As I Anticipated, On Arrival At The Palace I Found The King Was
Not Ready To Receive Me, And The Pages Desired Me To Sit With The
Officers In Waiting Until He Might Appear.
I found it necessary
to fly at once into a rage, called the pages a set of deceiving
young blackguards, turned upon my heel, and walked straight back
through the courts, intending to leave the palace.
Everybody was
alarmed; information of my retreat at once reached the king, and
he sent his Wakungu to prevent my egress. These officers passed
me, as I was walking hurriedly along under my umbrella, in the
last court, and shut the entrance-gate in front of me. This was
too much, so I stamped, and, pointing my finger, swore in every
language I knew, that if they did not open the gate again, as
they had shut it at once, and that, too, before my face, I would
never leave the spot I stood upon alive. Terror-stricken, the
Wakungu fell on their knees before me, doing as they were bid;
and, to please them, I returned at once, and went up to the king,
who, now sitting on his throne, asked the officers how they had
managed to entice me back; to which they all replied in a breath,
n'yanzigging heartily, "Oh, we were so afraid - he was so
terrible! but he turned at once as soon as we opened the gate."
"How? what gate? tell us all about it." And when the whole story
was fully narrated, the matter was thought a good joke.
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