,transcriber's note3 ,some ,footnotes in this text contain special characters1 including a1 e1 and o with superior macron1 represented by a1 e1 and o1 and a and u with superior breve1 represented by 7a and 7u1 to indicate pronunciation of native-language words4 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,missionary ,,heroes ,,by ,,basil ,,mathews1 ,m4,a4 ,author of ,the ,argonauts of ,faith1 ,the ,riddle of ,nearer ,asia1 etc4 ,,new ,,york ,,george ,h4 ,,doran ,,company ,copyright1 #aibb1 ,by ,george ,h4 ,doran ,company ,,printed ,,in ,,the ,,united ,,states ,,of ,,america ,,contents ,,page ,,prologue ,,the ,,relay ,,race #i ,,book ,i3 ,,the ,,pioneers ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,hero ,,of ,,the ,,long ,,trail 7,st4 ,paul7 #ai ,,ii ,,the ,,men ,,on ,,the ,,shingle ,,beach 7,wilfrid of ,sussex7 #cj ,,iii ,,the ,,knight ,,of ,a ,,new ,,crusade 7,raymond ,lull7 #cf ,,iv ,,francis ,,coeur-,,de-,,lion 7,st4 ,francis of ,assisi7 #dg ,,book ,,ii3 ,,the ,,island ,,adventurers ,v ,,the ,,adventurous ,,ship 7,the ,duff7 #fe ,,vi ,,the ,,island ,,beacon ,,fires 7,papeiha7 #gb ,,vii ,,the ,,daybreak ,,call 7,john ,williams7 #hj ,,viii ,,kapiolani1 ,,the ,,heroine ,,of ,,hawaii 7,kapiolani7 #hf ,,ix ,,the ,,canoe ,,of ,,adventure 7,elikana7 #ib ,x ,,the ,,arrows ,,of ,,santa ,,cruz 7,patteson7 #ajc ,,xi ,,five ,,knots ,,in ,a ,,palm ,,leaf 7,patteson7 #ajh ,,xii ,,the ,,boy ,,of ,,the ,,adventurous ,,heart 7,chalmers7 #aac ,,xiii ,,the ,,scout ,,of ,,papua 7,chalmers7 #aah ,,xiv ,a ,,south ,,sea ,,samaritan 7,ruatoka7 #abf ,,book ,,iii3 ,,the ,,pathfinders ,,of ,,africa ,,xv ,,the ,,man ,,who ,,would ,,go ,,on 7,livingstone7 #aca ,,xvi ,a ,,black ,,prince ,,of ,,africa 7,khama7 #acf ,,xvii ,,the ,,knight ,,of ,,the ,,slave ,,girls 7,george ,grenfell7 #aej ,,xviii ,a ,,man ,,who ,,can ,,turn ,,his ,,hand ,,to ,,anything 7,mackay7 #aeh ,,xix ,,the ,,roadmaker 7,mackay7 #afd ,,xx ,,fighting ,,the ,,slave ,,trade 7,mackay7 #agb ,,xxi ,,the ,,black ,,apostle ,,of ,,the ,,lonely ,,lake 7,shomolakae7 #ahf ,,xxii ,,the ,,woman ,,who ,,conquered ,,cannibals 7,mary ,slessor7 #aif ,,book ,,iv3 ,,heroines ,,and ,,heroes ,,of ,,plateau ,,and ,,desert ,,xxiii ,,sons ,,of ,,the ,,desert 7,abdallah and ,sabat7 #bac ,,xxiv ,a ,,race ,,against ,,time 7,henry ,martyn7 #bbd ,,xxv ,,the ,,moses ,,of ,,the ,,assyrians 7,dr4 ,shedd7 #bcf ,,xxvi ,,an ,,american ,,nurse ,,in ,,the ,,great ,,war 7,e4,d4 ,cushman7 #bdi ,,xxvii ,,on ,,the ,,desert ,,camel ,,trail 7,archibald ,forder7 #bfj ,,xxviii ,,the ,,friend ,,of ,,the ,,arab 7,archibald ,forder7 #bga ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,missionary ,,heroes ,,prologue ,,the ,,relay-,,race ,the shining blue waters of two wonderful gulfs were busy with fishing boats and little ships4 ,the vessels came under their square sails and were driven by galley-slaves with great oars4 ,a ,greek boy standing1 two thousand years ago1 on the wonderful mountain of the ,acro-,corinth that leaps suddenly from the plain above ,corinth to a pinnacle over a thousand feet high1 could see the boats come sailing from the east1 where they hailed from the ,piraeus and ,ephesus and the marble islands of the ,a,egean ,sea4 ,turning round he could watch them also coming from the ,west up the ,gulf of ,corinth from the harbours of the ,gulf and even from the ,adriatic ,sea and ,brundusium4 ,in between the two gulfs lay the ,isthmus of ,corinth to which the men on the ships were sailing and rowing4 ,the people were all in holiday dress for the great athletic sports were to be held on that day and the next1--the sports that drew1 in those ancient days1 over thirty thousand ,greeks from all the country round2 from the towns on the shores of the two gulfs and from the mountain-lands of ,greece1--from ,parnassus and ,helicon and ,delphi1 from ,athens and the villages on the slopes of ,hymettus and even from ,sparta4 ,these sports1 which were some of the finest ever held in the whole world1 were called--because they were held on this isthmus--the ,isthmian ,games4 ,the athletes wrestled4 ,they boxed with iron-studded leather straps over their knuckles4 ,they fought lions brought across the ,mediterranean 7the ,great ,sea as they called it7 from ,africa1 and tigers carried up the ,khyber ,pass across ,persia from ,india4 ,they flung spears1 threw quoits and ran foot-races4 ,amid the wild cheering of thirty thousand throats the charioteers drove their frenzied horses1 lathered with foam1 around the roaring stadium4 ,one of the most beautiful of these races has a strange hold on the imagination4 ,it was a relay-race4 ,this is how it was run4 ,men bearing torches stood in a line at the starting point4 ,each man belonged to a separate team4 ,away in the distance stood another row of men waiting4 ,each of these was the comrade of one of those men at the starting point4 ,farther on still1 out of sight1 stood another row and then another and another4 ,at the word ,go the men at the starting point leapt forward1 their torches burning4 ,they ran at top speed towards the waiting men and then gasping for breath1 each passed his torch to his comrade in the next row4 ,he1 in turn1 seizing the flaming torch1 leapt forward and dashed along the course toward the next relay1 who again raced on and on till at last one man dashed past the winning post with his torch burning ahead of all the others1 amid the applauding cheers of the multitude4 ,the ,greeks1 who were very fond of this race1 coined a proverbial phrase from it4 ,translated it runs3 ,let the torch-bearers hand on the flame to the others or ,let those who have the light pass it on4 99 99 99 99 99 ,that relay-race of torch-bearers is a living picture of the wonderful relay-race of heroes who1 right through the centuries1 have1 with dauntless courage and a scorn of danger and difficulty1 passed through thrilling adventures in order to carry the ,light across the continents and oceans of the world4 ,the torch-bearers6 ,the long race of those who have borne1 and still carry the torches1 passing them on from hand to hand1 runs before us4 ,a little ship puts out from ,seleucia1 bearing a man who had caught the fire in a blinding blaze of light on the road to ,damascus4 ,paul crosses the sea and then threads his way through the cities of ,cyprus and ,asia ,minor1 passes over the blue ,a,egean to answer the call from ,macedonia4 ,we see the light quicken1 flicker and glow to a steady blaze in centre after centre of life1 till at last the torch-bearer reaches his goal in ,rome4 ,yes1 without cheer of sister or of daughter1 ,yes1 without stay of father or of son1 ,lone on the land and homeless on the water ,pass ,i in patience till the work be done4 ,centuries pass and men of another age1 taking the light that ,paul had brought1 carry the torch over ,apennine and ,alp1 through dense forests where wild beasts and wilder savages roam1 till they cross the ,north ,sea and the light reaches the fair-haired ,angles of ,britain1 on whose name ,augustine had exercised his punning humour1 when he said1 ,not ,angles1 but ,angels4 ,from ,north and ,south1 through ,columba and ,aidan1 ,wilfred of ,sussex and ,bertha of ,kent1 the light came to ,britain4 ,is not our life1 said the aged seer to the ,mercian heathen king as the ,missionary waited for permission to lead them to ,christ1 like a sparrow that flies from the darkness through the open window into this hall and flutters about in the torchlight for a few moments to fly out again into the darkness of the night4 ,even so we know not whence our life comes nor whither it goes4 ,this man can tell us4 ,shall we not receive his teaching8 ,so the ,english1 through these torch-bearers1 come into the light4 ,the centuries pass by and in #afbj the little ,mayflower1 bearing ,christian descendants of those heathen ,angles--new torch-bearers1 struggles through frightful tempests to plant on the ,american ,continent the ,new ,england that was indeed to become the forerunner of a ,new ,world4#a ,a century and a half passes and down the estuary of the ,thames creeps another sailing ship4 ,the ,government officer shouts his challenge3 ,what ship is that and what is her cargo8 ,the ,duff1 rings back the answer1 under ,captain ,wilson1 bearing ,missionaries to the ,south ,sea4 ,the puzzled official has never heard of such beings6 ,but the little ship passes on and after adventures and tempests in many seas at last reaches the far ,pacific4 ,there the torch-bearers pass from island to island and the light flames like a beacon fire across many a blue lagoon and coral reef4 ,one after another the great heroes sail out across strange seas and penetrate hidden continents each with a torch in his hand4 ,livingstone1 the lion-hearted pathfinder in ,africa1 goes out as the fearless explorer1 the dauntless and resourceful missionary1 faced by poisoned arrows and the guns of ,arabs and marched with only his black companions for thousands of miles through marsh and forest1 over mountain pass and across river swamps1 in loneliness and hunger1 often with bleeding feet1 on and on to the little hut in old ,chitambo's village in ,ilala1 where he crossed the river4 ,livingstone is the ,coeur-de-,lion of our ,great ,crusade4 ,john ,williams1 who1 in his own words1 could never be content with the limits of a single reef1 built with his own hands and almost without any tools on a cannibal island the wonderful little ship ,the ,messenger of ,peace in which he sailed many thousands of miles from island to island across the ,pacific ,ocean4 ,these are only two examples of the men whose adventures are more thrilling than those of our story books and yet are absolutely true1 and we find them in every country and in each of the centuries4 ,so--as we look across the ages we ,see the race of hero-spirits ,pass the torch from hand to hand4 ,in this book the stories of a few of them are told as yarns to boys and girls round a camp-fire4 ,every one of the tales is historically true1 and is accurate in detail4 ,in that ancient ,greek relay-race the prize to each winner was simply a wreath of leaves cut by a priest with a golden knife from trees in the sacred grove near the ,sea1--the grove where the ,temple of ,neptune1 the god of the ,ocean1 stood4 ,it was just a crown of wild olive that would wither away4 ,yet no man would have changed it for its weight in gold4 ,for when the proud winner in the race went back to his little city1 set among the hills1 with his already withering wreath1 all the people would come and hail him a victor and wave ribbons in the air4 ,a great sculptor would carve a statue of him in imperishable marble and it would be set up in the city4 ,and on the head of the statue of the young athlete was carved a wreath4 ,in the great relay-race of the world many athletes--men and women--have won great fame by the speed and skill and daring with which they carried forward the torch and1 themselves dropping in their tracks1 have passed the flame on to the next runner2 ,paul1 ,francis1 ,penn1 ,livingstone1 ,mackay1 ,florence ,nightingale1 and a host of others4 ,and many who have run just as bravely and swiftly have won no fame at all though their work was just as great4 ,but the fame or the forgetting really does not matter4 ,the fact is that the race is still running2 it has not yet been won4 ,whose team will win8 ,that is what matters4 ,the world is the stadium4 ,teams of evil run rapidly and teams of good too4 ,the great heroes and heroines whose story is told in this book have run across the centuries over the world to us4 ,some of them are alive to-day1 as heroic as those who have gone4 ,but all of them say the same thing to us of the new world who are coming after them3 ,take the torch4 ,the greatest of them all1 when he came to the very end of his days1 as he fell and passed on the ,torch to others1 said3 ,i have run my course4 ,but to us who are coming on as ,torch-bearers after him he spoke in urgent words--written to the people at ,corinth where the ,isthmian races were run3 ,do you not know that they which run in a race all run1 but one wins the prize8 ,so run1 that ye may be victors4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #a3 ,see ,the ,argonauts of ,faith by ,basil ,mathews4 7,doran47 ,book ,one3 ,,the ,,pioneers ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,hero ,,of ,,the ,,long ,,trail ,st4 ,paul 7,dates1 b4 ,a4,d4 #f1 d4 ,a4,d4 #fgb7 ,the ,three ,comrades4 ,the purple shadows of three men moved ahead of them on the tawny stones of the ,roman road on the high plateau of ,asia ,minor one bright1 fresh morning4#c ,they had just come out under the arched gateway through the thick walls of the ,roman city of ,antioch-in-,pisidia4 ,the great aqueduct of stone that brought the water to the city from the mountains on their right#d looked like a string of giant camels turned to stone4 ,of the three men1 one was little more than a boy4 ,he had the oval face of his ,greek father and the glossy dark hair of his ,jewish mother4 ,the older men1 whose long tunics were caught up under their girdles to give their legs free play in walking1 were brown1 grizzled1 sturdy travellers4 ,they had walked a hundred leagues together from the hot plains of ,syria1 through the snow-swept passes of the ,taurus mountains1 and over the sun-scorched levels of the high plateau4#e ,their muscles were as tireless as whipcord4 ,their courage had not quailed before robber or blizzard1 the night yells of the hyena or the stones of angry mobs4 ,for the youth this was his first adventure out into the glorious1 unknown world4 ,he was on the open road with the glow of the sun on his cheek and the sting of the breeze in his face2 a strong staff in his hand2 with his wallet stuffed with food--cheese1 olives1 and some flat slabs of bread2 and by his side his own great hero1 ,paul4 ,their sandals rang on the stone pavement of the road which ran straight as a strung bowline from the city1 ,antioch-in-,pisidia1 away to the west4 ,the boy carried over his shoulder the cloak of ,paul1 and carried that cloak as though it had been the royal purple garment of the ,roman ,emperor himself instead of the worn1 faded1 travel-stained cloak of a wandering tent-maker4 ,the two older men1 whose names were ,paul the ,tarsian and ,silas1 had trudged six hundred miles4 ,their younger companion1 whose name was ,fear ,god1 or ,timothy as we say1 with his ,greek fondness for perfect athletic fitness of the body1 proudly felt the taut1 wiry muscles working under his skin4 ,on they walked for day after day1 from dawn when the sun rose behind them to the hour when the sun glowed over the hills in their faces4 ,they turned northwest and at last dropped down from the highlands of this plateau of ,asia ,minor1 through a long broad valley1 until they looked down across the ,plain of ,troy to the bluest sea in the world4 ,timothy's eyes opened with astonishment as he looked down on such a city as he had never seen--the great ,roman seaport of ,troy4 ,the marble ,stadium1 where the chariots raced and the gladiators fought1 gleamed in the afternoon light4 ,the three companions could not stop long to gaze4 ,they swung easily down the hill-sides and across the plain into ,troy1 where they took lodgings4 ,they had not been in ,troy long when they met a doctor named ,luke4 ,we do not know whether one of them was ill and the doctor helped him2 we do not know whether ,doctor ,luke 7who was a ,greek7 worshipped1 when he met them1 ,a,esculapius1 the god of healing of the ,greek people4 ,the doctor did not live in ,troy1 but was himself a visitor4 ,i live across the sea1 ,luke told his three friends--,paul1 ,silas and ,timothy--stretching his hand out towards the north4 ,i live1 he would say proudly1 in the greatest city of all ,macedonia--,philippi4 ,it is called after the great ruler ,philip of ,macedonia4 ,then ,paul in his turn would be sure to tell ,doctor ,luke what it was that had brought him across a thousand miles of plain and mountain pass1 hill and valley1 to ,troy4 ,this is how he would tell the story in such words as he used again and again3 ,i used to think1 he said1 that ,i ought to do many things to oppose the name of ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,i had many of ,his disciples put into prison and even voted for their being put to death4 ,i became so exceedingly mad against them that ,i even pursued them to foreign cities4 ,then as ,i was journeying#f to ,damascus1 with the authority of the chief priests themselves1 at mid-day ,i saw on the way a light from the sky1 brighter than the blaze of the sun1 shining round about me and my companions4 ,and1 as we were all fallen on to the road1 ,i heard a voice saying to me3 ',saul1 ,saul1 why do you persecute me8 ,it is hard for you to kick against the goad4' ,and ,i said1 ',who are you1 ,lord8' ,the answer came3 ',i am ,jesus1 whom you persecute4' ,then ,paul went on3 ,i was not disobedient to the heavenly vision2 but ,i told those in ,damascus and in ,jerusalem and in all ,judaea1 aye6 and the foreign nations also1 that they should repent and turn to ,god4 ,later on1 said ,paul1 ,i fell into a trance1 and ,jesus came again to me and said1 ',go1 ,i will send you afar to the ,nations4' ,that 7,paul would say to ,luke7 is why ,i walk among perils in the city2 in perils in the wilderness2 in perils in the sea2 in labour and work2 in hunger and thirst and cold1 to tell people everywhere of the love of ,god shown in ,jesus ,christ4#g ,the ,call to ,cross the ,sea4 ,one night1 after one of these talks1 as ,paul was asleep in ,troy1 he seemed to see a figure standing by him4 ,surely it was the dream-figure of ,luke1 the doctor from ,macedonia1 holding out his hands and pleading with ,paul1 saying1 ,come over into ,macedonia and help us4 ,now neither ,paul nor ,silas nor ,timothy had ever been across the sea into the land that we now call ,europe4 ,but in the morning1 when ,paul told his companions about the dream that he had had1 they all agreed that ,god had called them to go and deliver the good news of the ,kingdom to the people in ,luke's city of ,philippi and in the other cities of ,macedonia4 ,so they went down into the busy harbour of ,troy1 where the singing sailor-men were bumping bales of goods from the backs of camels into the holds of the ships1 and they took a passage in a little coasting ship4 ,she hove anchor and was rowed out through the entrance between the ends of the granite piers of the harbour4 ,the seamen hoisting the sails1 the little ship went gaily out into the ,a,egean ,sea4 ,all day they ran before the breeze and at night anchored under the lee of an island4 ,at dawn they sailed northward again with a good wind1 till they saw land4 ,behind the coast on high ground the columns of a temple glowed in the sunlight4 ,they ran into a spacious bay and anchored in the harbour of a new city--,neapolis as it was called--the port of ,philippi4 ,landing from the little ship1 ,paul1 ,silas1 ,timothy and ,luke climbed from the harbour by a glen to the crest of the hill1 and then on1 for three or four hours of hard walking1 till their sandals rang on the pavement under the marble arch of the gate through the wall of ,philippi4 ,flogging and ,prison4 ,as ,paul and his friends walked about in the city they talked with people2 for instance1 with a woman called ,lydia1 who also had come across the sea from ,asia ,minor where she was born4 ,she and her children and slaves all became ,christians4 ,so the men and women of ,philippi soon began to talk about these strange teachers from the ,east4 ,one day ,paul and ,silas met a slave girl dressed in a flowing1 coloured tunic4 ,she was a fortune-teller1 who earned money for her masters by looking at people and trying to see at a glance what they were like so that she might tell their fortunes4 ,the fortune-telling girl saw ,paul and ,silas going along1 and she stopped and called out loud so that everyone who went by might hear3 ,these men are the slaves of the ,most ,high ,god4 ,they tell you the way of ,salvation4 ,the people stood and gaped with astonishment1 and still the girl called out the same thing1 until a crowd began to come round4 ,then ,paul turned round and with sternness in his voice spoke to the evil spirit in the girl and said3 ,in the ,name of ,jesus ,christ1 ,i order you out of her4 ,from that day the girl lost her power to tell people's fortunes1 so that the money that used to come to her masters stopped flowing4 ,they were very angry and stirred up everybody to attack ,paul and ,silas4 ,a mob collected and searched through the streets until they found them4 ,then they clutched hold of their arms and robes1 shouting3 ,to the praetors6 ,to the praetors6 ,the praetors were great officials who sat in marble chairs in the ,forum1 the central square of the city4 ,the masters of the slave girl dragged ,paul and ,silas along4 ,at their heels came the shouting mob and when they came in front of the praetors1 the men cried out3 ,see these fellows6 ,jews as they are1 they are upsetting everything in the city4 ,they tell people to take up customs that are against the ,law for us as ,romans to accept4 ,yes6 ,yes6 yelled the crowd4 ,flog them6 ,flog them6 ,the praetors1 without asking ,paul or ,silas a single question as to whether this was true1 or allowing them to make any defence1 were fussily eager to show their ,roman patriotism4 ,standing up they gave their orders3 ,strip them1 flog them4 ,the slaves of the praetors seized ,paul and ,silas and took their robes from their backs4 ,they were tied by their hands to the whipping-post4 ,the crowd gathered round to see the foreigners thrashed4 ,the lictors--that is the soldier-servants of the praetors--untied their bundles of rods4 ,then each lictor brought down his rod with cruel strokes on ,paul and ,silas4 ,the rods cut into the flesh and the blood flowed down4 ,then their robes were thrown over their shoulders1 and the two men1 with their tortured backs bleeding1 were led into the black darkness of the cell of the city prison2 shackles were snapped on to their arms1 and their feet were clapped into stocks4 ,their bodies ached2 the other prisoners groaned and cursed2 the filthy place stank2 sleep was impossible4 ,but ,paul and ,silas did not groan4 ,they sang the songs of their own people1 such as the verses that ,paul had learned--as all ,jewish children did--when he was a boy at school4 ,for instance-- ,god is our refuge and strength1 ,a very present help in trouble4 ,therefore will we not fear1 though the earth do change1 ,and though the mountains be moved in the heart of the seas2 ,though the waters thereof roar and be troubled1 ,though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof4 ,as they sang there came a noise as though the mountains really were shaking4 ,the ground rocked2 the walls shook2 the chains were loosened from the stones2 the stocks were wrenched apart2 their hands and feet were free2 the heavy doors crashed open4 ,it was an earthquake4 ,the jailor leapt to the entrance of the prison4 ,the moonlight shone on his sword as he was about to kill himself1 thinking his prisoners had escaped4 ,do not harm yourself1 shouted ,paul4 ,we are all here4 ,torches6 ,torches6 yelled the jailor4 ,the jailor1 like all the people of his land1 believed that earthquakes were sent by ,god4 ,he thought he was lost4 ,he turned to ,paul and ,silas who1 he knew1 were teachers about ,god4 ,sirs1 he said1 falling in fear on the ground1 what must ,i do to be saved8 ,believe in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 they replied1 and you and your household will all be saved4 ,the jailor's wife then brought some oil and water1 and the jailor washed the poor wounded backs of ,paul and ,silas and rubbed healing oil into them4 ,the night was now passing and the sun began to rise4 ,there was a tramp of feet4 ,the lictors who had thrashed ,paul and ,silas marched to the door of the prison with an order to free them4 ,the jailor was delighted4 ,the praetors have sent to set you free1 he said4 ,come out then and go in peace4 ,he had the greatest surprise in his life when1 instead of going1 ,paul turned and said3 ,no1 indeed6 ,the praetors flogged us in public in the ,forum and without a trial--flogged ,roman citizens6 ,they threw us publicly into prison1 and now they are going to get rid of us secretly4 ,let the praetors come here themselves and take us out6 ,surely it was the boldest message ever sent to the powerful praetors4 ,but ,paul knew what he was doing1 and when the ,roman praetors heard the message they knew that he was right4 ,they would be ruined if it were reported at ,rome that they had publicly flogged ,roman citizens without trial4 ,their prisoner1 ,paul1 was now their judge4 ,they climbed down from their marble seats and walked on foot to the prison to plead with ,paul and ,silas to leave the prison and not to tell against them what had happened4 ,will you go away from the city8 they asked4 ,we are afraid of other riots4 ,so ,paul and ,silas consented4 ,but they went to the house where ,lydia lived--the home in which they had been staying in ,philippi4 ,paul cheered up the other ,christian folk--,lydia and ,luke and ,timothy--and told them how the jailor and his wife and family had all become ,christians4 ,keep the work of spreading the message here in ,philippi going strongly1 said ,paul to ,luke and ,timothy4 ,be cheerfully prepared for trouble4 ,and then he and ,silas1 instead of going back to their own land1 went out together in the morning light of the early winter of ,a4,d4 #ej1 away along the ,western road over the hills to face perils in other cities in order to carry the ,good ,news to the people of the ,west4 ,the ,trail of the ,hero-,scout4 ,so ,paul the dauntless pioneer set his brave face westwards1 following the long trail across the ,roman ,empire--the hero-scout of ,christ4 ,nothing could stop him--not scourgings nor stonings1 prison nor robbers1 blizzards nor sand-storms4 ,he went on and on till at last1 as a prisoner in ,rome1 he laid his head on the block of the executioner and was slain4 ,these are the brave words that we hear from him as he came near to the end3 ----------------------------- ,i ,,have ,,fought ,a ,,good ,,fight2 ,i ,,have ,,run ,,my ,,course2 ,i ,,have ,,kept ,,the ,,faith4 ----------------------------- ,long years afterward1 men who were ,christians in ,rome carried the story of the ,kingdom of ,jesus ,christ across ,europe to some savages in the ,north ,sea ,islands--called ,britons4 ,paul handed the torch from the ,near ,east to the people in ,rome4 ,they passed the torch on to the people of ,britain--and from ,britain many years later men sailed to build up the new great nation in ,america4 ,so the torch has run from ,east to ,west1 from that day to this1 and from those people of long ago to us4 ,but we owe this most of all to ,paul1 the first missionary1 who gave his life to bring the ,good ,news from the lands of ,syria and ,judaea1 where our ,lord ,jesus ,christ lived and died and rose again4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #b3 ,the dates are1 of course1 conjectural2 but those given are accepted by high authorities4 ,paul was about forty-four at the time of this adventure4 ,footnote #c3 ,the plateau on which ,lystra1 ,derbe1 ,iconium1 and ,antioch-in-,pisidia stood is from #cjjj to #djjj feet above sea-level4 ,footnote #d3 ,the aqueduct was standing there in #aiad1 when the author was at ,antioch-in-,pisidia 7now called ,yalowatch74 ,footnote #e3 ,a ,bible with maps attached will give the route from ,antioch in ,syria1 round the ,gulf of ,alexandretta1 past ,tarsus1 up the ,cilician ,gates to ,derbe1 ,lystra1 ,iconium1 and ,antioch-in-,pisidia4 ,footnote #f3 ,compare ,acts ix4 ,i-#h1 xxvi4 #ab-bj4 ,footnote #g3 ,st4 ,paul's motive and message are developed more fully in the ,author's ,paul the ,dauntless4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,men ,,of ,,the ,,shingle ,,beach ,wilfrid of ,sussex 7,date1 born ,a4,d4 #fcd4 ,incidents ,a4,d4 #fff and #fhah7 ,twelve hundred and fifty years ago a man named ,wilfrid sailed along the south coast of a great island in the ,north ,seas4 ,with him in the ship were a hundred and twenty companions4 ,the voyage had started well1 but now the captain looked anxious as he peered out under his curved hand1 looking first south and then north4 ,there was danger in both directions4 ,the breeze from the south stiffened to a gale4 ,the mast creaked and strained as the gathering storm tore at the mainsail4 ,the ship reeled and pitched as the spiteful waves smote her high bow and swept hissing and gurgling along the deck4 ,she began to jib like a horse and refused to obey her rudder4 ,wind and current were carrying her out of her course4 ,in spite of all the captain's sea-craft the ship was being driven nearer to the dreaded1 low1 shingle beach of the island that stretched along the northern edge of the sea4 ,the captain did not fear the coast itself1 for it had no rocks4 ,but the lines deepened on his weather-scarred face as he saw1 gathering on the shelving beach1 the wild1 yellow-haired men of the island4 ,the ship was being carried nearer and nearer to the coast4 ,all on board could now see the ,men of the ,shingle ,beach waving their spears and axes4 ,the current and the wind swung the ship still closer to the shore1 and now--even above the whistle of the gale in the cordage--the crew heard the wild whoop of the wreckers4 ,these men on the beach were the sons of pirates4 ,but they were now cowards compared with their fathers4 ,for they no longer lived by the wild sea-rover's fight that had made their fathers' blood leap with the joy of the battle4 ,they lived by a crueller craft4 ,waiting till some such vessel as this was swept ashore1 they would swoop down on it1 harry and slay the men1 carry the women and children off for slaves1 break up the ship and take the wood and stores for fire and food4 ,they were beach-combers4 ,an extra swing of the tide1 a great wave--and with a thud the ship was aground1 stuck fast on the yielding sands4 ,with a wild yell1 and with their tawny manes streaming in the wind1 the wreckers rushed down the beach brandishing their spears4 ,wilfrid1 striding to the side of the ship1 raised his hand to show that he wished to speak to the chief4 ,but the island men rushed on like an avalanche and started to storm the ship4 ,snatching up arms1 poles1 rope-ends--whatever they could find--the men on board beat down upon the heads of the savages as they climbed up the ship's slippery side4 ,one man after another sank wounded on the deck4 ,the fight grew more obstinate1 but at last the men of the beach drew back up the sands1 baffled4 ,the ,men of the ,shingle ,beach might have given up the battle had not a fierce priest of their god of war leapt on to a mound of sand1 and1 lifting his naked arms to the skies1 called on the god to destroy the men in the ship4 ,the savages were seized with a new frenzy and swept down the beach again4 ,wilfrid had gathered his closest friends round him and was quietly kneeling on the deck praying to his ,god for deliverance from the enemy4 ,the fight became desperate4 ,again the savages were driven back up the beach4 ,once more they rallied and came swooping down on the ship4 ,but a pebble from the sling of a man on the ship struck the savage priest on the forehead2 he tottered and fell on the sand4 ,this infuriated the savages1 yet it took the heart out of these men who had trusted in their god of war4 ,meanwhile the tide had been creeping up2 it swung in still further and lifted the ship from the sand2 the wind veered1 the sails strained4 ,slowly1 but with gathering speed1 the ship stood out to sea followed by howls of rage from the men on the beach4 99 99 99 99 99 ,some years passed by1 yet ,wilfrid in all his travels had never forgotten the ,men of the ,beach4 ,and1 strangely enough1 he wanted to go back to them4 ,at last the time came when he could do so4 ,this time he did not visit them by sea4 ,after he had preached among the people in a distant part of the same great island1 ,wilfrid with four faithful companions--,eappa1 ,padda1 ,burghelm and ,oiddi--walked down to the south coast of the island4 ,as he came to the tribe he found many of them gathered on the beach as before4 ,but the fierceness was gone4 ,they tottered with weakness as they walked4 ,the very bones seemed ready to come through their skin4 ,they were starving with hunger and thirst from a long drought1 when no grain or food of any kind would grow4 ,and now they were gathered on the shore1 and a long row of them linked hand in hand would rush down the very beach upon which they had attacked ,wilfrid1 and would cast themselves into the sea to get out of the awful agonies of their hunger4 ,are there not fish in the sea for food8 asked ,wilfrid4 ,yes1 but we cannot catch them1 they answered4 ,wilfrid showed the wondering ,men of the ,shingle ,beach how to make large nets and then launched out in the little boats that they owned1 and let the nets down4 ,for hour after hour ,wilfrid and his companions fished1 while the savages watched them from the beach with hungry eyes as the silver-shining fish were drawn gleaming and struggling into the boats4 ,at last1 as evening drew on1 the nets were drawn in for the last time1 and ,wilfrid came back to the beach with hundreds of fish in the boats4 ,with eager joy the ,men of the ,beach lit fires and cooked the fish4 ,their hunger was stayed2 the rain for which ,wilfrid prayed came4 ,they were happy once more4 ,then ,wilfrid gathered them all around him on the beach and said words like these3 ,you men tried to kill me and my friends on this beach years ago1 trusting in your god of war4 ,you failed4 ,there is no god of war4 ,there is but one ,god1 a ,god not of war1 but of ,love1 ,who sent ,his only ,son to tell about ,his love4 ,that ,son1 ,jesus ,christ1 ,who fed the hungry multitudes by the side of the sea with fish1 sent me to you to show love to you1 feeding you with fish from the sea1 and feeding you with ,his love1 which is the ,bread of ,life4 ,the wondering savages1 spear in hand1 shook their matted hair and could not take it in at once4 ,yet they and their boys and girls had already learned to trust ,wilfrid1 and soon began to love the ,god of ,whom he spoke4 99 99 99 99 99 ,now1 those savages were the great1 great1 great grandfathers and mothers of the ,english-speaking peoples of the world4 ,the ,north ,sea ,island was ,britain2 the beach was at ,selsey near ,chichester on the ,south ,coast4 ,and the very fact that you and ,i are alive to-day1 the shelter of our homes1 the fact that we can enjoy the wind on the heath in camp1 our books and sport and school1 all these things come to us through men like ,wilfrid and ,st4 ,patrick1 ,st4 ,columba and ,st4 ,ninian1 ,st4 ,augustine and others who in the days of long ago came to lift our fathers from the wretched1 quarrelsome life1 and from the starving helplessness of the ,men of the ,shingle ,beach4 ,the people of the ,north ,sea ,islands and of ,america and the rest of the ,christian world have these good things in their life because there came to save our forefathers heroic missionaries like ,wilfrid1 ,columba1 and ,augustine4 ,there are to-day men of the ,south ,sea ,islands1 who are even more helpless than our ,saxon grandfathers4 ,to get without giving is mean4 ,to take the torch and not to pass it on is to fail to play the game4 ,we must hand on to the others the light that has come to us4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #h3 ,the chief authority for the story of ,wilfrid is ,bede4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,knight ,,of ,a ,,new ,,crusade ,raymund ,lull 7,dates1 b4 #abcd1 d4 #acae7 ,i ,a little old man1 barefooted and bareheaded1 and riding upon an ass1 went through the cities and towns and villages of ,europe1 in the eleventh century1 carrying--not a lance1 but a crucifix4 ,when he came near a town the word ran like a forest fire1 ,it is ,peter the ,hermit4 ,all the people rushed out4 ,their hearts burned as they heard him tell how the tomb of ,jesus ,christ was in the hand of the ,moslem ,turk1 of how ,christians going to worship at ,his ,tomb in ,jerusalem were thrown into prison and scourged and slain4 ,knights sold lands and houses to buy horses and lances4 ,peasants threw down the axe and the spade for the pike and bow and arrows4 ,led by knights1 on whose armour a red ,cross was emblazoned1 the people poured out in their millions for the first ,crusade4 ,it is said that in the spring of #ajif an expeditionary force of six million people was heading toward ,palestine4 ,the ,crusades were caused partly by the cruelty of the followers of ,mohammed1 the ,moslem ,turks1 who believed that they could earn entrance into ,paradise by slaying infidel ,christians4 ,the ,moslems every day and five times a day turn their faces to ,mecca in ,arabia1 saying ,there is no ,god but ,god2 ,mohammed is the ,prophet of ,god4 ,allah 7they believe7 is wise and merciful to ,his own1 but not holy1 nor our ,father1 nor loving and forgiving1 nor desiring pure lives4 ,on earth and in ,paradise women have no place save to serve men4 ,the first ,crusade ended in the capture of ,jerusalem 7,july #ae1 #ajii71 and ,godfrey de ,bouillon became ,king of ,jerusalem4 ,but ,godfrey refused to put a crown upon his head4 ,for1 he said1 ,i will not wear a crown of gold in the city where ,our ,lord ,jesus ,christ wore a crown of thorns4 ,the fortunes of ,christian and ,moslem ebbed and flowed for nearly two hundred years1 during which time there were seven ,crusades ending at the fall of ,acre into the hands of the ,turks in #abia4 ,the way of the sword had failed1 though indeed the ,crusades had probably been the means of preventing all ,europe from being overrun by the ,moslems4 ,at the time when the last ,crusade had begun a man was planning a new kind of ,crusade1 different in method but calling for just as much bravery as the old kind4 ,we are going to hear his story now4 ,,ii ,the ,young ,knight's ,vision ,in the far-off days of the last of the ,crusades1 a knight of ,majorca1 in the ,mediterranean ,sea1 stood on the shore of his island home gazing over the water4 ,raymund ,lull from the beach of ,palma ,bay1 where he had played as a boy1 now looked out southward1 where boats with their tall1 rakish1 brown sails ran in from the ,great ,sea4 ,the knight was dreaming of ,africa which lay away to the south of his island4 ,he had heard many strange stories from the sailors about the life in the harbours of that mysterious ,african seaboard2 but he had never once in his thirty-six years set eyes upon one of its ports4 ,it was the year when ,prince ,edward of ,england1 out on the mad1 futile adventure of the last ,crusade1 was felled by the poisoned dagger of an assassin in ,nazareth1 and when ,eleanor 7we are told7 drew the poison from the wound with her own lips4 ,yet ,raymund ,lull1 who was a knight so skilled that he could flash his sword and set his lance in rest with any of his peers1 had not joined that ,crusade4 ,his brave father carried the scars of a dozen battles against the ,moors4 ,yet1 when the last ,crusade swept down the ,mediterranean1 ,lull stood aside2 for he was himself planning a new ,crusade of a kind unlike any that had gone before4 ,he dreamed of a ,crusade not to the ,holy ,land but to ,africa1 where the ,crescent of ,mohammed ruled and where the ,cross of ,christ was never seen save when an arrogant ,moslem drew a cross in the sand of the desert to spit upon it4 ,it was the desire of ,raymund ,lull's life to sail out into those perilous ports and to face the fierce ,saracens who thronged the cities4 ,he longed for this as other knights panted to go out to the ,holy ,land as ,crusaders4 ,he was rich enough to sail at any time1 for he was his own master4 ,why1 then1 did he not take one of the swift craft that rocked in the bay1 and sail8 ,it was because he had not yet forged a sharp enough weapon for his new ,crusade4 ,his deep resolve was that at all costs he would ,be ,prepared for every counter-stroke of the ,saracen whose tongue was as swift and sharp as his scimitar4 ,what powers do we think a man should have in order to convince fanatical ,moslems1 who knew their own sacred book--the ,koran--of the truth of ,christianity8 ,control of his own temper1 courage1 patience1 knowledge of the ,moslem religion and of the ,bible1 suggest themselves4 ,,iii ,the ,preparation of ,temper ,so ,lull turned his back on the beach and on ,africa1 and plunged under the heavy shadows of the arched gateway through the city wall up the narrow streets of ,palma4 ,a servant opened the heavy1 studded door of his father's mansion--the house where ,lull himself was born4 ,he hastened in and1 calling to his ,saracen slave1 strode to his own room4 ,the dark-faced ,moor obediently came1 bowed before his young master1 and laid out on the table manuscripts that were covered with mysterious writing such as few people in ,europe could read4 ,lull was learning ,arabic from this sullen ,saracen slave4 ,he was studying the ,koran--the ,bible of the ,mohammedans--so that he might be able to strive with the ,saracens on their own ground4 ,for ,lull knew that he must be master of all the knowledge of the ,moslem if he was to win his battles2 just as a knight in the fighting ,crusades must be swift and sure with his sword4 ,and this is how ,lull spoke of the ,crusade on which he was to set out4 ,i see many knights1 he said1 going to the ,holy ,land beyond the seas and thinking that they can acquire it by force of arms2 but in the end all are destroyed before they attain that which they think to have4 ,whence it seems to me that the conquest of the ,holy ,land ought not to be attempted except in the way in which ,christ and ,his ,apostles achieved it1 namely1 by love and prayers1 and the pouring out of tears and blood4 ,suddenly1 as he and the ,saracen slave argued together1 the ,moor blurted out passionately a horrible blasphemy against the name of ,jesus4 ,lull's blood was up4 ,he leapt to his feet1 leaned forward1 and caught the ,moor a swinging blow on the face with his hand4 ,in a fury the ,saracen snatched a dagger from the folds of his robe and1 leaping at ,lull1 drove it into his side4 ,raymund fell with a cry4 ,friends rushed in4 ,the ,saracen was seized and hurried away to a prison-cell1 where he slew himself4 ,lull1 as he lay day after day waiting for his wound to heal and remembering his wild blow at the ,saracen1 realised that1 although he had learned ,arabic1 he had not yet learned the first lesson of his own new way of ,crusading--to be master of himself4 ,,iv ,the ,preparation of ,courage ,so ,raymund ,lull 7at home and in ,rome and ,paris7 set himself afresh to his task of preparing4 ,at last he felt that he was ready4 ,from ,paris he rode south-east through forest and across plain1 over mountain and pass1 till the gorgeous palaces and the thousand masts of ,genoa came in sight4 ,he went down to the harbour and found a ship that was sailing across the ,mediterranean to ,africa4 ,he booked his passage and sent his goods with all his precious manuscripts aboard4 ,the day for sailing came4 ,his friends came to cheer him4 ,but ,lull sat in his room trembling4 ,as he covered his eyes with his hands in shame1 he saw the fiery1 persecuting ,saracens of ,tunis1 whom he was sailing to meet4 ,he knew they were glowing with pride because of their triumphs over the ,crusaders in ,palestine4 ,he knew they were blazing with anger because their brother ,moors had been slaughtered and tortured in ,spain4 ,he saw ahead of him the rack1 the thumb-screw1 and the boot2 the long years in a slimy dungeon--at the best the executioner's scimitar4 ,he simply dared not go4 ,the books were brought ashore again4 ,the ship sailed without ,lull4 ,the ship has gone1 said a friend to ,lull4 ,he quivered under a torture of shame greater than the agony of the rack4 ,he was wrung with bitter shame that he who had for all these years prepared for this ,crusade should now have shown the white feather4 ,he was1 indeed1 a craven knight of ,christ4 ,his agony of spirit threw him into a high fever that kept him in his bed4 ,soon after he heard that another ship was sailing for ,africa4 ,in spite of the protestations of his friends ,lull insisted that they should carry him to the ship4 ,they did so2 but as the hour of sailing drew on his