He Added That They Had Received
Orders From The King To Conduct Me To Maana, {2} The Place Of His
Residence, and if I refused to come with them their orders were to
bring me by force; upon his saying
Which all of them rose up and
asked me if I was ready. It would have been equally vain and
imprudent in me to have resisted or irritated such a body of men; I
therefore affected to comply with their commands, and begged them
only to stop a little until I had given my horse a feed of corn, and
settled matters with my landlord. The poor blacksmith, who was a
native of Kasson, mistook this feigned compliance for a real
intention, and taking me away from the company, told me that he had
always behaved towards me as if I had been his father and master,
and he hoped I would not entirely ruin him by going to Maana, adding
that as there was every reason to believe a war would soon take
place between Kasson and Kajaaga, he should not only lose his little
property, the savings of four years' industry, but should certainly
be detained and sold as a slave, unless his friends had an
opportunity of paying two slaves for his redemption. I saw this
reasoning in its full force, and determined to do my utmost to
preserve the blacksmith from so dreadful a fate. I therefore told
the king's son that I was ready to go with him, upon condition that,
the blacksmith, who was an inhabitant of a distant kingdom, and
entirely unconnected with me, should be allowed to stay at Joag till
my return.
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