas some of the other chiefs who had been liberated before them were
still under bond to work upon the roads, and that this had set them
considering what they might do to testify their gratitude. They had
therefore agreed to work upon my road as a free gift. They went on to
explain that it was only to be on my road, on the branch that joins my
house with the public way.

Now I was very much gratified at this compliment, although (to one used
to natives) it seemed rather a hollow one. It meant only that I should
have to lay out a good deal of money on tools and food and to give wages
under the guise of presents to some workmen who were most of them old
and in ill-health. Conceive how much I was surprised and touched when I
heard the whole scheme explained to me. They were to return to their
provinces, and