friends were sure that he was so weak that he would die on the sea before he could reach ,africa4 ,so--this time in spite of all his pleading--they carried him ashore again4 ,but he could not rest and his agony of mind made his fever worse4 ,soon1 however1 a third ship was making ready to sail4 ,this time ,lull was carried on board and refused to return4 ,the ship cast off and threaded its way through the shipping of the harbour out into the open sea4 ,from this moment1 said ,lull1 ,i was a new man4 ,all fever left me almost before we were out of sight of land4 ,v ,the ,first ,battle ,passing ,corsica and ,sardinia1 the ship slipped southward till at last she made the yellow coast of ,africa1 broken by the glorious ,gulf of ,tunis4 ,she dropped sail as she ran alongside the busy wharves of ,goletta4 ,lull was soon gliding in a boat through the short ancient canal to ,tunis1 the mighty city which was head of all the ,western ,mohammedan world4 ,he landed and found the place beside the great mosque where the grey-bearded scholars bowed over their ,korans and spoke to one another about the law of ,mohammed4 ,they looked at him with amazement as he boldly came up to them and said1 ,i have come to talk with you about ,christ and ,his ,way of ,life1 and ,mohammed and his teaching4 ,if you can prove to me that ,mohammed is indeed the ,prophet1 ,i will myself become a follower of him4 ,the ,moslems1 sure of their case1 called together their wisest men and together they declaimed to ,lull what he already knew very well--the watchword that rang out from minaret to minaret across the roofs of the vast city as the first flush of dawn came up from the ,east across the ,gulf4 ,there is no ,god but ,god2 ,mohammed is the ,prophet of ,god4 ,yes1 he replied1 the ,allah of ,mohammed is one and is great1 but ,he does not love as does the ,father of ,jesus ,christ4 ,he is wise1 but ,he does not do good to men like our ,god who so loved the world that ,he gave ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ4 ,to and fro the argument swung till1 after many days1 to their dismay and amazement the ,moslems saw some of their number waver and at last actually beginning to go over to the side of ,lull4 ,to forsake the ,faith of ,mohammed is--by their own law--to be worthy of death4 ,a ,moslem leader hurried to the ,sultan of ,tunis4 ,see1 he said1 this learned teacher1 ,lull1 is declaring the errors of the ,faith4 ,he is dangerous4 ,let us take him and put him to death4 ,the ,sultan gave the word of command4 ,a body of soldiers went out1 seized ,lull1 dragged him through the streets1 and threw him into a dark dungeon to wait the death sentence4 ,but another ,moslem who had been deeply touched by ,lull's teaching craved audience with the ,sultan4 ,see1 he said1 this learned man ,lull--if he were a ,moslem--would be held in high honour1 being so brave and fearless in defence of his ,faith4 ,do not slay him4 ,banish him from ,tunis4 ,so when ,lull in his dungeon saw the door flung open and waited to be taken to his death he found to his surprise that he was led from the dungeon through the streets of ,tunis1 taken along the canal1 thrust into the hold of a ship1 and told that he must go in that ship to ,genoa and never return4 ,but the man who had before been afraid to sail from ,genoa to ,tunis1 now escaped unseen from the ship that would have taken him back to safety in order to risk his life once more4 ,he said to himself the motto he had written3 -------------------------------------- ,,he ,,who ,,loves ,,not1 ,,lives ,,not6 ,,he ,,who ,,lives ,,by ,,the ,,life ,,cannot ,,die4 -------------------------------------- ,he was not afraid now even of martyrdom4 ,he hid among the wharves and gathered his converts about him to teach them more and more about ,christ4 ,,vi ,the ,last ,fight ,at last1 however1 seeing that he could do little in hiding1 ,lull took ship to ,naples4 ,after many adventures during a number of years1 in a score of cities and on the seas1 the now white-haired ,lull sailed into the curved bay of ,bugia farther westward along the ,african coast4 ,in the bay behind the frowning walls the city with its glittering mosques climbed the hill4 ,behind rose two glorious mountains crowned with the dark green of the cedar4 ,and1 far off1 like giant ,moors wearing white turbans1 rose the distant mountain peaks crowned with snow4 ,lull passed quietly through the arch of the city gateway which he knew so well1 for among other adventures he had once been imprisoned in this very city4 ,he climbed the steep street and found a friend who hid him away4 ,there for a year ,lull taught in secret till he felt that the time had come for him to go out boldly and dare death itself4 ,one day the people in the market-place of ,bugia heard a voice ring out that seemed to some of them strangely familiar4 ,they hurried toward the sound4 ,there stood the old hero with arm uplifted declaring1 in the full blaze of the ,north ,african day1 the ,love of ,god shown in ,jesus ,christ ,his ,son4 ,the ,saracens murmured4 ,they could not answer his arguments4 ,they cried to him to stop1 but his voice rose ever fuller and bolder4 ,they rushed on him1 dragged him by the cloak out of the market-place1 down the streets1 under the archway to a place beyond the city walls4 ,there they threw back their sleeves1 took up great jagged stones and hurled these grim messengers of hate at the ,apostle of ,love1 till he sank senseless to the ground4#i ,it was word for word over again the story of ,stephen2 the speech1 the wild cries of the mob1 the rush to the place beyond the city wall1 the stoning4#aj ,did ,lull accomplish anything8 ,he was dead2 but he had conquered4 ,he had conquered his old self4 ,for the ,lull who had1 in a fit of temper1 smitten his ,saracen slave now smiled on the men who stoned him2 and the ,lull who had showed the white feather of fear at ,genoa1 now defied death in the market-place of ,bugia4 ,and in that love and heroism1 in face of hate and death1 he had shown men the only way to conquer the scimitar of ,mohammed1 the way in which ,christ and ,his ,apostles achieved it1 namely1 by love and prayers1 and the pouring out of tears and blood4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #i3 ,june #cj4 #acae4 ,footnote #aj3 ,acts vi4 #h-vii4 #fj4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,francis ,,coeur-,,de-,,lion 7,st4 ,francis of ,assisi7 ,a4,d4 #aaha-abbf 7,date of ,incident1 #abai7 ,i ,the dark blue sky of an ,italian night was studded with sparkling stars that seemed to be twinkling with laughter at the pranks of a lively group of gay young fellows as they came out from a house half-way up the steep street of the little city of ,assisi4 ,as they strayed together down the street they sang the love-songs of their country and then a rich1 strong voice rang out singing a song in ,french4 ,that is ,francis ,bernardone1 one neighbour would say to another1 nodding his head1 for ,francis could sing1 not only in his native ,italian1 but also in ,french4 ,he lives like a prince2 yet he is but the son of a cloth merchant1--rich though the merchant be4 ,so the neighbours1 we are told1 were always grumbling about ,francis1 the wild spendthrift4 ,for young ,francis dressed in silk and always in the latest fashion2 he threw his pocket-money about with a free hand4 ,he loved beautiful things4 ,he was very sensitive4 ,he would ride a long way round to avoid seeing the dreadful face of a poor leper1 and would hold his nose in his cloak as he passed the place where the lepers lived4 ,he was handsome in face1 gallant in bearing1 idle and careless2 a jolly companion1 with beautiful courtly manners4 ,his dark chestnut hair curled over his smooth1 rather small forehead4 ,his black twinkling eyes looked out under level brows2 his nose was straight and finely shaped4 ,when he laughed he showed even1 white1 closely set teeth between thin and sensitive lips4 ,he wore a short1 black beard4 ,his arms were shortish2 his fingers long and sensitive4 ,he was lightly built2 his skin was delicate4 ,he was witty1 and his voice when he spoke was powerful and sonorous1 yet sweet-toned and very clear4 ,for him to be the son of a merchant seemed to the gossips of ,assisi all wrong--as though a grey goose had hatched out a gorgeous peacock4 ,the song of the revellers passed down the street and died away4 ,the little city of ,assisi slept in quietness on the slopes of the ,apennine ,mountains under the dark clear sky4 ,a few nights later1 however1 no song of any revellers was heard4 ,francis ,bernardone was very ill with a fever4 ,for week after week his mother nursed him2 and each night hardly believed that her son would live to see the light of the next morning4 ,when at last the fever left him1 he was so feeble that for weeks he could not rise from his bed4 ,gradually1 however1 he got better3 as he did so the thing that he desired most of all in the world was to see the lovely country around ,assisi2--the mountains1 the ,umbrian ,plain beneath1 the blue skies1 the dainty flowers4 ,at last one day1 with aching limbs and in great feebleness1 he crept out of doors4 ,there were the great ,apennine ,mountains on the side of which his city of ,assisi was built4 ,there were the grand rocky peaks pointing to the intense blue sky4 ,there was the steep street with the houses built of stone of a strange1 delicate pink colour1 as though the light of dawn were always on them4 ,there were the dark green olive trees1 and the lovely tendrils of the vines4 ,the gay ,italian flowers were blooming4 ,stretching away in the distance was one of the most beautiful landscapes of the world2 the broad ,umbrian ,plain with its browns and greens melting in the distance into a bluish haze that softened the lines of the distant hills4 ,how he had looked forward to seeing it all1 to being in the sunshine1 to feeling the breeze on his hot brow6 ,but what--he wondered--had happened to him8 ,he looked at it all1 but he felt no joy4 ,it all seemed dead and empty4 ,he turned his back on it and crawled indoors again1 sad and sick at heart4 ,he was sure that he would never feel again the wild joys of living4 ,as ,francis went back to his bed he began to think what he should do with the rest of his life4 ,he made up his mind not to waste it any longer3 but he did not see clearly what he should do with it4 ,a short time after ,francis begged a young nobleman of ,assisi1 who was just starting to fight in a war1 if he might go with him4 ,the nobleman--,walter of ,brienne1 agreed3 so ,francis bought splendid trappings for his horse1 and a shield1 sword and spear4 ,his armour and his horse's harness were more splendid than even those of ,walter4 ,so they went clattering together out of ,assisi4 ,but he had not gone thirty miles before he was smitten again by fever4 ,after sunset one evening he lay dreamily on his bed when he seemed to hear a voice4 ,francis1 it asked1 what could benefit thee most1 the master or the servant1 the rich man or the poor8 ,the master and the rich man1 answered ,francis in surprise4 ,why then1 went on the voice1 dost thou leave ,god1 ,who is the ,master and rich1 for man1 who is the servant and poor8 ,then1 ,lord1 what will ,thou that ,i do8 asked ,francis4 ,return to thy native town1 and it shall be shown thee there what thou shall do1 said the voice4 ,he obediently rose and went back to ,assisi4 ,he tried to join again in the old revels1 but the joy was gone4 ,he went quietly away to a cave on the mountain side and there he lay--as young ,mahomet had done1 you remember1 five centuries before1 to wonder what he was to do4 ,then a vision came to him4 ,all at once like a flash his mind was clear1 and his soul was full of joy4 ,he saw the love of ,jesus ,christ--,who had lived and suffered and died for love of him and of all men2--that love was to rule his own life6 ,he had found his ,captain--the ,master of his life1 the ,lord of his service1--,christ4 ,yet even now he hardly knew what to do4 ,he went home and told his friends as well as he could of the change in his heart4 ,some smiled rather pityingly and went away saying to one another3 ,poor fellow2 a little mad1 you can see2 very sad for his parents6 ,others simply laughed and mocked4 ,one day1 very lonely and sad at heart1 he clambered up the mountain side to an old church just falling into ruin near which1 in a cavern1 lived a priest4 ,he went into the ruin and fell on his knees4 ,francis1 a voice in his soul seemed to say1 dost thou see my house going to ruin4 ,buckle to and repair it4 ,he dashed home1 saddled his horse1 loaded it with rich garments and rode off to another town to sell the goods4 ,he sold the horse too2 trudged back up the hill and gave the fat purse to the priest4 ,no1 said the priest1 ,i dare not take it unless your father says ,i may4 ,but his father1 who had got rumour of what was going on1 came with a band of friends to drag ,francis home4 ,francis fled through the woods to a secret cave1 where he lay hidden till at last he made up his mind to face all4 ,he came out and walked straight towards home4 ,soon the townsmen of ,assisi caught sight of him4 ,a madman1 they yelled1 throwing stones and sticks at him4 ,all the boys of ,assisi came out and hooted and threw pebbles4 ,his father heard the riot and rushed out to join in the fun4 ,imagine his horror when he found that it was his own son4 ,he yelled with rage1 dashed at him and1 clutching him by the robe1 dragged him along1 beating and cursing him4 ,when he got him home he locked him up4 ,but some days later ,francis' mother let him out1 when his father was absent2 and ,francis climbed the hill to the ,church4 ,the bishop called in ,francis and his father to his court to settle the quarrel4 ,you must give back to your father all that you have1 said he4 ,i will1 replied ,francis4 ,he took off all his rich garments2 and1 clad only in a hair-vest1 he put the clothes and the purse of money at his father's feet4 ,now1 he cried1 ,i have but one father4 ,henceforth ,i can say in all truth ',our ,father ,who art in heaven4' ,a peasant's cloak was given to ,francis4 ,he went thus1 without home or any money1 a wanderer4 ,he went to a monastery and slaved in the kitchen4 ,a friend gave him a tunic1 some shoes1 and a stick4 ,he went out wandering in ,italy again4 ,he loved everybody2 he owned nothing2 he wanted everyone to know the love of ,jesus as he knew and enjoyed that love4 ,there came to ,francis many adventures4 ,he was full of joy2 he sang even to the birds in the woods4 ,many men joined him as his disciples in the way of obedience1 of poverty1 and of love4 ,men in ,italy1 in ,spain1 in ,germany and in ,britain caught fire from the flame of his simple love and careless courage4 ,never had ,europe seen so clear a vision of the love of ,jesus4 ,his followers were called the ,lesser ,brothers 7,friars ,minor74 ,all who can should read the story of ,francis' life3 as for us we are here going simply to listen to what happened to him on a strange and perilous adventure4 ,,ii ,about this time people all over ,europe were agog with excitement about the ,crusades4 ,four ,crusades had come and gone4 ,richard ,coeur-de-,lion was dead4 ,but the passion for fighting against the ,saracen was still in the hearts of men4 ,the tomb of our ,lord in ,jerusalem is in the hands of the ,saracen1 the cry went up over all ,europe4 ,followers of ,jesus ,christ are slain by the scimitars of ,islam4 ,let us go and wrest the ,holy ,city from the hands of the ,saracen4 ,there was also the danger to ,europe itself4 ,the ,mohammedans ruled in ,spain as well as in ,north ,africa1 in ,egypt and in the ,holy ,land4 ,so rich men sold their lands to buy horses and armour and to fit themselves and their foot soldiers for the fray4 ,poor men came armed with pike and helmet and leather jerkin4 ,the knights wore a blood-red cross on their white tunics4 ,in thousands upon thousands1 with ,john of ,brienne as their ,commander-in-,chief 7the brother of that ,walter of ,brienne with whom1 you remember1 ,francis had started for the wars as a knight71 they sailed the ,mediterranean to fight for the ,cross in ,egypt4 ,they attacked ,egypt because the ,sultan there ruled over ,jerusalem and they hoped by defeating him to free ,jerusalem at the same time4 ,as ,francis saw the knights going off to the ,crusades in shining armour with the trappings of their horses all a-glitter and a-jingle1 and as he thought of the lands where the people worshipped--not the ,god and ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ--but the ,sultan in the ,sky1 the ,allah of ,mahomet1 his spirit caught fire within him4 ,francis had been a soldier and a knight only a few years before4 ,he could not but feel the stir of the ,holy ,war in his veins1--the tingle of the desire to be in it4 ,he heard the stories of the daring of the ,crusaders2 he heard of a great victory over the ,saracens4 ,francis1 indeed1 wanted ,jesus ,christ to conquer men more than he wanted anything on earth2 but he knew that men are only conquered by ,jesus ,christ if their hearts are changed by ,him4 ,even if the ,saracens are put to the sword and overwhelmed1 still they are not saved1 he said to himself4 ,as he thought these things he felt sure that he heard them calling to him 7as the ,man from ,macedonia had called to ,st4 ,paul7--,come over and help us4 ,st4 ,paul had brought the story of ,jesus ,christ to ,europe2 and had suffered prison and scourging and at last death by the executioner's sword in doing it2 must not ,francis be ready to take the same message back again from ,europe to the ,near ,east and to suffer for it8 ,i will go1 he said1 but to save the ,saracens1 not to slay them4 ,he was not going out to fight1 yet he had in his heart a plan that needed him to be braver and more full of resource than any warrior in the armies of the ,crusades4 ,he was as much a ,lion-hearted hero as ,richard ,coeur-de-,lion himself1 and was far wiser and indeed more powerful4 ,so he took a close friend1 ,brother ,illuminato1 with him and they sailed away together over the seas4 ,they sailed from ,italy with ,walter of ,brienne1 with one of the ,crusading contingents in many ships4 ,southeast they voyaged over the blue waters of the ,mediterranean ,sea4 ,francis talked with the ,crusaders on board2 and much that they said and did made him very sad4 ,they squabbled with one another4 ,the knights were arrogant and sneered at the foot soldiers2 the men-at-arms did not trust the knights4 ,they had the ,cross on their armour2 but few of them had in their hearts the spirit of ,jesus who was nailed to the ,cross4 ,at last the long1 yellow coast-line of ,egypt was sighted4 ,behind it lay the minarets and white roofs of a city4 ,they were come to the eastern mouth of the ,nile1 on which stood the proud city of ,damietta4 ,the hot rays of the sun smote down upon the army of the ,crusaders as they landed4 ,the sky and the sea were of an intense blue2 the sand and the sun glared at one another4 ,francis would just be able to hear at dawn the cry of the muezzin from the minarets of ,damietta1 ,come to prayer3 there is no ,god but ,allah and ,mahomet is his prophet4 ,come to prayer4 ,prayer is better than sleep4 ,john of ,brienne began to muster his men in battle array to attack the ,sultan of ,egypt1 ,malek-,kamel1 a name which means the ,perfect ,prince4 ,francis1 however1 was quite certain that the attempt would be a ghastly failure4 ,he hardly knew what to do4 ,so he talked it over with his friend1 ,brother ,illuminato4 ,i know they will be defeated in this attempt1 he said4 ,but if ,i tell them so they will treat me as a madman4 ,on the other hand1 if ,i do not tell them1 then my conscience will condemn me4 ,what do you think ,i ought to do8 ,my brother1 said ,illuminate1 what does the judgment of the world matter to you8 ,if they say you are mad it will not be the first time6 ,francis1 therefore1 went to the ,crusaders and warned them4 ,they laughed scornfully4 ,the order for advance was given4 ,the ,crusaders charged into battle4 ,francis was in anguish--tears filled his eyes4 ,the ,saracens came out and fell upon the ,christian soldiers and slaughtered them4 ,over #fjjj of them either fell under the scimitar or were taken prisoner4 ,the ,crusaders were defeated4 ,francis' mind was now fully made up4 ,he went to a ,cardinal1 who represented the ,pope1 with the ,crusading ,army to ask his leave to go and preach to the ,sultan of ,egypt4 ,no1 said the ,cardinal1 ,i cannot give you leave to go4 ,i know full well that you would never escape to come back alive4 ,the ,sultan of ,egypt has offered a reward of gold to any man who will bring to him the head of a ,christian4 ,that will be your fate4 ,do suffer us to go1 we do not fear death1 pleaded ,francis and ,illuminato1 again and again4 ,i do not know what is in your minds in this1 said the ,cardinal1 but beware--if you go--that your thoughts are always to ,god4 ,we only wish to go for great good1 if we can work it1 replied ,francis4 ,then if you wish it so much1 the ,cardinal at last agreed1 you may go4 ,so ,francis and ,illuminato girded their loins and tightened their sandals and set away from the ,crusading ,army towards the very camp of the enemy4 ,as he walked ,francis sang with his full1 loud1 clear voice4 ,these were the words that he sang3 ,yea though ,i walk through the valley of the shadow of death1 ,i will fear no evil2 for thou art with me2 ,thy rod and thy staff1 they comfort me4 ,as they walked along over the sandy waste they saw two small sheep nibbling the sparse grass growing near the ,nile4 ,be of good cheer1 said ,francis to ,illuminato1 smiling1 it is the fulfilling of the ,gospel words ',behold ,i send you as sheep in the midst of wolves4' ,then there appeared some ,saracen soldiers4 ,they were1 at first1 for letting the two unarmed men go by2 but1 on questioning ,francis1 they grew angrier and angrier4 ,are you deserters from the ,christian camp8 they asked4 ,no1 replied ,francis4 ,are you envoys from the commander come to plead for peace8 ,no1 was the answer again4 ,will you give up the infidel religion and become a true believer and say ',there is no ,god but ,allah1 and ,mahomet is his prophet8' ,no1 no1 cried ,francis1 we are come to preach the ,good ,news of ,jesus ,christ to the ,sultan of ,egypt4 ,the eyes of the ,saracen soldiers opened with amazement3 they could hardly believe their ears4 ,their faces flushed under their dark skins with anger4 ,chain them1 they cried to one another4 ,beat them--the infidels4 ,chains were brought and snapped upon the wrists and ankles of ,francis and ,illuminato4 ,then they took rods and began to beat the two men--just as ,paul and ,silas had been beaten eleven centuries earlier4 ,as the rods whistled through the air and came slashing upon their wounded backs ,francis kept crying out one word--,soldan--,soldan4 ,that is ,sultan--,sultan4 ,he thus made them understand that he wished to be taken to their ,commander-in-,chief4 ,so they decided to take these strange beings to ,malek-,kamel4 ,as the ,sultan sat in his pavilion ,francis and ,illuminato were led in4 ,they bowed and saluted him courteously and ,malek-,kamel returned the salute4 ,have you come with a message from your ,commander8 said the ,sultan4 ,no1 replied ,francis4 ,you wish then to become ,saracens--worshippers of ,allah in the name of ,mahomet8 ,nay1 nay1 answered ,francis1 ,saracens we will never be4 ,we have come with a message from ,god2 it is a message that will save your life4 ,if you die under the law of ,mahomet you are lost4 ,we have come to tell you so3 if you listen to us we will show all this to you4 ,the ,sultan seems to have been amused and interested rather than angry4 ,i have bishops and archbishops of my own1 he said1 they can tell me all that ,i wish to know4 ,of this we are glad1 replied ,francis1 send and fetch them1 if you will4 ,the ,sultan agreed2 he sent for eight of his ,moslem great men4 ,when they came in he said to them3 ,see these men1 they have come to teach us a new faith4 ,shall we listen to them8 ,sire1 they answered him at once1 thou knowest the law3 thou art bound to uphold it and carry it out4 ,by ,mahomet who gave us the law to slay infidels1 we command thee that their heads be cut off4 ,we will not listen to a word that they say4 ,off with their heads6 ,the great men1 having given their judgment1 solemnly left the presence of the ,sultan4 ,the ,sultan turned to ,francis and ,illuminato4 ,masters1 he said to them1 they have commanded me by ,mahomet to have your heads cut off4 ,but ,i will go against the law1 for you have risked your lives to save my immortal soul4 ,now leave me for the time4 ,the two ,christian missionaries were led away2 but in a day or two ,malek-,kamel called them to his presence again4 ,if you will stay in my dominions1 he said1 ,i will give you land and other possessions4 ,yes1 said ,francis1 ,i will stay--on one condition--that you and your people turn to the worship of the true ,god4 ,see1 he went on1 let us put it to the test4 ,your priests here1 and he pointed to some who were standing about1 they will not let me talk with them2 will they do something4 ,have a great fire lighted4 ,i will walk into the fire with them3 the result will shew you whose faith is the true one4 ,as ,francis suggested this idea the faces of the ,moslem leaders were transfigured with horror4 ,they turned and quietly walked away4 ,i do not think1 said the ,sultan with a sarcastic smile at their retreating backs1 that any of my priests are ready to face the flames to defend their faith4 ,well1 ,i will go alone into the fire1 said ,francis4 ,if ,i am burned--it is because of my sins--if ,i am protected by ,god then you will own ,him as your ,god4 ,no1 replied the ,sultan1 ,i will not listen to the idea of such a trial of your life for my soul4 ,but he was astonished beyond measure at the amazing faith of ,francis4 ,so ,francis withdrew from the presence of the ,sultan1 who at once sent after him rich and costly presents4 ,you must take them back1 said ,francis to the messengers2 ,i will not take them4 ,take them to build your churches and support your priests1 said the ,sultan through his messengers4 ,but ,francis would not take any gift from the ,sultan4 ,he left him and went back with ,illuminato from the ,saracen host to the camp of the ,crusaders4 ,as he was leaving the ,sultan secretly spoke with ,francis and said3 ,will you pray for me that ,i may be guided by an inspiration from above that ,i may join myself to the religion that is most approved by ,god8 ,the ,sultan told off a band of his soldiers to go with the two men and to protect them from any molesting till they reached the ,crusaders' ,camp4 ,there is a legend--though no one now can tell whether it is true or not--that when the ,sultan of ,egypt lay dying he sent for a disciple of ,francis to be with him and pray for him4 ,whether this was so or not1 it is quite clear that ,francis had left in the memory of the ,sultan such a vision of dauntless faith as he had never seen before or was ever to see again4 ,the ,crusaders failed to win ,egypt or the ,holy ,land2 but to-day men are going from ,america and ,britain in the footsteps of ,francis of ,assisi the ,christian missionary1 to carry to the people in ,egypt1 in the ,holy ,land and in all the ,near ,east1 the message that ,francis took of the love of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the stories of some of the deeds they have done and are to-day doing1 we shall read in later chapters in this book4 ,book ,two3 ,,the ,,island ,,adventurers ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,adventurous ,,ship ,the ,duff 7,date of ,incident1 #agif7 ,a ship crept quietly down the ,river ,thames on an ebb-tide4 ,she was slipping out from the river into the estuary when suddenly a challenge rang out across the grey water4 ,what ship is that8 ,the ,duff1 was the answer that came back from the little ship whose captain had passed through a hundred hairsbreadth escapes in his life but was now starting on the strangest adventure of them all4 ,whither bound8 came the challenge again from the man-o'-war that had hailed them4 ,otaheite1 came the answer1 which would startle the ,government officer4 ,for ,tahiti#aa 7as we now call it7 was many thousands of miles away in the heart of the ,south ,pacific ,ocean4 ,indeed it had only been discovered by ,captain ,cook twenty-eight years earlier in #agfh4 ,the ,duff was a small sailing-ship such as one of our ,american ocean liners of to-day could put into her dining saloon4 ,what cargo8 ,the question came again from the officer on the man-o'-war4 ,missionaries and provisions1 was ,captain ,wilson's answer4 ,the man-o'-war's captain was puzzled4 ,he did not know what strange beings might be meant by missionaries4 ,he was suspicious4 ,were they pirates1 perhaps1 in disguise6 ,we can understand how curious it would sound to him when we remember that 7although ,wilfrid and ,augustine and ,columba had gone to ,britain as missionaries over a thousand years before ,the ,duff started down the ,thames7 no cargo of missionaries had ever before sailed from those ,north ,sea ,islands of ,britain to the savages of other lands like the ,south ,sea ,islands4 ,there was a hurried order and a scurry on board the ,government ship4 ,a boat was let down into the ,thames1 and half a dozen sailors tumbled into her and rowed to ,the ,duff4 ,what did the officer find8 ,he was met at the rail by a man who had been through scores of adventures1 ,captain ,wilson4 ,the son of the captain of a ,newcastle collier1 ,wilson had grown up a dare-devil sailor boy4 ,he enlisted as a soldier in the ,american war1 became captain of a vessel trading with ,india1 and was then captured and imprisoned by the ,french in ,india4 ,he escaped from prison by climbing a great wall1 and dropping down forty feet on the other side4 ,he plunged into a river full of alligators1 and swam across1 escaping the jaws of alligators only to be captured on the other bank by ,indians1 chained and made to march barefoot for #ejj miles4 ,then he was thrust into ,hyder ,ali's loathsome prison1 starved and loaded with irons1 and at last at the end of two years was set free4 ,this was the daring hero who had now undertaken to captain the little ,duff across the oceans of the world to the ,south ,seas4 ,with ,captain ,wilson1 the man-o'-war officer found also six carpenters1 two shoemakers1 two bricklayers1 two sailors1 two smiths1 two weavers1 a surgeon1 a hatter1 a shopkeeper1 a cotton factor1 a cabinet-maker1 a draper1 a harness maker1 a tin worker1 a butcher and four ministers4 ,but they were all of them missionaries4 ,with them were six children4 ,all up and down the ,english ,channel ,french frigates sailed like hawks waiting to pounce upon their prey2 for ,england was at war with ,france in those days4 ,so for five weary weeks ,the ,duff anchored in the roadstead of ,spithead till1 as one of a fleet of fifty-seven vessels1 she could sail down the channel and across the ,bay of ,biscay protected by ,british men-o'-war4 ,safely clear of the ,french cruisers1 ,the ,duff held on alone till the cloud-capped mountain-heights of ,madeira hove in sight4 ,across the ,atlantic she stood1 for the intention was to sail round ,south ,america into the ,pacific4 ,but on trying to round the ,cape ,horn ,the ,duff met such violent gales that ,captain ,wilson turned her in her tracks and headed back across the ,atlantic for the ,cape of ,good ,hope4 ,week after week for thousands and thousands of miles she sailed4 ,she had travelled from ,rio de ,janiero over #aj1jjj miles and had only sighted a single sail--a longer journey than any ship had ever sailed without seeing land4 ,shall we see the island to-day8 the boys on board would ask ,captain ,wilson4 ,day after day he shook his head4 ,but one night he said3 ,if the wind holds good to-night we shall see an island in the morning1 but not the island where we shall stop4 ,land ho6 shouted a sailor from the masthead in the morning1 and1 sure enough1 they saw away on the horizon1 like a cloud on the edge of the sea1 the island of ,toobonai4#ab ,as they passed ,toobonai the wind rose and howled through the rigging4 ,it tore at the sail of ,the ,duff1 and the great ,pacific waves rolled swiftly by1 rushing and hissing along the sides of the little ship and tossing her on their foaming crests4 ,but she weathered the storm1 and1 as the wind dropped1 and they looked ahead1 they saw1 cutting into the sky-line1 the mountain tops of ,tahiti4 ,it was ,saturday night when the island came in sight4 ,early on the ,sunday morning by seven o'clock ,the ,duff swung round under a gentle breeze into ,matavai#ac ,bay and dropped anchor4 ,but before she could even anchor the whole bay had become alive with ,tahitians4 ,they thronged the beach1 and1 leaping into canoes1 sent them skimming across the bay to the ship4 ,captain ,wilson1 scanning the canoes swiftly and anxiously1 saw with relief that the men were not armed4 ,but the missionaries were startled when the savages climbed up the sides of the ship1 and with wondering eyes rolling in their wild heads peered over the rail of the deck4 ,they then leapt on board and began dancing like mad on the deck with their bare feet4 ,from the canoes the ,tahitians hauled up pigs1 fowl1 fish1 bananas1 and held them for the white men to buy4 ,but ,captain ,wilson and all his company would not buy on that day--for it was ,sunday4 ,the missionaries gathered together on deck to hold their ,sunday morning service4 ,the ,tahitians stopped dancing and looked on with amazement1 as the company of white men with their children knelt to pray and then read from the ,bible4 ,the ,tahitians could not understand this strange worship1 with no god that could be seen4 ,but when the white fathers and mothers and children sang1 the savages stood around with wonder and delight on their faces as they listened to the strange and beautiful sounds4 ,but the startling events of the day were not over4 ,for out from the beach came a canoe across the bay1 and in it two ,swedish sailors1 named1 like some fishermen of long ago1 ,peter and ,andrew4 ,these white men knew some ,english1 but lived1 not as ,christians1 but as the natives lived4 ,and after them came a great and aged chief named ,haamanemane4#ad ,this great chief went up to the chief of the ship1 ,captain ,wilson1 and called out to him ,taio4#ae ,they did not know what this meant1 till ,peter the ,swede explained that ,haamanemane wished to be the brother--the troth-friend of ,captain ,wilson4 ,they were even to change names4 ,captain ,wilson would be called ,haamanemane1 and ,haamanemane would be called ,wilson4 ,so ,captain ,wilson said ,taio1 and he and the chief1 who was also high priest of the gods of ,tahiti1 were brothers4 ,captain ,wilson said to ,haamanemane1 through ,peter1 who translated each to the other3 ,we wish to come and live in this island4 ,haamanemane said that he would speak to the king and queen of ,tahiti about it4 ,so he got down again over the side of the vessel into the canoe1 and the paddles of his boatman flashed as they swept along over the breakers to the beach to tell the king of the great white chief who had come to visit them4 ,all these things happened on the ,sunday4 ,on ,tuesday word came that the king and the queen would receive them4 ,so ,captain ,wilson and all his missionaries got into the whale-boat and pulled for the shore4 ,the natives rushed into the water1 seized the boat and hauled her aground out of reach of the great waves4 ,they were startled to see the king and queen come riding on the shoulders of men4 ,even when one bearer grew tired and the king or the queen must get upon another1 they were not allowed to touch the ground4 ,the reason was that all the land they touched became their own1 and the people carried them about so that they themselves might not lose their land and houses by the king and queen touching them4 ,so at that place1 under the palm trees of ,tahiti1 with the beating of the surf on the shore before them1 and the great mountain forests behind1 these brown islanders of the ,south ,seas gave a part of their land to ,captain ,wilson and his men that they might live there4 ,the sons of the wild men of the ,north ,sea ,islands had met their first great adventure in bringing to the men of the ,south ,sea ,islands the story of the love of the ,father of all4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #aa3 ,ta-hee-tee4 ,footnote #ab3 ,too-bo-na-ee4 ,footnote #ac3 ,ma-t7a-v7a-ee4 ,footnote #ad3 ,haa-m7u-nay-m7a-nay4 ,footnote #ae3 ,ta-ce-o4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,island ,,beacon ,,fires ,papeiha#af 7,date of ,incident1 #ahbc7 ,the edge of the sea was just beginning to gleam with the gold of the rising sun4 ,the captain of a little ship1 that tossed and rolled on the tumbling ocean1 looked out anxiously over the bow4 ,around him everywhere was the wild waste of the ,pacific ,ocean4 ,through day after day he had tacked and veered1 baffled by contrary winds4 ,now1 with little food left in the ship1 starvation on the open ocean stared them in the face4 ,they were searching for an island of which they had heard1 but which they had never seen4 ,the captain searched the horizon again1 but he saw nothing1 except that ahead of him1 on the sky-line to the ,s4,w41 great clouds had gathered4 ,he turned round and went to the master-missionary--the hero and explorer and shipbuilder1 ,john ,williams1 saying3 ,we must give up the search or we shall all be starved4 ,john ,williams knew that this was true2 yet he hated the thought of going back4 ,he was a scout exploring at the head of ,god's navy4 ,he had left his home in ,london and with his young wife had sailed across the world to the ,south ,seas to carry the ,gospel of ,jesus ,christ to the people there4 ,he was living on the island of ,raiatea3 but as he himself said1 ,i cannot be confined within the limits of a single reef4 ,he wanted to pass on the torch to other islands4 ,so he was now on this voyage of discovery4 ,it was seven o'clock when the captain told ,john ,williams that they must give up the search4 ,in an hour's time1 said ,williams1 we will turn back if we have not sighted ,rarotonga4 ,so they sailed on4 ,the sun climbed the sky1 the cool dawn was giving way to the heat of day4 ,go up the mast and look ahead1 said ,williams to a ,south ,sea ,island native4 ,then he paced the deck1 hoping to hear the cry of ,land1 but nothing could the native see4 ,go up again1 cried ,williams a little later4 ,and again there was nothing4 ,four times the man climbed the mast1 and four times he reported only sea and sky and cloud4 ,gradually the sun's heat had gathered up the great mountains of cloud1 and the sky was clear to the edge of the ocean4 ,then there came a sudden cry from the masthead3 ,teie teie1 taua fenua1 nei6#ag ,here1 here is the land we have been seeking4 ,all rushed to the bows4 ,as the ship sailed on and they came nearer1 they saw a lovely island4 ,mountains1 towering peak on peak1 with deep green valleys between brown rocky heights hung with vines1 and the great ocean breakers booming in one white line of foaming surf on the reef of living coral1 made it look like a vision of fairyland4 ,they had discovered ,rarotonga4 ,but what of the people of the island8 ,they were said to be cannibals4 ,would they receive the missionaries with clubs and spears8 ,who would go ashore8 ,on board the ship were brown ,south ,sea men from the island where ,john ,williams lived4 ,they had burned their idols1 and now they too were missionaries of ,jesus ,christ4 ,their leader was a fearless young man1 ,papeiha4 ,he was so daring that once1 when everybody else was afraid to go from the ship to a cannibal island1 he bound his ,bible in his loin cloth1 tied them to the top of his head1 and swam ashore1 defying the sharks1 and unafraid of the still more cruel islanders4 ,so at ,rarotonga1 when the call came1 ,who will go ashore8 and a canoe was let down from the ship's side1 two men1 ,papeiha and his friend ,vahineino1#ah leapt into it4 ,those two fearlessly paddled towards the shore1 which was now one brown stretch of ,rarotongans crowded together to see this strange ship with wings that had sailed from over the sea's edge4 ,the ,rarotongans seemed friendly2 so ,papeiha and ,vahineino1 who knew the ways of the water from babyhood and could swim before they could walk1 waited for a great ,pacific breaker1 and then swept in on her foaming crest4 ,the canoe grated on the shore4 ,they walked up the beach under the shade of a grove of trees and said to the ,rarotongan king1 ,makea1#ai and his people3 ,we have come to tell you that many of the islands of the sea have burned their idols4 ,once we in those islands pierced each other with spears and beat each other to death with clubs2 we brutally treated our women1 and the children taken in war were strung together by their ears like fish on a line4 ,to-day we come--before you have destroyed each other altogether in your wars--to tell you of the great ,god1 our ,father1 who through ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ has taught us how to live as brothers4 ,king ,makea said he was pleased to hear these things1 and came in his canoe to the ship to take the other native teachers on shore with him4 ,the ship stood off for the night1 for the ocean there is too deep for anchorage4 ,papeiha and his brown friends1 with their wives1 went ashore4 ,night fell1 and they were preparing to sleep1 when1 above the thud and hiss of the waves they heard the noise of approaching crowds4 ,the footsteps and the talking came nearer1 while the little group of ,christians listened intently4 ,at last a chief1 carried by his warriors1 came near4 ,he was the fiercest and most powerful chief on the island4 ,when he came close to ,papeiha and his friends1 the chief demanded that the wife of one of the ,christian teachers should be given to him1 so that he might take her away with him as his twentieth wife4 ,the teachers argued with the chief1 the woman wept2 but he ordered the woman to be seized and taken off4 ,she resisted1 as did the others4 ,their clothes were torn to tatters by the ferocious ,rarotongans4 ,all would have been over with the ,christians1 had not ,tapairu1#bj a brave ,rarotongan woman and the cousin of the king1 opposed the chiefs and even fought with her hands to save the teacher's wife4 ,at last the fierce chief gave in1 and ,papeiha and his friends1 before the sun had risen1 hurried to the beach1 leapt into their canoe and paddled swiftly to the ship4 ,we must wait and come to this island another day when the people are more friendly1 said every one--except ,papeiha1 who never would turn back4 ,let me stay with them1 said he4 ,he knew that he might be slain and eaten by the savage cannibals on the island4 ,but without fuss1 leaving everything he had upon the ship except his clothes and his native ,testament1 he dropped into his canoe1 seized the paddle1 and with swift1 strong strokes that never faltered1 drove the canoe skimming over the rolling waves till it leapt to the summit of a breaking wave and ground upon the shore4 ,the savages came jostling and waving spears and clubs as they crowded round him4 ,let us take him to ,makea4 ,so ,papeiha was led to the chief4 ,as he walked he heard them shouting to one another1 ,i'll have his hat1 ,i'll have his jacket1 ,i'll have his shirt4 ,at length he reached the chief1 who looked and said1 ,speak to us1 ,o man1 that we may know why you persist in coming4 ,i come1 he answered1 looking round on all the people1 so that you may all learn of the true ,god1 and that you1 like all the people in the far-off islands of the sea1 may take your gods made of wood1 of birds' feathers and of cloth1 and burn them4 ,a roar of anger and horror burst from the people4 ,what6 they cried1 burn the gods6 ,what gods shall we then have8 ,what shall we do without the gods8 ,they were angry1 but there was something in the bold face of ,papeiha that kept them from slaying him4 ,they allowed him to stay1 and did not kill him4 ,soon after this1 ,papeiha one day heard shrieking and shouting and wild roars as of men in a frenzy4 ,he saw crowds of people round the gods offering food to them2 the priests with faces blackened with charcoal and with bodies painted with stripes of red and yellow1 the warriors with great waving