How altered his impression, how
changed his opinion! He had begun to see through the fine words of
the Emperor; he more than suspected that before long a hateful
tyranny would replace the firm but just rule he had formerly so
greatly admired. I remember well that at Zage, when our luggage was
returned to us a few hours after the arrest, with what haste and
anxiety Prideaux, in whose charge the manuscript was at the time,
opened his trunk behind his bed, so that the guards should not
perceive the dangerous paper before he had time to destroy it.
If Bell and Plowden had been both living, it may be asked, would
Theodore have dealt with them so as ultimately to call for the
intervention of Government on Abyssinian affairs? I believe so. The
King, as I have said, disliked Plowden personally; he repaid his
ransom to the Gondar merchants, it is true, but it was only a
political "dodge" of his; he knew well to whom he gave the money,
and took it back "with interest," a few years later. Often he has
been heard to sneer at the manner in which Plowden was killed, and
say, "The white men are cowards: look at Plowden; he was armed, but
he allowed himself to be killed without even defending himself."
This was a malicious assertion on the part of Theodore, as he was
well aware that Plowden was so sick at the time that he could hardly
walk, and that though he carried a pistol, _it was not loaded_.
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