Thinking black; 22 years without a break in the long grass of Central ...

OUR AFRICAN APPRENTICESHIP 49
insolence. So casting around him, he picks out as ideal a
master as he can find, gravely goes across to this new
master's spirit temple and breaks one of the sacred gourds,
thereby snapping the old chain and welding a new. Does
not the owner of the broken spirit chalice claim the slave
as damages ? Law :
Damage
an article and the damager
pays himself in as damages. But one day will see his
boldest stroke of all. For, quickly accumulating a small
capital, this slave awaits the day when he sees his master
in financial straits, and forthwith turns the tables on his
lord, actually buying up his own taskmaster.
Now for the darkest despotism in all slavery ; I mean,
the ex-slave ruling the ex-lord with an iron rod. And all
this according to that most ancient of sayings passed
along in whispers from one bondsman to another :
** If
thou art an anvil, be patient, slave my brother ; but
if thou art a hammer, strike hard !
" One such ex-slave,
called ** The Python," ultimately lorded it over our huge
caravan, and instead of being abashed at his slave blood,
he was precious proud of it : "0 white man, you are
proud of your descent, but I am proud of my ascent,
was his idea. Coleridge it was who wrote of "the pride
that apes humility," and our friend " The Python " had it,
for if not pride of race it was pride of place. But make
it a rule never, oh !
never
to argue with such a fellow—if
you fight with a sweep you cannot blacken him, but he
may blacken you. Tantalising though he often was and
worthy a well-merited wigging, there he stood, head and
shoulders above them all, a go-ahead boss just '*up from