head-dresses of birds' feathers and white sea-shells4 ,papeiha1 without taking any thought of the peril that he rushed into1 went into the midst of the people and said3 ,why do you act so foolishly8 ,why do you take a log of wood and carve it1 and then offer it food8 ,it is only fit to be burned4 ,some day soon you shall make these very gods fuel for fire4 ,so with the companion who came to help him1 brown ,papeiha went in and out of the island just as brave ,paul went in and out in the island of ,cyprus and ,wilfrid in ,britain4 ,he would take his stand1 now under a grove of bananas on a great stone1 and now in a village1 where the people from the huts gathered round1 and again on the beach1 where he would lift up his voice above the boom of the ocean breakers to tell the story of ,jesus4 ,and some of those degraded savages became ,christians4 ,one day he was surprised to see one of the priests come to him leading his ten-year-old boy4 ,take care of my boy1 said the priest4 ,i am going to burn my god1 and ,i do not want my god's anger to hurt the boy4 ,ask your ,god to protect him4 ,so the priest went home4 ,next morning quite early1 before the heat of the sun was great1 ,papeiha looked out and saw the priest tottering along with bent and aching shoulders4 ,on his back was his cumbrous wooden god4 ,behind the priest came a furious crowd1 waving their arms and crying out3 ,madman1 madman1 the god will kill you4 ,you may shout1 answered the priest1 but you will not change me4 ,i am going to worship ,jehovah1 the ,god of ,papeiha4 ,and with that he threw down the god at the feet of the teachers4 ,one of them ran and brought a saw1 and first cut off its head and then sawed it into logs4 ,some of the ,rarotongans rushed away in dread4 ,others--even some of the newly converted ,christians--hid in the bush and peered through the leaves to see what would happen4 ,papeiha lit a fire2 the logs were thrown on2 the first ,rarotongan idol was burned4 ,you will die1 cried the priests of the fallen god4 ,but to show that the god was just a log of wood1 the teachers took a bunch of bananas1 placed them on the ashes where the fire had died down1 and roasted them4 ,then they sat down and ate the bananas4 ,the watching1 awe-struck people looked to see the teachers fall dead1 but nothing happened4 ,the islanders then began to wonder whether1 after all1 the ,god of ,papeiha was not the true ,god4 ,within a year they had got together hundreds of their wooden idols1 and had burned them in enormous bonfires which flamed on the beach and lighted up the dark background of trees4 ,those bonfires could be seen far out across the ,pacific ,ocean1 like a beacon light4 ,to-day the flames of love which ,papeiha bravely lighted1 through perils by water and club and cannibal feast1 have shone right across the ocean1 and some of the grandchildren of those very ,rarotongans who were cannibals when ,papeiha went there1 have sailed away1 as we shall see later on1 to preach ,papeiha's gospel of the love of ,god to the far-off cannibal ,papuans on the steaming shores of ,new ,guinea4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #af3 ,p7a-pay-ee-h7a4 ,footnote #ag3 ,tay-ee-ay3 ta-oo-a3 fay-noo-7a3 nay-ee4 ,footnote #ah3 ,va-hee-nay-ee-no4 ,footnote #ai3 ,m7a-kay-7a4 ,footnote #bj3 ,t7a-pa-ee-roo4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,daybreak ,,call ,john ,williams 7,date of ,incident1 #ahci7 ,two men leaned on the rail of the brig ,camden as she swept slowly along the southern side of the ,island of ,erromanga in the ,western ,pacific4 ,a steady breeze filled her sails4 ,the sea heaved in long1 silky billows4 ,the red glow of the rising sun was changing to the full1 clear light of morning4 ,the men1 as they talked1 scanned the coast-line closely4 ,there was the grey1 stone-covered beach1 and1 behind the beach1 the dense bush and the waving fronds of palms4 ,behind the palms rose the volcanic hills of the island4 ,the elder man straightened himself and looked keenly to the bay from which a canoe was swiftly gliding4 ,he was a broad1 sturdy man1 with thick brown hair over keen watchful eyes4 ,his open look was fearless and winning4 ,his hands1 which grasped the rail1 had both the strength and the skill of the trained mechanic and the writer4 ,for ,john ,williams could build a ship1 make a boat and sail them both against any man in all the ,pacific4 ,he could work with his hammer at the forge in the morning1 make a table at his joiner's bench in the afternoon1 preach a powerful sermon in the evening1 and write a chapter of the most thrilling of books on missionary travel through the night4 ,yet next morning would see him in his ship1 with her sails spread1 moving out into the open ,pacific1 bound for a distant island4 ,it is strange1 ,williams was saying to his friend ,mr4 ,cunningham1 but ,i have not slept all through the night4 ,how came it that this man1 who for over twenty years had faced tempests by sea1 who had never flinched before perils from savage men and from fever1 on the shores of a hundred islands in the ,south ,seas1 should stay awake all night as his ship skirted the strange island of ,erromanga8 ,it was because1 having lived for all those years among the coral islands of the brown ,polynesians of the ,eastern ,pacific1 he was now sailing to the ,new ,hebrides1 where the fierce black cannibal islanders of the ,western ,pacific slew one another4 ,as he thought of the fierce men of ,erromanga he thought of the waving forests of brown hands he had seen1 the shouts of ,come back again to us6 that he had heard as he left his own islands4 ,he knew how those people loved him in the ,samoan ,islands1 but he could not rest while others lay far off who had never heard the story of ,jesus4 ,i cannot be content1 he said1 within the narrow limits of a single reef4 ,but the black islanders were wild men who covered their dark faces with soot and painted their lips with flaming red1 yet their cruel hearts were blacker than their faces1 and their anger more fiery than their scarlet lips4 ,they were treacherous and violent savages who would smash a skull by one blow with a great club2 or leaping on a man from behind1 would cut through his spine with a single stroke of their tomahawks1 and then drag him off to their cannibal oven4 ,john ,williams cared so much for his work of telling the islanders about ,god their ,father1 that he lay awake wondering how he could carry it on among these wild people4 ,it never crossed his mind that he should hold back to save himself from danger4 ,it was for this work that he had crossed the world4 ,let down the whale-boat4 ,his voice rang out without a tremor of fear4 ,his eyes were on the canoe in which three black ,erromangans were paddling across the bay4 ,as the boat touched the water1 he and the crew of four dropped into her1 with ,captain ,morgan and two friends1 ,harris and ,cunningham4 ,the oars dipped and flashed in the morning sun as the whale-boat flew along towards the canoe4 ,when they reached it1 ,williams spoke in the dialects of his other islands1 but none could the three savages in the canoe understand4 ,so he gave them some beads and fish-hooks as a present to show that he was a friend and again his boat shot away toward the beach4 ,they pulled to a creek where a brook ran down in a lovely valley between two mountains4 ,on the beach stood some ,erromangan natives1 with their eyes 7half fierce1 half frightened7 looking out under their matted jungle of hair4 ,picking up a bucket from the boat1 ,williams held it out to the chief and made signs to show that he wished for water from the brook4 ,the chief took the bucket1 and1 turning1 ran up the beach and disappeared4 ,for a quarter of an hour they waited2 and for half an hour4 ,at last1 when the sun was now high in the sky1 the chief returned with the water4 ,williams drank from the water to show his friendliness4 ,then his friend1 ,harris1 swinging himself over the side of the boat1 waded ashore through the cool1 sparkling1 shallow water and sat down4 ,the natives ran away1 but soon came back with cocoa-nuts and opened them for him to drink4 99 99 99 99 99 ,see1 said ,williams1 there are boys playing on the beach2 that is a good sign4 ,yes1 answered ,captain ,morgan1 but there are no women1 and when the savages mean mischief they send their women away4 ,williams now waded ashore and ,cunningham followed him4 ,captain ,morgan stopped to throw out the anchor of his little boat and then stepped out and went ashore1 leaving his crew of four brown islanders resting on their oars4 ,williams and his two companions scrambled up the stony beach over the grey stones and boulders alongside the tumbling brook for over a hundred yards4 ,turning to the right they were lost to sight from the water-edge4 ,captain ,morgan was just following them when he heard a terrified yell from the crew in the boat4 ,williams and his friends had gone into the bush1 ,harris in front1 ,cunningham next1 and ,williams last4 ,suddenly ,harris1 who had disappeared in the bush1 rushed out followed by yelling savages with clubs4 ,harris rushed down the bank of the brook1 stumbled1 and fell in4 ,the water dashed over him1 and the ,erromangans1 with the red fury of slaughter in their eyes1 leapt in and beat in his skull with clubs4 ,cunningham1 with a native at his heels with lifted club1 stooped1 picked up a great pebble and hurled it full at the savage who was pursuing him4 ,the man was stunned4 ,turning again1 ,cunningham leapt safely into the boat4 ,williams1 leaving the brook1 had rushed down the beach to leap into the sea4 ,reaching the edge of the water1 where the beach falls steeply into the sea1 he slipped on a pebble and fell into the water4 ,cunningham1 from the boat1 hurled stones at the natives rushing at ,williams1 who lay prostrate in the water with a savage over him with uplifted club4 ,the club fell1 and other ,erromangans1 rushing in1 beat him with their clubs and shot their arrows into him until the ripples of the beach ran red with his blood4 ,the hero who had carried the flaming torch of peace on earth to the savages on scores of islands across the great ,pacific ,ocean was dead--the first martyr of ,erromanga4 99 99 99 99 99 ,when ,the ,camden sailed back to ,samoa1 scores of canoes put out to meet her4 ,a brown ,samoan guided the first canoe4 ,missi ,william1 he shouted4 ,he is dead1 came the answer4 ,the man stood as though stunned4 ,he dropped his paddle2 he drooped his head1 and great tears welled out from the eyes of this dark islander and ran down his cheeks4 ,the news spread like wildfire over the islands1 and from all directions came the natives crying in multitudes3 ,aue1#ba ,williamu1 ,aue1 ,tama6 7,alas1 ,williams1 ,alas1 our ,father67 ,and the chief ,malietoa1#bb coming into the presence of ,mrs4 ,williams1 cried3 ,alas1 ,williamu1 ,williamu1 our father1 our father6 ,he has turned his face from us6 ,we shall never see him more6 ,he that brought us the good word of ,salvation is gone6 ,o cruel heathen1 they know not what they did6 ,how great a man they have destroyed6 ,john ,williams1 the torch-bearer of the ,pacific1 whom the brown men loved1 the great pioneer1 who dared death on the grey beach of ,erromanga1 sounds a morning bugle-call to us1 a ,reveille to our slumbering camps3 ,the daybreak call1 ,hark how loud and clear ,i hear it sound2 ,swift to your places1 swift to the head of the army1 ,pioneers1 ,o ,pioneers6#bc ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #ba3 ,a-oo-ay4 ,footnote #bb3 ,m7a-lee-ay-to-7a4 ,footnote #bc3 ,walt ,whitman4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,kapiolani1 ,,the ,,heroine ,,of ,,hawaii ,kapiolani 7,date of ,incident1 #ahbd7 ,pele#bd the all-terrible1 the fire goddess1 will hurl her thunder and her stones1 and will slay you1 cried the angry priests of ,hawaii4#be ,you no longer pay your sacrifices to her4 ,once you gave her hundreds of hogs1 but now you give nothing4 ,you worship the new ,god ,jehovah4 ,she1 the great ,pele1 will come upon you1 she and the ,husband of ,thunder1 with the ,fire-,thruster1 and the ,red-,fire ,cloud-,queen1 they will destroy you altogether4 ,the listening ,hawaiians shuddered as they saw the shaggy priests calling down the anger of ,pele4 ,one of the priests was a gigantic man over six feet five inches high1 whose strength was so terrible that he could leap at his victims and break their bones by his embrace4 ,away there in the volcanic island#bf in the centre of the greatest ocean in the world--the ,pacific ,ocean--they had always as children been taught to fear the great goddess4 ,they were ,christians2 but they had only been ,christians for a short time1 and they still trembled at the name of the goddess ,pele1 who lived up in the mountains in the boiling crater of the fiery volcano1 and ruled their island4 ,their fathers had told them how she would get angry1 and would pour out red-hot rivers of molten stone that would eat up all the trees and people and run hissing into the ,pacific ,ocean4 ,there to that day was that river of stone--a long tongue of cold1 hard lava--stretching down to the shore of the island1 and here across the trees on the mountain-top could be seen1 even now1 the smoke of her anger4 ,perhaps1 after all1 ,pele was greater than ,jehovah--she was certainly terrible--and she was very near6 ,if you do not offer fire to her1 as you used to do1 the priests went on1 she will pour down her fire into the sea and kill all your fish4 ,she will fill up your fishing grounds with the pahoehoe#bg 7lava71 and you will starve4 ,great is ,pele and greatly to be feared4 ,the priests were angry because the preaching of the missionaries had led many away from the worship of ,pele which1 of course1 meant fewer hogs for themselves2 and now the whole nation on ,hawaii1 that volcanic island of the seas1 seemed to be deserting her4 ,the people began to waver under the threats1 but a brown-faced woman1 with strong1 fearless eyes that looked out with scorn on ,pele priests1 was not to be terrified4 ,it is ,kapiolani1#bh the chieftainess1 murmured the people to one another4 ,she is ,christian2 will she forsake ,jehovah and return to ,pele8 ,only four years before this1 ,kapiolani had--according to the custom of the ,hawaiian chieftainesses1 married many husbands1 and she had given way to drinking habits4 ,then she had become a ,christian1 giving up her drinking and sending away all her husbands save one4 ,she had thrown away her idols and now taught the people in their huts the story of ,christ4 ,pele is nought1 she declared1 ,i will go to ,kilawea1#bi the mountain of the fires where the smoke and stones go up1 and ,pele shall not touch me4 ,my ,god1 ,jehovah1 made the mountain and the fires within it too1 as ,he made us all4 ,so it was noised through the island that ,kapiolani1 the queenly1 would defy ,pele the goddess4 ,the priests threatened her with awful torments of fire from the goddess2 her people pleaded with her not to dare the fires of ,kilawea4 ,but ,kapiolani pressed on1 and eighty of her people made up their minds to go with her4 ,she climbed the mountain paths1 through lovely valleys hung with trees1 up and up to where the hard rocky lava-river cut the feet of those who walked upon it4 ,day by day they asked her to go back1 and always she answered1 ,if ,i am destroyed you may believe in ,pele2 if ,i live you must all believe in the true ,god1 ,jehovah4 ,as she drew nearer to the crater she saw the great cloud of smoke that came up from the volcano and felt the heat of its awful fires4 ,but she did not draw back4 ,as she climbed upward she saw by the side of the path low bushes1 and on them beautiful red and yellow berries1 growing in clusters4 ,the berries were like large currants4 ,it is chelo1#cj said the priests1 it is ,pele's berry4 ,you must not touch them unless we ask her4 ,she will breathe fire on you4 ,kapiolani broke off a branch from one of the bushes regardless of the horrified faces of the priests4 ,and she ate the berries1 without stopping to ask the goddess for her permission4 ,she carried a branch of the berries in her hand4 ,if she had told them what she was going to do they would have been frenzied with fear and horror4 ,up she climbed until the full terrors of the boiling crater of ,kilawea burst on her sight4 ,before her an immense gulf yawned in the shape of the crescent moon1 eight miles in circumference and over a thousand feet deep4 ,down in the smoking hollow1 hundreds of feet beneath her1 a lake of fiery lava rolled in flaming waves against precipices of rock4 ,this ever-moving lake of molten fire is called3 ,the ,house of ,everlasting ,burning4 ,this surging lake was dotted with tiny mountain islets1 and1 from the tops of their little peaks1 pyramids of flame blazed and columns of grey smoke went up4 ,from some of these little islands streams of blazing lava rolled down into the lake of fire4 ,the air was filled with the roar of the furnaces of flame4 ,even the fearless ,kapiolani stood in awe as she looked4 ,but she did not flinch1 though here and there1 as she walked1 the crust of the lava cracked under her feet and the ground was hot with hidden fire4 ,she came to the very edge of the crater4 ,to come so far without offering hogs and fish to the fiery goddess was in itself enough to bring a fiery river of molten lava upon her4 ,kapiolani offered nothing save defiance4 ,audacity1 they thought1 could go no further4 ,here1 a priestess of ,pele came1 and raising her hands in threat denounced death on the head of ,kapiolani if she came further4 ,kapiolani pulled from her robe a book4 ,in it--for it was her ,new ,testament--she read to the priestess of the one true1 loving ,father-,god4 ,then ,kapiolani did a thing at which the very limbs of those who watched trembled and shivered4 ,she went to the edge of the crater and stepped over onto a jutting rock and let herself down and down toward the sulphurous burning lake4 ,the ground cracked under her feet and sulphurous steam hissed through crevices in the rock1 as though the demons of ,pele fumed in their frenzy4 ,hundreds of staring1 wondering eyes followed her1 fascinated and yet horrified4 ,then she stood on a ledge of rock1 and1 offering up prayer and praise to the ,god of all1 ,who made the volcano and ,who made her1 she cast the ,pele berries into the lake1 and sent stone after stone down into the flaming lava4 ,it was the most awful insult that could be offered to ,pele6 ,now surely she would leap up in fiery anger1 and1 with a hail of burning stones1 consume ,kapiolani4 ,but nothing happened2 and ,kapiolani1 turning1 climbed the steep ascent of the crater edge and at last stood again unharmed among her people4 ,she spoke to her people1 telling them again that ,jehovah made the fires4 ,she called on them all to sing to ,his praise and1 for the first time1 there rang across the crater of ,kilawea the song of ,christians4 ,the power of the priests was gone1 and from that hour the people all over that island who had trembled and hesitated between ,pele and ,christ turned to the worship of our ,lord ,jesus1 the ,son of ,god the ,father ,almighty4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #bd3 ,pay-lay4 ,footnote #be3 ,hah-wye-ee4 ,footnote #bf3 ,discovered by ,captain ,cook in #aggh4 ,the first ,christian missionaries landed in #ahai4 ,now the island is ruled by the ,united ,states of ,america4 ,footnote #bg3 ,pa-ho-e-ho-e4 ,footnote #bh3 ,kah-pee-o-l7a-nee4 ,she was high female chief1 in her own right1 of a large district4 ,footnote #bi3 ,kil-a-wee-7a4 ,the greatest active volcano in the world4 ,footnote #cj3 ,chay-lo4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,canoe ,,of ,,adventure ,elikana 7,date of ,incident1 #ahfa7 ,i know not where ,his islands lift ,their fronded palms in air2 ,i only know ,i cannot drift ,beyond ,his love and care4 ,i ,manihiki ,island looked like a tiny anchored canoe far away across the ,pacific1 as ,elikana glanced back from his place at the tiller4 ,he sang1 meantime1 quietly to himself an air that still rang in his ears1 the tune that he and his brother islanders had sung in praise of the ,power and ,providence of ,god at the services on ,manihiki4 ,for the ,christian people of the ,penrhyn group of ,south ,sea ,islands had come together in ,april1 #ahfa1 for their yearly meeting1 paddling from the different quarters in their canoes through the white surge of the breakers that thunder day and night round the island4 ,elikana looked ahead to where his own island of ,rakahanga grew clearer every moment on the sky-line ahead of them1 though each time his craft dropped into the trough of the sea between the green curves of the league-long ocean rollers the island was lost from sight4 ,he and his six companions were sailing back over the thirty miles between ,manihiki and ,rakahanga1 two of the many little lonely ocean islands that stud the ,pacific like stars4 ,they sailed a strange craft1 for it cannot be called raft or canoe or hut4 ,it was all these and yet was neither4 ,two canoes1 forty-eight feet long1 sailed side by side4 ,between the canoes were spars1 stretching across from one to the other1 lashed to each boat and making a platform between them six feet wide4 ,on this was built a hut1 roofed with the beautiful braided leaves of the cocoa-nut palm4 ,overhead stretched the infinite sky4 ,underneath lay thousands of fathoms of blue-green ocean1 whose cold1 hidden deeps among the mountains and valleys of the awful ocean under-world held strange goblin fish-shapes4 ,and on the surface this hut of leaves and bamboo swung dizzily between sky and ocean on the frail canoes4 ,and in the canoes and the hut were six brown ,rakahangan men1 two women1 and a chubby1 dark-eyed child1 who sat contented and tired1 being lapped to sleep by the swaying waters4 ,above them the great sail made of matting of fibre1 strained in the breeze that drove them nearer to the haven where they would be4 ,already they could see the gleam of the ,rakahanga beach with the rim of silver where the waves broke into foam4 ,then the breeze dropped4 ,the fibre-sail flapped uneasily against the mast1 while the two little canvas sails hung loosely1 as the wind1 with little warning1 swung round1 and smiting them in the face began to drive them back into the ocean again4 ,elikana and his friends knew the sea almost like fish1 from the time they were babies4 ,and they were little troubled by the turn of the breeze1 save that it would delay their homecoming4 ,they tried in vain to make headway4 ,slowly1 but surely they were driven back from land1 till they could see that there was no other thing but just to turn about and let her run back to ,manihiki4 ,in the canoes were enough cocoa-nuts to feed them for days if need be1 and two large calabashes of water4 ,the swift night fell1 but the wind held strong1 and one man sat at the tiller while two others baled out the water that leaked into the canoes4 ,they kept a keen watch1 expecting to sight ,manihiki2 but when the dawn flashed out of the sky in the ,east1 where the island should have been1 there was neither ,manihiki nor any other land at all4 ,they had no chart nor compass2 north and south and east and west stretched the wastes of the ,pacific for hundreds of leagues4 ,only here and there in the ocean1 and all unseen to them1 like little groups of mushrooms on a limitless prairie1 lay groups of islets4 ,they might1 indeed1 sail for a year without ever sighting any land2 and one storm-driven wave of the great ocean could smite their little egg-shell craft to the bottom of the sea4 ,they gathered together in the hut and with anxious faces talked of what they might do4 ,they knew that far off to the southwest lay the islands of ,samoa1 and ,rarotonga4 ,so they set the bows of their craft southward4 ,morning grew to blazing noon and fell to evening and night1 and nothing did they see save the glittering sparkling waters of the uncharted ocean1 cut here and there by the cruel fin of a waiting shark4 ,it was ,saturday when they started2 and night fell seven times while their wonderful hut-boat crept southward along the water1 till the following ,friday4 ,then the wind changed1 and1 springing up from the south1 drove them wearily back once more in their tracks1 and then bore them eastward4 ,for another week they drove before the breeze1 feeding on the cocoa-nuts4 ,but the water in the calabashes was gone4 ,then on the morning of the second ,friday1 the fourteenth day of their sea-wanderings1 just when the sun in mid heaven was blazing its noon-heat upon them and most of the little crew were lying under the shade of the hut and the sail to doze away the hours of tedious hunger1 they heard the cry of ,land6 and leaping to their feet gazed ahead at the welcome sight4 ,with sail and paddle they urged the craft on toward the island4 ,then night fell1 and with it squalls of wind and rain came and buffeted them till they had to forsake the paddles for the bailing-vessels to keep the boat afloat4 ,taking down the sails they spread them flat to catch the pouring rain1 and then poured this precious fresh water--true water of life to them--into their calabashes4 ,but when morning came no land could be seen anywhere4 ,it was as though the island had been a land of enchantment and mirage1 and now had faded away4 ,yet hope sprang in them erect and glad next day when land was sighted again2 but the sea and the wind1 as though driven by the spirits of contrariness1 smote them back4 ,for two more days they guided the canoe with the tiller and tried to set her in one steady direction4 ,then1 tired and out of heart1 after sixteen days of ceaseless and useless effort1 they gave it up and let her drift1 for the winds and currents to take her where they would4 ,at night each man stood in his canoe almost starving and parched with thirst1 with aching back1 stooping to dip the water from the canoe and rising to pour it over the side4 ,for hour after hour1 while the calm moon slowly climbed the sky1 each slaved at his dull task4 ,lulled by the heave and fall of the long-backed rollers as they slid under the keels of the canoes1 the men nearly dropped asleep where they stood4 ,the quiet waters crooned to them like a mother singing an old lullaby--crooned and called1 till a voice deep within them said1 ,it is better to lie down and sleep and die than to live and fight and starve4 ,then a moan from the sleeping child1 or a sight of a streaming ray of moonlight on the face of its mother would send that nameless ,voice shivering back to its deep hiding-place--and the man would stoop and bail again4 ,each evening as it fell saw their anxious eyes looking west and north and south for land1 and always there was only the weary waste of waters4 ,and as the sun rose1 they hardly dared open their eyes to the unbroken rim of blue-grey that circled them like a steel prison4 ,they saw the thin edge of the moon grow to full blaze and then fade to a corn sickle again as days and nights grew to weeks and a whole month had passed4 ,every morning1 as the pearl-grey sea turned to pink and then to gleaming blue1 they knelt on the raft between the canoes and turned their faces up to their ,father in prayer1 and never did the sun sink behind the rim of waters without the sound of their voices rising into the limitless sky with thanks for safe-keeping4 ,slowly the pile of cocoa-nuts lessened4 ,each one of them with its sweet milk and flesh was more precious to them than a golden chalice set with rubies4 ,the drops of milk that dripped from them were more than ropes of pearls4 ,at last eight ,sundays had followed one upon another2 and now at the end of the day there was only the half of one cocoa-nut remaining4 ,when that was gone--all would be over4 ,so they knelt down under the cloudless sky on an evening calm and beautiful4 ,they were on that invisible line in the ,great ,pacific where the day ends and begins4 ,those seven on the tiny craft were1 indeed1 we cannot but believe1 the last worshippers in all the great world-house of ,god as ,sunday drew to its end just where they were4 ,was it to be the last time that they would pray to ,god in this life8 ,prayer ended2 night was falling4 ,elikana the leader1 who had kept their spirits from utterly failing1 stood up and gazed out with great anxious eyes before the last light should fail4 ,look1 there upon the edge of the sea where the sun sets4 ,is it-- ,he could hardly dare to believe that it was not the mirage of his weary brain4 ,but one and another and then all peered out through the swiftly waning light and saw that indeed it was land4 ,then a squall of wind sprang up1 blowing them away from the land4 ,was this last hope1 by a fine ecstasy of torture1 to be dangled before them and then snatched away8 ,but with the danger came the help2 with the wind came the rain2 cool1 sweet1 refreshing1 life-giving water4 ,then the squall of wind dropped and changed4 ,they hoisted the one sail that had not blown to tatters1 and drove for land4 ,yet their most awful danger still lay before them4 ,the roar of the breakers on the cruel coral reef caught their ears4 ,but there was nothing for it but to risk the peril4 ,they were among the breakers which caught and tossed them on like eggshells4 ,the scourge of the surf swept them2 a woman1 a man--even the child1 were torn from them and ground on the ghastly teeth of the coral4 ,five were swept over with the craft into the still1 blue lagoon1 and landing they fell prone upon the shore1 just breathing and no more1 after the giant buffeting of the thundering rollers1 following the long1 slow starvation of their wonderful journey in the hut on the canoes among the waters of the wondrous isles4 ,wake3 the silver dusk returning ,up the beach of darkness brims1 ,and the ship of sunrise burning ,strands upon the eastern rims4 ,,ii ,thrown up by the ocean in the darkness like driftwood1 ,elikana and his companions lay on the grey shore4 ,against the dim light of the stars and beyond the beach of darkness they could see the fronds of the palms waving4 ,the five survivors were starving1 and the green cocoa-nuts hung above them1 filled with food and drink4 ,but their bodies1 broken and tormented as they were by hunger and the battering breakers1 refused even to rise and climb for the food that meant life4 ,so they lay there1 as though dead4 99 99 99 99 99 ,over the ridge of the beach came a man4 ,his pale copper skin shone in the fresh sunlight of the morning4 ,his quick black eyes were caught by the sight of torn clothing hanging on a bush4 ,moving swiftly down the beach of pounded coral1 he saw a man lying with arms thrown out1 face downward4 ,turning the body over ,faivaatala#ca found that the man was dead4 ,taking the body in his arms he staggered with it up the beach1 and placed it under the shade of the trees4 ,returning he found the living five4 ,their gaunt bodies and the broken craft on the shore told him without words the story of their long drifting over the wilderness of the waters4 ,without stopping to waste words in empty sympathy with starving men1 ,faivaatala ran to the nearest cocoa-nut tree and1 climbing it1 threw down luscious nuts4 ,those below quickly knocked off the tops1 drank deep draughts of the cool milk and then ate4 ,coming down again1 ,faivaatala kindled a fire and soon had some fish grilling for these strange wanderers thrown up on the tiny islet4 ,they had no time to thank him before he ran off and swiftly paddled to ,motutala1 the island where he lived1 to tell the story of these strange castaways4 ,he came back with other helpers in canoes1 and the five getting aboard were swiftly paddled to ,motutala4 ,as the canoes skimmed over the surface of the great lagoon ,elikana and his friends could see1 spread out in a great semi-circle that stretched to the horizon1 the long low coral islets crowned with palms which form part of the ,ellice ,islands4 ,the islanders1 men1 women1 and children1 ran down the beach to see the newcomers and soon had set apart huts for them and made them welcome4 ,elikana gathered them round him1 and began to tell them about the love of ,jesus and the protecting care of ,god the ,father4 ,it all seemed strange to them1 but quickly they learned from him1 and he began to teach them and their children4 ,this went on for four months1 till one day ,elikana said3 ,i must go away and learn more so that ,i can teach you more4 ,but they had become so fond of ,elikana that they said3 ,no1 you must not leave us1 and it was only when he promised to come back with another teacher to help him1 that they could bring themselves to part with him4 ,so when a ship came to the island to trade in cocoa-nuts ,elikana went aboard and sailed to ,samoa to the ,london ,missionary ,society's training college there at ,malua4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ship6 ,a ship6 ,the cry was taken up through the island1 and the people running down the beach saw a large sailing vessel4 ,boats put down and sculls flashed as sailors pulled swiftly to the shore4 ,they landed and the people gathered round to see and to hear what they would say4 ,come onto our ship1 said these men1 who had sailed there from ,peru1 and we will show you how you can be rich with many knives and much calico4 ,but the islanders shook their heads and said they would stay where they were4 ,then a wicked white man named ,tom ,rose1 who lived on the island and knew how much the people were looking forward to the day when ,elikana would come back to teach them1 went to the traders and whispered what he knew to them4 ,so the ,peruvian traders1 with craft shining in their eyes1 turned again to the islanders and said3 ,if you will come with us1 we will take you where you will be taught all that men can know about ,god4 ,at this the islanders broke out into glad cries and speaking to one another said3 ,let us go and learn these things4 ,the day came for sailing1 and as the sun rose1 hundreds of brown feet were running to the beach1 children dancing with excitement1 women saying ,goodbye to their husbands--men1 who for the first time in all their lives were to leave their tiny islet for the wonderful world beyond the ocean4 ,so two hundred of them went on board4 ,the sails were hoisted and they went away never to return2 sailed away not to learn of ,jesus1 but to the sting of the lash and the shattering bullet1 the bondage of the plantations1 and to death at the hands of those merciless beasts of prey1 the ,peruvian slavers4 99 99 99 99 99 ,years passed and a little fifty-ton trading vessel came to anchor outside the reef4 ,one man and then another and another got down into the little boat and pulled for the shore4 ,elikana had returned4 ,the women and children ran down to meet him--but few men were there1 for nearly all had gone4 ,where is this one8 ,where is the other8 cried ,elikana1 with sad face as he looked around on them4 ,gone1 gone1 came the answer2 carried away by the man-stealing ships4 ,elikana turned to the white missionary who had come with him1 to ask what they could do4 ,we will leave ,joane and his wife here1 replied ,mr4 ,murray4 99 99 99 99 99 ,so a teacher from ,samoa stayed there and taught the people1 while ,elikana went to begin work in an island near by4 ,to-day a white lady missionary has gone to live in the ,ellice ,islands1 and the people are ,christians1 and no slave-trader can come to snatch them away4 ,so there sailed over the waters of the wondrous isles first the boat of sunrise and then the ship of darkness1 and last of all the ship of the ,peace of ,god4 ,the ship of darkness had seemed for a time to conquer1 but her day is now over2 and to-day on that beach1 as the sunlight brims over the edge of the sea1 and a new ,lord's ,day dawns1 you may hear the islanders sing their praise to the ,light of the ,world1 ,who shines upon them and keeps them safe4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #ca3 ,f7a-ee-v7a t7a la4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,arrows ,,of ,,santa ,,cruz ,bishop ,patteson 7,date of ,incident--,august #aeth1 #ahfd7 ,the brown crew of ,the ,southern ,cross breathed freely again as the anchor swung into place and the schooner began to nose her way out into the open ,pacific4 ,they were hardened to dangers1 but the ,island of ,tawny ,cannibals had strained their nerve1 by its hourly perils from club and flying arrow4 ,the men were glad to see their ship's bows plunge freely again through the long-backed rollers4 ,as they set her course to the ,island of ,santa ,cruz the crew talked together of the men of the island they had left4 ,in his cabin sat a great bronzed bearded man writing a letter to his own people far away on the other side of the world4 ,here are the very words that he wrote as he told the story of one of the dangers through which they had just passed on the island3 ,as ,i sat on the beach with a crowd about me1 most of them suddenly jumped up and ran off4 ,turning my head ,i saw a man 7from the boat they saw two7 coming to me with club uplifted4 ,i remained sitting and held out a few fish-hooks to him1 but one or two men jumped up and1 seizing him by the waist1 forced him off4 ,after a few minutes ,i went back to the boat4 ,i found out that a poor fellow called ,moliteum was shot dead two months ago by a white trader for stealing a bit of calico4 ,the wonder was1 not that they wanted to avenge the death of their kinsman1 but that others should have prevented it4 ,how could they possibly know that ,i was not one of the wicked set8 ,yet they did4444 ,the plan of going among the people unarmed makes them regard me as a friend4 ,then he says of these men who had just tried to kill him3 ,the people1 though constantly fighting1 and cannibals and the rest of it1 are to me very attractive4 ,the ship sailed on till they heard ahead of them the beating of the surf on the reef of ,santa ,cruz4 ,behind the silver line of the breakers the waving fronds of her palms came into sight4 ,they put ,the ,southern ,cross in1 cast anchor1 and let a boat down from her side4 ,into the boat tumbled a ,british sailor named ,pearce1 a young twenty-year-old ,englishman named ,atkin1 and three brown ,south-,sea ,island boys from the missionary training college for native teachers on ,norfolk ,island1 and their leader1 ,bishop ,patteson1 the white man who1 having faced the clubs of savages on a score of islands1 never flinched from walking into peril again to lead them to know of the best ,man in the world1 ,jesus ,christ4 ,these brown boys were young helpers of ,bishop ,patteson4 ,and one of them especially1 ,fisher ,young1 would have died for his great white leader gladly4 ,they were like father and son4 ,the reef1 covered at mid-tide with curling waters mottled with the foam of the broken waves1 was alive with men2 while the beach beyond was black with crowds of the wild islanders who had come down to see the strange visitors from the ship4 ,the four men sculled the boat on to the edge of the reef and then rested on their oars as ,patteson swung himself over the side into the cool water4 ,he waded across the reef between the hosts of savages1 and in every hand was a club or spear or a six-foot wooden bow with an arrow ready to notch in its bamboo string4 ,patteson had come to make friends with them4 ,so he entered a dark wattled house and sat down to talk4 ,the doorway was filled with the faces of wondering men4 ,as he looked on them a strange gleam of longing came into his eyes and a smile of great tenderness softened the strength of his brown face--the longing and the tenderness of a shepherd looking for wandering sheep who are lost on the wild mountains of the world4 ,then he rose1 left the house1 and went back to the boat4 ,the water was now one seething cauldron of men--walking1 splashing1 swimming4 ,some1 as ,patteson climbed into his boat1 caught hold of the gunwale and could hardly be made to loosen their hold4 ,the four young fellows in the boat swung their oars and got her under way1 but they had made barely half a dozen strokes when1 without warning1 an arrow whizzed through the air into the boat4 ,a cloud of arrows followed4 ,six canoes were now filled with savage ,santa ,cruzans1 who surrounded the boat and joined in the shooting4 ,patteson1 who was in the stern between his boys and the bowmen1 had not shipped the rudder1 so he held it up1 as the boat shot ahead of the canoes1 to shield off arrows4 ,turning round to see whither his now rudderless boat was being pulled1 he saw that they were heading for a little bay in the reef1 which would have wrecked their hopes of safety4 ,pull1 port oars1 pull on steadily1 shouted ,patteson2 and they made for ,the ,southern ,cross4 ,as he called to them he saw ,pearce1 the young ,british sailor1 lying between the thwarts with the long shaft of an arrow in his chest1 and a young ,norfolk ,islander with an arrow under his left eye4 ,the arrows flew around them in clouds1 and suddenly ,fisher ,young--the nineteen-year-old ,polynesian whom he loved as a son--who was pulling stroke1 gave a faint scream4 ,he was shot through the left wrist4 ,look out1 sir6 close to you1 cried one of his crew4 ,but the arrows were all around him4 ,all the way to the schooner the canoes skimmed over the water chasing the boat4 ,the four youths1 including the wounded1 pulled on bravely and steadily4 ,at last they reached the ship and climbed on board1 while the canoes--fearing vengeance from the men on the schooner--turned and fled4 ,once aboard1 ,bishop ,patteson knelt by the side of ,pearce1 drew out the arrow which had run more than five inches deep into his chest1 and bound up his wound4 ,turning to ,fisher1 he found that the arrow had gone through the wrist and had broken off in the wound4 ,taking hold of the point of the arrow where it stood out on the lower side of the wrist1 ,patteson pulled it through1 though the agony of the boy was very great4 ,the arrows were wooden-headed and not poisoned4 ,the wounds seemed to be healing1 but a few days later ,fisher said1 ,i can't make out what makes my jaws feel so stiff4 ,fisher ,young was the grandson of fierce1 foul ,pitcairn ,island cannibals1 and was himself a brave and pure ,christian lad4 ,he had faced death with his master many times on coral reefs1 in savage villages1 on wild seas and under the clubs of ,pacific islanders4 ,now he was face to face with something more difficult than a swift and dangerous adventure--the slow1 dying agony of lockjaw4 ,he grew steadily worse in spite of everything that ,patteson could do4 ,near to the end he said faintly1 ,kiss me2 ,i am very glad ,i was doing my duty4 ,tell my father that ,i was in the path of duty1 and he will be so glad4 ,poor ,santa ,cruz people6 ,he spoke in that way of the people who had killed him4 ,the young brown hero lies to-day1 as he would have wished1 in the port that was named after the ,bishop whom he loved1 and who was his hero1 ,port ,patteson4 ,i loved him1 said ,patteson1 as ,i think ,i never loved anyone else4 ,fisher's love to his ,bishop had been that of a youth to the hero whom he worships1 but ,patteson had led that brown islander still further1 for he had taught the boy to love the ,hero of all heroes1 ,jesus ,christ4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,five ,,knots ,,in ,a ,,palm ,,leaf ,the ,death of ,patteson 7,date of ,incident1 ,september #bjth1 #ahga7 ,the masts of the schooner ,the ,southern ,cross swung gently to and fro across the darkening sky as the long1 calm rollers of the ,pacific slipped past her hull4 ,her bows spread only a ripple of water as the slight breeze bore her slowly towards the island of ,nukapu4#cb ,on deck stood a group of men1 their brown faces turned to a tall1 bearded man4 ,as the light of the setting sun gleamed on his bronze face1 it kindled his brave eyes and showed the grave smile that played about the corners of his mouth4 ,they all looked on him with that worship which strong men give to a hero1 who can be both brave and kindly4 ,but he wist not that his face shone for them4 ,patteson read to these young men from a ,book2 and the words that he read were these3 ,and they stoned ,stephen1 calling upon ,god and saying1 ',lord ,jesus1 receive my spirit4' ,and he knelt down and cried1 with a loud voice1 ',lord1 lay not this sin to their charge'2 and when he had said this1 he fell asleep4 ,when he had spoken to them strongly on these words and said how it may come to any man