The Christians had grown in number and were now a small community of men,
women and children, self-assured and confident. Mr. Brown, the white missionary, paid
regular visits to them. "When I think that it is only eighteen months since the Seed was
first sown among you," he said, "I marvel at what the Lord hath wrought."
It was Wednesday in Holy Week and Mr. Kiaga had asked the women to bring
red earth and white chalk and water to scrub the church for Easter, and the women had
formed themselves into three groups for this purpose. They set out early that morning,
some of them with their water-pots to the stream, another group with hoes and baskets
to the village earth pit, and the others to the chalk quarry.
Mr. Kiaga was praying in the church when he heard the women talking
excitedly. He rounded off his prayer and went to see what it was all about. The women
had come to the church with empty waterpots. They said that some young men had
chased them away from the stream with whips. Soon after, the women who had gone for
red earth returned with empty baskets. Some of them had been heavily whipped. The
chalk women also returned to tell a similar story.
"What does it all mean?" asked Mr. Kiaga, who was greatly perplexed.
"The village has outlawed us," said one of the women. "The bellman announced
it last night. But it is not our custom to debar anyone from the stream or the quarry."
Another woman said, "They want to ruin us. They will not allow us into the
markets. They have said so."
Mr. Kiaga was going to send into the village for his men-converts when he saw
them coming on their own. Of course they had all heard the bell-man, but they had
never in all their lives heard of women being debarred from the stream.
"Come along," they said to the women. "We will go with you to meet those
cowards." Some of them had big sticks and some even machetes.
But Mr. Kiaga restrained them. He wanted first to know why they had been
outlawed.