, for I shall need
something far more convincing than unsupported assertions to satisfy
me."

"Yet Bimbane's unsupported assertions have thus far completely satisfied
you; do not forget that, Chia'gnosi," retorted Anuti. "However," he
continued, "if you can persuade yourself to regard the question of the
queen's guilt or innocence as an open one for a little while, I have no
doubt of my ability to make you recognise the truth."

Much more was said by Anuti to the same effect, but as it was in the
main but a reiteration and amplification of his previous statements, it
need not be repeated here; suffice it to say that by the time we reached
his house he had brought me to a state of mind which enabled me to
recognise that, after all, it was just possible that I might be
mistaken, that Bimbane might not be the sort of person I had allowed her
to persuade me she was, and that Anuti and his friends were at least
entitled to a dispassionate hearing.

And then, when at length we reached Anuti's dwelling, that individual
introduced me to some thirty of the most important and influential
nobles and chiefs of Bandokolo, among whom was Mindula, the father of
the unhappy Siluce; and, one after the other, these men arose and
related the wrongs, the cruelties, and the injustices which they and
theirs had suffered at the hands of Bimbane, accompanying their
statements with proofs of so convincing a character that I no longer
found it possible to disbelieve. And when at length the session was
over I arose, stunned, astounded, horrified, and furious at the thought
of the danger which I had so narrowly escaped, of falling into the hands
of a vile, unscrupulous woman, and becoming her willing, deluded tool.

"And now," I demanded, as the nobles rose to depart, "what am I to do?
It is impossible that I can continue to reside in the palace and remain
the guest of the queen; yet, having come so far, I do not like the idea
of quitting the country without at least enough of the gold and shining
stones to repay me for the toil and peril of my adventure. And I
suppose that when I announce my intention of quitting the palace the
queen will at once conjecture that I have been in communication with
you, and have learned the truth concerning her. Will she attempt to
detain me by force, think you?"

"It is impossible to surmise what she may do," answered Anuti. "It is,
however, not force so much as persuasion that you have to fear, for I do