who worships ,jesus to suffer so1 ,bishop ,patteson and all except the man on watch went to their sleep4 ,the ,south ,sea ,island men and the young ,englishman who were there remembered all their lives what ,patteson had said that evening2 partly because these men themselves had seen him brave such a death as ,stephen's again and again1 and1 indeed1 they had themselves stood in peril by his side face to face with threatening savages1 but even more because of the adventure that came to them on the next day4 ,at dawn they sighted land1 and by eleven o'clock they were so near that they could see1 shimmering in the heat of the midsummer sun1 the white beach of coral sand and the drooping palms that make all the island of ,nukapu green4#cc ,looking out under their hands to the island1 the men aboard ,the ,southern ,cross could see four great canoes1 with their sails set1 hovering like hawks about the circling reef which lay between them and the island4 ,on the reef the blue waves beat and broke into a gleaming line of cool white foam4 ,the slight breeze was hardly strong enough to help the ship to make the island4 ,it was as though she knew the danger of that day and would not carry ,patteson and his men into the perils that lay hidden behind the beauty of that island of ,nukapu4 ,patteson knew the danger4 ,he knew that1 but a little time before their visit1 white men had come in a ship1 had let down their boats and rowed to the men of the island1 had pretended to make friends1 and then1 shooting some and capturing others1 had sped back to the ship1 carrying off the captives to work for them on the island of ,fiji4 ,the law of the savages of the islands was ,blood for blood4 ,and to them all white men belonged to one tribe4 ,the peril that lay before ,patteson was that they might attack him in revenge for the foul crime of those white traders4 ,just before noon the order was given to lower a boat from ,the ,southern ,cross4 ,patteson went down into it1 and sat in the stern1 while ,mr4 ,atkin 7his ,english helper71 ,stephen ,taroniara1 ,james ,minipa1 and ,john ,nonono came with him to row4 ,the boat swung toward the reef4 ,between the reef and the island lay two miles of the blue and glittering lagoon4 ,by the time the boat reached the reef six canoes full of warriors had come together there4 ,the tide was not high enough to float the boat across the reef4 ,the ,nukapuan natives said they would haul the boat up on to the reef1 but the ,bishop did not think it wise to consent4 ,then two of the savages said to ,bisipi1 as they called the ,bishop3 ,will you come into our canoe8 ,without a moment's hesitation1 knowing that confidence was the best way to win them1 he stepped into the canoe4 ,as he entered they gave him a basket with yams and other fruit in it4 ,as the tide was low1 the ,bishop and the savages were obliged to wade over the reef1 dragging the canoe across to the deeper lagoon within4 ,the boat's crew of ,the ,southern ,cross stopped in the outer sea1 drifting on the tide with the other four ,nukapu canoes4 ,they watched the ,bishop cross the lagoon in the canoe and land far off upon the beach4 ,then he went from their sight4 ,the brown men and the white man in the boat were trying to talk to the islanders in the remaining canoes outside the reef1 when suddenly a savage jumped up in the nearest canoe1 not ten yards from them1 and called out in his native language3 ,have you anything like this8 ,he drew his bow to his ear and shot a yard arrow4 ,his companions in the other canoes leapt to their feet and sent showers of arrows whizzing at the men in the boat1 shouting as they aimed3 ,this for ,new ,zealand man1 this for ,bernu man1 this for ,motu man4 ,pulling away with all their speed1 ,patteson's men were soon out of range1 but an arrow had nailed ,john ,nonono's cap to his head4 ,stephen lay in the bottom of the boat with six arrows in his chest and shoulders4 ,mr4 ,atkin1 the white man1 had one in his left shoulder4 ,they reached the ship and were helped on board4 ,the arrow head was drawn out from ,mr4 ,atkin's shoulder1 and was found to be made of a sharpened human bone4 ,no sooner was the arrow head out than ,mr4 ,atkin leapt back into the boat1 insisting on going back to find ,patteson4 ,he alone knew how and where the reef could be crossed on the tide that was now rising4 ,so they got a boat's crew from the ship1 put a beaker full of water and some food in the boat1 and pulled toward the reef4 ,at half-past four the tide was high enough to carry them across1 and they rowed over1 looking through their glasses anxiously at the white shore which was lined with brown figures4 ,a canoe rowed out towards them bringing another canoe in tow4 ,as the boat went towards the island1 one canoe cast off the other1 and went back2 the second canoe drifted towards them slowly on the still waters of the blue lagoon4 ,as it came nearer they saw that in the middle of it lay ,something motionless1 covered with matting4 ,they pulled alongside1 leaned over the canoe1 and lifted into their boat--the body of ,patteson4 ,the empty canoe now drifted away4 ,a yell went up from the savages on the shore4 ,the boat was pulled towards the ship and then the body lifted up and laid on the deck4 ,it had been rolled in the native matting as a shroud1 tied at the head and feet4 ,they unrolled the mat1 and there on the face of the dead ,bishop was still that wonderful1 patient and winning smile1 as of one who at the moment when his head was beneath the uplifted club said1 ,lord1 lay not this sin to their charge1 and had then fallen asleep4 ,there was a palm leaf fastened over his breast4 ,in its long leaflets five knots were made4 ,on the body1 in the head1 the side1 and the legs were five wounds4 ,and five men in ,fiji were at work in the plantations--men captured from ,nukapu by brutal white traders4 ,it was the vengeance of the savage--the call of blood for blood2 and the death of ,patteson lies surely upon the head of those white traders who carried death and captivity to the white coral shore of ,nukapu4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #cb3 ,noo-k7a-poo4 ,footnote #cc3 ,midsummer day on the ,equator1 ,september #ba4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,the ,,boy ,,of ,,the ,,adventurous ,,heart ,chalmers1 the ,boy 7,born #ahda1 martyred #aija7 ,the rain had poured down in such torrents that even the hardy boys of ,inverary in ,scotland had been driven indoors4 ,now the sky had cleared1 and the sun was shining again after the great storm4 ,the boys were out again1 and a group of them were walking toward the little stream of ,aray which tumbled through the glen down to ,loch ,fyne4 ,but the stream was little no longer4 ,as the boys came near to the place called ,the ,three ,bridges1 where a rough wooden bridge crossed the torrent1 they walked faster towards the stream1 for they could hear it roaring in a perfect flood which shook the timbers of the bridge4 ,the great rainfall was running from the hills through a thousand streamlets into the main torrent4 ,suddenly there came a shout and a scream4 ,a boy dashed toward them saying that one of his schoolmates had fallen into the rushing water1 and that the full spate of the ,aray was carrying him away down to the sea4 ,the boys stood horrified--all except one1 who rushed forward1 pulling off his jacket as he ran1 leapt down the bank to the lower side of the bridge1 and1 clinging to the timber1 held to it with one arm while he stretched out the other as the drowning boy was being carried under the bridge1 seized him1 and held him tightly with his left hand4 ,james ,chalmers--the boy who had gone to the rescue--though only ten years old1 could swim4 ,letting go of the bridge1 while still holding the other boy with one arm1 he allowed the current to carry them both down to where the branches hung over the bank to the water's surface4 ,seizing one of these1 he dragged himself and the boy toward the bank1 whence he was helped to dry land by his friends4 ,the boy whom young ,james ,chalmers had saved belonged to a rival school4 ,often the wild-blooded boys 7like their fierce ,highland ancestors who fought clan against clan7 had attacked the boys of this school and had fought them4 ,james1 whose father was a stonemason and whose mother was a ,highland lassie born near ,loch ,lomond1 was the leader in these battles1 but all the fighting was forgotten when he heard that a boy was in danger of his life1 and so he had plunged in as swiftly to save him as he would have done for any boy from his own school4 ,we do not hear that ,james was clever at lessons in his school1 but when there was anything to be done1 he had the quickest hand1 the keenest eye1 the swiftest mind1 and the most daring heart in all the village4 ,though he loved the hills and glens and the mountain torrent1 ,james1 above everything else1 revelled in the sea4 ,one day a little later on1 after the rescue of his friend from drowning1 ,james stood on the quay at ,inverary gazing across the loch and watching the sails of the fishing boats1 when he heard a loud cry4 ,he looked round4 ,there1 on the edge of the quay1 stood a mother wringing her hands and calling out that her child had fallen into the water and was drowning4 ,james ran along the quay1 and taking off his coat as he dashed to the spot1 he dived into the water and1 seizing the little child by the dress1 drew him ashore4 ,the child seemed dead1 but when they laid him on the quayside1 and moved his arms1 his breath began to come and go again and the colour returned to his cheeks4 ,twice ,chalmers had saved others from drowning4 ,three times he himself1 as the result of his daring adventures in the sea1 was carried home1 supposed to be dead by drowning4 ,at another time he1 with two other boys1 thrust a tarred herring-box into the sea from the sandy shore between the two rocky points where the western sea came up the narrow ,loch ,fyne4 ,look at ,james6 shouted one of the boys to his companions as ,chalmers leapt into the box4 ,it almost turned over1 and he swayed and rolled and then steadied as the box swung out from the shore4 ,the other boys1 laughing and shouting1 towed him and his boat through the sea as they walked along the shore4 ,suddenly1 as they talked1 they staggered forward4 ,the cord had snapped and they fell on the sand1 still laughing1 but when they stood up again the laughter died on their lips4 ,james was being swiftly carried out by the current to sea--and in a tarred herring-box6 ,he had no paddle1 and his hands were of no effect in trying to move the boat toward the shore4 ,the boys shouted4 ,there came an answering cry from the door of a cottage in the village4 ,a fisherman came swinging down the beach1 strode to his boat1 took the two boys into it1 and taking an oar himself and giving the other to the two boys1 they pulled out with the tide4 ,they reached ,james and rescued him just as the herring-box was sinking4 ,he went home to the little cottage where he lived1 and his mother gave him a proper thrashing4 ,some of ,james' schoolfellows used to go on ,sundays to a school in ,inverary4 ,he made up his mind to join them4 ,the class met in the vestry of the ,united ,presbyterian ,church there4 ,after their lesson they went together into the church to hear a closing address4 ,mr4 ,meikle1 the minister1 who was also superintendent of the school1 one afternoon took from his pocket a magazine 7a copy of the ,presbyterian ,record74 ,from this magazine he read a letter from a brave missionary in the far-off cannibal islands of ,fiji4 ,the letter told of the savage life there and of how1 already1 the story of ,jesus was leading the men no longer to drag their victims to the cannibal ovens1 nor to pile up the skulls of their enemies so as to show their own bravery4 ,the writer said they were beginning happier lives in which the awful terror of the javelin and the club1 and the horror of demons and witches was gone4 ,when ,mr4 ,meikle had finished reading the magazine he folded it up again and then looked round on all the boys in the school1 saying3 ,i wonder if there is a boy here this afternoon who will become a missionary1 and by and by bring the ,gospel to other such cannibals as those8 ,even as the minister said those words1 the adventurous heart of young ,chalmers leapt in reply as he said to himself1 ,yes1 ,god helping me1 ,i will4 ,he was just a freckled1 dark-haired boy with hazel eyes1 a boy tingling with the joy of the open air and with the love of the heave and flow of the sea4 ,but when he made up his mind to do a thing1 however great the difficulties or dangers1 ,james usually carried it through4 ,so it came about that some years later in #ahff1 having been trained and accepted by the ,london ,missionary ,society1 ,chalmers1 as a young man1 walked across the gangway to a fine new ,british-built clipper ship4 ,it had been christened ,john ,williams after the great hero missionary#cd who gave up his life on the beach of ,erromanga4 ,this boy1 who loved the sea and breathed deep with joy in the face of adventure and peril1 had set his face towards the deep1 long breakers of the far-off ,pacific4 ,he was going to carry to the ,south ,seas the story of the ,hero and ,saviour ,whom he had learnt to love within the sound of the ,atlantic breakers that dashed and fretted against the rocks of ,western ,scotland4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #cd3 ,see ,chapter ,,vii4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,the ,,scout ,,of ,,papua#ce ,chalmers1 the ,friend 7,date of ,incident1 about #ahic7 ,the quick puffing of the steam launch ,miro was the only sound to break the stillness of the mysterious ,aivai#cf ,river4 ,on the launch were three white people--two men and a woman4 ,they were the first who had ever broken the silence of that stream4 ,they gazed out under the morning sun along the dead level of the ,purari#cg delta1 for they had left behind them the rolling breakers of the ,gulf of ,papua in order to explore this dark river4 ,away to the south rolled the blue waters between this vast island of ,new ,guinea and ,northern ,australia4 ,they saw on either bank the wild tangle of twisted mangroves with their roots higher than a man1 twined together like writhing serpents4 ,they peered through the thick bush with its green leaves drooping down to the very water's edge4 ,but mostly they looked ahead over the bow of the boat along the green-brown water that lay ahead of them1 dappled with sunlight under the trees4 ,for they were facing an unknown district where savage ,papuans lived--as wild as hawks4 ,they did not know what adventure might meet them at the next bend of the river4 ,splendid6 ,splendid6 cried one of the white men1 a bearded giant whose flashing eyes and mass of brown hair gave him the look of a lion4 ,we will make it the white woman's peace4 ,bravo6 ,and he turned to ,mrs4 ,abel1 whose face lit up with pleasure at his happy excitement4 ,no white man has even seen the people of ,iala1#ch said ,tamate--for that was the native name given to ,james ,chalmers1 the ,scottish boy who had now gone out to far-off ,papua as a missionary4#ci ,iko there--and he pointed to a stalwart ,papuan who stood by the funnel--is the only one of us who has seen them and can speak their tongue4 ,it is dangerous for your wife to go among these people1 he went on1 turning to ,mr4 ,abel1 but she will help us more than anything else possibly can to make friends4 ,and ,mr4 ,abel nodded1 for he knew that when the ,papuans mean to fight they send their women and children away2 and that when they saw ,mrs4 ,abel they would believe that the white people came as friends and not enemies4 ,as the steamer carried this scouting party against the swift current up the river toward ,iala1 ,tamate wanted to find how far up the river the village lay4 ,so he beckoned ,iko to him4 ,tamate did not know a word of the dialect which ,iko spoke1 but he had with him an old wrinkled ,papuan1 who knew ,iko's language1 and who looked out with worshipping eyes at the great white man who was his friend4 ,so ,tamate1 wishing to ask ,iko how far away the village of ,iala was1 spoke first to old ,vaaburi1#dj and then ,vaaburi asked ,iko4 ,iko stretched out his dark forefinger1 and made them understand that that finger meant the length of their journey to ,iala4 ,then with his other hand he touched his forefinger under the second joint to show how far they had travelled on their journey--not a third of the distance4 ,hour after hour went by1 as the steamer drove her way through the swiftly running waters of ,aivai4 ,and ever ,iko pointed further and further up his finger until at last they had reached his claw-like nail4 ,by three o'clock the middle of the nail was reached4 ,the eyes of all looked anxiously ahead4 ,at every curve of the river they strained their sight to see if ,iala were in view4 ,how would these savage people welcome the white men and woman in their snorting great canoe that had no paddles1 nor oars8 ,there came a sharp bend in the river1 and then a long straight reach of water lying between the forest-covered banks4 ,suddenly ,iko called out1 and ,tamate and ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,abel peered ahead4 ,the great trees of the river nearly met above their heads1 and only a narrow strip of sky could be seen4 ,there in the distance were the houses of ,iala1 close clustered on both banks of the steaming river4 ,they stood on piles of wood driven into the mud1 like houses on stilts1 and their high-pointed bamboo roofs stood out over the river like gigantic poke-bonnets4 ,slow1 shouted ,tamate to the engineer4 ,the ,miro slackened speed till she just stemmed the running current and no more4 ,it will be a bit of a shock to them1 said ,tamate to his friends1 to see this launch4 ,we will give them time to get their wits together again4 ,looking ahead through their glasses1 the white men and ,mrs4 ,abel could see canoes swiftly crossing and re-crossing the river and men rushing about4 ,full speed ahead1 cried ,tamate again1 and then after a few revolutions of the engine1 ,go slow4 ,it will never do1 he said1 to drop amongst them while they are in that state4 ,they will settle down presently4 ,and then1 as he looked up at the sky between the waving branches of the giant trees1 we have got a good two hours' daylight yet1 he said4 ,life and death to ,tamate and his friends hung in the balance1 for they were three people unarmed1 and here were dark savage warriors in hundreds4 ,everything depended on his choosing just the right moment for going into the midst of these people4 ,so he watched them closely1 knitting his shaggy eyebrows together as he measured their state of mind by their actions4 ,he was the ,scout of ,christ in ,papua1 and he must be watchful and note all those things that escape most men but mean so much to trained eyes4 ,tamate seemed to have a strange gift that made him able1 even where other men could tell nothing1 to say exactly when it was1 and when it was not1 possible to go among a wild1 untouched tribe4 ,now the bewildered ,ialan savages had grown quieter4 ,tamate called to the engineer to drive ahead once more4 ,slowly the launch forged her way through the running waters and drew nearer and nearer to the centre of ,iala4 ,there on either side stood the houses in long rows stretching up the river1 and on the banks hundreds of men stood silent and as still as trees4 ,their canoes lay half in and half out of the water ready for instant launching4 ,in each canoe stood its crew erect and waiting4 ,all the women and children had been sent away1 for these men were out to fight4 ,they did not know whether this strange house upon the water with the smoke coming from its chimney was the work of gods or devils4 ,still they stood there to face the strange thing and1 if need be1 to fight4 ,brown ,iko stood in the bows of the ,miro2 near him stood ,tamate4 ,then the engine stopped and the anchor was dropped overboard4 ,the savages stood motionless4 ,not a weapon could be seen4 ,the engineer1 hearing the anchor-chain rattle through the hole1 blew the steam-whistle in simple high spirits4 ,as the shriek of the whistle echoed under the arches of the trees1 with the swiftness of lightning the ,ialan warriors swung their long bows from behind their bodies4 ,without stooping each caught up an arrow that stood between his toes and with one movement fixed it and pulled the bamboo strings of their black bows till the notch of the arrows touched their ears4 ,a hundred arrows were aimed at the hearts of ,tamate and ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,abel4 ,swiftly ,iko stood upon the bulwark of the ,miro1 and shouted just one word at the top of his voice4 ,it was the ,ialan word for ,peace4 ,and again he shouted it1 and yet again ,peace1 ,peace6 ,then he cried out ,pouta6#da ,it was the name of the chief of these savages4 ,they had but to let the arrows from their bows and all would have been over4 ,there was silence4 ,what order would ,pouta give8 ,then from the bank on their right came the sound of an answering voice4 ,in a flash every arrow was taken from its bow1 and again not a weapon was to be seen4 ,iko then called out again to ,pouta1 and ,tamate told ,iko what he was to say to his friend1 the savage chief4 ,for some minutes the conversation went on4 ,at last ,iko came to the point of asking for a canoe to take them ashore4 ,chief ,pouta hesitated4 ,then he gave his command1 and a large canoe was launched from the bank into the river and slowly paddled towards the ,miro4 ,as the canoe came towards them1 ,tamate turned to ,mrs4 ,abel1 who had stood there without flinching with all the arrows pointed toward the boat2 and he spoke words like these3 ,your bravery is our strength4 ,seeing you makes them believe that we come for peace4 ,you give them greater confidence in us than all our words4 ,by this time the canoe had paddled alongside the launch4 ,tamate went over the side first into the canoe1 then ,mrs4 ,abel1 then ,mr4 ,abel1 ,iko1 and ,vaaburi4 ,the canoe pushed off again and paddled toward the landing place1 where a crowd of ,ialan savages filled every inch of space4 ,as soon as the bow of the canoe touched the bank1 ,tamate1 without hesitating a second1 stepped out with ,iko4 ,together they walked up to the chief ,pouta1 and ,tamate put his arms around him in an embrace of peace4 ,pouta1 standing on a high place1 shouted to all his warriors4 ,but none of the white people knew a word of his meaning4 ,look where they would1 in every direction1 this white woman and the two men were completely surrounded by an unbroken mass of wild and armed savages1 who stood gazing upon the strange apparitions in their midst4 ,tamate1 without a pause1 perfectly calm1 and showing no signs of fear1 spoke to ,pouta and his men through old ,vaaburi and ,iko4 ,we have come1 he said1 so that we may be friends4 ,we have come without weapons4 ,we have brought with us a woman of our tribe1 for we come in peace4 ,we are strangers4 ,but we come with great things to tell4 ,some day we will come again and will stay with you and will tell you all our message4 ,to-day we come only to make friends4 ,then ,iko closed his eyes and prayed in the language of the people of ,iala4 ,turning to his friends when the prayer was over1 ,tamate said quietly3 ,now1 we must get aboard as quickly as we possibly can4 ,my plan for a first visit is to come1 make friends and get away again swiftly4 ,when we are gone they will talk to one another about us4 ,next time we come we shall meet friends4 ,so they walked down through an avenue of armed ,papuans to the bank1 and got into the canoe again3 the paddles flashed as she drove swiftly through the water toward the launch4 ,as they climbed her side1 the anchor was weighed1 the ,miro swung round1 her engines started1 and1 carried down by the swift stream1 she slipped past the packed masses of silent men who lined the banks4 ,it is a great thing to be a pathfinder through a country which no man has penetrated before4 ,but it is a greater thing to do as these missionary-scouts did on their journey up the ,aivai and find a path of friendship into savage lives4 ,to do that was the greatest joy in ,tamate's life4 ,for he said1 when he had spent many years in this work3 ,recall the twenty-one years1 give me back all its experiences1 give me its shipwrecks1 give me its standings in the face of death1 give it me surrounded with savages with spears and clubs1 give it me back again with spears flying about me1 with the club knocking me to the ground1 give it me back1 and ,i will still be your missionary4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #ce3 ,pa-poo-7a4 ,footnote #cf3 ,a-ee-v7a-ee4 ,footnote #cg3 ,poo-r7a-ree4 ,footnote #ch3 ,ee-7a-l7a4 ,footnote #ci3 ,he had spent some sixteen years in the ,south ,sea ,island of ,rarotonga and had in #ahgg become a pioneer among the cannibals of ,papua 7,new ,guinea74 ,footnote #dj3 ,vaa-boo-ree4 ,footnote #da3 ,poo-o-t7a4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,a ,,south ,,sea ,,samaritan ,ruatoka 7,date of ,incident1 about #ahgh7 ,it was a dark night and silent4 ,the swish and lapping of the waters on the ,port ,moresby beach on the southern shore of the immense island of ,new ,guinea1 filled the air with a quiet hush of expectation4 ,in a little white house sat a tall1 dark man with his wife4 ,the man was ,ruatoka4 ,if you had asked ,who is ,ruatoka8 of all the ,papuans for miles around ,port ,moresby1 they would have wondered at your ignorance4 ,ruatoka1 they would have told you1 was a ,jesus man4 ,he walked among their villages1 and did not fear them when they threatened him with spears and clubs4 ,he gave them medicines when they were ill1 and nursed them4 ,he spoke strong words to them which made their hearts turn to water within them when he showed that they did wrong4 ,he often stopped them from fighting4 ,ruatoka1 with his wife1 had sailed from the ,south ,sea ,islands with ,tamate1#db who was to them their great hero4 ,my fathers of old were heathen1 savage men on the island of ,mangaia1 he would say4 ,the white men came to them and brought the story of ,jesus4 ,now we are happy4 ,but we1 too1 must go to the men of ,new ,guinea1 just as the white men came to us4 ,to-day the ,new ,guinea ,papuans are savage cannibals and heathen4 ,to-morrow they will know ,jesus and be as happy as we are4 ,so ,ruatoka had been trained as a teacher and preacher as well as a house-builder and carpenter2 and his wife was taught how to teach children as well as good housekeeping4 ,this was the brown man1 ,ruatoka1 who sat that night in his little house at ,port ,moresby on the shore behind the great reef of ,papua4 ,suddenly there came a knock at his door4 ,the door opened1 and the black1 frightened faces of ,papuans1 with staring eyes1 looked at him4 ,what is the matter8 he asked4 ,and they told him that1 as they came at sunset along the path from the people of ,larogi to ,port ,moresby1 they found by the side of the path a white man4 ,he was dying1 they said4 ,we were afraid to touch him4 ,if we touched him and he died1 his ghost would haunt us for evermore4 ,ruatoka stood up at once and reached for his lantern1 and turning to the men said3 ,come and guide me to the place4 ,they said1 ,no1 we are afraid of the demon spirit4 ,it is night4 ,the man will die4 ,we are afraid of the spirits4 ,we will not go4 ,ruatoka's father had told him when he was a boy how his own people in the years before had dreaded the spirit-demons of ,mangaia1 but that he must learn that there were no spirits to be dreaded2 that one great ,father-,spirit ruled above all1 and would take care of ,his children1 and that all those children must love one another4 ,so ,rua1 as they called him1 knowing that the white man who lay sick by the roadside in the night1 though of another colour1 was yet a brother1 and knowing that no demon spirit could harm him in the dark1 lighted his lantern1 poured water into a bottle1 took a long piece of cloth1 folded it up1 and started out under the stars4 ,he walked for mile after mile up steep hills and down into valleys along the path2 but nothing did he hear save the cry of a night bird4 ,at last he had gone five miles1 and was wondering whether he could ever find the sick man 7for the long grass towered up on either side and all was still71 when he heard a low moaning4 ,listening intently he found the direction of the sound1 and then moved towards it4 ,he found there1 at the side of the path1 a white man named ,neville1 nearly dead4 ,he was moaning with the pain of the fever1 yet unconscious4 ,taking his bottle1 ,ruatoka poured a little water down the throat of the man4 ,he then took the long piece of cloth1 wound it round ,neville1 took the two ends in his hands1 and stooping1 he pulled and strained with all his great strength1 until at last ,neville lay like a sack upon his shoulders4 ,staggering along1 ,ruatoka climbed the hills that rose #cjj feet high4 ,again and again he was bound to rest1 for the man on his shoulders was as heavy as ,ruatoka himself4 ,he tottered down the hill path1 and at last1 just as the first light of dawn was breaking over the eastern hills1 ,ruatoka staggered into his home1 laid the sick man upon the only bed he had1 and then himself laid down upon the floor1 wearied almost to death4 ,there he slept while his wife nursed and tended the fever-stricken ,neville back to life4 99 99 99 99 99 ,over a thousand years before that day ,wilfrid#dc had brought life and joy to the starving ,saxons of the ,south coast of ,england4 ,a hundred years before that day white men1 the great-great-grandchildren of those ,saxons1 had started out in ,the ,duff and1 sailing across the world1 had taken life and joy in the place of the terror of demons and the death by the club to the men of the ,islands of the ,seas4 ,now ,ruatoka1 the ,south ,sea islander1 having in his heart the same brave spirit of the ,good ,shepherd--that spirit of the ,good ,samaritan1 of help and preparedness1 of courage and of chivalry1 had carried life and joy back to the ,north ,sea islander1 the ,briton who had fallen by the roadside in ,papua4 ,ruatoka was a brown ,greatheart4 ,it was with him as it must be with all brave sons who serve that great ,captain1 ,jesus ,christ3 he wanted to be in the front of the battle4 ,when the great ,tamate was killed and eaten by the cannibals of ,goaribari1 ,ruatoka wrote a letter to a missionary who lived and still lives in ,papua4 ,this is the end of the letter3 ,hear my wish4 ,it is a great wish4 ,the remainder of my strength ,i would spend in the place where ,tamate was killed4 ,in that village ,i would live4 ,in that place where they killed men1 ,jesus ,christ's name and ,his word ,i would teach to the people that they may become ,jesus' children4 ,my wish is just this4 ,you know it4 ,i have spoken4 ,,ruatoka4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #db3 ,james ,chalmers3 see ,chapter ,,xiii4 ,footnote #dc3 ,see ,chapter ,,ii4 ,book ,three3 ,,the ,,pathfinders ,,of ,,africa ,,chapter ,,xv ,,the ,,man ,,who ,,would ,,go ,,on ,david ,livingstone 7,dates born #ahac1 died #ahgc7 ,there was a deathly stillness in the hot ,african air as two bronzed ,scots strode along the narrow forest path4 ,the one1 a young1 keen-eyed doctor1#dd glanced quickly through the trees and occasionally turned aside to pick some strange orchid and to slip it into his collecting case4 ,the other strode steadily along with that curious1 resolute forward tread of his4#de ,he was ,david ,livingstone4 ,behind them came a string of ,african bearers carrying in bundles on their heads the tents and food of the explorers4 ,suddenly1 with a crunch1 ,livingstone's heel went through a white object half hidden in the long grass--a thing like an ostrich's egg4 ,he stooped--and his strong1 bronzed face was twisted with mingled sorrow and anger1 as1 looking into the face of his younger friend1 he gritted out between his clenched teeth1 ,the slave-raiders again6 ,it was the whitening skull of an ,african boy4 ,for weeks those two ,britons had driven their little steamer 7the ,asthmatic they called her1 because of her wheezing engines7 up the ,zambesi river and were now exploring its tributary the ,shire4 ,each morning1 before they could start the ship's engines1 they had been obliged to take poles and push from between the paddles of the wheels the dead bodies of ,africans--men1 women1 and children--slain bodies which had floated down from the villages that the ,arab slave-raiders had burned and sacked4 ,livingstone was out on the long1 bloody trail of the slaver1 the trail that stretched on and on into the heart of ,africa where no white man had ever been4 ,this negro boy's skull1 whitening on the path1 was only one more link in the long1 sickening shackle-chain of slavery that girdled down-trodden ,africa4 ,the two men strode on4 ,the forest path opened out to a broad clearing4 ,they were in an ,african village4 ,but no voice was heard and no step broke the horrible silence4 ,it was a village of death4 ,the sun blazed on the charred heaps which now marked the sites of happy ,african homes2 the gardens were desolate and utterly destroyed4 ,the village was wiped out4 ,those who had submitted were far away1 trudging through the forest1 under the lash of the slaver2 those who had been too old to walk or too brave to be taken without fight were slain4 ,the heart of ,livingstone burned with one great resolve--he would track this foul thing into the very heart of ,africa and then blazon its horrors to the whole world4 ,the two men trudged back to the river bank again4 ,now1 with their brown companions1 they took the shallow boat that they had brought on the deck of the ,asthmatic1 and headed still farther up the ,shire river from the ,zambesi toward the unknown ,highlands of ,central ,africa4 ,facing ,spears and ,arrows ,only the sing-song chant of the ,africans as they swung their paddles1 and the frightened shriek of a glittering parrot1 broke the stillness as the boat pushed northward against the river current4 ,the paddles flashed again1 and as the boat came round a curve in the river they were faced by a sight that made every man sit1 paddle in hand1 motionless with horror4 ,the bank facing them in the next curve of the river was black with men4 ,the ranks of savages bristled with spears and arrows4 ,a chief yelled to them to turn back4 ,then a cloud of arrows flew over the boat4 ,go on1 said ,livingstone quietly to the ,africans4 ,their paddles took the water and the boat leapt toward the savage semi-circle on the bank4 ,the water was shallower now4 ,before any one realised what was happening ,livingstone had swung over the edge of the boat and1 up to his waist in water1 was wading ashore with his arms above his head4 ,it is peace6 he called out1 and waded on toward the barbs of a hundred arrows and spears4 ,the men in the boat sat breathless1 waiting to see their leader fall with a score of spears through his body4 ,but the savages on the bank were transfixed with amazement at ,livingstone's sheer audacity4 ,awed by something god-like in this unflinching and unarmed courage1 no finger let fly a single arrow4 ,you think1 he called to the chief1 that ,i am a slave-raider4 ,for ,livingstone knew that he had never in all his wanderings been attacked by ,africans save where they had first been infuriated by the cruel raiders4 ,the chief scowled4 ,see1 cried ,livingstone1 baring his arm to show his white skin as he again and again had done when threatened by ,africans1 is this the colour of the men who come to make slaves and to kill8 ,the savages gazed with astonishment4 ,they had never before seen so white a skin4 ,no1 ,livingstone went on1 this is the skin of the tribe that has heart toward the ,african4 ,almost unconsciously the man had dropped the spear points and arrow heads as he was speaking4 ,the chief listened while ,livingstone1 who was now on the bank1 told the savages how he had come across the great waters from a far-off land with a message of peace and goodwill4 ,unarmed and with a dauntless heroism the white man who would go on had won a great victory over that tribe4 ,he now passed on in his boat up the river and over rapids toward the wonderful shining ,highlands in the heart of ,africa4 ,deliverance to the ,captives ,dr4 ,kirk was recalled to ,england by the ,british ,government2 but ,livingstone trudged on in increasing loneliness over mountains and across rivers and lakes1 plunging through marshes1 racked a score of times with fever1 robbed of his medicines1 threatened again and again by the guns of the slave-raiding ,arabs and the spears and clubs of savage head-hunters1 bearing on his bent shoulders the ,cross of the negroes' agony--slavery1 till at last1 alone and on his knees in the dead of night1 our ,greatheart crossed his last ,river1 into the presence of his ,father in heaven4 ,yet still1 though his body was dead1 his spirit would go on4 ,for the life ,livingstone lived1 the death he died1 and the record he wrote of the slave-raiders' horrible cruelties thrilled all ,britain to heal that open sore of the world4 ,queen ,victoria made ,dr4 ,kirk her consul at ,zanzibar1 and told him to make the ,sultan of ,zanzibar order all slave-trading through that great market to cease4 ,and to-day1 because of ,david ,livingstone1 through all the thousands of miles of ,africa over which he trod1 no man dare lay the shackles of slavery on another4 ,to-day1 where ,livingstone saw the slave-market in ,zanzibar1 a grand church stands1 built by negro hands1 and in that cathedral you may hear the negro clergy reading such words as-- ,the voice of one crying in the wilderness1 ,prepare ye the way of the ,lord1 ,make ,his paths straight1 and ,african boys singing in their own tongue words that sum up the whole life of ,david ,livingstone4 ,he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted1 ,to preach deliverance to the captives4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #dd3 ,dr ,kirk1 now ,sir ,john ,kirk1 ,g4,c4,m4,g41 who1 leaning upon his ,african ebony stick and gazing with his now dimmed eyes into the glow of the fire1 told me many stories of his adventures with ,livingstone on his ,zambesi journeyings1 including this one4 ,see next chapter4 ,footnote #de3 ,a friend of mine asked a very old ,african in ,matabeleland whether--as a boy--he remembered ,dr4 ,livingstone4 ,oh1 yes1 replied the aged ,matabele1 he came into our village out of the bush walking thus1 and the old man got up and stumped along1 imitating the determined tread of ,livingstone1 which1 after sixty years1 was the one thing he remembered4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,the ,,black ,,prince ,,of ,,africa ,khama 7,dates #ahej--the present day7 ,one day men came running into a village in ,south ,africa to say that a strange man1 whose body was covered with clothes and whose face was not black1 was walking toward their homes4 ,he was coming from the ,south4 ,never before had such a man been seen in their tribe4 ,so there was great excitement and a mighty chattering went through the round wattle of mud huts with their circular thatched roofs4 ,the ,african ,chief1 ,sekhome--who was the head of this ,bamangwato tribe and who was also a noted witch-doctor--started out along the southward trail to meet the white man4 ,by his side ran his eldest son4 ,he was a lithe1 blithe boy2 his chocolate coloured skin shone and the muscles rippled as he trotted along4 ,he was so swift that his name was the name of the antelope that gallops across the veldt4 ,cama is what the ,bamangwato call the antelope4 ,khama is how we spell the boy's name4 ,he gazed in wonder as he saw a sturdy man wearing clothes such as he had not seen before--what we call coat and hat1 trousers and boots4 ,he looked into the bronzed face of the white man and saw that his eyes and mouth were kind4 ,together they walked back into the village4 ,chief ,sekhome found that the white man's name was ,david ,livingstone2 and that he was a kind doctor who could make boys and men better when they were ill1 with medicines out of a black japanned box4 ,when evening came the boy ,khama saw the strange white man open another box and take out a curious thing which seemed to open yet was full of hundreds and hundreds of leaves4 ,khama had never seen such a thing in his life and he could not understand why ,livingstone opened it and kept looking at it for a long time1 for he had never seen a book before and did not even know what letters were or what reading was4 ,it seemed wonderful to him when he heard that that book could speak to ,livingstone without making any sound and that it told him about the ,one ,infinite1 ,holy1 ,loving ,god1 ,who is ,father of all men1 black or brown or white1 and ,whose ,son1 ,jesus ,christ1 came to teach us all to love ,god and to love one another4 ,for the book was the ,bible which ,livingstone all through his heroic exploring of ,africa read each day4 ,so ,livingstone passed on from the village2 but this boy ,khama never forgot him1 and in time--as we shall see--other white men came and taught ,khama himself to read that same book and worship that same ,god4 ,the ,fight with the ,lion ,meanwhile strange adventures came to the growing young ,khama4 ,this is the story of some of them3 ,the leaping flames of a hunting camp-fire threw upon the dark background of thorn trees weird shadows of the men who squatted in a circle on the ground1 talking4 ,the men were all ,africans1 the picked hunters from the tribe of the ,bamangwato4 ,they were out on the spoor of a great lion that had made himself the terror of the tribe4 ,night after night the lion had leapt among their oxen and had slain the choicest in the chief's herds4 ,again and again the hunters had gone out on the trail of the ferocious beast2 but always they returned empty-handed1 though boasting loudly of what they would do when they should face the lion4 ,to-morrow1 yes1 to-morrow1 cried a young ,bamangwato hunter rolling his eyes1 ,i will slay tau e bogale--the fierce lion4 ,the voices of the men rose on the night air as the whole group declared that the beast should ravage their herds no more--the whole group1 except one4 ,this young man's tense face and the keen eyes that glowed in the firelight showed his contempt for those who swaggered so much and did so little4 ,he was ,khama1 the son of ,sekhome1 the chief4 ,the wild flames gleamed on him as he stood there1 full six feet of tireless manhood leaning on his gun1 like a superb statue carved in ebony4 ,those swift1 spare limbs of his1 that could keep pace with a galloping horse1 gave him the right to his name1 ,khama--the ,antelope4 ,the voices dropped1 and the men1 rolling themselves in the skins of wild beasts1 lay down and slept--all except one1 whose eyes watched in the darkness as sleeplessly as the stars4 ,when they were asleep ,khama took up his gun and went out into the starry night4 ,the night passed4 ,as the first flush of dawn paled the stars1 and the men around the cold ashes of the fire sat up1 they gazed in awed amazement4 ,for they saw1 striding toward them1 their tall young chieftain2 and over his shoulders hung the tawny skin and mane of a full-grown king lion4 ,alone in the night he had slain the terror of the tribe6 ,the men who had boasted of what they meant to do and had never performed1 never heard ,khama--either at that time or later--make any mention of this great feat4 ,it was no wonder that the great ,bamangwato tribe looked at the tall1 silent1 resolute young chieftain and1 comparing him with his crafty father ,sekhome and his treacherous1 cowardly younger brother ,khamane1 said1 ,khama is our boikanyo--our confidence4 ,the ,fight with the ,witch-doctors ,the years went by2 and that fierce old villain ,sekhome plotted and laid ambush against the life of his valiant son1 ,khama4 ,men who followed ,david ,livingstone into ,africa had come as missionaries to his tribe and had taught him the story of ,jesus and given him the knowledge of reading and writing4 ,so ,khama had become a ,christian1 though ,sekhome his father was still a heathen witch-doctor4 ,khama would have nothing to do with the horrible ceremonies by which the boys of the tribe were initiated into manhood2 nor would he look on the heathen rain-making incantations1 though his father smoked with anger against him4 ,under a thousand insults and threats of death ,khama stood silent1 never insulting nor answering again1 and always treating with respect his unnatural father4 ,you1 as the son of a great chief1 must marry other wives1 said old ,sekhome1 whose wives could not be numbered4 ,young ,khama firmly refused1 for the ,word of ,god which ruled his life told him that he must have but one wife4 ,sekhome foamed with futile rage4 ,you must call in the rain-doctors to make rain1 said ,sekhome1 as the parched earth cracked under the flaming sun4 ,khama knew that their wild incantations had no power to make rain1 but that ,god alone ruled the heavens4 ,so he refused4 ,sekhome now made his last and most fearful attack4 ,he was a witch-doctor and master of the witch-doctors whose ghoulish incantations made the ,bamangwato tremble in terror of unseen devils4 ,one night the persecuted ,khama woke at the sound of strange clashing and chanting4 ,looking out he saw the fitful flame of a fire4 ,going out from his hut1 he saw the lolwapa or court in front of it lit up with weird flames round which the black wizards danced with horns and lions' teeth clashing about their necks1 and with manes of beasts' hair waving above their horrible faces4 ,as they danced they cast charms into the fire and chanted loathsome spells and terrible curses on ,khama4 ,as a boy he had been taught that these witch-doctors had the power to slay or to smite with foul diseases4 ,he would have been more than human if he had not felt a shiver of nameless dread at this lurid and horrible dance of death4 ,yet he never hesitated4 ,he strode forward swiftly1 anger and contempt on his face1 scattering the witch-doctors from his path and leaping full upon their fire of charms1 stamped it out and scattered its embers broadcast4 ,the wizards fled into the darkness of the night4 ,the ,fight with the ,kaffir ,beer ,at last ,khama's treacherous old father1 ,sekhome1 died4 ,khama was acclaimed the supreme chief of all the ,bamangwato4#df ,he galloped out at the head of his horsemen to pursue ,lobengula1 the ferocious chief of the ,matabele who had struck fear into the ,bamangwato for many years4 ,even ,lobengula1 who to his dying day carried in his neck a bullet from ,khama's gun1 said of him1 ,the ,bamangwato are dogs1 but ,khama is a man4 ,khama had now freed his people from the terror of the lion1 the tyranny of witch-doctors1 and the dread of the ,matabele4 ,yet the deadliest enemy of ,khama and the most loathsome tyrant of the ,bamangwato was still in power1--the strong drink which degrades the ,african to unspeakable depths4 ,even as ,khama charged at the head of his men into the breaking ranks of the ,matabele1 his younger brother1 ,khamane1 whom he had put in charge of his city in his absence1 said to the people3 ,you may brew beer again now4 ,many of the people did not obey1 but others took the corn of the tribe and brewed beer from it4 ,at night the cries of beaten women rose1 and the weird chants of incantations and of foul unclean dances were heard4 ,khamane called the older men together around his fire4 ,pots of beer passed from hand to hand4 ,as the men grew fuddled they became bolder and more boastful4 ,khamane then spoke to them and said1 ,why should ,khama rule you8 ,remember he forbids you to make and to drink beer4 ,he has done away with the dances of the young men4 ,he will not let you make charms or throw enchanted dice or make incantations for rain4 ,he is a ,christian4 ,if ,i ruled you1 you should do all these things4 ,when ,khama rode back again into his town he saw men and women lying drunk under the eaves of their huts and others reeling along the road4 ,at night the sounds of chants and drinking dances rose on the air4 ,his anger was terrible4 ,for once he lost his temper4 ,he seized a burning torch and running to the hut of ,khamane set fire to the roof and burned the house down over his drunken brother's head4 ,he ordered all the beer that had been brewed to be seized1 and poured it out upon the veldt4 ,he knew that he was fighting a fiercer enemy than the ,matabele1 a foe that would throttle his tribe and destroy all his people if he did not conquer it4 ,the old men of the tribe muttered against him and plotted his death4 ,he met them face to face4 ,his eyes flashed4 ,when ,i was still a lad1 he said1 ,i used to think how ,i would govern my town and what kind of a kingdom it should be4 ,one thing ,i determined1 ,i would not rule over a drunken town or people4 ,i ,,will ,,not ,,have ,,drink ,,in ,,this ,,town4 ,if you must have it you must go4 ,the ,fight with the ,white ,man's ,fire-water ,khama had conquered for the moment4 ,but white men1 ,englishmen1 came to the town4 ,they set up stores4 ,and in the stores they began to sell brandy from large casks4 ,the drinking of spirits has more terrible effects on the ,african than even on white men4 ,once he starts drinking1 the ,african cannot stop and is turned into a sot4 ,the ships of the white man have been responsible to a terrible extent for sending out the fire-water to ,africa4 ,khama called the white traders in the tribe together4 ,it is my desire1 he said1 that no strong drink shall be sold in my town4 ,we will not bring the great casks of brandy1 they replied1 but we hope you will allow us to have cases of bottles as they are for medicine4 ,i consent1 said ,khama1 but there must be no drunkenness4 ,certainly1 the white men replied1 there shall be no drunkenness4 ,in a few days one of the white traders had locked himself into his house in drunken delirium1 naked and raving4 ,morning after morning ,khama rose before daybreak to try and get to the man when he was sober1 but all the time he was drunk4 ,then one morning this man gathered other white men together in a house and they sat drinking and then started fighting one another4 ,a boy ran to ,khama to tell him4 ,the chief went to the house and strode in4 ,the room was a wreck4 ,the men lay senseless with their white shirts stained with blood4 ,khama with set1 stern face turned and walked to the house where he often went for counsel1 the home of his friend1 ,mr4 ,hepburn1 the missionary4 ,mr4 ,hepburn lay ill with fever4 ,khama told him what the white men had done4 ,hepburn burned with shame and anger that his own fellow-countrymen should so disgrace themselves4 ,ill as he was he rose and went out with the chief and saw with his own eyes that it was as ,khama said4 ,i will clear them all out of my town1 cried the chief4 ,it was ,saturday night4 ,khama's ,decisive ,hour ,on the ,monday morning ,khama sent word to all the white men to come to him4 ,it was a cold1 dreary day4 ,the chief sat waiting in the ,kgotla#dg while the white men came together before him4 ,hepburn1 the missionary1 sat by his side4 ,those who knew ,khama saw as soon as they looked into his grim face that no will on earth could turn him from his decisions that day4 ,you white men1#dh he said to them sternly1 have insulted and despised me in my own town because ,i am a black man4 ,if you despise us black men1 what do you want here in the country that ,god has given to us8 ,go back to your own country4 ,his voice became hard with a tragic sternness4 ,i am trying1 he went on1 to lead my people to act according to the word of ,god which we have received from you white people1 and yet you show them an example of wickedness such as we never knew4 ,you1 and his voice rose in burning scorn1 you1 the people of the word of ,god6 ,you know that some of my own brothers--he was referring to ,khamane especially--have learned to like the drink1 and you know that ,i do not want them to see it even1 that they may forget the habit4 ,yet you not only bring it in and offer it to them1 but you try to tempt me with it4 ,i make an end of it to-day4 ,go6 ,take your cattle and leave my town and never come back again6 ,no man moved or spoke4 ,they were utterly shamed and bewildered4 ,then one white man1 who had lived in the town since he was a lad1 pleaded with ,khama for pity as an old friend4 ,you1 said the chief with biting irony1 my friend8 ,you--the ringleader of those who despise my laws4 ,you are my worst enemy4 ,you pray for pity8 ,no6 for you ,i have no pity4 ,it is my duty to have pity on my people over whom ,god placed me1 and ,i am going to show them pity to-day2 and that is my duty to them and to ,god4444 ,go6 ,and they all went4 ,then the chief ordered in his young warriors and huntsmen4 ,no one of you1 he said1 is to drink beer4 ,then he called a great meeting of the whole town4 ,in serried masses thousand upon thousand the ,bamangwato faced their great chief4 ,he lifted up his voice3 ,i1 ,khama1 your chief1 order that you shall not make beer4 ,you take the corn that ,god has given to us in answer to our prayers and you destroy it4 ,nay1 you not only destroy it1 but you make stuff with it that causes mischief among you4 ,there was some murmuring4 ,his eyes flashed like steel4 ,you can kill me1 he said1 but you cannot conquer me4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,black ,prince of ,eighty ,if you rode as a guest toward ,khama's town over seventy years after those far-off days when ,livingstone first went there1 as you came in sight of the great stone church that the chief has built1 you would see tearing across the ,african plain a whirlwind of dust4 ,it would race toward you1 with the soft thunder of hoofs in the loose soil4 ,when the horses were almost upon you--with a hand of steel--chief ,khama would rein in his charger and his bodyguard would pull up behind him4 ,over eighty years old1 grey and wrinkled1 he would spring from his horse1 without help1 to greet you--still ,khama1 the ,antelope4 ,old as he is1 he is as alert as ever4 ,he heard that a great all ,africa aeroplane route was planned after the ,great ,war4 ,at once he offered to make a great aerodrome1 and the day at last came when ,khama--eighty-five years old--who had seen ,livingstone1 the first white man to visit his tribe--stood watching the first aeroplane come bringing a young officer from the clouds4 ,he stands there1 the splendid chief of the ,bamangwato--steel-true1 blade-straight4 ,he is the ,black ,prince of ,africa--who has indeed won his spurs against the enemies of his people4 ,and if you were to ask him the secret of the power by which he has done these things1 ,khama the silent1 who is not used to boasting1 would no doubt lead you at dawn to the ,kgotla before his huts4 ,there at every sunrise he gathers his people together for their morning prayers at the feet of the ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 the ,captain and ,king of our ,great ,crusade for the saving of ,africa4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #df3 ,in #ahge4 ,footnote #dg3 ,the chiefs open-air enclosure for official meetings4 ,footnote #dh3 ,these are ,khama's own words taken down at the time by ,hepburn4 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,the ,,knight ,,of ,,the ,,slave ,,girls ,george ,grenfell 7,dates1 b4 #ahdi1 d4 #aijf7 ,the ,building of the ,steamship ,when ,david ,livingstone lay dying in his hastily-built hut1 in the heart of ,africa1 with his black companions ,susi and ,chumah attending him1 almost his last words were1 ,how far away is the ,luapula8 ,he knew that the river to which the ,africans gave that name was only a short distance away and that it flowed northward4 ,he thought that it might be the upper reaches of the ,nile1 which had been sought by men through thousands of years1 but which none had ever explored4 ,livingstone died in that hut 7#ahgc7 and never knew what ,stanley1 following in his footsteps1 discovered later 7#ahgf-g71 viz41 that the ,luapula was really the upper stretch of the ,congo1 the second largest river in the world 7#cjjj miles long71 flowing into the ,atlantic4 ,the basin of the ,congo would cover the whole of ,europe from the ,black ,sea to the ,english ,channel4 ,in the year when ,livingstone died1 and before ,stanley started to explore the ,congo1 a young man1 who had been thrilled by reading the travels of ,livingstone1 sailed to the ,west ,coast of ,africa to the ,kameruns4 ,his name was ,george ,grenfell1 a ,cornish boy 7born at ,sancreed1 four miles from ,penzance1 in ,england71 who was brought up in ,birmingham4 ,he was apprenticed at fifteen to a firm of hardware and machinery dealers4 ,here he picked up1 as a lad1 some knowledge of machinery that helped him later on the ,congo4 ,he had been thrilled to meet at ,bristol ,college1 where he was trained for his missionary work1 a thin1 worn1 heroic man of tried steel1 ,alfred ,saker1 the great ,kamerun missionary1 and ,grenfell leapt for joy to go out to the dangerous ,west ,coast of ,africa1 where he worked hard1 teaching the ,africans to make tables and bricks and to print and read1 healing them and preaching to them4 ,when ,stanley came down the ,congo to the sea and electrified the world by the story of the great river1 ,grenfell and the ,baptist ,missionary ,society which he served conceived the daring and splendid plan of starting a chain of mission stations right from the mouth of the ,congo eastward across ,africa4 ,in #ahgh ,grenfell was on his way up the river--travelling along narrow paths flanked by grass often fifteen feet high1 and crossing swamps and rivers1 till after thirteen attempts and in eighteen months he reached ,stanley ,pool1 ,february #ahha4 ,a thousand miles of river lay between ,stanley ,pool and ,stanley ,falls1 and even above ,stanley ,falls lay thirteen hundred miles of navigable river4 ,canoes were perilous4 ,hippopotami upset them1 and men were dragged down and eaten by crocodiles4 ,they must have a steamer right up there beyond the ,falls in the very heart of ,africa4 ,grenfell went home to ,england1 and the steamer ,peace was built on the ,thames1 ,grenfell watching everything being made from the crank to the funnel4 ,she was built1 launched1 and tried on the ,thames2 then taken to pieces and packed in #hjj packages1 weighing #fe lbs4 each1 and taken to the mouth of the ,congo4 ,on the heads and shoulders of a thousand men the whole ship and the food of the party were carried past the rapids1 over a thousand miles along narrow paths1 in peril of snakes and leopards and enemy savages1 over streams crossed by bridges of vine-creepers1 through swamps1 across ravines4 ,grenfell's engineer1 who was to have put the ship together1 died4 ,at last they reached ,stanley ,pool4 ,grenfell with eight negroes started to try to build the ship4 ,it was a tremendous task4 ,grenfell said the ,peace was prayed together4 ,it was prayer and hard work and gumption4 ,at last the ship was launched1 steam was up1 the ,peace began to move4 ,she lives1 master1 she lives6 shouted the excited ,africans4 ,a thousand thrilling adventures came to him as he steamed up and down the river1 teaching and preaching1 often in the face of poisoned arrows and spears4 ,we are now going to hear the story of one adventure4 ,the ,steamer's ,journey ,the crocodiles drowsily dosing in the slime of the ,congo river bank stirred uneasily as a strange sound broke the silence of the blazing ,african morning4 ,they lifted their heavy jaws and swung their heads down stream4 ,their beady eyes caught sight of a ,thing mightier than a thousand crocodiles4 ,it was pushing its way slowly up stream4 ,the sound was the throb of the screw of the steamer from whose funnel a light ribbon of smoke floated across the river4 ,an awning shaded the whole deck from bow to stern4 ,on the top of the awning1 under a little square canopy1 stood a tall young negro2 the muscles in his sturdy arms and his broad shoulders rippled under his dark skin as the wheel swung round in his swift1 strong hands4 ,the steamer drove up stream while the crocodiles1 startled by the wash of the boat1 slid sullenly down the bank and dived4 ,a short1 bearded man1 dressed in white duck1 stood on deck at the bows1 where the steamer's name1 ,peace1 was painted4 ,he was ,george ,grenfell4 ,his keen eyes gleamed through the spectacles that rested on his strong1 arched nose4 ,by his side stood his wife1 looking out up the river4 ,they were searching for the landing-place and the hut-roofs of some friendly river-side town4 ,at last as the bows swung round the next bend in the river they saw a village4 ,the ,africans rushed to the bank and hurriedly pushed out their tree-trunk canoes4 ,grenfell shouted an order4 ,a bell rang4 ,the screw stopped and the steamer lay-to while he climbed down into the ship's canoe and was paddled ashore4 ,the wondering people pushed and jostled around them to see this strange man with his white face4 ,the ,slave ,girls ,as they walked up among the huts1 speaking with the men of the town1 ,grenfell came to an open space4 ,as his quick eyes looked about he saw two little girls standing bound with cords4 ,they were tethered like goats to a stake4 ,their little faces and round eyes looked all forlorn4 ,even the wonder of the strange bearded white man hardly kept back the tears that filled their eyes4 ,what are these8 he asked1 turning to the chief4 ,the ,african pointed up the river4 ,grenfell's heart burned in him1 as the chief told how he and his men had swept up the river in their canoes armed with their spears and bows and arrows and had raided another tribe4 ,and these1 said the chief1 pointing to the girls1 who began to wonder what was going to happen1 these are two girls that we captured4 ,they are some of our booty4 ,they are slaves4 ,they are tied there till someone will come and buy them4 ,grenfell could not resist the silent call of their woeful faces4 ,quickly he gave beads and cloth to the chief1 and took the little girls back with him down to the river bank4 ,as they jumped into the canoe to go aboard the ,s4,s4 ,peace1 the two girls wondered what this strange new master would do with them4 ,would he be cruel8 ,yet his eyes looked kind through those funny1 round1 shining things balanced on his nose4 ,the girls at once forgot all their sorrows when they jumped on board this wonderful river monster4 ,they felt it shiver and throb and begin to move4 ,the bank went farther and farther away4 ,the ,peace had again started up stream4 ,the girls stood in wonder and gazed with open eyes as the banks slid past4 ,they saw the birds all green and red flashing along the surface of the water1 and the huge hippopotami sullenly plunging into the river like the floating islands of earth that sail down the ,congo4 ,their quick eyes noted the quaint iguana1 like giant lizards1 sunning themselves on the branches of the trees over the stream and then dropping like stones into the stream as the steamer passed4 ,the ,slave ,girl's ,brother ,then1 suddenly1 as they came round a bend in the river1 all was changed4 ,there ahead ,grenfell saw a river town4 ,the canoes were being manned rapidly by warriors4 ,the bank bristled with spears in the hands of ferocious savages1 whose faces were made horrible by gashes and loathsome tattooing4 ,in each canoe men stood with bows in their hands and arrows drawn to the head4 ,the throb of the engines ceased4 ,the ship slowed up4 ,but the canoes came on4 ,the men of this ,congo town only knew one thing4 ,enemies had1 only a few weeks earlier1 come from down-river1 had raided their town1 burned their huts1 killed many of their braves1 and carried away their children4 ,here were men who had also come from down the river4 ,they must1 therefore1 be enemies4 ,their chief shouted an order4 ,in an instant a score of spears hurtled at the ship and rattled on the steel screens around the deck4 ,the yell of the battle-cry of the tribe echoed and re-echoed down the river4 ,grenfell was standing by the little girls4 ,suddenly one of them with dancing eyes shouted and waved her arms4 ,what is it8 cried ,grenfell to her4 ,see--see6 she cried1 pointing to a warrior in a canoe who was just poising a spear1 that is my brother6 ,that is my brother6 ,this is my town6 ,call to him1 said ,grenfell4 ,her thin childish voice rang out4 ,but no one heard it among the warriors4 ,again she cried out to her brother4 ,the only answer was a hail of spears and arrows4 ,grenfell turned rapidly and shouted an order to the engineer4 ,instantly a shriek1 more wild and piercing than the combined yells of the whole tribe1 rent the air4 ,again the shriek went up4 ,the warriors stood transfixed with spear and arrow in hand like statues in ebony4 ,there was a moment's intense and awful silence4 ,they had never before heard the whistle of a steamer6 ,shout again--quickly1 whispered ,grenfell to the little ,african girl4 ,in a second the child's shrill voice rang out in the silence across the water1 crying first her brother's name1 and then her own4 ,the astonished warrior dropped his spear1 caught up his paddle and--in a few swift strokes--drove his canoe towards the steamer4 ,his astonishment at seeing his sister aboard overcame all his dread of this shrieking1 floating island that moved without sails or paddles4 ,quickly she told her story of how the strange white man in the great canoe that smoked had found her in the village of their enemies1 had saved her from slavery1 and--now1 had brought her safely home again4 ,the story passed from lip to lip4 ,every spear and bow and arrow was dropped4 ,the girls were quickly put ashore1 and as ,grenfell walked up the village street every warrior who had but a few moments before been seeking his blood was now gazing at this strange friend who had brought back to the tribe the daughters whom they thought they had lost for ever4 ,grenfell went on with his work in face of fever1 inter-tribal fighting1 slave-raiders1 the horrors of wife and slave-slaughter at funerals1 witch-killing--and in some ways worse still1 the horrible cruelties of the ,belgian rubber-traders--for over a quarter of a century4 ,in ,june #aijf1 accompanied by his negro companions1 he lay at ,yalemba1 sick with fever4 ,two of the ,africans wrote a letter for help to other missionaries3 ,we are very sorrow1 they wrote1 because out ,master is very sick4 ,so now we beging you one of you let him come to help ,mr ,grenfell please4 ,we think now is near to die1 but we don't know how to do with him4 ,yours1 ,,disasi ,,makulo1 ,,mascoo ,,luvusu4 ,to-day all up the fifteen hundred miles of ,congo waterway the power of the work done by ,grenfell and the men who came with him and after him has changed all the life4 ,gone are the slave-raiders1 the inter-tribal wars1 the cruelties of the white men1 along that line4 ,there stand instead negroes who cap make bricks1 build houses1 turn a lathe2 engineers1 printers1 bookbinders1 blacksmiths1 carpenters1 worshipping in churches built with their own hands4 ,but beyond1 and among the myriad tributaries and the vast forests millions of men have never yet even heard of the love of ,god in ,jesus ,christ1 and still work their hideous cruelties4 ,so ,grenfell1 like ,livingstone1 opened a door4 ,it stands open4 ,,chapter ,,xviii ,a ,,man ,,who ,,can ,,turn ,,his ,,hand ,,to ,,anything ,alexander ,mackay 7,dates #ahfc-ahgf7 ,the inquisitive village folk stared over their garden gates at ,mr4 ,mackay1 the minister of the ,free ,kirk of ,rhynie1 a small ,aberdeenshire village1 as he stood with his thirteen-year-old boy gazing into the road at their feet4 ,the father was apparently scratching at the stones and dust with his stick4 ,the villagers shook their heads4 ,fat's the minister glowerin' at1 wi' his loon ,alic1 among the stoor o' the turnpike8#di asked the villagers of one another4 ,the minister certainly was powerful in the pulpit1 but his ways were more than they could understand4 ,he was for ever hammering at the rocks on the moor and lugging ugly lumps of useless stone homeward1 containing fossils as he called them4 ,now ,mr4 ,mackay was standing looking as though he were trying to find something that he had lost in the road4 ,if they had been near enough to ,alec and his father they would have heard words like these3 ,you see1 ,alec1 this is the ,zambesi ,river running down from the heart of ,africa into the ,indian ,ocean1 and here running into the ,zambesi from the north is a tributary1 the ,shire4 ,livingstone going up that river found wild savages who 444 ,so the father was tracing in the dust of the road with the point of his stick the course of the ,zambesi which ,livingstone had just explored for the first time4 ,on these walks with his father ,alec1 with his blue eyes wide open1 used to listen to stories like the ,yarn we have read of the marvellous adventures of ,livingstone4#ej ,sometimes ,mr4 ,mackay would stop and draw triangles and circles with his stick4 ,then ,alec would be learning a problem in ,euclid on this strange blackboard of the road4 ,he learned the ,euclid--but he preferred the ,zambesi and ,livingstone6 ,one day ,alec was off by himself trudging down the road with a fixed purpose in his mind1 a purpose that seemed to have nothing in the world to do with either ,africa or ,euclid4 ,he marched away from his little village of ,rhynie1 where the burn runs around the foot of the great granite mountain across the strath4 ,he trudged on for four miles4 ,then he heard a shrill whistle4 ,would he be late after all8 ,he ran swiftly toward the little railway station4 ,a ribbon of smoke showed over the cutting1 away to the right4 ,alec entered the station and ran to one end of the platform as the train slowed down and the engine stopped just opposite where he stood4 ,he gazed at the driver and his mate on the footplate4 ,he followed every movement as the driver came round the engine with his long-nosed oil-can1 and opened and shut small brass lids and felt the bearings with his hand to see whether they were hot4 ,the guard waved his green flag4 ,the whistle of the engine shrieked1 and the train steamed out of the station along the burnside toward ,huntly4 ,alec gazed down the line till the train was out of sight and then1 turning1 left the station and trudged homeward4 ,when he reached ,rhynie he had walked eight miles to look at a railway engine for two and a half minutes--and he was happy6 ,as he went along the village street he heard a familiar sound4 ,clang-a-clang clang6--ssssssss6 ,it was irresistible4 ,he stopped1 and stepped into the magic cavern of darkness1 gleaming with the forge-fire1 where ,george ,lobban1 the smith1 having hammered a glowing horseshoe into shape1 gripped it with his pincers and flung it hissing into the water4 ,having cracked a joke with the laughing smith1 ,alec dragged himself away from the smithy1 past the green1 and looked in at the stable to curry-comb the pony and enjoy feeling the little beast's muzzle nosing in his hand for oats4 ,he let himself into the manse and ran up to his work-room1 where he began to print off some pages that he had set up on his little printing press4 ,at supper his mother looked sadly at her boy with his dancing eyes as he told her about the wonders of the railway engine4 ,in her heart she wanted him to be a minister4 ,and she did not see any sign that this boy would ever become one3 this lad of hers who was always running off from his books to peer into the furnaces of the gas works1 or to tease the village carpenter into letting him plane a board1 or to sit1 with chin in hands and elbows on knees1 watching the saddler cutting and padding and stitching his leather1 or to creep into the carding-mill--like the ,budge and ,toddy whose lives he had read--to see weels go wound4 ,it was a bitter cold night in the ,christmas vacation fourteen years later4#ea ,alec ,mackay1 now a young engineering student1 was lost to all sense of time as he read of the hairbreadth escapes and adventures told by the ,african explorer1 ,stanley1 in his book1 ,how ,i found ,livingstone4 ,he read these words of ,stanley's3 ,for four months and four days ,i lived with ,livingstone in the same house1 or in the same boat1 or in the same tent1 and ,i never found a fault in him4444 ,each day's life with him added to my admiration for him4 ,his gentleness never forsakes him3 his hopefulness never deserts him4 ,his is the ,spartan heroism1 the inflexibility of the ,roman1 the enduring resolution of the ,anglo-,saxon4 ,the man has conquered me4 ,alexander ,mackay put down ,stanley's book and gazed into the fire4 ,since the days when he had trudged as a boy down to the station to see the railway engine he had been a schoolboy in the ,grammar ,school at ,aberdeen1 and a student in ,edinburgh1 and while there had worked in the great shipbuilding yards at ,leith amid the clang and roar of the rivetters and the engine shop4 ,he was now studying in ,berlin1 drawing the designs of great engines far more wonderful than the railway engine he had almost worshipped as a boy4 ,on the desk at ,mackay's side lay his diary in which he wrote his thoughts4 ,in that diary were the words that he himself had written3 ,this day last year#eb ,livingstone died--a ,scotsman and a ,christian--loving ,god and his neighbour1 in the heart of ,africa4 ',go thou and do likewise4' ,mackay wondered4 ,could it ever be that he would go into the heart of ,africa like ,livingstone8 it seemed impossible4 ,what was the good of an engineer among the lakes and forests of ,central ,africa8 ,on the table by the side of ,stanley's ,how ,i found ,livingstone lay a newspaper1 the ,edinburgh ,daily ,review4 ,mackay glanced at it2 then he snatched it up and read eagerly a letter which appeared there4 ,it was a new call to ,central ,africa--the call1 through ,stanley1 from ,king ,m'tesa of ,uganda1 that home of massacre and torture4 ,these are some of the words that ,stanley wrote3 ,king ,m'tesa of ,uganda has been asking me about the white man's ,god4444 ,oh that some practical missionary would come here4 ,m'tesa would give him anything that he desired--houses1 land1 cattle1 ivory4 ,it is the practical ,christian who can 444 cure their diseases1 build dwellings1 teach farming and turn his hand to anything like a sailor--this is the man who is wanted4 ,such a one1 if he can be found1 would become the saviour of ,africa4 ,stanley called for a practical man who could turn his hand to anything--if he can be found4 ,the words burned their way into ,mackay's very soul4 ,if he can be found4 ,why here1 here in this very room he sits--the boy who has worked in the village at the carpenter's bench and the saddler's table1 in the smithy and the mill1 when his mother wished him to be at his books2 the lad who has watched the ships building in the docks of ,aberdeen1 and has himself with hammer and file and lathe built and made machines in the engineering works--he is here--the man who can turn his hand to anything4 ,and he had1 we remember1 already written in his diary3 ,livingstone died--a ,scotsman and a ,christian--loving ,god and his neighbour1 in the heart of ,africa4 ',go thou and do likewise4' ,mackay did not hesitate4 ,then and there he took pen and ink and paper and wrote to ,london to the ,church ,missionary ,society which was offering1 in the daily paper that lay before him1 to send men out to ,king ,m'tesa4 ,the words that ,mackay wrote were these3 ,my heart burns for the deliverance of ,africa1 and if you can send me to any one of those regions which ,livingstone and ,stanley have found to be groaning under the curse of the slave-hunter ,i shall be very glad4 ,within four months ,mackay1 with some other young missionaries who had volunteered for the same great work1 was standing on the deck of the ,s4,s4 ,peshawur as she steamed out from ,southampton for ,zanzibar4 ,he was in the footsteps of ,livingstone--a ,scotsman and a ,christian--making for the heart of ,africa and ready to turn his hand to anything for the sake of ,him who as 444 the ,carpenter of ,nazareth ,made common things for ,god4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #di3 ,what is the minister gazing at1 with his son ,alec1 in the dust of the road8 ,footnote #ej3 ,see ,chapter ,,xv4 ,footnote #ea3 ,december #ab1 #ahge4 ,footnote #eb3 ,may #a1 #ahgc4 ,,chapter ,,xix ,,the ,,roadmaker ,alexander ,mackay 7,date1 #ahgh7 ,after many months of delay at ,zanzibar1 ,mackay with his companions and bearers started on his tramp of hundreds of miles along narrow footpaths1 often through swamps1 delayed by fierce greedy chiefs who demanded many cloths before they would let the travellers pass4 ,one of the little band of missionaries had already died of fever4 ,when hundreds of miles from the coast1 ,mackay was stricken with fever and nearly died4 ,his companions sent him back to the coast again to recover1 and they themselves went on and put together the ,daisy1 the boat which the bearers had carried in sections on their heads1 on the shore of ,victoria ,nyanza4 ,so ,mackay1 racked with fever1 was carried back by his ,africans over the weary miles through swamp and forest to the coast4 ,at last he was well again1 and with infinite labour he cut a great wagon road for #bcj miles to ,mpapwa4 ,with pick and shovel1 axe and saw1 they cleared the road of trees for a hundred days4 ,mackay wrote home as he sat at night tired by the side of his half-made road1 ,this will certainly yet be a highway for the ,king ,himself2 and all that pass this way will come to know ,his ,name4 ,at length1 after triumphing by sheer skill and will over a thousand difficulties1 ,mackay reached the southern shore of ,victoria ,nyanza at ,kagei1 to find that his surviving companions had gone on to ,uganda in an ,arab sailing-dhow1 leaving on the shore the ,daisy1 which had been too small to carry them4 ,on the beach by the side of that great inland sea1 ,victoria ,nyanza1 in the heart of ,africa1 ,mackay found the now broken and leaking ,daisy4 ,her cedar planks were twisted and had warped in the blazing sun till every seam gaped4 ,a hippopotamus had crunched her bow between his terrible jaws4 ,many of her timbers had crumbled before the still greater foe of the ,african boat-builder--the white ant4 ,now1 under her shadow lay the man who could turn his hand to anything1 on his back with hammer and chisel in hand4 ,he was rivetting a plate of copper on the hull of the ,daisy4 ,already he had nailed sheets of zinc and lead on stern and bow1 and had driven cotton wool picked from the bushes by the lake into the seams to caulk some of the leaks4 ,around the boat stood crowds of ,africans1 their dark faces full of astonishment at the white man mending his big canoe4 ,why should a man toil so terribly hard8 they wondered4 ,the tribesmen of the lake had only canoes hollowed out from a tree-trunk1 or made of some planks sewn together with fibres from the banana tree4 ,at last ,mackay had his boat ready to sail up the ,victoria ,nyanza4 ,the whole of the length of that great sea1 itself larger than his own native ,scotland1 still separated ,mackay from the land of ,uganda for which he had left ,britain over fifteen months earlier4 ,all through his disappointments and difficulties ,mackay fought on4 ,with him1 as with ,livingstone1 nothing had power to break his spirit or quench his burning determination to carry on his ,god-given plan to serve ,africa4 ,every use of saw and hammer and chisel1 every trick of the tool's true trade1 all the training in the shipbuilding yards and engineering shops at ,edinburgh and in ,germany helped ,mackay to invent some new1 daring and ingenious way out of every fresh difficulty4 ,the ,wreck of the ,daisy ,now at last the ,daisy was on the water again2 and ,mackay and his bearers went aboard#ec and hoisting sail from ,kagei ran northward4 ,before they had gone far black storm clouds swept across the sky4 ,night fell4 ,lightning blazed unceasingly and flung up into silhouette the wild outlines of the mountains to the east4 ,the roar of the thunder echoed above the wail of the wind and the threshing of the waves4 ,all through the dark1 ,mackay and those of his men who could handle an oar rowed unceasingly4 ,again and again he threw out his twenty-fathom line1 but in vain4 ,he made out a dim line of precipitous cliffs1 yet the water seemed fathomless--the only map in existence was a rough one that ,stanley had made4 ,at last the lead touched bottom at fourteen fathoms4 ,in the dim light of dawn they rowed and sailed toward a shady beach before the cliffs1 and anchored in three and a half fathoms of water4 ,the storm passed2 but the waves from the open sea came roaring in and broke over the ,daisy4 ,the bowsprit dipped under the anchor chain1 and the whole bulwark on the weatherside was carried away4 ,the next sea swept into the open and now sinking boat4 ,by frantic efforts they heaved up the anchor and the next wave swung the ,daisy with a crash onto the beach1 where the waves pounded her to a complete wreck1 wrenching the planks from the keel4 ,but ,mackay and his men managed to rescue her cargo before she went to pieces4 ,they were wrecked on a shore where ,stanley1 the great explorer1 had years before had a hairbreadth escape from massacre at the hands of the wild savages4 ,but ,stanley1 living up to the practice he had learned from ,livingstone1 had turned enemies into friends1 and now the natives made no attack on the shipwrecked ,mackay4 ,for eight weeks ,mackay laboured there1 hard on the edge of the lake1 living on the beach in a tent made of spars and sails4 ,with hammer and chisel and saw he worked unsparingly at his task4 ,he cut the middle eight feet from the boat1 and bringing her stern and stem together patched the broken ends with wood from the middle part4 ,after two months' work the now dumpier ,daisy took the water again1 and carried ,mackay and his men safely up the long shores of ,victoria ,nyanza to the goal of all his travelling1 the capital of ,m'tesa1 ,king of ,uganda4 ,the rolling tattoo of goat-skin drums filled the royal reception-hall of ,king ,m'tesa1 as the great tyrant entered with his chiefs4 ,m'tesa1 his dark1 cruel heavy face in vivid contrast with his spotless white robe1 sat heavily down on his stool of ,state1 while brazen trumpets sent to him from ,england blared as ,mackay entered4 ,the chiefs squatted on low stools and on the rush-strewn mud-floor before the ,king4 ,at his side stood his ,prime ,minister1 the ,katikiro1 a smaller man than the ,king1 but swifter and more far-sighted4 ,the ,katikiro was dressed in a snowy-white ,arab gown covered by a black mantle trimmed with gold4 ,in his hard1 guilty face treacherous cunning and masterful cruelty were blended4 ,m'tesa was gracious to ,mackay1 and gave him land on which to build his home4 ,more important to ,mackay than even his hut was his workshop1 where he quickly fixed his forge and anvil1 vise and lathe1 and grindstone1 for he was now in the place where he could practise his skill4 ,it was for this that he had left home and friends1 and pressed on in spite of fever and shipwreck to serve ,africa and lead her to the worship of ,jesus ,christ by working and teaching as our ,lord did when on earth4 ,one day the wide thatched roof of that workshop shaded from the flaming rays of the sun a crowded circle of the chiefs of ,uganda with their slaves1 who loved to come to hear the bellows roar4 ,they were gazing at ,mackay1 whose strong1 bare right arm was swinging his hammer ,clang-a-clang-clang4 ,then a ruddy glow lit up the dark faces of the watchers and the bronzed face of the white man who in the centre of his workshop was blowing up his forge fire4 ,gripping in his pincers the iron hoe that was now red-hot1 ,mackay hammered it into shape and then plunged it all hissing into the bath of water that stood by him4 ,hardly had the cloud of steam risen from the bath1 when ,mackay once more gripped the hoe1 and moving to his grindstone placed his foot on the pedal and set the edge of the hoe against the whirling stone4 ,the sparks flew high4 ,a murmur came from the ,uganda chiefs who stood around4 ,it is witchcraft1 they said to one another4 ,it is witchcraft by which ,mazunga-wa-,kazi makes the hard iron tenfold harder in the water4 ,it is witchcraft by which he sends the wheels round and makes our hoes sharp4 ,surely he is the great wizard4 ,mackay caught the sound of the new name that they had given him--,mazunga-wa-,kazi--the ,white-,man-at-,work4 ,they called him by this name because to them it was very strange that any man should work with his own hands4 ,women are for work1 said the chiefs4 ,men go to talk with the ,king1 and to fight and eat4 ,mackay paused in his work and turned on them4 ,no1 he said1 you are wrong4 ,god made man with one stomach and with two hands in order that he may work twice as much as he eats4 ,and ,mackay held out before them his own hands blackened with the work of the smithy1 rough with the handling of hammer and saw1 the file and lathe4 ,but you1 and he turned on them with a laugh and pointed to their sleek bodies as they shone in the glow of the forge fire1 you are all stomach and no hands4 ,they grinned sheepishly at one another under this attack1 and1 as ,mackay let down the fire and put away his tools1 they strolled off to the hill on which the ,king's beehive-shaped thatched palace was built4 ,mackay climbed up the hill on the side of which his workshop stood4 ,from the ridge he gazed over the low-lying marsh from which the women were bearing on their heads the water-pots4 ,he knew that the men and women of the land were suffering from fearful illnesses4 ,he now realised that the fevers came from the poisonous waters of the marsh4 ,he made up his mind how he could help them with his skill4 ,they must have pure water2 yet they knew nothing of wells4 ,mackay at once searched the hill-side with his spade and found a bed of clay emerging from the side of the hill4 ,he climbed sixteen feet higher up the hill and1 bringing the men who could help him together1 began digging4 ,he knew that he would reach spring water at the level of the clay1 for the rains that had filtered through the earth would stop there4 ,the ,baganda#ed thought that he was mad4 ,whoever1 they asked one another1 heard of digging in the top of a hill for water8 ,when the hole is so deep1 said ,mackay1 measuring out sixteen feet1 water will come1 pure and clean1 and you will not need to carry it up the hill from the marsh4 ,they dug and dug till the hole was too deep to hurl the earth up over the edge4 ,then ,mackay made a pulley1 which seemed a magic thing to them1 for they could not yet understand the working of wheels2 and with rope and bucket the earth was pulled up4 ,exactly at the depth of sixteen feet the water welled in4 ,the ,baganda clapped their hands and danced with delight4 ,mackay is the great wizard4 ,he is the mighty spirit1 they cried4 ,the ,king must come to see this4 ,king ,m'tesa himself wondered at the story of the making of the well and the finding of the water4 ,he gave orders that he was to be carried to view this great wonder4 ,his eyes rolled with astonishment as he saw it and heard of the wonders that were wrought by the work of men4 ,yet ,m'tesa and his men still wondered why any man should work hard4 ,mackay tried to explain this to the ,king when he sat in his reception-hall4 ,work1 ,mackay told ,m'tesa1 is the noblest thing a man can do1 and he told him how ,jesus ,christ1 the ,son of the ,great ,father-,spirit who made all things1 did not ,himself feel that work was a thing too mean for ,him4 ,for our ,lord1 when ,he lived on earth at ,nazareth1 worked with ,his own hands at the carpenter's bench1 and made all labour forever noble4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #ec3 ,august #bc1 #ahgh4 ,footnote #ed3 ,the people of ,uganda4 ,,chapter ,,xx ,,fighting ,,the ,,slave ,,trade ,alexander ,mackay 7,date1 #ahgh7 ,in the court of ,king ,m'tesa1 ,mackay always saw many boys who used to drive away the flies from the ,king's face with fans1 carry stools for the chiefs and visitors to squat upon1 run messages and make themselves generally useful4 ,most of these boys were the sons of chiefs4 ,when they were not occupied with some errand1 they would lounge about playing games with one another in the open space just by the ,king's hut4 ,often when ,mackay came to speak with the ,king1 he had to wait in this place before he could have audience of ,m'tesa4 ,he would bring with him large sheets of paper on which he had printed in his workshop the alphabet and some sentences4 ,the printing was actually done with the little hand-press that ,mackay had used in his attic when he was a boy in his old home in ,rhynie4 ,he had taken it with him all the way to ,uganda1 and now was setting up letters and sentences in a language which had never been printed before4 ,the ,baganda boys who had gathered round the ,white-,man-of-,work with wondering eyes1 as he with his magic printed the sheets of paper1 now crowded about him as he unrolled one of these white sheets with the curious black smudges on them4 ,mackay made the noise that we call ,a and then ,b1 and pointed to these curious-shaped objects which we call the letters of the alphabet4 ,then he got them to make the noise and point to the letter that represented that sound4 ,at last the keenest of the boys really could repeat the alphabet right through and begin to read whole words from another sheet--,baganda words--so that at length they could read whole sentences4 ,two of these pioneer boys became very good scholars4 ,one named ,mukasa became a ,christian and was baptised with the name ,samweli 7,samuel72 another called ,kakumba was baptised ,yusufu 7,joseph74 ,a third boy had been captured from a tribe in the north1 and his skin was of a much lighter brown than that of the ,baganda boys4 ,this light-skinned captured slave was named ,lugalama4 ,each of these boys felt that it was a very proud day when at last he could actually read a whole sheet of printing from beginning to end in his own language--from ,our ,father down to the ,kingdom1 the power and the glory1 ,amen4 ,one morning these page-boys leapt to their feet as they heard the familiar rattle of the drums that heralded the coming of ,king ,m'tesa4 ,they bowed as he entered the hall and sat heavily on his stool1 while his chiefs ranged themselves about him4 ,on a stool near the ,king sat ,mackay1 the ,white-,man-of-,work4 ,his bronzed face was set in grim determination1 for he knew that on that morning he had a difficult battle to fight4 ,another loud battering of drum-heads filled the air4 ,the entrance to the hut was darkened by a tall1 swarthy ,arab in long1 flowing robes1 followed by negro-bearers1 who cast on the ground bales of cloth and guns4 ,the ,arab wore on his head a red fez1 round which a coloured turban scarf was wound4 ,he was a slave-trader from the coast1 who had come from the ,east to ,m'tesa in ,uganda to buy men and women and children to carry them away into slavery4 ,king ,m'tesa was himself not only a slave-trader but a slave-raider4 ,he sent his fierce gangs of warriors out to raid a tribe away in the hills to the north4 ,they would dash into a village1 slay the men1 and drag the boys and girls and women back to ,m'tesa as slaves4 ,the bronze-skinned boy1 ,lugalama1 was a young slave who had been captured on one of these bloodthirsty raids4 ,and ,m'tesa1 who often sent out his executioners to slay his own people by the hundred to please the dreaded and horrible god of small-pox1 would also sell his people by the hundred to get guns for his soldiers4 ,the ,arab slave-trader bowed to the earth before ,king ,m'tesa1 who signalled to him to speak4 ,i have come1 said the ,arab1 pointing to the guns on the floor1 to bring you these things in exchange for some men and women and children4 ,see1 ,i offer you guns and percussion caps and cloth4 ,and he spread out lengths of the red cloth1 and held out one of the guns with its gleaming barrel4 ,king ,m'tesa's eyes lighted up with desire as he saw the muskets and the ammunition4 ,these1 he thought1 are the things that will make me powerful against my enemies4 ,i will give you1 the ,arab slave-trader went on1 one of these lengths of red cloth in exchange for one man to be sold to me as a slave2 one of these guns for two men2 and one hundred of these percussion caps for a woman as a slave4 ,mackay looked into the cruel face of ,m'tesa1 and he could see how the ambitious ,king longed for the guns4 ,should he risk the favour of the ,king by fighting the battle of a few slaves8 ,yet ,mackay remembered as he sat there1 how ,livingstone's great fight against the slave-traders had made him1 as a student1 vow that he too would go out and fight slavery in ,africa4 ,the memory nerved him for the fight he was now to make4 ,mackay turned to ,m'tesa and said words like these3#ee ,o ,king ,m'tesa1 you are set as father over all your multitude of people4 ,they are your children4 ,it is they who make you a great ,king4 ,remember1 ,o ,king1 that the ,sultan of ,zanzibar himself has signed a decree that no slaves shall be taken in all these lands and sold to other lands down beyond the coast1 whither this ,arab would lead your children4 ,therefore if you sell slaves you break his law4 ,will you1 then1 sell your own people that they may be taken out of their homeland into a strange country8 ,they will be chained to one another1 beaten with whips1 scourged and kicked1 and many will be left at the wayside to die2 till the peoples of the coast shall laugh at ,uganda and say1 ',that is how ,king ,m'tesa lets strangers treat his children6' ,we can imagine how the ,arab turned and scowled fiercely at ,mackay4 ,his heart raged1 and he would have given anything to plunge the dagger hidden in his robe into ,mackay's heart4 ,who was this white man who dared to try to stop his trade8 ,but ,mackay went on4 ,see1 he said1 pointing to the boys and the chiefs1 your children are wonderfully made4 ,their bones1 which are linked together1 are clothed with flesh2 and from the heart in their breasts the blood that gives men life flows to and fro through their bodies1 while the breath goes in and out of their lungs and makes them live4 ,god the ,father and ,maker of all men alone can create such wonders4 ,no men who ever lived could1 if they worked all through their lives1 make one thing so marvellous as one of these boys4 ,will you1 then1 sell one of these miracles1 one of your children1 for a bit of red rag which any man can make in a day8 ,all eyes turned to ,king ,m'tesa to learn what he would say4 ,the ,king with a wave of his hand dismissed the scowling ,arab1 while he took counsel with his chiefs1 and came to this decision3 ,my people shall no more be made slaves4 ,a decree was written out and ,king ,m'tesa put his hand to it4 ,the crestfallen ,arab and his men gathered up their guns and cloths1 marched down the hill to buy ivory instead of slaves for their bales of red cloth1 and went out of the dominions of ,king ,m'tesa1 across the ,great ,lake homeward4 ,mackay had won the first battle against slavery4 ,his heart was very glad4 ,yet he knew that1 although he had scored a triumph in this fight with the slave-dealer1 he had not won in his great campaign4 ,the ,king was generally kind to ,mackay1 for he was proud to have so clever a white man in his country4 ,but he could not make up his mind to become a ,christian4 ,m'tesa's heart had not really changed4 ,his slave-raiding of other tribes might still go on4 ,the horrible butcherings of his people to turn away the dreaded anger of the gods would continue4 ,mackay felt he must press on with his work4 ,he was slowly opening a road through the jungle of cruelty and the marshes of dread of the gods that made the life of the ,baganda people dark and dreadful4 ,all ,uganda waited breathless one day as though the end of the world had come4 ,king ,m'tesa is dead6 the cry went out through all the land4 ,the people waited in dread and on tiptoe of eagerness till the new king was selected by the chiefs from the sons of the dead ruler4 ,at last a great cheer went up from the ,palace4 ,m'wanga has eaten ,uganda6 they shouted4 ,by this the people meant that ,m'wanga1 a young son of ,m'tesa--only eighteen years old--had been made ,king4 ,he was1 however1 a boy with no power--the mere feeble tool of the ,katikiro 7the ,prime ,minister7 and of ,mujasi1 the ,captain of the ,king's own bodyguard of soldiers4 ,both of these great men of the kingdom fiercely hated ,mackay1 for they were jealous of his power over the old ,king4 ,so they whispered into the young ,m'wanga's ears stories like this3 ,you know that men say that ,uganda will be eaten up by an enemy from the lands of the rising sun4 ,mackay and the other white men are making ready to bring thousands of white soldiers into your land to 'eat it up' and to kill you4 ,so ,m'wanga began to refuse to speak to ,mackay4 ,then1 because the ,king was afraid to attack him1 he began to lay plots against the boys4 ,one morning ,mackay started out from his house with five or six boys and the crew of his boat to march down to the lake4 ,among the boys were young ,lugalama--the fair-haired slave-boy1 now a freed-slave and a servant to ,mackay--and ,kakumba1 who had 7you remember7 been baptised ,joseph4 ,the ,king and the ,katikiro had given ,mackay permission to go down to the lake and sail across it to take letters to a place called ,msalala from which the carriers would bear them down to the coast4 ,down the hill the party walked1 the crew carrying the baggage and the oars on their heads4 ,mackay and his colleague ,ashe1 who had come out from ,england to work with him1 walked behind4 ,to their surprise there came running down the path behind them and past them a company of soldiers4 ,where are you going8 asked ,mackay of one of the soldiers4 ,mujasi1 the ,captain of the ,bodyguard1 he replied1 has sent us to capture some of the ,king's wives who have run away4 ,another and yet another body of soldiers rushed past them4 ,mackay became more and more suspicious that some foul plot was being brewed4 ,he and his company had walked ten miles1 and the lake was but two miles away1 divided from them by a wood4 ,suddenly there leapt out from behind the trees of the wood hundreds of men headed by ,mujasi himself4 ,they levelled their guns and spears at ,mackay and his friends and yelled1 ,go back6 ,go back6 ,we are the ,king's friends1 replied ,mackay1 and we have his leave to travel4 ,how dare you insult us8 ,and they pushed forward4 ,but the soldiers rushed at them2 snatched their walking-sticks from them and began to jostle them4 ,mackay and ,ashe sat down by the side of the path4 ,mujasi came up to them4 ,where are you walking8 he asked4 ,we are travelling to the port with the permission of ,king ,m'wanga and the ,katikiro4 ,you are a liar6 replied ,mujasi4 ,mujasi stood back and the soldiers rushed at the missionaries1 dragged them to their feet and held the muzzles of their guns within a few inches of their chests4 ,mackay turned with his boys and marched back to the capital4 ,he and ,ashe were allowed to go back to their own home on the side of the hill1 but the five boys were marched to the ,king's headquarters and imprisoned4 ,the ,katikiro1 when ,mackay went to him1 refused to listen at first4 ,then he declared that ,mackay was always taking boys out of the country1 and returning with armies of white men and hiding them with the intention of conquering ,uganda4 ,the ,katikiro waved them aside and the angry waiting mob rushed on the missionaries yelling1 ,mine shall be his coat6 ,mine his trousers6 ,no1 mine6 shouted another1 as the men scuffled with one another4 ,mackay and ,ashe at last got back to their home and knelt in prayer4 ,later on the same evening1 they decided to attempt to win back the ,king and the ,prime ,minister and ,mujasi by gifts1 so that their imprisoned boys would be freed from danger4 ,mackay spoke to his other boys1 telling them to go and fly for their lives or they would be killed4 ,in the morning ,mackay heard that three of the boys who had been captured on the previous day were not only bound as prisoners1 but that ,mujasi was threatening to burn them to death4 ,the boys were named ,seruwanga1 ,kakumba1 and ,lugalama4 ,the eldest was fifteen1 the youngest twelve4 ,the boys were led out with a mob of howling men and boys around them4 ,mujasi shouted to them3 ,oh1 you know ,isa ,masiya 7,jesus ,christ74 ,you believe you will rise from the dead4 ,i shall burn you1 and you will see if this is so4 ,a hideous roar of laughter rose from the mob4 ,the boys were led down the hill towards the edge of a marsh4 ,behind them was a plantation of banana trees4 ,some men who had carried bundles of firewood on their heads threw the wood into a heap2 others laid hold of each of the boys and cut off their arms with hideous curved knives so that they should not struggle in the fire4 ,seruwanga1 the bravest1 refused to utter a cry as he was cut to pieces1 but ,kakumba shouted to ,mujasi1 who was a ,mohammedan1 ,you believe in ,allah the ,merciful4 ,be merciful6 ,but ,mujasi had no mercy4 ,we are told that the men who were watching held their breath with awed amazement as they heard a boy's voice out of the flame and smoke singing1 ,daily1 daily sing to ,jesus1 ,sing1 my soul1 ,his praises due4 ,as the executioners came towards the youngest and feeblest1 ,lugalama1 he cried1 ,oh1 do not cut off my arms4 ,i will not struggle1 ,i will not fight--only throw me into the fire4 ,but they did their ghastly work1 and threw the mutilated boy on a wooden framework above the slow fire where his cries went up1 till at last there was silence4 ,one other ,christian stood by named ,musali4 ,mujasi1 with eyes bloodshot and inflamed with cruelty1 came towards him and cried3 ,ah1 you are here4 ,i will burn you too and your household4 ,you are a follower of ,isa 7,jesus74 ,yes1 ,i am1 replied ,musali1 and ,i am not ashamed of it4 ,it was a marvel of courage to say in the face of the executioner's fire and knife what ,peter dared not say when the servant-maid in ,jerusalem laughed at him4 ,perhaps the heroism of ,musali awed even the cruel-hearted ,mujasi4 ,in any case he left ,musali alone4 ,for a little time ,m'wanga ceased to persecute the ,christians4 ,but the wily ,arabs whispered in his ear that the white men were still trying to eat up his country4 ,m'wanga was filled with mingled anger and fear4 ,then his fury burst all bounds when ,mujasi said to him3 ,there is a great white man coming from the rising sun4 ,behind him will come thousands of white soldiers4 ,send at once and kill him1 cried the demented ,m'wanga4 ,a boy named ,balikudembe1 a ,christian1 heard the order and he could not contain himself1 but broke out1 ,oh1 ,king ,m'wanga1 why are you going to kill a white man8 ,your father did not do so4 ,but the soldiers went out1 travelled east along the paths till they met the great ,bishop ,hannington being carried in a litter1 stricken with fever4 ,they took him prisoner1 and1 after some days1 slew him as he stood defenceless before them4 ,hannington had been sent out to help ,mackay and his fellow-,christians4 ,then the ,king fell ill4 ,he believed that the boy ,balikudembe1 who had warned him not to kill the ,bishop1 had bewitched him4 ,so ,m'wanga's soldiers went and caught the lad and led him down to a place where they lit a fire1 and placing the boy over it1 burned him slowly to death4 ,all through this time ,mackay alone had not been really seriously threatened1 for his work and what he was made the ,king and the ,katikiro and even ,mujasi afraid to do him to death4 ,then there came a tremendous thunderstorm4 ,a flash of lightning smote the ,king's house and it flamed up and burned to ashes4 ,then ,king ,m'wanga seemed to go mad4 ,he threatened to slay ,mackay himself4 ,take1 seize1 burn the ,christians1 he cried4 ,and his executioners and their minions rushed out1 captured forty-six men and boys1 slashed their arms from their bodies with their cruel curved knives so that they could not struggle1 and then placed them over the ghastly flames which slowly wrung the lives from their tortured bodies4 ,yet the numbers of the ,christians seemed to grow with persecution4 ,the ,king himself beat one boy1 ,apolo ,kagwa1 with a stick and smote him on the head1 then knocked him down1 kicked and stamped upon him4 ,then the ,king burned all his books1 crying1 ,never read again4 ,the other men and boys who had become ,christians were now scattered over the land in fear of their lives4 ,mackay1 however1 come what may1 determined to hold on4 ,he set his little printing press to work and printed off a letter which he sent to the scattered ,christians4 ,in ,mackay's letter was written these words1 ,in days of old ,christians were hated1 were hunted1 were driven out and were persecuted for ,jesus' sake1 and thus it is to-day4 ,our beloved brothers1 do not deny our ,lord ,jesus6 ,at last ,m'wanga's mad cruelties grew so frightful that all his people rose in rebellion and drove him from the throne1 so that he had to wander an outcast by the lake-side4 ,mackay at that time was working by the lake1 and he offered to shelter the deposed ,king who had only a short time before threatened his life4 99 99 99 99 99 ,two years passed2 and ,mackay1 on the lake-side1 was building a new boat in which he hoped to sail to other villages to teach the people4 ,then a fever struck him4 ,he lay lingering for some days4 ,then he died--aged only forty-one4 ,if ,mackay1 instead of becoming a missionary1 had entered the engineering profession he might have become a great engineer4 ,when he was a missionary in ,africa1 the ,british ,east ,africa ,company offered him a good position4 ,he refused it4 ,general ,gordon offered him a high position in his army in ,egypt4 ,he refused it4 ,he held on when his friends and the ,church ,missionary ,society called him home4 ,this is what he said to them1 ,what is this you write--',come home'8 ,surely now1 in our terrible dearth of workers1 it is not the time for anyone to desert his post4 ,send us only our first twenty men1 and ,i may be tempted to come to help you to find the second twenty4 ,he died when quite young2 homeless1 after a life in constant danger from fever and from a half-mad tyrant king--his ,christian disciples having been burned4 ,was it worth while8 ,to-day the ,prime ,minister of ,uganda is ,apolo ,kagwa1 who as a boy was kicked and beaten and stamped upon by ,king ,m'wanga for being a ,christian2 and the ,king of ,uganda1 ,daudi1 ,m'wanga's son1 is a ,christian4 ,at the capital there stands a fine cathedral in which brown ,baganda clergy lead the prayers of the ,christian people4 ,on the place where the boys were burned to death there stands a ,cross1 put there by #gj1jjj ,baganda ,christians in memory of the young martyrs4 ,was their martyrdom worth while8 ,to-day all the slave raiding has ceased for ever2 innocent people are not slaughtered to appease the gods2 the burning of boys alive has ceased4 ,mackay began the work4 ,he made the first rough road and as he made it he wrote3 ,this will certainly yet be a highway for the ,king ,himself2 and all that pass this way will come to know ,his name4 ,and a highway shall be there and a way2 and it shall be a way of holiness4 ,but the ,way is not finished4 ,and the last words that ,mackay wrote were3 ,here is a sphere for your energies4 ,bring with you your highest education and your greatest talents1 and you will find scope for the exercise of them all4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #ee3 ,there is no record of the precise words1 but ,mackay gives the argument in a letter home4 ,,chapter ,,xxi ,,the ,,black ,,apostle ,,of ,,the ,,lonely ,,lake ,shomolekae ,in the garden in ,africa where1 you remember1 ,david ,livingstone plighted troth with ,mary ,moffat1 as they stood under an almond tree1 there lived years ago a chocolate-skinned1 curly-haired boy4 ,his name was ,shomolekae4#ef ,his work was to go among the fruit trees1 when the peaches and apricots were growing and to shout and make a noise to scare away the birds4 ,if he had not done this they would have eaten up all the fruit4 ,this boy was born in ,africa over seventy-five years ago1 when ,victoria was a young queen4 ,in the same garden was a grown-up gardener1 also an ,african1 with a dark face and crisp1 curly hair4 ,the grown-up gardener one day stole some of the fruit off the trees1 and he went to the little boy1 ,shomolekae1 and offered him some apricots4 ,now1 ,shomolekae had learned to love the missionary1 ,mr4 ,mackenzie1 who had come to live in the house at ,kuruman4 ,he knew that it was very wrong of the gardener to steal the fruit and throw the blame on the birds4 ,so he said that he would not touch the fruit4 ,he went to an old black friend of his named ,paul and said to him3 ,the gardener has stolen the apples and plums and has asked me to eat them4 ,he has robbed ,mr4 ,mackenzie4 ,i do not know what to do4 ,and old ,paul went and told ,john ,mackenzie1 who took notice of the boy ,shomolekae and learned to trust him4 ,many months passed by2 and two years later ,john ,mackenzie was going to a place further north in ,africa than ,kuruman4 ,the name of this town was ,shoshong1 where ,mackenzie would live and teach the people about ,jesus ,christ4 ,so he went to the father of ,shomolekae1 whose name was ,sebolai4 ,sebolai1 said ,john ,mackenzie1 ,i want to take your son1 ,shomolekae1 with me to ,shoshong4 ,sebolai replied3 ,i am willing that my son should come to live with you1 but one thing ,i desire4 ,it is that he should be taught his reading and to know the stories in the ,bible and such things4 ,to this ,john ,mackenzie quickly agreed1 for he too desired that the boy should read4 ,so the sixteen oxen were yoked to the big wagon1 and amid much shouting and cracking of whips and lowing of oxen and creaking of wagon-joints1 ,john ,mackenzie1 ,shomolekae1 and the others1 started from ,kuruman northward to ,shoshong4 ,now1 at ,shoshong the chief was ,sekhome1 who1 you remember1 in our last story1 was father to ,khama4 ,so when they were at ,shoshong1 ,shomolekae1 the young man who was cook1 and ,khama1 the young man who was the son of the chief1 worshipped in the same little church together4 ,it was not such a church as you go to in our country--but just a little place made of mud bricks that had been dried in the sun4 ,there were holes instead of windows1 and there was no door in the open doorway2 and on the top of the little building was a roof of rough1 reedy grass4 ,these were the days that you heard of in the last story1 when ,khama1 seeing his tribe attacked by the fierce ,lobengula1 rode out on horseback at the head of his regiment of cavalry and fought them and beat them1 and drove away ,lobengula with a bullet in his neck4 ,for two years ,shomolekae1 learning to read better every day1 and serving ,john ,mackenzie faithfully in his house1 lived at ,shoshong4 ,sometimes ,shomolekae took long journeys with wagon and oxen1 and at the end of two years he went with ,mackenzie a great way in order to buy windows1 doors1 hinges1 nails1 corrugated iron1 and timber with which to build a better church at ,shoshong4 ,when ,shomolekae came back again with the wagons loaded up there was great excitement in the tribe4 ,hammers and saws1 screw-drivers and chisels were busy day after day1 and the missionary and his helpers laid the bricks one upon another until there rose up a strong church with windows and a door--a place in which the people went to worship ,god the ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,again ,shomolekae went away by wagon1 and this time he travelled away by the edge of the desert southward until at last he reached the garden at ,kuruman where as a boy he used to frighten the birds from the fruit trees4 ,he was now a very clever man at driving wagons and oxen4 ,this1 as you know1 is not so easy as driving a wagon with two horses is in ,britain4 ,for there were as many as sixteen and even eighteen oxen harnessed two by two to the long iron chains in front of the wagon4 ,there were no roads1 only rough tracks1 and the wagon would drag through the deep sand1 or bump over great boulders of rock1 or sink into wet places by the river4 ,but at such times one of the natives always led the two front oxen through the river with a long thong that was fastened to their horns4 ,so1 in order to drive a wagon well1 ,shomolekae needed to be able to manage sixteen oxen all at once1 and keep them walking in a straight line4 ,he needed to know which were the bad-tempered ones and which were the good1 and which pulled best in one part of the span and which in another2 and how to keep them all pulling together and not lunging at one another with their horns4 ,shomolekae also had to be so bold and daring that1 if lions came to eat the oxen at night1 he could go with the gun and either frighten them away or actually shoot them4 ,so you see ,shomolekae was very clever1 and was full of good courage4 ,while he was living at ,kuruman a man came to him one day and said3 ,john ,mackenzie is alone at ,shoshong1 and there is no one who can drive his wagon well for him4 ,the man who told him this was1 as it happened1 going by wagon to ,shoshong1 where ,john ,mackenzie lived4 ,let me go with you1 said ,shomolekae4 ,so he got up into the wagon1 and away they went day after day northward on the same journey that ,shomolekae had taken when he was a boy4 ,so ,shomolekae served ,mackenzie for years as wagon driver at ,shoshong4 ,at last the time came when ,mackenzie himself left the tribe at ,shoshong--left ,khama and all his people--and travelled southward to build at ,kuruman a kind of small school where he could train young black men to be missionaries to their own people4 ,and ,shomolekae himself went to ,kuruman with ,mackenzie4 ,he set to work with his own hands1 and he helped to make and lay bricks1 to put in the doors and windows1 and to place the roof on the walls1 until at last the little school was built4 ,and when it was actually built ,shomolekae himself went to be a student there1 and ,mackenzie began to train him to be a preacher and a teacher to his own people4 ,for three years ,shomolekae worked hard in the college1 learning more and more about ,jesus ,christ1 preparing himself to go among his own people to tell them about ,him4 ,at last the time came when he was ready to go2 and he started out1 and travelled long1 long miles through sandy places1 and then by a river1 until at last he reached a town of little thatched huts called ,pitsani1 which means ,the ,town of the ,little ,hyena4 ,in that town he gathered the men and women and the boys and girls together and taught them the things that he knew4 ,while ,shomolekae was at ,pitsani there came into that part of ,africa a new missionary1 whose name was ,mr4 ,wookey4 ,it was decided that ,mr4 ,wookey should go a long1 long journey and settle down by the shores of ,lake ,ngami1 which1 you remember1 ,david ,livingstone had discovered long years before4 ,shomolekae wished to go out with ,mr4 ,wookey into this country and to help4 ,so he took the wagon and yoked the oxen to it1 loaded it up with food and all the things needed for cooking as they travelled along1 and drove the oxen dragging the wagon over many hundreds of miles of country in which leopards barked and lions roared1 until at last they came to the land near ,lake ,ngami4 ,when they came into this land1 and found a place in which to settle down1 clever ,shomolekae mixed earth into mud just as boys and girls do in order to make mud-pies1 but he made the mud into the shape of bricks1 and then placed the bricks of mud out into the sun to dry4 ,the sunshine was very1 very hot indeed--so hot that the bricks became hard and dry and strong4 ,day after day ,shomolekae worked until he had made a big heap of bricks4 ,with these he built a little house for ,mr4 ,wookey to live in4 ,but these sun-dried bricks soon spoil if they get wet1 so he had to build a verandah to keep the rain from the walls4 ,when the house was built and ,mr4 ,wookey was settled in it1 they travelled still further up the river to learn what people were living there4 ,after a while it was decided that ,shomolekae should go and live in a small village by the river1 and there again begin his work of telling the men and women of ,jesus ,christ1 and teaching the boys and girls to read4 ,in his satchel1 which was made of odd bits of calico print of different patterns1 ,shomolekae had a hymn-book with music4 ,the hymn-book was written in the language of the people--the ,sechuana language--and ,shomolekae taught them from the book to sing hymns4 ,the music was the sol-fa notation4 ,this is one of the hymns3 #a4 ,yesu oa me oa nthata1 ,leha ke le mo dibin2 ,a re yalo mo kwalon1 ,a re yalo mo pedun4 ,e1 ,yesu oa me1 ,e1 ,yesu oa me1 ,e1 ,yesu oa me1 ,oa me1 mo loraton4 #b4 ,yesu oa me oa nthata1 ,o ntehetse molato2 ,o mpusitse timelon1 ,o ntlhapisa mo pedun4 ,e1 ,yesu oa me1 etc4 ,this is what these words mean in ,english4 ,i expect you know them very well4 #a4 ,jesus loves me1 this ,i know1 ,for the ,bible tells me so2 ,little ones to ,him belong1 ,they are weak1 but ,he is strong4 ,yes1 ,jesus loves me1 ,yes1 ,jesus loves me1 ,yes1 ,jesus loves me-- ,the ,bible tells me so4 #b4 ,jesus loves me1 ,he who died ,heaven's gate to open wide2 ,he will wash away my sin1 ,let ,his little child come in4 ,yes1 ,jesus loves me1 etc4 ,but1 you see1 the missionary had to alter the words sometimes so as to make the ,sechuana lines come right for the music2 and the second verse really means3 ,my ,jesus loves me2 ,he has paid my debt2 ,he has brought me back from where ,i strayed2 ,he has washed my heart4 ,yes1 my ,jesus1 ,yes1 my ,jesus4 ,yes1 my ,jesus4 ,mine in love4 ,they would learn the words off by heart because there was only the one hymn-book1 and they would sing them together1 ,shomolekae's voice leading4 ,they learned them so well that sometimes when the mothers were out hoeing in the fields1 or the little boys were paddling in their canoes and fishing in the marshy waters1 you would hear them singing the hymns that they learned in ,shomolekae's little school hut4 ,then on ,sunday they would have ,sunday-school1 and when that was over ,shomolekae would gather the chocolate-faced men and women and boys and girls together--all who would come--and he would teach them to kneel down and pray to the one ,god1 ,who is our ,father1 and they would sing the hymns that they had learned1 and then he would speak to them a simple little address1 telling them of the ,lord ,jesus4 ,but ,shomolekae desired always to go further and further1 even though it was dangerous and difficult4 ,so he got a canoe and launched it in the river by the village and paddled further and further up the stream1 under the overhanging trees1 and sometimes across the deep pools in which the big and fierce hippopotami and crocodiles lived4 ,he paddled up the ,river ,okanvango1 though many times he was in danger of his life4 ,the river was not like rivers in our own country1 deep and with strong banks2 it was often filled all over with reeds1 and as shallow as a swamp1 and poor ,shomolekae had to push his way with difficulty through these reeds4 ,always at night the poisonous mosquitoes came buzzing and humming around him4 ,the evil-tempered hippopotamus would suddenly come up from the bottom of the river with his wicked beady eyes1 and great cavernous mouth1 with its enormous teeth1 yawning at ,shomolekae as though he quite meant to swallow him whole4 ,on the banks at night the lions would roar1 and then the hyenas would howl2 but ,shomolekae's brave heart held on1 and he pushed on up the river to preach and teach the people in the villages near the river4 ,so through many years1 with high courage and simple faith1 ,shomolekae worked4 ,a good many boys and girls in ,england before they are ten years old own many more books than ,shomolekae ever had and have read more than he4 ,they also have better homes than he1 for he pushed on from one mud hut to another along the rivers and lakes1 and all the possessions that he had in the world could be put into the bottom of his canoe4 ,but our ,heavenly ,father1 ,who loves you and me1 went with him every step of the way4 ,when ,shomolekae taught the boys and girls to sing hymns in praise of ,jesus1 even in a little mud hut1 ,he was there1 just as ,he is in the most beautiful church when we worship ,him4 ,now ,god has taken ,shomolekae across the last river to be with ,himself4 ,shomolekae was a negro with dark skin and curly hair4 ,we are white children with fair faces and light hair4 ,but ,god is his ,father as well as ours and loves us all alike and wishes to gather us together round ,him--loving ,him and one another4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #ef3 ,pronounce ,shoh-moh-leh-kei4 ,,chapter ,,xxii ,,the ,,woman ,,who ,,conquered ,,cannibals ,mary ,slessor 7,dates1 b4 #ahdh1 d4 #aiae7 ,i4 ,,the ,,mill-,,girl ,the ,calabar ,girls at the ,station ,as the train from the south slowed down in ,waverley ,station1 ,edinburgh1 one day in #ahih1 a black face1 with eyes wide open with wonder1 appeared at the window4 ,the carriage door opened and a little ,african girl was handed down onto the platform4 ,the people on the station stopped to glance at the strange negro face4 ,but as a second ,african girl a little older than the first stepped from the carriage to the platform1 and a third1 and then a fourth black girl appeared1 the cabmen and porters stood staring in amused curiosity4 ,who was that strange woman 7they asked one another71 short and slight1 with a face like yellow parchment and with short1 straight brown hair1 who smiled as she gathered the little tribe of ,african girls round her on the railway platform8 ,the telegraph boys and the news-boys gazed at her in astonishment4 ,but they would have been transfixed with amazement if they had known a tenth of the wonder of the story of that heroic woman who1 just as simply as she stood there on the ,waverley platform1 had mastered cannibals1 conquered wild drunken chiefs brandishing loaded muskets1 had faced hunger and thirst under the flaming heat and burning fevers of ,africa1 and walked unscathed by night through forests haunted by ferocious leopards1 to triumph over regiments of frenzied savages drawn up for battle1 had rescued from death hundreds of baby twins thrown out to be eaten by ants--and had now brought home to ,scotland from ,west ,africa four of these her rescued children4 ,still more would those ,scottish boys at ,waverley ,station have wondered1 as they gazed on the little woman and her group of black children1 if they had known that the woman who had done these things1 ,mary ,slessor1 had been a ,scottish factory girl1 who had toiled at her weaving machine from six in the morning till six at night amid the whirr of the belts1 the flash of the shuttles1 the rattle of the looms1 and the roar of the great machines4 ,born in ,aberdeen1 ,december #b1 #ahdh1 ,mary ,slessor was the daughter of a ,scottish shoemaker4 ,her mother was a gentle and sweet-faced woman4 ,after her father's death ,mary was the mainstay of the home4 ,working in a weaving shed in ,dundee 7whither the family moved when ,mary was eleven7 she educated herself while at her machine4 ,the ,call to ,africa ,like ,livingstone1 she taught herself with her book propped up on the machine at which she worked4 ,she read his travels and heard the stories of his fight against slavery for ,africa1 till he became her hero4 ,one day the news flashed round the world3 ,livingstone is dead4 ,his heart is buried in ,central ,africa4 ,mary had thrilled as she read the story of his heroic and lonely life4 ,now he had fallen4 ,she heard in her heart the words that he had spoken3 ,i go to ,africa to try to make an open door44442 do you carry out the work which ,i have begun4 ,i ,,leave ,,it ,,with ,,you4 ,as ,mary sat1 tired with her week's work1 in her pew in the church on ,sunday1 and thought of ,livingstone's call to ,africa1 she saw visions of far-off places of which she heard from the pulpit and read in her magazines--visions of a steaming river on the ,west ,coast of ,africa where the alligators slid from the mud banks into the water2 visions of the barracoons on the shore in which the captured negroes were penned as they waited for the slave-ships2 pictures of villages where trembling prisoners dipped their hands in boiling oil to test their guilt1 and wives were strangled to go with their dead chief into the spirit-land2 visions of the fierce chiefs who could order a score of men to be beheaded for a cannibal feast and then sell a hundred more to be hounded away into the outer darkness of slavery--the ,calabar where the missionaries of her church were fighting the black darkness of the most savage people of the world4 ,mary ,slessor made up her mind to go out and give her whole life to ,africa4 ,so she offered herself1 a timorous girl who could not cross a field with a cow in it1 as a missionary for cannibal ,calabar1 in ,west ,africa4 ,for twelve years she worked at the centre of the mission in ,calabar and then flung herself into pioneer work among the terrible tribe of ,okoyong4 ,no one had ever been able to influence them4 ,they defied ,british administration4 ,for fifteen years she strove there1 and won a power over the ferocious ,okoyong savages such as no one has ever wielded4 ,i'm a wee1 wee wifie1 she said1 no very bookit1 but ,i grip on well none the less4 ,to-day over two thousand square miles of forest and rivers1 the dark savages1 as they squat at night in the forest around their palaver-fires1 tell one another stories of the ,great-,white-,ma-,who-,lived-,alone1 and the stories they tell are like these4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,healing ,,of ,,the ,,chief ,through the ,forest in the ,rain ,a strange quiet lay over all the village by the river4 ,for the chief lay ill in his hut4 ,the ,calabar people were waiting on the tip-toe of suspense4 ,for if the chief died many of them would be slain to go with him into the spirit-world--his wives and some of his soldiers and slaves4 ,suddenly a strange ,african woman1 who had come over from another village1 entered the chief's harem4 ,she spoke to the wives of the chief1 saying1 ,there lives away through the forest at ,ekenge a white ,ma who can cast out by her magic the demons who are killing your chief4 ,my son's child was dying1 but the white ,ma#eg saved her and she is well to-day4 ,many other wonders has she done by the power of her juju4 ,let your chief send for her and he will not die4 ,there was silence and then eager chattering1 for the women knew that their very lives depended on the chief getting well4 ,if he died1 they would be killed4 ,they sent in word to the chief about the strange white ,ma4 ,let her be sent for1 he ordered4 ,send a bottle and four rods 7value about a shilling7 and messengers to ask her to come4 ,all through the day the messengers hurried over stream and hill1 through village after village and along the forest paths till at last1 after eight hours' journey1 they came to the village of ,ekenge4 ,going to the courtyard of the chief they told him the story of their sick chief1 and their desire that the white ,ma who lived in his village should come and heal him4 ,she will say for herself what she will do1 said the chief4 ,so he sent a messenger to ,mary ,slessor4 ,she soon came over from her little house to learn what was needed of her4 ,the story of the sick chief was again told4 ,what is the matter with your chief8 asked ,mary ,slessor4 ,blank faces and nodding heads showed that they knew nothing at all4 ,i must go to him1 she declared4 ,she knew that the way was full of perils1 and that she might be killed by warriors and wild beasts2 but she knew too that1 if she did not go and if the chief died1 hundreds of lives might be sacrificed4 ,chief ,edem said1 ,there are warriors out in the woods and you will be killed4 ,you must not go4 ,ma ,eme1 a tall fat ,african widow of ,ekenge village1 who loved ,mary ,slessor1 said1 ,no1 you must not go4 ,the streams are deep2 the rains are come4 ,you could never get there4 ,but ,mary ,slessor said1 ,i must go4 ,then ,i will send women with you to look after you1 and men to protect you1 said ,chief ,edem4 ,mary ,slessor went back to her house to prepare to start on her long dangerous journey in the morning4 ,she could not sleep for wondering whether she was indeed right to risk her life and all her work on the off-chance of saving this distant sick chief4 ,she knelt down and asked ,god to guide her4 ,then she felt in her heart that she must go4 ,in the morning at dawn a guard of ,ekenge women came to her door4 ,the men will join us outside the village1 they said4 ,the skies were grey4 ,the rain was falling as they started4 ,when the village lay behind them the rain began to pour in sheets4 ,it came down as only an ,african rain can1 unceasing torrents of pitiless deluge4 ,soon ,mary ,slessor's soaked boots became impossible to walk in4 ,she took them off and threw them into the bush2 then her stockings went1 and she ploughed on in the mud in her bare feet4 ,they had walked for three hours when1 as the weather began to clear1 ,mary ,slessor came out into a market-place for neighbouring villages4 ,the hundreds of ,africans who were bartering in the market-place turned and stared at the strange white woman who swiftly passed through their midst and disappeared into the bush beyond4 ,so she pressed on for hour after hour1 her head throbbing with fever1 her dauntless spirit driving her trembling1 timid body onward till at last1 when she had been walking almost ceaselessly for over eight hours1 she tottered into the village of the sick chief4 ,the ,healing ,hand4 ,mary ,slessor1 aching from head to foot with fever and overwhelming weariness1 did not lie down even for a moment's rest1 but walked straight to the chief who lay senseless on his mat on the mud floor4 ,having examined him she took from her little medicine chest a drug and gave a dose to the chief4 ,but she could see at once that more of this medicine was needed than she had with her4 ,she knew that1 away on the other side of the river1 some hours distant1 another missionary was working4 ,you must go across the river to ,ikorofiong for more medicine4 ,no1 no6 they said1 we dare not go4 ,they will slay any man who goes there4 ,she was in despair4 ,then someone said1 ,there is a man of that country living in his canoe on the river4 ,perhaps he would go8 ,they ran down to the river and found him4 ,after much persuading he at last went1 and returned next day with the medicine4 ,the chief1 whom the women had believed to be almost dead1 gradually recovered consciousness1 then sat up and took food4 ,at last he was quite well4 ,all the village laughed and sang for joy4 ,there would be no slaying4 ,they gathered round ,mary ,slessor in grateful wonder at her magic powers4 ,she told them that she had come to them because she worshipped the ,great ,physician ,jesus ,christ1 the ,son of the ,father--,god who made all things4 ,then she gathered them together in the morning and evening1 and led them as with bowed heads they all thanked ,god for the healing of the chief4 ,,iii4 ,,valiant ,,in ,,fight ,years passed by and ,mary ,slessor's name was known in all the villages for many miles4 ,she was1 to them1 the white ,ma who was brave and wise and kind4 ,she was mad1 they thought1 because she was always rescuing the twin babies whom the ,calabar people throw out to die and the mothers of twins whom they often kill4 ,but in some strange way they felt that her wisdom1 her skill in healing men1 and her courage1 which was more heroic than that of their bravest warriors1 came from the ,spirit who made all things4 ,she would wrench guns from the hands of drunken savage men who were three times as strong as she was4 ,at last she used to sit with their chief as judge of quarrels1 and many times in palavers between villages she stopped the people from going to war4 ,through the ,forest ,perilous ,one day a secret message came to her that1 in some villages far away1 a man of one village had wounded the chief in another village and that all the warriors were arming and holding councils of war4 ,i must go and stop it1 said ,mary ,slessor4 ,you cannot1 said her friends at ,ekenge1 the steamer is coming to take you home to ,britain because you are so ill4 ,you will miss the boat4 ,you are too ill to walk4 ,the wild beasts in the woods will kill you4 ,the savage warriors are out1 and will kill you in the dark--not knowing who you are4 ,but ,i must go1 she answered4 ,the chief insisted that she must have two armed men with lanterns with her1 and that she must get the chief of a neighbouring village to send out his drummer with her so that people might know--as they heard the drum--that a protected person was travelling who must not be harmed4 ,it was night1 and ,mary ,slessor with her two companions marched out into the darkness1 the lanterns throwing up strange shadows that looked like fierce men in the darkness4 ,through the night they walked till at midnight they reached the village where they were to ask for the drum4 ,the chief was surly4 ,you are going to a warlike people1 he said4 ,they will not listen to what a woman says4 ,you had better go back4 ,i will not protect you4 ,mary ,slessor was on her mettle4 ,when you think of the woman's power1 she said to the chief1 you forget the power of the woman's ,god4 ,i shall go on4 ,and to the amazement of the savages in the villages she went on into the darkness4 ,surely she must be mad4 ,she defied their chief who had the power to kill her4 ,she had walked on into a forest where ferocious leopards abounded ready to spring out upon her1 and where men were drinking themselves into a fury of war4 ,and for what8 ,to try with a woman's tongue to stop the fiery chiefs and the savages of a distant warlike tribe from fighting4 ,surely she was mad4 ,facing the ,warriors ,she pressed on through the darkness4 ,then she saw the dim outlines of huts4 ,mary ,slessor had reached the first town in the war area4 ,she found the hut where an old ,calabar woman lived who knew the white ,ma4 ,who is there8 came a whisper from within4 ,but even as she replied there was a swift patter of bare feet4 ,out of the darkness leapt a score of armed warriors4 ,they were all round her4 ,from all parts dark shadows sprang forward till scores of men with their chiefs were jostling1 chattering and threatening4 ,what have you come for8 they asked4 ,i have heard that you are going to war4 ,i have come to ask you not to fight1 she replied4 ,the chiefs hurriedly talked together1 then they came to her and said-- ,the white ,ma is welcome4 ,she shall hear all that we have to say before we fight4 ,all the same we shall fight4 ,for here you see are men wounded4 ,we must wipe out the disgrace that is put upon us4 ,now she must rest4 ,women1 you take care of the white ,ma4 ,we will call her at cock-crow when we start4 ,this meant an hour's sleep4 ,mary ,slessor lay down in a hut4 ,it seemed as though her eyes were hardly shut before she was wakened again4 ,she stood1 tottering with tiredness1 when she heard the cry-- ,run1 ,ma1 run6 ,the warriors were off down the hill away to the fight4 ,she ran1 but they were quickly out of sight on the way to the attack4 ,was all her trouble in vain8 ,she pressed on weak and breathless1 but determined4 ,she heard wild yells and the roll of the war drum4 ,the warriors she had followed were feverishly making ready to fight1 a hundred yards distant from the enemy's village4 ,she went up to them and spoke sternly4 ,behave like men1 she said1 not like fools4 ,do not yell and shout4 ,hold your peace4 ,i am going into the village there4 ,she pointed to the enemy4 ,then she walked forward4 ,ahead of her stood the enemy in unbroken ranks of dark warriors4 ,they stood like a solid wall4 ,she hailed them as she walked forward4 ,there was an ominous silence4 ,she laughed4 ,how perfect your manners are6 she exclaimed4 ,she was about to walk forward and force them to make way for her when an old chief stepped out toward her and1 to her amazement1 knelt down at her feet4 ,ma1 he said1 we thank you for coming to us4 ,we own that we wounded the chief over there4 ,it was only one of our men who did it4 ,it was not the act of all our town4 ,we ask you that you will speak with our enemy to bring them to peace with us4 ,the ,healed ,chief ,she looked into the face of the chief4 ,then she saw to her joy that this was the very chief whom she had toiled through the rain to heal long ago4 ,because of what she had done then1 he was now at her feet asking her to make peace4 ,should she run back and tell the warriors1 who a hundred yards away were spoiling for a fight8 ,that was her first joyful thought4 ,then she saw that she must first make her authority stronger over the whole band of warriors4 ,stay where you are1 she said4 ,some of you find a place where ,i can sit in comfort2 and bring me food4 ,i will not starve while men fight4 ,choose two or three men to speak well for you1 and we will have two men from your enemies4 ,these grim warriors1 so sullen and threatening a few moments ago1 obeyed her every word4 ,at length two chiefs came from the other side and stood on one side of her1 while the two chiefs chosen in the village came and threw down their arms and knelt at their feet4 ,your chief1 they said1 was wounded by a drunken youth4 ,do not let us shed blood through all our villages because of what he did4 ,if you will cease from war with us1 we will pay to you any fine that the white ,ma shall say4 ,she1 too1 pressed them to stop their fighting4 ,word went back to the warriors on both sides1 who became wildly excited4 ,some agreed1 others stormed and raged till they were in a frenzy4 ,would they fight even over her body8 ,furious warriors came moving up from both sides4 ,but by arguing and appealing at last she persuaded the warlike tribe to accept a fine4 ,the ,promise of ,peace ,the town whose drunken youth had wounded the enemy chief at once paid a part of the fine4 ,they used no money4 ,so the fine was paid in casks and bottles of trade gin4 ,mary ,slessor trembled4 ,for as the boxes of gin bottles were brought forward the warriors pranced with excitement and made ready to get drunk4 ,she knew that this would make them fight after all4 ,what could she do8 ,the roar of voices rose4 ,she could not make her own voice heard4 ,a daring idea flashed into her mind4 ,according to the law of these ,egbo people1 clothes thrown over anything give it the protection of your body4 ,she snatched off her skirt and all the clothing she could spare and spread them over the gin4 ,she seized the one glass that the tribe had1 and doled out one portion only to each chief to test whether the bottles indeed contained spirit4 ,at last they grew quieter and she spoke to them4 ,i am going1 she said1 across the ,great ,waters to my home1 and ,i shall be away many moons4 ,promise me here1 on both sides1 that you will not go to war with one another while ,i am away4 ,we promise1 they said4 ,they gathered around her and she told them the story of ,jesus ,christ in whose name she had come to them4 ,now1 she said1 go to your rest and fight no more4 ,and the tribes kept their promise to her1--so that when she returned they could say1 ,it is peace4 99 99 99 99 99 ,for nearly forty years she worked on in ,calabar1 stricken scores of times with fever4 ,she rescued her hundreds of twin babies thrown out to die in the forest1 stopped wars and ordeal by poison1 made peace1 healed the sick4 ,at last1 too weak to walk1 she was wheeled through the forests and along the valleys by some of her twins now grown to strong children1 and died there--the conquering ,queen of ,calabar1 who ruled in the hearts of even the fiercest cannibals through the power of the ,faith1 by which out of weakness she was made strong4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #eg3 ,the ,african uses the word ,ma as mother1 7a7 to name a woman after her eldest son1 e4g4 ,mrs4 ,livingstone was called ,ma-,robert2 and 7b7 as in this case1 for a woman whom they respect4 ,book ,four3 ,,heroines ,,and ,,heroes ,,of ,,plateau ,,and ,,desert ,,chapter ,,xxiii ,,sons ,,of ,,the ,,desert ,abdallah and ,sabat 7,time of ,incidents1 about #ahjj-ahaj7 ,two ,arab ,wanderers ,one day1 more than a hundred years ago1 two young ,arabs1 ,abdallah and ,sabat1 rode on their camels toward a city that was hidden among the tawny hills standing upon the skyline4 ,the sun was beginning to drop toward the edge of the desert away in the direction of the ,red ,sea4 ,the shadows of the long swinging legs of the camels wavered in grotesque lines on the sand4 ,there was a look of excited expectation in the eyes of the young ,arabs2 for1 by sunset1 their feet would walk the city of their dreams4 ,they were bound for ,mecca1 the birthplace of ,mohammed1 the ,holy ,city toward which every man of the ,mohammedan world turns five times a day as he cries1 ,there is no ,god but ,allah1 and ,mohammed is the prophet of ,allah4 ,to have worshipped in ,mecca before the sacred ,kaaba and to have kissed the black stone in its wall--this was to make ,paradise certain for them both4 ,having done that pilgrimage these two ,arabs1 ,sabat and ,abdallah1 would be able to take the proud title of ,haji which would proclaim to every man that they had been to ,mecca--the ,holy of ,holies4 ,so they pressed on by the valley between the hills till they saw before them the roofs and the minarets of ,mecca itself4 ,as darkness rushed across the desert and the stars came out1 the tired camels knelt in the courtyard of the ,khan1#eh and ,sabat and ,abdallah alighted and stretched their cramped legs1 and took their sleep4 ,these young men1 ,sabat and ,abdallah1 the sons of notable ,arab chiefs1 had struck up a great friendship4 ,now1 each in company with his chum1 they were together at the end of the greatest journey that an ,arab can take4 ,as the first faint flush of pink touched the mountain beyond ,mecca1 the cry came from the minaret3 ,come to prayer4 ,prayer is better than sleep4 ,there is no ,god but ,allah4 ,sabat and ,abdallah were already up and out1 and that day they said the ,mohammedan prayer before the ,kaaba itself with other pilgrims who had come from many lands--from ,egypt and ,abyssinia1 from ,constantinople and ,damascus1 ,baghdad and ,bokhara1 from the defiles of the ,khyber ,pass1 from the streets of ,delhi and the harbour of ,zanzibar4 ,we do not know what ,abdallah looked like4 ,he was probably like most young ,arab chieftains1 a tall1 sinewy man--brown-faced1 dark-eyed1 with hair and a short-cropped beard that were between brown and black4 ,his friend ,sabat was1 however1 so striking that even in that great crowd of many pilgrims people would turn to look at him4 ,they would turn round1 for one reason1 because of ,sabat's voice4 ,even when he was just talking to his friend his voice sounded like a roar2 when he got excited and in a passion 7as he very often did7 it rolled like thunder and was louder than most men's shouting4 ,as he spoke his large white teeth gleamed in his wide mouth4 ,his brown face and black arched eyebrows were a dark setting for round eyes that flashed as he spoke4 ,his black beard flowed over his tawny throat and neck4 ,gold earrings swung with his agitation and a gold chain gleamed round his neck4 ,he wore a bright silk jacket with long sleeves1 and long1 loose-flowing trousers and richly embroidered shoes with turned-up toes4 ,from a girdle round his waist hung a dagger whose handle and hilt flashed with jewels4 ,abdallah and ,sabat were better educated than most ,arabs1 for they could both read4 ,but they were not men who could stay in one place and read and think in quiet4 ,when they had finished their worship at ,mecca1 they determined to ride far away across the deserts eastward1 even to ,kabul in the mountains of ,afghanistan4 ,so they rode1 first northward up the great camel-route toward ,damascus1 and then eastward4 ,in spite of robbers and hungry jackals1 through mountain gorges1 over streams1 across the ,syrian desert from oasis to oasis1 and then across the ,euphrates and the ,tigris they went1 till they had climbed rung by rung the mountain ranges that hold up the great plateau of ,persia4 ,at last they broke in upon the rocky valleys of ,afghanistan and came to the gateway of ,india--to ,kabul4 ,they presented themselves to ,zeman ,shah1 the ruler of ,afghanistan1 and he was so taken with ,abdallah's capacity that he asked him to be one of his officers in the court4 ,so ,abdallah stayed in ,kabul4 ,but the restless1 fiery ,sabat turned the face of his camel westward and rode back into ,persia to the lovely city of ,bokhara4 ,abdallah the ,daring ,in ,kabul there was an ,armenian whose name we do not know3 but he owned a book printed in ,arabic1 a book that ,abdallah could read4 ,the ,armenian lent it to him4 ,there were hardly any books in ,arabic1 so ,abdallah took this book and read it eagerly4 ,as he read1 he thought that he had never in all his life heard of such wonderful things1 and he could feel in his very bones that they were true4 ,he read four short true stories in this book3 they were what we call the ,gospels according to ,matthew1 ,mark1 ,luke and ,john4 ,as he read1 ,abdallah saw in the stories ,someone who was infinitely greater than ,mohammed--,one who was so strong and gentle that ,he was always helping children and women and people who were ill2 so good that ,he always lived the very life that ,god willed2 and so brave that ,he died rather than give in to evil men--our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,i worship ,him1 said ,abdallah in his heart4 ,then he did a very daring thing4 ,he knew that if he turned ,christian it would be the duty of ,mohammedans to kill him4 ,why not keep quiet and say nothing about his change of heart8 ,but he could not4 ,he decided that he must come out in the open and confess the new ,captain of his life4 ,he was baptized a ,christian4 ,the ,moslems were furious4 ,to save his life ,abdallah fled on his camel westward to ,bokhara4 ,but the news that he had become a ,christian flew even faster than he himself rode4 ,as he went along the streets of ,bokhara he saw his friend ,sabat coming toward him4 ,as a friend1 ,sabat desired to save ,abdallah2 but as a ,moslem1 the cruel law of ,mohammed said that he must have him put to death4 ,and ,sabat was a fiery1 hot-tempered ,moslem4 ,i had no pity1 ,sabat told his friends afterward4 ,i delivered him up to ,morad ,shah1 the ,king4 ,so ,abdallah was bound and carried before the ,moslem judges4 ,his friend ,sabat stood by watching1 just as ,saul had stood watching them stone ,stephen nearly eighteen centuries earlier4 ,you shall be given your life and be set free1 they said1 if you will spit upon the ,cross and renounce ,christ and say1 ',there is no ,god but ,allah4' ,i refuse1 said ,abdallah4 ,a sword was brought forward and unsheathed4 ,abdallah's arm was stretched out3 the sword was lifted--it flashed--and ,abdallah's hand1 cut clean off1 fell on the ground1 while the blood spurted from his arm4 ,your life will still be given you if you renounce ,christ and proclaim ,allah and ,mohammed as ,his prophet4 ,this is how ,sabat himself described what happened next4 ,abdallah made no answer1 but looked up steadfastly toward heaven1 like ,stephen1 the first martyr1 his eyes streaming with tears4 ,he looked at me1 said ,sabat1 but it was with the countenance of forgiveness4 ,abdallah's other arm was stretched out1 again the sword flashed and fell4 ,his other hand dropped to the ground4 ,he stood there bleeding and handless4 ,he bowed his head and his neck was bared to the sword4 ,again the blade flashed4 ,he was beheaded1 and ,sabat--,sabat who had ridden a thousand miles with his friend and had faced with him the blistering sun of the desert and the snow-blizzard of the mountain--saw ,abdallah's head lie there on the ground and the dead body carried away4 ,abdallah had died because he was faithful to ,jesus ,christ and because ,sabat had obeyed the law of ,mohammed4 ,the ,old ,sabat and the ,new ,the news spread through ,bokhara like a forest fire4 ,they could hardly believe that a man would die for the ,christian faith like that4 ,as ,sabat told his friends afterward1 ,all ,bokhara seemed to say1 ',what new thing is this8' ,but ,sabat was in agony of mind4 ,nothing that he could do would take away from his eyes the vision of his friend's face as ,abdallah had looked at him when his hands were being cut off4 ,he plunged out on to the camel tracks of ,asia to try to forget4 ,he wandered far and he wandered long1 but he could not forget or find rest for his tortured mind4 ,at last he sailed away on the seas and landed on the coast of ,india at ,madras4 ,the ,british ,east ,india ,company then ruled in ,india1 and they gave ,sabat a post in the civil courts as mufti1 i4e4 as an expounder of the law of ,mohammed4 ,he spent most of his time in a coast town north of ,madras1 called ,vizagapatam4#ei ,a friend handed to him there a little book in his native language--,arabic4 ,it was another translation of those stories that ,abdallah had read in ,kabul--it was the ,new ,testament4#fj ,sabat sat reading this ,new ,book4 ,he then took up the book of ,mohammed's law--the ,koran--which it was his daily work to explain4 ,he compared the two4 ,the truth came--as he himself said--like a flood of light4 ,he too began to worship ,jesus ,christ1 whose life he had read now for the first time in the ,new ,testament4 ,sabat decided that he must follow in ,abdallah's footsteps4 ,he became a ,christian4#fa ,he was then twenty-seven years of age4 ,the ,brother's ,dagger ,in the world of the ,east news travels like magic by ,arab dhow 7sailing ship7 and camel caravan4 ,very quickly the news was in ,arabia that ,sabat had renounced ,mohammed and become a ,christian4 ,at once ,sabat's brother rose1 girded on his dagger1 left the tents of his tribe1 mounted his camel and coursed across ,arabia to a port4 ,there he took ship for ,madras4 ,landing1 he disguised himself as an ,indian and went up to ,vizagapatam to the house where his brother ,sabat was living4 ,sabat saw this ,indian1 as he appeared to be1 standing before him4 ,he suspected nothing4 ,suddenly the disguised brother put his hand within his robe1 seized his dagger1 and leaping at ,sabat made a fierce blow at him4 ,sabat flung out his arm4 ,he spoilt his brother's aim1 but he was too late to save himself4 ,he was wounded1 but not killed4 ,the brother threw off his disguise1 and ,sabat--remembering the forgiveness of ,abdallah--forgave his brother1 gave him many presents1 and sent loving messages to his mother4 ,sabat decided that he could no longer work as an expounder of ,moslem law3 he wanted to do work that would help to spread the ,christian ,faith4 ,he went away north to ,calcutta1 and there he joined the great men who were working at the task of translating the ,bible into different languages and printing them4 ,this work pleased ,sabat1 for was it not through reading an ,arabic ,new ,testament that all his own life had been changed8 ,because ,sabat knew ,persian as well as ,arabic he was sent to help a very clever young chaplain from ,england named ,henry ,martyn1 who was busily at work translating the ,new ,testament into ,persian and ,arabic4 ,so ,sabat went up the ,ganges to ,cawnpore with ,henry ,martyn4 ,sabat's fiery temper nearly drove ,martyn wild4 ,his was a flaming ,arab spirit1 hot-headed and impetuous2 yet he would be ready to die for the man he cared for2 proud and often ignorant1 yet simple--as ,martyn said1 an artless child of the desert4 ,sabat's knowledge of ,persian was not really so good as he himself thought it was1 and some of the ,indian translators at ,calcutta criticised his translation4 ,at this he got furiously angry1 and1 like ,st4 ,peter1 the fiery1 impetuous apostle1 he denied ,jesus ,christ and spoke against ,christianity4 ,with his heart burning with rage and his great voice thundering with anger1 ,sabat left his friends1 went aboard ship and sailed down the ,bay of ,bengal by the ,indo-,chinese coast till he came to ,penang1 where he began to live as a trader4 ,but by this time the fire of his anger had burnt itself out4 ,he--again like ,peter--remembered his denial of his ,master1 and when he saw in a ,penang newspaper an article saying that the famous ,sabat1 who had become a ,christian and then become a ,mohammedan again1 had come to live in their city1 he wrote a letter which was published in the newspaper at ,penang declaring that he was now--and for good and all--a ,christian4 ,a ,british officer named ,colonel ,mac,innes was stationed at ,penang4 ,sabat went to him4 ,my mind is full of great sorrow1 he said1 because ,i denied ,jesus ,christ4 ,i have not had a moment's peace since ,satan made me do that bad work4 ,i did it for revenge4 ,i only want to do one thing with my life3 to spend it in undoing this evil that has come through my denial4 ,sabat left the house of the ,mohammedan with whom he was living in ,penang4 ,he found an old friend of his named ,johannes1 an ,armenian ,christian merchant1 who had lived in ,madras in the very days when ,sabat first became a ,christian4 ,every night ,johannes the ,armenian and ,sabat the ,arab got out their ,bibles1 and far into the night ,sabat would explain their meaning to ,johannes4 ,the ,prince from ,sumatra ,one day all ,penang was agog with excitement because a brown ,prince from ,acheen1 a ,malay ,state in the island of ,sumatra1 had suddenly sailed into the harbour4 ,he was in flight from his own land1 where rebels had attacked him4 ,the people of ,acheen were wild and ferocious2 many of them were cannibals4 ,i will join you in helping to recover your throne1 said ,sabat to the fugitive ,prince4 ,i am going1 said ,sabat to ,colonel ,mac,innes1 to see if ,i can carry the message of ,christianity to this fierce people4 ,so ,sabat and the ,prince1 with others1 went aboard a sailing ship and crossed the ,strait of ,malacca to ,sumatra4 ,they landed1 and for long the struggle with the rebels swayed from side to side4 ,the ,prince was so pleased with ,sabat that he made him his ,prime ,minister4 ,but the struggle dragged on and on2 there seemed to be no hope of triumph4 ,at last ,sabat decided to go back to ,penang4 ,one day he left the ,prince and started off1 but soldiers of the rebel-chief ,syfoolalim captured him4 ,great was the joy of the rebels--their powerful enemy was in their hands6 ,they bound him1 threw him into a boat1 hoisted him aboard a sailing ship and clapped him in the stifling darkness of the hold4 ,as he lay there he pierced his arm to make it bleed1 and1 with the blood that came out1 wrote on a piece of paper that was smuggled out and sent to ,penang to ,colonel ,mac,innes4 ,the agonies that ,sabat suffered in the gloom and filth of that ship's hold no one will ever know4 ,we can learn from the words that he wrote in the blood from his own body that they loaded worse horrors upon him because he was a ,christian4 ,all the scene is black1 but out of the darkness comes a voice that makes us feel that ,sabat was faithful at the end4 ,in his last letter to ,colonel ,mac,innes he told how he was now ready 7like his friend ,abdallah7 to die for the sake of that ,master whom he had in his rage denied4 ,then one day his cruel gaolers came to the hold where he lay1 and1 binding his limbs1 thrust him into a sack1 which they then closed4 ,in the choking darkness of the sack he was carried on deck and dragged to the side of the ship4 ,he heard the lapping of the waves4 ,he felt himself lifted and then hurled out into the air1 and down--down with a crash into the waters of the sea1 which closed over him for ever4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #eh3 ,the inn of the ,near ,east--a square courtyard with all the doors and windows inside1 with primitive stables and bunks for the camelmen1 and sometimes rooms for the well-to-do travellers4 ,footnote #ei3 ,pronounce ,vi-zah'-ga-pat-ahm4 ,footnote #fj3 ,the ,arabic ,new ,testament revised by ,solomon ,negri and sent to ,india by the ,society for the ,promotion of ,christian ,knowledge in the middle of the eighteenth century4 ,footnote #fa3 ,baptized ,nathaniel at ,madras by the ,rev4 ,dr ,kerr4 ,,chapter ,,xxiv ,a ,,race ,,against ,,time ,henry ,martyn 7,dates1 b4 #agha1 d4 #ahab4 ,time of ,incident #ahaj-ab7 ,in the story of ,sabat that was told in the previous chapter you will remember that1 for a part of the time that he lived in ,india1 he worked with an ,englishman named ,henry ,martyn4 ,sabat was almost a giant2 ,henry ,martyn was slight and not very strong4 ,yet--as we shall see in the story that follows--,henry ,martyn was braver and more constant than ,sabat himself4 ,as a boy ,henry1 who was born and went to school in ,truro1 in ,cornwall1 in the ,west of ,england1 was violently passionate1 sensitive1 and physically rather fragile1 and at school was protected from bullies by a big boy1 the son of ,admiral ,kempthorne4 ,he left school at the age of fifteen and shot and read till he was seventeen4 ,in #agig he became an undergraduate at ,st4 ,john's ,college1 ,cambridge4 ,he was still very passionate4 ,for instance1 when a man was ragging him in the ,college ,hall at dinner1 he was so furious that he flung a knife at him1 which stuck quivering in the panelling of the wall4 ,kempthorne1 his old friend1 was at ,cambridge with him4 ,they used to read the ,bible together and ,martyn became a real ,christian and fought hard to overcome his violent temper4 ,he was a very clever scholar and became a ,fellow of ,jesus ,college in #ahjb4 ,he at that time took orders in the ,church of ,england4 ,he became very keen on reading about missionary work1 e4g4 ,carey's story of nine years' work in ,periodical ,accounts1 and the ,l4,m4,s4 ,report on ,vanderkemp in ,south ,africa4 ,i read nothing else while it lasted1 he said of the ,vanderkemp report4 ,he was accepted as a chaplain of the ,east ,india ,company4 ,they could not sail till ,admiral ,nelson gave the word1 because the ,french were waiting to capture all the ,british ships4 ,five men-of-war convoyed them when they sailed in #ahje4 ,they waited off ,ireland1 because the immediate invasion of ,england by ,napoleon was threatened4 ,on board ,martyn worked hard at ,hindustani1 ,bengali and ,portuguese4 ,he already knew ,greek1 ,latin and ,hebrew4 ,he arrived at ,madras 7,south ,india7 and ,calcutta and thence went to ,cawnpore4 ,it is at this point that our yarn begins4 ,a voice like thunder1 speaking in a strange tongue1 shouted across an ,indian garden one night in #ahji4 ,the new moon1 looking like a ball of ebony in an ivory cup1--as one who was there that night said--threw a cold light over the palm trees and aloes1 on the man who was speaking and on those who were seated around him at the table in the bungalow4 ,beyond the garden the life of ,cawnpore moved in its many streets2 the shout of a donkey-driver1 the shrill of a bugle from the barracks broke sharply through the muffled sounds of the city4 ,the ,june wind1 heavy with the waters of the ,ganges which flows past ,cawnpore1 made the night insufferably hot4 ,but the heat did not trouble ,sabat1 the wild son of the ,arabian desert1 who was talking--as he always did--in a roaring voice that was louder than most men's shouting4 ,he was telling the story of ,abdallah's brave death as a ,christian martyr4#fb ,quietly listening to ,sabat's voice--though he could not understand what he was saying--was a young ,italian1 ,padre ,julius ,caesar1 a monk of the order of the ,jesuits4 ,on his head was a little skull-cap1 over his body a robe of fine purple satin held with a girdle of twisted silk4 ,near him sat an ,indian scholar--on his dark head a full turban1 and about him richly-coloured robes4 ,on the other side sat a little1 thin1 copper-coloured ,bengali dressed in white1 and a ,british officer in his scarlet and gold uniform1 with his wife1 who has told us the story of that evening4 ,not one of these brightly dressed people was1 however1 the strongest power there4 ,a man in black clothes was the real centre of the group4 ,very slight in build1 not tall1 clean-shaven1 with a high forehead and sensitive lips1 young ,henry ,martyn seemed a stripling beside the flaming ,arab4 ,yet ,sabat1 with all his sound and fury1 was no match for the swift-witted1 clear-brained young ,englishman4 ,henry ,martyn was a chaplain in the army of the ,east ,india ,company1 which then ruled in ,india4 ,he was the only one of those who were listening to ,sabat who could understand what he was saying4 ,when ,sabat had finished his story1 ,martyn turned1 and1 in his clear1 musical voice translated it from the ,persian into ,latin mixed with ,italian for ,padre ,julius ,caesar1 into ,hindustani for the ,indian scholar1 into ,bengali for the ,bengal gentleman1 and into ,english for the ,british officer and his wife4 ,martyn could also talk to ,sabat himself both in ,arabic and in ,persian4 ,as ,martyn listened to the rolling sentences of ,sabat1 the ,christian ,arab1 he seemed to see the lands beyond ,india1 away across the ,khyber ,pass1 where ,sabat had travelled--,mesopotamia1 ,arabia1 ,persia4 ,henry ,martyn knew that in all those lands the people were ,mohammedans4 ,he wanted one thing above everything else in the world3 that was to give them all the chance of doing what ,sabat and ,abdallah had done--the chance of reading in their own languages the one book in the world that could tell them that ,god was a ,father--the book of letters and of biographies that we call the ,new ,testament4 ,the ,toil of ,brain ,there was not in the world a copy of the ,new ,testament in good ,persian4 ,to make one ,henry ,martyn slaved hard1 far into the hot1 sultry ,indian nights1 with scores of mosquitoes pinging round his lamp and his head1 grinding at his ,persian grammar1 so that he could translate the life of ,jesus ,christ into that language4 ,even while he was listening to ,sabat's story in the bungalow at ,cawnpore1 ,martyn knew that he was so ill that he could not live for many years more4 ,the doctor said that he must leave ,india for a time to be in a healthier place4 ,should he go home to ,england1 where all his friends were8 ,he wanted that2 but much more he wanted to go on with his work4 ,so he asked the doctor if he might go to ,persia on the way home1 and he agreed4 ,so ,martyn went down from ,cawnpore to ,calcutta1 and in a boat down the ,hoogli river to the little ,arab coasting sailing ship the ,hummoudi1 which hoisted sail and started on its voyage round ,india to ,bombay4 ,martyn read while on board the ,old ,testament in the original ,hebrew and the ,new ,testament in the original ,greek1 so that he might understand them better and make a more perfect translation into ,persian4 ,he read the ,koran of ,mohammed so that he could argue with the ,persians about it4 ,and he worked hard at ,arabic grammar1 and read books in ,persian4 ,yet he was for ever cracking jokes with his fellow travellers1 cooped up in the little ship on the hot tropical seas4 ,from ,bombay the governor granted ,martyn a passage up the ,persian ,gulf in the ,benares1 a ship in the ,indian ,navy that was going on a cruise to finish the exciting work of hunting down the fierce ,arab pirates of the ,persian ,gulf4 ,so on ,lady ,day1 #ahaa1 the sailors got her under weigh and tacked northward up the ,gulf1 till at last1 on ,may #ba1 the roofs and minarets of ,bushire hove in sight4 ,martyn1 leaning over the bulwarks1 could see the town jutting out into the ,gulf on a spit of sand and the sea almost surrounding it4 ,that day he set foot for the first time on the soil of ,persia4 ,across ,persia on a ,pony ,aboard ship ,martyn had allowed his beard and moustache to grow4 ,when he landed at ,bushire he bought and wore the clothes of a ,persian gentleman1 so that he should escape from attracting everybody's notice by wearing clothes such as the people had never seen before4 ,no one who had seen the pale1 clean-shaven clergyman in black silk coat and trousers in ,cawnpore would have recognised the ,henry ,martyn who rode out that night on his pony with an ,armenian servant1 ,zechariah of ,isfahan1 on his long one hundred and seventy mile journey from ,bushire to ,shiraz4 ,he wore a conical cap of black ,astrakhan fur1 great baggy trousers of blue1 bright red leather boots1 a light tunic of chintz1 and over that a flowing cloak4 ,they went out through the gates of ,bushire on to the great plain of burning sand that stretched away for ninety miles ahead of them4 ,they travelled by night1 because the day was intolerably hot1 but even at midnight the heat was over #ajj degrees4 ,it was a fine moonlight night2 the stars sparkled over the plain4 ,the bells tinkled on the mules' necks as they walked across the sand4 ,all else was silent4 ,at last dawn broke4 ,martyn pitched his little tent under a tree1 the only shelter he could get4 ,gradually the heat grew more and more intense4 ,he was already so ill that it was difficult to travel4 ,when the thermometer was above #aab degrees--fever heat1 says ,martyn1 ,i began to lose my strength fast4 ,it became intolerable4 ,i wrapped myself up in a blanket and all the covering ,i could get to defend myself from the air4 ,by this means the moisture was kept a little longer upon the body4 ,i thought ,i should have lost my senses4 ,the thermometer at last stood at #abf degrees4 ,i concluded that death was inevitable4 ,at last the sun went down3 the thermometer crept lower3 it was night and time to start again4 ,but ,martyn had not slept or eaten4 ,he could hardly sit upright on his pony4 ,yet he set out and travelled on through the night4 ,next morning he had a little shelter of leaves and branches made1 and an ,arab poured water on the leaves and on ,martyn all day to try to keep some of the frightful heat from him4 ,but even then the heat almost slew him4 ,so they marched on through another night and then camped under a grove of date palms4 ,i threw myself on the burning ground and slept1 ,martyn wrote4 ,when the tent came up ,i awoke in a burning fever4 ,all day ,i had recourse to the wet towel1 which kept me alive1 but would allow of no sleep4 ,at nine that night they struck camp4 ,the ground threw up the heat that it had taken from the sun during the day4 ,so frightfully hot was the air that even at midnight ,martyn could not travel without a wet towel round his face and neck4 ,as the night drew on the plain grew rougher3 then it began to rise to the foothills and mountains4 ,at last the pony and mules were clambering up rough steep paths so wild that there was 7as ,martyn said7 nothing to mark the road but the rocks being a little more worn in one place than in another4 ,suddenly in the darkness the pony stopped2 dimly through the gloom ,martyn could see that they were on the edge of a tremendous precipice4 ,a single step more would have plunged him over1 to be smashed on the rocks hundreds of feet below4 ,martyn did not move or try to guide the beast3 he knew that the pony himself was the safest guide4 ,in a minute or two the animal moved1 and step by step clambered carefully up the rock-strewn mountain-side4 ,at last they came out on the mountain top1 but only to find that they were on the edge of a flat high plain--a tableland4 ,the air was pure and fresher2 the mules and the travellers revived4 ,martyn's pony began to trot briskly along4 ,so1 as dawn came up1 they came in sight of a great courtyard built by the king of that country to refresh pilgrims4 ,through night after night they tramped1 across plateau and mountain range1 till they climbed the third range1 and then plunged by a winding rocky path into a wide valley where1 at a great town called ,kazrun1 in a garden of cypress trees was a summer-house4 ,martyn lay down on the floor but could not sleep1 though he was horribly weary4 ,there seemed1 he said1 to be fire within my head1 my skin like a cinder4 ,his heart beat like a hammer4 ,they went on climbing another range of mountains1 first tormented by mosquitoes1 then frozen with cold2 ,martyn was so overwhelmed with sleep that he could not sit on his pony and had to hurry ahead to keep awake and then sit down with his back against a rock where he fell asleep in a second1 and had to be shaken to wake up when ,zechariah1 the ,armenian mule driver1 came up to where he was4 ,they had at last climbed the four mountain rungs of the ladder to ,persia1 and came out on ,june #aath1 #ahaa1 on the great plain where the city of ,shiraz stands4 ,here he found the host ,jaffir ,ali ,khan1 to whom he carried his letters of introduction4 ,martyn in his ,persian dress1 seated on the ground1 was feasted with curries and rice1 sweets cooled with snow and perfumed with rose water1 and coffee4 ,ali ,khan had a lovely garden of orange trees1 and in the garden ,martyn sat4 ,ill as he was1 he worked day in and day out to translate the life of ,jesus ,christ in the ,new ,testament from the ,greek language into pure and simple ,persian4 ,the kind host put up a tent for ,martyn in the garden1 close to some beautiful vines1 from which hung lovely bunches of purple grapes4 ,by the side of his tent ran a clear stream of running water4 ,all the evening nightingales sang sweetly and mournfully4 ,as he sat there at his work1 men came hundreds of miles to talk with this holy man1 as they felt him to be4 ,moslems--they yet travelled even from ,baghdad and ,bosra and ,isfahan to hear this infidel speak of ,jesus ,christ1 and to argue as to which was the true religion4 ,prince ,abbas ,mirza invited him to come to speak with him2 and as ,martyn entered the ,prince's courtyard a hundred fountains began to send up jets of water in his honour4 ,at last they came to him in such numbers that ,martyn was obliged to say to many of them that he could not see them4 ,he hated sending them away4 ,what was it forced him to do so8 ,the ,race against ,time ,it was because he was running a race against time4 ,he knew that he could not live very long1 because the disease that had smitten his lungs was gaining ground every day4 ,and the thing that he had come to ,persia for--the object that had made him face the long voyage1 the frightful heat and the freezing cold of the journey1 the life thousands of miles from his home in ,cornwall--was that he might finish such a translation of the ,new ,testament into ,persian that men should love to read years and years after he had died4 ,so each day ,martyn finished another page or two of the book1 written in lovely ,persian letters4 ,he began the work within a week of reaching ,shiraz1 and in seven months 7,february1 #ahab7 it was finished4 ,three more months were spent in writing out very beautiful copies of the whole of the ,new ,testament in this new translation1 to be presented to the ,shah of ,persia and to the heir to the throne1 ,prince ,abbas ,mirza4 ,then he started away on a journey right across ,persia to find the ,shah and ,prince so that he might give his precious books to them4 ,on the way he fell ill with great fever2 he was so weak and giddy that he could not stand4 ,one night his head ached so that it almost drove him mad2 he shook all over with fever2 then a great sweat broke out4 ,he was almost unconscious with weakness1 but at midnight when the call came to start he mounted his horse and1 as he says1 set out1 rather dead than alive4 ,so he pressed on in great weakness till he reached ,tabriz1 and there met the ,british ,ambassador4 ,martyn was rejoiced1 and felt that all his pains were repaid when ,sir ,gore ,ouseley said that he himself would present the ,sacred ,book to the ,shah and the ,prince4 ,when the day came to give the book to ,prince ,abbas1 poor ,henry ,martyn was so weak that he could not rise from his bed4 ,before the other copy could be presented to the ,shah1 ,martyn had died4 ,this is how it came about4 ,the ,last ,trail ,his great work was done4 ,the ,new ,testament was finished4 ,he sent a copy to the printers in ,india4 ,he could now go home to ,england and try to get well again4 ,he started out on horseback with two ,armenian servants and a ,turkish guide4 ,he was making along the old track that has been the road from ,asia to ,europe for thousands of years4 ,his plan was to travel across ,persia1 through ,armenia and over the ,black ,sea to ,constantinople1 and so back to ,england4 ,for forty-five days he moved on1 often going as much as ninety miles1 and generally as much as sixty in a day4 ,he slept in filthy inns where fleas and lice abounded and mosquitoes tormented him4 ,horses1 cows1 buffaloes and sheep would pass through his sleeping-room1 and the stench of the stables nearly poisoned him4 ,yet he was so ill that often he could hardly keep his seat on his horse4 ,he travelled through deep ravines and over high mountain passes and across vast plains4 ,his head ached till he felt it would split2 he could not eat2 fever came on4 ,he shook with ague4 ,yet his remorseless ,turkish guide1 ,hassan1 dragged him along1 because he wanted to get the journey over and go back home4 ,at last one day ,martyn got rest on damp ground in a hovel1 his eyes and forehead feeling as though a great fire burnt in them4 ,i was almost frantic1 he wrote4 ,martyn was1 in fact1 dying2 yet ,hassan compelled him to ride a hundred and seventy miles of mountain track to ,tokat4 ,here1 on ,october #fth1 #ahab1 he wrote in his journal3 ,no horses to be had1 ,i had an unexpected repose4 ,i sat in the orchard and thought with sweet comfort and peace of my ,god--in solitude my ,company1 my ,friend1 my ,comforter4 ,it was the last word he was ever to write4 ,alone1 without a human friend by him1 he fell asleep4 ,but the book that he had written with his life-blood1 the ,persian ,new ,testament1 was printed1 and has told thousands of ,persians in far places1 where no ,christian man has penetrated1 that story of the love of ,god that is shown in ,jesus ,christ4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #fb3 ,see ,chapter ,,xxiii4 ,,chapter ,,xxv ,,the ,,moses ,,of ,,the ,,assyrians ,william ,ambrose ,shedd 7#ahfe-aiah7 ,i ,a dark-haired ,american with black1 penetrating eyes that looked you steadily in the face1 and sparkled with light when he laughed1 sat on a chair in a hall in #aiah in the ancient city of ,urumia in the land of ,assyria where ,persia and ,turkey meet4 ,his face was as brown with the sunshine of this eastern land as were the wrinkled faces of the turbaned ,assyrian village men who stood before him4 ,for he was born out here in ,persia on ,mount ,seir4#fc ,and he had lived here as a boy and a man1 save for the time when his splendid ,american father had sent him to ,marietta1 ,ohio1 for some of his schooling1 and to ,princeton for his final training4 ,his dark brown moustache and short beard covered a firm mouth and a strong chin4 ,his vigorous expression and his strongly ,roman nose added to the commanding effect of his presence4 ,a haunting terror had driven these ragged village people into the city of ,urumia1 to ask help of this wonderful ,american leader whom they almost worshipped because he was so strong and just and good4 ,for the bloodthirsty ,turks and the even more cruel and wilder ,kurds of the mountains were marching on the land4 ,the ,great ,war was raging across the world and even the hidden peoples of this distant mountain land were swept into its terrible flames4 ,for ,urumia city lies to the west of the southern end of the extremely salt lake of the same name4 ,it is about #aej miles west from the ,caspian ,sea and the same distance north of the site of ancient ,nineveh4 ,it stands on a small plain and in that tangle of lakes1 mountains and valley-plains where the ambitions of ,russia1 ,persia and ,turkey have met1 and where the ,assyrians 7,christians of one of the most ancient churches in the world1 which in the early centuries had a chain of missions from ,constantinople right across ,asia to ,peking71 the ,kurds 7wild1 fierce ,moslems71 the ,persians1 the ,turks and the ,russians struggled together4 ,in front of ,dr4 ,william ,ambrose ,shedd there stood an old man from the villages4 ,his long grey hair and beard and his wrinkled face were agitated as he told the ,american his story4 ,the old man's dress was covered with patches--an eyewitness counted thirty-seven patches--all of different colours on one side of his cloak and loose baggy trousers4 ,my field in my village ,i cannot plough1 he said1 for we have no ox4 ,the ,kurds have taken our possessions1 you are our father4 ,grant us an ox to plough and draw for us4 ,dr4 ,shedd saw that the old man spoke truth2 he scribbled a few words on a slip of paper and the old man went out satisfied4 ,so for hour after hour1 men and women from all the country round came to this strange missionary who had been asked by the ,american ,government to administer relief1 yes1 and to be the ,consul representing ,america itself in that great territory4 ,they came to him from the villages where1 around the fire in the ,khans at night1 men still tell stories of him as one of the great hero-leaders of their race4 ,these are the kind of stories that they tell of the courage and the gentleness of this man who--while he was a fine ,american scholar--yet knew the very heart of the ,eastern peoples in northwestern ,persia as no ,american has ever done in all our history4 ,one day1 says one old village ,assyrian greybeard1 ,dr4 ,shedd was sitting at meat in his house when his servant1 ,meshadi1 ran into the room crying1 ',the ,kurds have been among our people4 ,they have taken three girls1 three ,christian girls1 and are carrying them off4 ,they have just passed the gate4' ,the ,kurds were all bristling with daggers and pistols4 ,dr4 ,shedd simply picked up the cane that he holds in his hand when he walks4 ,he hurried out of the house with ,meshadi1 ran up the hill to the ,kurd village that lies there1 entered1 said to the fierce ,kurds1 ',give back those girls to us4' ,and they1 as they looked into his face1 could not resist him though they were armed and he was not4 ,so they gave the ,assyrian girls back to him and he led them down the hill to their homes4 ,so he also stood single-handed between ,turks and five hundred ,assyrians who had taken refuge in the missionary compound1 and stopped the ,turks from massacring the ,christians4 ,but even as he worked in this way the tide of the great war flowed towards ,urumia4 ,the people there were mostly ,assyrians with some ,armenians2 they were ,christians4 ,they looked southward across the mountains to the ,british ,army there in ,mesopotamia for aid4 ,but1 as the ,assyrians looked up from ,urumia to the north they could already see the first ,turks coming down upon the city4 ,thousands upon thousands of the ,assyrians from the country villages crowded into the city and into the ,american missionary compound1 till actually even in the mission school-rooms they were sleeping three deep--one lot on the floor1 another lot on the seats of the desks and a third on the top of the desks themselves4 ,hold on2 resist2 the help of the ,british will come1 said ,dr4 ,shedd to the people4 ,agha ,petros with a thousand of our men has gone to meet the ,british and he will come back with them and will throw back the ,turks4 ,the ,turks and the ,kurds came on from the north2 many of the ,armenian and ,assyrian men were out across the plains to the east getting in the harvest2 and no sign of succour came from the south4 ,,ii ,through the fierce hot days of ,july the people held on because ,dr4 ,shedd said that they must2 but at last on the afternoon of ,july #cjth there came over all the people a strange irresistible panic4 ,they gathered all their goods together and piled them in wagons--food1 clothes1 saucepans1 jewelry1 gold1 silver1 babies1 old women1 mothers1--all were huddled and jumbled together4 ,the wagons creaked1 the oxen lurched down the roads to the south1 the little children cried with hunger and fright1 the boys trudged along rather excited at the adventure yet rather scared at the awful hullabaloo and the strange feeling of horror of the cruel ,kurdish horsemen and of the crafty ,turk4 ,dr4 ,shedd made one last vain effort to persuade the people to hold on to their city2 but it was impossible--they had gone1 as it seemed1 mad with fright4 ,he and his wife went to bed that night but not to sleep4 ,at two o'clock the telephone bell rang4 ,the ,turks and ,kurds are advancing2 all the people are leaving1 came the message4 ,it is impossible to hold on any longer1 said ,dr4 ,shedd to his wife4 ,i will go and tell all in the compound4 ,you get things ready4 ,mrs4 ,shedd got up and began to collect what was needed3 she packed up food 7bread1 tea1 sugar1 nuts1 raisins and so on71 a frying pan1 a kettle1 a saucepan1 water jars1 saddles1 extra horse-shoes1 ropes1 lanterns1 a spade and bedding4 ,by #g4cj the baggage wagon and two ,red ,cross carts were ready4 ,dr4 ,shedd and ,mrs4 ,shedd got up into the wagon2 the driver cried to his horses and they started4 ,as they went out of the city on the south the ,turks and ,kurds came raging in on the north4 ,within two hours the ,turks and ,kurds were crashing into houses and burning them to the ground2 but most of the people had gone--for ,dr4 ,shedd was practically the last to leave ,urumia4 ,ahead of them were the ,armenians and ,syrians in flight4 ,they came to a little bridge--a mass of sticks with mud thrown over them4 ,here1 and at every bridge1 pandemonium reigned4 ,this is how ,mrs4 ,shedd describes the scene3 ,the jam at every bridge was indescribable confusion4 ,every kind of vehicle that you could imagine--ox carts1 buffalo wagons1 ,red ,cross carts1 troikas1 foorgans like prairie schooners1 hay-wagons1 ,russian phaetons and many others invented and fitted up for the occasion4 ,the animals--donkeys1 horses1 buffaloes1 oxen1 cows with their calves1 mules and herds of thousands of sheep and goats4 ,all through the day they moved on1 at the end of the procession--,dr4 ,shedd1 planning out how he could best get his people safely away from the ,turks who--he knew--would soon come pursuing them down the plain to the mountains4 ,night fell and they were in a long line of wagons close to a narrow bridge built by the ,russians across the ,baranduz river4 ,they had come some eighteen miles from ,urumia4 ,so they lay down in the wagons to try to sleep4 ,but they could not and at two o'clock in the night they moved on1 crossed the river and drove on for hour after hour toward the mountains that rose in a wall before them4 ,the poor horses were not strong so the wagon had to be lightened4 ,assyrian boys took loads on their heads and trudged up the rocky mountain road while the wagon jolted and groaned as it bumped its way along4 ,the trail of the mountain pass was littered with samovars 7tea urns71 copper kettles1 carpets1 bedding2 and here and there the body of someone who had died on the way4 ,at the very top of the pass lay a baby thrown aside there and just drawing its last breath4 ,so for two days they jolted on hardly getting an hour's sleep4 ,at last at midday on the third day they left ,hadarabad at the south end of ,lake ,urumia4 ,two hours later the sound of booming guns was heard4 ,a horseman galloped up4 ,the ,turks are in ,hadarabad1 he said4 ,they are attacking the rear of the procession4 ,it seemed1 said ,mrs4 ,shedd1 as if at any moment we should hear the screams of those behind1 as the enemy fell upon them4 ,the wagons hurried on to the next town called ,memetyar and there ,dr4 ,shedd waited1 lightening his own wagons by throwing away everything that they could spare--oil1 potatoes1 charcoal1 every box except his ,bible and a small volume of ,browning's ,poems4 ,then they started again1 along a road that was littered with the discarded goods of the people4 ,then they saw on the road-side a little baby girl that had been left by her parents4 ,she was not a year old and sat there all alone in a desolate spot4 ,left to die4 ,dr4 ,shedd looked at his wife and she at him4 ,he pulled up the horse and jumped down1 picked up the baby and put her in the wagon4 ,they went along till they came to a large village4 ,here they found a ,kurdish mother4 ,take care of this little girl till we come back1 said ,dr4 ,shedd1 and here is some money for looking after her4 ,we will give you more when we come back if she is well looked after4 ,,iii ,suddenly cannon were fired from the mountains and the people in panic threw away their goods and hurried in a frenzy of fear down the mountain passes4 ,they passed on to the plain1 and then as they were in a village guns began to be fired4 ,three hundred ,turks and ,persians were attacking under ,majdi--,sultana of ,urumia4 ,dr4 ,shedd1 riding his horse1 gathered together some ,armenian and ,assyrian men with guns and stayed with them to help them hold back the enemy1 while the women drove on4 ,he was a good target sitting up there on his horse2 but without thinking of his own danger he kept his men at it4 ,for he felt like a shepherd with a great flock of fleeing sheep whom it was his duty to protect4 ,panic seized the people4 ,strong men left their old mothers to die4 ,mothers dropped their babies and ran4 ,one of my school-girls1 ,mrs4 ,shedd says1 afterward told me how she had left her baby on the bank and waded with an older child through the river when the enemy were coming after them4 ,she couldn't carry both4 ,the memory of her deserted baby is always with her4 ,the line of the refugees stretched for miles along the road4 ,the enemy fired from behind boulders on the mountain sides4 ,the ,armenians and ,syrians fired back from the road or ran up the mountains to chase them4 ,it was hopeless to think of driving the enemy off but ,dr4 ,shedd's object was to hold them off till help came4 ,so he went up and down on his horse encouraging the men2 while the bullets whizzed over the wagons4 ,i feared1 said ,mrs4 ,shedd1 that the enemy might get the better of us and we should have to leave the carts and run for our lives4 ,while they were plundering the wagons and the loads we would get away4 ,i looked about me to see what we might carry4 ,there was little ,may1 six years old 7the daughter of one of their ,syrian teachers7 who had unconcernedly curled herself up on the seat for a nap4 ,i wrapped a little bread in a cloth1 put my glasses in my pocket1 and took the bag of money so that ,i should be ready on a moment's notice for ,dr4 ,shedd if they should swoop down upon us4 ,all day long the firing went on from the mountain side as the tired horses pulled along the rough trail4 ,the sun began to sink toward the horizon4 ,what would happen in the darkness8 ,then they saw ahead of them coming from the south a group of men in khaki4 ,they were nine ,british ,tommies with three ,lewis guns under ,captain ,savage4 ,they had come ahead from the main body that had moved up from ,baghdad in order to defend the rear of the great procession4 ,the little company of soldiers passed on and the procession moved forward4 ,that tiny company of nine ,british ,tommies ten miles farther on was attacked by hundreds of ,turks4 ,all day they held the road1 like ,horatius on the bridge1 till at night the ,cavalry came up and drove off the enemy1 and at last the ,shedds reached the ,british camp4 ,why are you right at the tail end of the retreat8 asked one of the ,syrian young men who had hurried forward into safety4 ,i would much rather be there1 said ,dr4 ,shedd with some scorn in his voice1 than like you1 leave the unarmed1 the sick1 the weak1 the women and the children to the mercy of the enemy4 ,he was rejoiced that the ,british had come4 ,there was1 said ,mrs4 ,shedd1 a ring in his voice1 a light in his eyes1 a buoyancy in his step that ,i had not seen for months4 ,he had shepherded his thousands and thousands of boys and girls1 and men and women through the mountains into the protection of the ,british squadron of troops4 ,,iv ,later that day ,dr4 ,shedd began to feel the frightful heat of the ,august day so exhausting that he had to lie down in the cart1 which had a canvas cover open at both ends and was therefore much cooler than a tent4 ,he got more and more feverish4 ,so ,mrs4 ,shedd got the ,assyrian boys to take out the baggage and she made up a bed for him on the floor of the cart4 ,the ,english doctor was out with the cavalry who were holding back and dispersing the ,turkish force4 ,then a ,british officer came and said3 ,we are moving the camp forward under the protection of the mountains4 ,it was late afternoon4 ,the cart moved forward into the gathering darkness4 ,mrs4 ,shedd crouched beside her husband on the floor of the cart attending to him1 expecting the outriders to tell her when they came to the ,british ,camp4 ,for hours the cart rolled and jolted over the rough mountain roads4 ,at last it stopped1 it was so dark they could not see the road4 ,they were in a gully and could not go forward4 ,where is the ,british camp8 asked ,mrs4 ,shedd4 ,we passed it miles back on the road1 was the reply4 ,it was a terrible blow3 the doctor1 the medicines1 the comfort1 the nursing that would have helped ,dr4 ,shedd were all miles away and he was so ill that it was impossible to drive him back over that rough mountain track in the inky darkness of the night4 ,there was nothing to do but just stay where they were1 send a messenger to the camp for the doctor1 and wait for the morning4 ,only a few drops of oil were left in the lantern1 ,mrs4 ,shedd tells us1 but ,i lighted it and looked at ,mr4 ,shedd4 ,i could see that he was very sick indeed and asked two of the men to go back for the doctor4 ,it was midnight before the doctor reached us4 ,the men1 ,mrs4 ,shedd continues1 set fire to a deserted cart left by the refugees and this furnished fire and light all night4 ,they arranged for guards in turn and lay down to rest on the roadside4 ,hour after hour ,i crouched in the cart beside my husband massaging his limbs when cramps attacked him1 giving him water frequently1 for while he was very cold to the touch1 he seemed feverish4 ,we heated the hot water bottle for his feet1 and made coffee for him at the blaze2 we had no other nourishment4 ,he got weaker and weaker1 and a terrible fear tugged at my heart4 ,fifty thousand hunted1 terror-stricken refugees had passed on2 the desolate1 rocky mountains loomed above us1 darkness was all about us and heaven seemed too far away for prayer to reach4 ,a deserted baby wailed all night not far away4 ,when the doctor came he gave two hypodermic injections and returned to the camp saying we should wait there for him to catch up to us in the morning4 ,after the injections ,mr4 ,shedd rested better but he did not again regain consciousness4 ,when the light began to reveal things1 ,i could see the awful change in his face1 but ,i could not believe that he was leaving me4 ,shortly after light the men told me that we could not wait as they heard fighting behind and it was evident the ,english were attacked1 so in his dying hour we had to take him over the rough1 stony road4 ,after an hour or two ,capt4 ,reed and the doctor caught up to us4 ,we drew the cart to the side of the road where soon he drew a few short1 sharp breaths--and ,i was alone4 ,so the ,british officers1 with a little hoe1 on the mountain side dug the grave of this brave ,american shepherd1 who had given his life in defending the ,assyrian flock from the ,turkish wolf4 ,they made the grave just above the road beside a rock2 and on it they sprinkled dead grass so that it might not be seen and polluted by the enemy4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the people ,dr4 ,shedd loved were safe4 ,the enemy1 whose bullets he had braved for day after day1 was defeated by the ,british soldiers4 ,but the great ,american leader1 whose tired body had not slept while the ,assyrians and ,armenians were being hunted through the mountains1 lies there dreamless on the mountain side4 ,these are words that broke from the lips of ,assyrian sheiks when they heard of his death3 ,he bore the burdens of the whole nation upon his shoulders to the last breath of his life4 ,as long as we obeyed his advice and followed his lead we were safe and prosperous1 but when we ceased to do that destruction came upon us4 ,he was1 and ever will be1 the ,moses of the ,assyrian people4 ,he lies there where his heart always was--in that land in which the ,turk1 the ,assyrian1 the ,armenian1 the ,persian1 the ,russian and the ,arab meet2 he is there waiting for the others who will go out and take up the work that he has left1 the work of carrying to all those eastern peoples the love of the ,christ whom ,dr4 ,shedd died in serving4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #fc3 ,born ,january #beth1 #ahfe4 ,graduated ,marietta ,college1 ,ohio1 #ahhg1 and ,princeton ,theological ,seminary1 #ahib4 ,,chapter ,,xxvi ,,an ,,american ,,nurse ,,in ,,the ,,great ,,war ,e4,d4 ,cushman 7,time #aiad-aibj7 ,the ,turk in ,bed ,the cold1 clear sunlight of a winter morning on the high plateau of ,asia ,minor shone into the clean1 white ward of a hospital in ,konia 7the greatest city in the heart of that land74 ,the hospital in which the events that ,i am going to tell in this story happened is supported by ,christian folk in ,america1 and was established by two ,american medical missionaries1 ,dr4 ,william ,s4 ,dodd1 and ,dr4 ,wilfred ,post1 with ,miss ,cushman1 the head nurse1 sharing the general superintendence3 other members of the staff are ,haralambos1 their ,armenian dispenser and druggist1 and ,kleoniki1 a ,greek nurse trained by ,miss ,cushman4 ,the author spent the early spring of #aiad at the hospital in ,konia1 when all the people named above were at work there4 ,the tinkle of camel-bells as a caravan of laden beasts swung by1 the quick pad-pad of donkeys' hoofs1 the howl of a ,turkish dog1 the cry of a child--these and other sounds of the city came through the open window of the ward4 ,on a bed in the corner of the ward lay a bearded man--a ,turk--who lived in this ancient city of ,konia 7the ,iconium of ,st4 ,paul's day74 ,his brown face and grizzled beard were oddly framed in the white of the spotless pillow and sheets4 ,his face turned to the door as it opened and the matron entered4 ,the eyes of the ,turk as he lay there followed her as she walked toward one of her deft1 gentle-handed assistant nurses who1 in their neat uniforms with their olive-brown faces framed in dark hair1 went from bed to bed tending the patients2 giving medicine to a boy here1 shaking up a pillow for a sick man there1 taking a patient's temperature yonder4 ,those skilled nurses were ,armenian girls4 ,the ,armenians are a ,christian nation1 who have been ruled by the ,turks for centuries and often have been massacred by them2 yet these ,armenian girls were nursing the ,turks in the hospital4 ,but the matron of the hospital was not a ,turk1 nor an ,armenian4 ,she had come four thousand miles across the sea to heal the ,turks and the ,armenians in this land4 ,she was an ,american4 ,the ,turk in bed turned his eyes from the nurses to a picture on the wall4 ,a frown came on his face4 ,he began to mutter angry words into his beard4 ,as a ,turk he had always been taught1 even as a little boy1 that the great ,prophet ,mohammed had told them they must have no pictures of prophets1 and he knew from what he had heard that the picture on the wall showed the face of a prophet4 ,it was a picture of a man with a kind1 strong face1 dressed in garments of the lands of the ,east1 and wearing a short beard4 ,he was stooping down healing a little child4 ,it was our ,lord ,jesus ,christ the ,great ,physician4 ,as ,miss ,cushman--for that was the name of the matron--moved toward his bed1 the ,turk burst into angry speech4 ,have that picture taken down1 he said roughly1 pointing to it4 ,she turned to look at the picture and then back at him1 and said words like these3 ,no1 that is the picture of ,jesus1 the great ,doctor who lived long ago and taught the people that ,god is ,love4 ,it is because ,he taught that1 and has called me to follow in ,his steps1 that ,i am here to help to heal you4 ,but the ,turk1 who was not used to having women disobey his commands1 again ordered angrily that the picture should be taken down4 ,but the ,american missionary-nurse said gently1 but firmly3 ,no1 the picture must stay there to remind us of ,jesus4 ,if you cannot endure to see the picture there1 then if you wish you may leave the hospital1 of course4 ,and so she passed on4 ,the ,turk lay in his bed and thought it over4 ,he wished to get well4 ,if the doctors in this hospital--,dr4 ,dodd and ,dr4 ,post--did not attend him1 and if the nurses did not give him his medicine1 he would not4 ,he therefore decided to make no more fuss about the picture4 ,so he lay looking at it1 and was rather surprised to find in a few days that he liked to see it there1 and that he wanted to hear more and more about the great ,prophet-,doctor1 ,jesus4 ,then he had another tussle of wills with ,miss ,cushman1 the white nurse from across the seas4 ,it came about in this way4 ,women who are ,mohammedans keep their faces veiled1 but the ,armenian ,christian nurses had their faces uncovered4 ,surely they are shameless women1 he thought in his heart4 ,and they are ,armenians too--,christian infidels6 ,so he began to treat them rudely4 ,but the white nurse would not stand that4 ,miss ,cushman went and stood by his bed and said3 ,i want you to remember that these nurses of mine are here to help you to get well4 ,they are to you even as daughters tending their father2 and you must behave to them as a good father to good daughters4 ,so the ,turk lay in bed and thought about that also4 ,it took him a long time to take it in1 for he had always been taught to hate the ,armenians and to think low thoughts about their womenfolk4 ,but in the end he learnt that lesson also4 ,at last the ,turk got well1 left his bed1 and went away4 ,he was so thankful that he was better that he was ready to do just anything in the world that ,miss ,cushman wanted him to do4 ,the days passed on in the hospital1 and always the white nurse from across the seas and the ,armenian nurses tended the ,turkish and other patients1 and healed them through the heats of that summer4 ,war and ,massacre ,as summer came near to its end there broke on the world the dreadful day when all ,europe went to war4 ,miss ,cushman's colleagues1 the ,american doctors at the hospital1 left ,konia for service in the war4 ,soon ,turkey entered the war4 ,the fury of the ,turks against the ,armenians burst out into a flame4 ,you might see in ,konia two or three ,turks sitting in the shadow of a little saddler's shop by the street smoking their hubble-bubble water-pipes1 and saying words like these3 ,the ,armenians are plotting to help the enemies of ,turkey4 ,we shall have to kill them all4 ,yes1 wipe them out--the accursed infidels6 ,the ,turks hate the ,armenians because their religion1 ,islam1 teaches them to hate the infidel ,christians2 they are of a foreign race and foreign religion in countries ruled by ,turks1 though the ,armenians were there first1 and the ,armenians are cleverer business men than the ,turks1 who hate to see their subjects richer than themselves1 and hope by massacre to seize ,armenian wealth4 ,yet all the time1 as the wounded ,turks were sent from the ,gallipoli front back to ,konia1 the ,armenian nurses in the hospital there were healing them4 ,but the ,turkish ,government gave its orders4 ,vile bands of ,turkish soldiers rushed down on the different cities and villages of the ,armenians4#fd ,one sunny morning a troop of ,turkish soldiers came dashing into a quiet little ,armenian town among the hills4 ,an order was given4 ,the ,turks smashed in the doors of the houses4 ,a father stood up before his family2 a bayonet was driven through him and soldiers dashed over his dead body2 they looted the house2 they smashed up his home2 others seized the mother and the daughters--the mother had a baby in her arms2 the baby was flung on the ground and then picked up dead on the point of a bayonet2 and1 though the mother and daughters were not bayoneted then1 it would have been better to die at once than to suffer the unspeakable horrors that came to them4 ,and that happened in hundreds of villages and cities to hundred of thousands of ,armenians1 while hundreds of thousands more scattered down the mountain passes in flight towards ,konia4 ,the ,orphan ,boys and ,girls ,as ,miss ,cushman and her ,armenian nurses looked out through the windows of the hospital1 their hearts were sad as they saw some of these ,armenian refugees trailing along the road like walking skeletons4 ,what was to happen to them8 ,it was very dangerous for anyone to show that they were friends with the ,armenians1 but the white matron was as brave as she was kind2 so she went out to do what she could to help them4 ,one day she saw a little boy so thin that the bones seemed almost to be coming through his skin4 ,he was very dirty2 his hair was all matted together2 and there were bugs and fleas in his clothes and in his hair4 ,the hospital was so full that not another could be taken in4 ,but the boy would certainly die if he were not looked after properly4 ,his father and his mother had both been slain by the ,turks2 he did not know where his brothers were4 ,he was an orphan alone in all the world4 ,miss ,cushman knew ,armenian people in ,konia1 and she went to one of these homes and told them about the poor boy and arranged to pay them some money for the cost of his food4 ,so she made a new home for him4 ,the next day she found another boy1 and then a girl1 and so she went on and on1 discovering little orphan ,armenian boys and girls who had nobody to care for them1 and finding them homes--until she had over six hundred orphans being cared for4 ,it is certain that nearly all of them would have died if she had not looked after them4 ,so ,miss ,cushman gathered the six hundred ,armenian children together into an orphanage1 that was half for the boys and half for the girls4 ,she was a hundred times better than the ,woman who ,lived in a ,shoe1 because1 though she had so many children1 she did know what to do4 ,she taught them to make nearly everything for themselves4 ,in the mornings you would see half the boys figuring away at their sums or learning to write and read1 while the other boys were hammering and sawing and planing at the carpenter's bench2 cutting leather and sewing it to make shoes for the other boys and girls2 cutting petrol tins up into sheets to solder into kettles and saucepans2 and cutting and stitching cloth to make clothes4 ,a young ,american ,red ,cross officer who went to see them wrote home1 ,the kids look happy and healthy and as clean as a whistle4 ,the ,people on the ,plain ,as ,miss ,cushman looked out again from the hospital window she saw men coming from the country into the city jogging along on little donkeys4 ,in the villages all across the plain1 they said to her1 are ,armenian boys and girls1 and men and women4 ,they are starving4 ,many are without homes1 wandering about in rags till they simply lie down on the ground1 worn out1 and die4 ,miss ,cushman sent word to friends far away in ,america1 and they sent food from ,america to ,turkey in ships1 and a million dollars of money to help the starving children4 ,so ,miss ,cushman got together her boys and girls and some other helpers1 and soon they were very busy all day and every day wrapping food and clothes into parcels4 ,next a caravan of snorting camels came swinging in to the courtyard and1 grumbling and rumbling1 knelt down1 to be loaded up4 ,the parcels were done up in big bales and strapped on to the camels' backs4 ,then at a word from the driver the camels rose from their knees and went lurching out from ,konia into the country1 over the rough1 rolling tracks1 to carry to the people the food and clothes that would keep them alive4 ,the wonderful thing is that these camels were led by a ,turk belonging to the people who hate the ,armenians1 yet he was carrying food and clothes to them6 ,why did this ,turk in ,konia go on countless journeys1 travelling over thousands of miles with tens of thousands of parcels containing wheat for bread and new shirts and skirts and other clothes for the ,armenians whom he had always hated1 and never lose a single parcel8 ,why did he do it8 ,this is the reason4 ,before the war when he was ill in the hospital ,miss ,cushman had nursed him with the help of her ,armenian girls1 and had made him better2 he was so thankful that he would just run to do anything that she wished him to do4 ,to ,stay or not to ,stay8 ,but at last ,miss ,cushman--worn out with all this work--fell ill with a terrible fever4 ,for some time it was not certain that she would not die of it2 for a whole month she lay sick in great weakness4 ,president ,wilson had at this time broken off relations between ,america and ,turkey4 ,the ,turk now thought of the ,american as an enemy2 and ,miss ,cushman was an ,american4 ,she was in peril4 ,what was she to do8 ,it is not safe to stay1 said her friends4 ,you will be practically a prisoner of war4 ,you will be at the mercy of the ,turks4 ,you know what the ,turk is--as treacherous as he is cruel4 ,they can1 if they wish1 rob you or deport you anywhere they like4 ,go now while the path is open--before it is too late4 ,you are in the very middle of ,turkey1 hundreds of miles from any help4 ,the dangers are terrible4 ,as soon as she was well enough ,miss ,cushman went to the ,turkish ,governor of ,konia1 a bitter ,mohammedan who had organised the massacre of forty thousand ,armenians1 to say that she had been asked to go back to ,america4 ,what shall you do if ,i stay8 she asked4 ,i beg you to stay1 said the ,governor4 ,you shall be protected4 ,you need have no fear4 ,your words are beautiful1 she replied4 ,but if ,american and ,turkey go to war you will deport me4 ,if she stayed she knew the risks under his rule4 ,she was still weak from her illness4 ,there was no colleague by her side to help her4 ,there seemed to be every reason why she should sail away back to ,america4 ,but as she sat thinking it over she saw before her the hospital full of wounded soldiers1 the six hundred orphans who looked to her for help1 the plain of a hundred villages to which she was sending food4 ,no one could take her place4 ,yet she was weak and tired after her illness and1 in ,america1 rest and home1 friends and safety called to her4 ,it was1 she wrote later to her friends1 a heavy problem to know what to do with the orphans and other helpless people who depended on me for life4 ,what would you have done8 ,what do you think she did8 ,for what reason should she face these perils8 ,not in the heat of battle1 but in cool quiet thought1 all alone among enemies1 she saw her path and took it4 ,she did not count her life her own4 ,she was ready to give her life for her friends of all nations4 ,she decided to stay in the heart of the enemies' country and serve her ,god and the children4 ,many a man has had the cross of ,honour for an act that called for less calm courage4 ,that deed showed her to be one of the great undecorated heroes and heroines of the lonely path4 ,so she stayed on4 ,from all over the ,turkish ,empire prisoners were sent to ,konia4 ,there was great confusion in dealing with them1 so the people of ,konia asked ,miss ,cushman to look after them2 they even wrote to the ,turkish ,government at ,constantinople to tell them to write to her to invite her to do this work4 ,there was a regular hue and cry that she should be appointed1 because everyone knew her strong will1 her power of organising1 her just treatment1 her good judgment1 and her loving heart4 ,so at last she accepted the invitation4 ,prisoners of eleven different nationalities she helped--including ,british1 ,french1 ,italian1 ,russian1 ,indians and ,arabs4 ,she arranged for the nursing of the sick1 the feeding of the hungry1 the freeing of some from prison4 ,she went on right through the war to the end and beyond the end1 caring for her orphans1 looking after the sick in hospital1 sending food and clothes to all parts of the country1 helping the prisoners4 ,without caring whether they were ,british or ,turkish1 ,armenian or ,indian1 she gave her help to those who needed it4 ,and because of her splendid courage thousands of boys and girls and men and women are alive and well1 who--without her--would have starved and frozen to death4 ,to-day1 in and around ,konia 7an ,army officer who has been there tells us71 the people do not say1 ,if ,allah wills1 but ,if ,miss ,cushman wills6 ,it is that officer's way of letting us see how1 through her brave daring1 her love1 and her hard work1 that served everybody1 ,british1 ,armenian1 ,turk1 ,indian1 and ,arab1 she has become the uncrowned ,queen of ,konia1 whose bidding all the people do because she only cares to serve them1 not counting her own life dear to her4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #fd3 ,in reading this part of the story to younger children discretion should be exercised4 ,some of the details on this page are horrible2 but it is right that older children should realize the evil and how ,miss ,cushman's courage faced it4 ,,chapter ,,xxvii ,,on ,,the ,,desert ,,camel ,,trail ,archibald ,forder 7,time of ,incident #aijj-aija7 ,the ,boy ,who ,listened ,an eight-year-old schoolboy sat one evening in a crowded meeting in ,salisbury1 his eyes wide open with wonder as he heard a bronzed and bearded man on the platform telling of his adventures in ,africa4 ,the man was ,robert ,moffat4 ,it was a hot summer night in ,august 7#ahgd74 ,the walls of the building where the meeting was held seemed to have disappeared and the boy ,archibald ,forder could in imagination see the plain of a thousand villages1 that ,livingstone had seen when this same ,robert ,moffat had called him to ,africa many years before4 ,as the boy ,archibald heard ,moffat he too wished to go out into the foreign field4 ,many things happened as he grew up2 but he never forgot that evening4 ,at the age of thirteen he left home and was apprenticed to the grocery and baking business4 ,in #ahhh he married4 ,at this time he read in a magazine about missionary work in ,kerak beyond the ,river ,jordan--in ,moab among the ,arabs--where a young married man ready to rough it was needed4 ,he sailed with his wife for ,kerak on ,september #c1 #ahia1 and left ,jerusalem by camel on ,september #cj1 on the four days' journey across ,jordan to ,kerak4 ,three times they were robbed by brigands on this journey4 ,mr4 ,forder worked there till #ahif4 ,he then left and travelled through ,america to secure support for an attempt to penetrate ,central ,arabia with the first effort to carry the ,gospel of ,jesus ,christ there4 ,the story that follows tells how ,forder made his pioneer journey into the ,arabian desert4 ,the ,adventure into the ,desert ,two pack-horses were stamping their hoofs impatiently outside a house in ,jerusalem in the early morning a week or two before ,christmas4#fe ,inside the house a man was saying good-bye to his wife and his three children4 ,he was dressed as an ,arab1 with a long scarf wrapped about his head and on the top the black rope of twisted goats' hair that the ,arab puts on when he becomes a man4 ,will you be long1 ,father8 asked his little four-year-old boy4 ,the father could not answer1 for he was going out from ,jerusalem for hundreds of miles into the sun and the thirst of the desert1 to the land of the fiercest ,arabs--,moslems whose religion tells them that they must kill the infidel ,christians4 ,it was difficult to tear himself from his wife and his children and go out to face death in the desert4 ,but he had come out here to carry to the ,arab the story of ,jesus ,christ1 who ,himself had died on a ,cross outside this very city4 ,so he kissed his little boy good-bye1 wrenched himself away1 climbed on top of the load on one of the pack horses and rode out through the gate into the unknown4 ,he thought as his horses picked their way down the road from ,jerusalem toward ,jericho of how ,jesus ,christ had been put to death in this very land4 ,over his left shoulder he saw the slopes of the ,mount of ,olives2 down below across the ravine on his right was the ,garden of ,gethsemane4 ,in a short time he was passing through ,bethany where ,mary and ,martha lived4 ,down the steep winding road amongst the rocks he went1 and took a cup of cold water at the inn of the ,good ,samaritan4 ,then with the ,wilderness of ,desolation stretching its tawny tumbled desert hills away to the left1 he moved onward1 down and down until the road came out a thousand feet below sea-level among the huts and sheepfolds of ,jericho1 where he slept that night4 ,with his face toward the dawn that came up over the hills of ,moab in the distance1 he was off again over the plain with the ,dead ,sea on his right1 across the swiftly flowing ,jordan1 and climbing the ravines that lead into the mountains of ,gilead4 ,that night he stayed with a ,circassian family in a little house of only one room into which were crowded his two horses1 a mule1 two donkeys1 a yoke of oxen1 some sheep and goats1 a crowd of cocks and hens1 four small dirty children and their father and mother2 and a great multitude of fleas4 ,the mother fried him a supper of eggs with bread1 and after it he showed them something that they had never seen before4 ,he took out of his pack a copy of the ,new ,testament translated into ,arabic4#ff ,he read bits out of it and talked to them about the ,love of ,god4 ,early next morning1 his saddle-bag stuffed with a batch of loaves which the woman had baked first thing in the morning specially for him1 he set out again4 ,how could a whole batch of loaves be stuffed in one saddle-bag8 ,the loaves are flat and circular like a pancake4 ,the dough is spread on a kind of cushion1 the woman takes up the cushion with the dough on it1 pushes it through the opening and slaps the dough on the inner wall of a big mud oven 7out of doors7 that has been heated with a fire of twigs1 and in a minute or two pushes the cushion in again and the cooked bread falls on to it4 ,so ,forder climbed up the mountain track till he came out on the high plain4 ,he saw the desert in front of him--like a vast rolling ocean of glowing gold it stretched away and away for close on a thousand miles eastward to the ,persian ,gulf4 ,forder knew that only here and there in all those blazing1 sandy wastes were oases where men could build their houses round some well or little stream that soon lost itself in the sand4 ,all the rest was desert across which man and beast must hurry or die of thirst4 ,he must follow the camel-tracks from oasis to oasis1 where they could find a well of water1 therefore drink for man and camel1 and date-palms4 ,so turning north he pressed on#fg till on the sixth day out from ,jerusalem the clouds came up with the dawn1 and hail and rain1 carried by a biting east wind1 beat down upon him4 ,lifting his eyes to the horizon he saw ahead the sturdy castle and thick walls of the ancient city of ,bosra4 ,stumbling through the storm1 along the narrow winding streets1 he met1 to his disgust1 a man whose dress showed that he was a ,turkish ,government official4 ,he knew that the ,turkish ,government would be against a ,christian and a foreigner going into their land4 ,who are you8 asked the official1 stopping him4 ,where are you from8 ,where are you going8 ,forder told him1 and the man said4 ,come with me4 ,i will find you and your horses shelter at the ,governor's house4 ,forder followed him into a large room in the middle of which on the floor a fire was burning4 ,i must examine all your cases1 said the official4 ,get up4 ,open your boxes4 ,never1 said ,forder4 ,this is not a custom-house4 ,your boxes are full of powder for arming the ,arabs against the ,turkish ,government1 replied the official4 ,i will not open them1 said ,forder1 unless you bring me written orders from the ,turkish ,governor in ,damascus and from the ,british ,consul4 ,off went the official to consult the headman 7the equivalent of the ,mayor7 of the city4 ,the headman came and asked many questions4 ,at last he said3 ,well1 my orders are to turn back all ,europeans and not to let any stay in these parts4 ,however1 as you seem to be almost an ,arab1 may ,god go with you and give you peace4 ,so ,forder and the headman of the ancient city of ,bosra got talking together4 ,forder opened his satchel and drew out an ,arabic ,new ,testament1 and together they read parts of the story of the life of ,jesus ,christ and talked about ,him till ten o'clock at night4 ,as the headman rose to go to his own rooms ,forder offered to him1 and he gladly took1 the copy of the ,new ,testament in ,arabic to read for himself4 ,saved by the ,mist ,next morning early1 ,forder had his horses loaded and started off with his face to the dawn4 ,the track now led toward the great ,castle of ,sulkhund1 which he saw looming up on the horizon twenty-five miles away1 against the dull sky4 ,but mist came down2 wind1 rain1 and hail buffeted him2 the horses1 to escape the hail in their faces1 turned aside1 and the trail was lost4 ,mist hid everything4 ,forder's compass showed that he was going south2 so he turned east again2 but he could not strike the narrow1 broken1 stony trail4 ,suddenly smoke could be seen1 and then a hamlet of thirty houses loomed up4 ,forder opened a door and a voice came calling1 ,welcome6 ,he went in and saw some ,arabs crouching there out of the rain4 ,a fire of dried manure was made2 the smoke made ,forder's eyes smart and the tears run down his cheeks4 ,he changed into another man's clothes1 and hung his own up in the smoke to dry4 ,where are we8 he asked4 ,the men told him that he was about two and a half hours' ride from the castle and two hours off the track that he had left in the mist4 ,the men came in from the other little houses to see the stranger and sip coffee4 ,forder again brought out an ,arabic ,new ,testament and found to his surprise that some of the men could read quite well and were very keen on his books4 ,so they bought some of the ,bibles from him4 ,they had no money but paid him in dried figs1 flour and eggs4 ,at last they left him to curl up on the hard floor2 and in spite of the cold and draughts and the many fleas he soon fell asleep4 ,as dawn came up he rose and started off3 there 7as he climbed out of the hollow in which the hamlet lay7 he could see the ,castle ,sulkhund4 ,he knew that the ,turks did not want any foreigner to enter that land of the ,arabs1 and that if he were seen1 he would certainly be ordered back4 ,yet he could not hide1 for the path ran close under the castle1 and on the wall strode the sentry4 ,the plain was open2 there was no way by which he could creep past4 ,at last he came to the hill on which the castle stood4 ,at that very moment a dense mist came down2 he walked along1 lost the track1 and found it again4 ,then there came a challenge from the sentry4 ,he could not see the sentry or the sentry him4 ,so he called back in ,arabic that he was a friend1 and so passed on in the mist4 ,at last he was out on the open ground beyond both the castle and the little town by it4 ,five minutes later the mist blew away2 the sun shone2 the castle was passed1 and the open plains lay before him4 ,the mist had saved him4 ,in an hour he came to a large town named ,orman on the edge of the desert sandy plains2 and here he stayed for some weeks4 ,his horses were sent back to ,jerusalem4 ,instead of towns and villages of huts1 he would now find only the tents of wandering ,arabs who had to keep moving to find bits of sparse growth for their few sheep and camels4 ,while he was at ,orman he managed to make friends with many of the ,arabs and with their ,chief4 ,he asked the ,chief to help him on toward ,kaf--an oasis town across the desert4 ,don't go1 the ,chief and his people said1 the ,arabs there are bad3 when we go we never let our rifles out of our hands4 ,so the old ,chief told him of the dangers of the desert2 death from thirst or from the fiery ,arabs of ,kaf4 ,i am trusting ,god to protect and keep me1 said ,forder4 ,i believe ,he will do so4 ,so ,forder handed the ,chief most of his money to take care of1 and sewed up the rest into the waistband of his trousers4 7,it is as safe as a bank to hand your money to an ,arab chief who has entertained you in his tent4 ,if you have eaten his salt he will not betray or rob you4 ,absolute loyalty to your guest is the unwritten law that no true ,arab ever breaks47 ,the ,caravan of ,two ,thousand ,camels ,at last the old ,chief very unwillingly called a man1 told him to get a camel1 load up ,forder's things on it1 and pass him on to the first ,arab tent that he found4 ,two days passed before they found a group of ,bedouin tents4 ,he was allowed to sleep in a tent3 but early in the morning he woke with a jump4 ,the whole of the tent had fallen right on him2 he crawled out4 ,he saw the ,arab women standing round2 they had pulled the tent down4 ,why do you do this so early8 he asked4 ,the men1 they replied1 have ordered us to move to another place2 they fear to give shelter to a ,christian--one that is unclean and would cause trouble to come on us4 ,so the tribesmen with their women and flocks made off1 leaving ,forder1 his guide1 and the camel alone in the desert4 ,that afternoon he found a tent and heard that a great caravan was expected to pass that night on the way to ,kaf to get salt4 ,night fell2 it was a full moon4 ,forder sat with the others in the tent doorway round the fire4 ,a man ran up to them4 ,i hear the bells of the camels1 he said4 ,quickly ,forder's goods were loaded on a camel4 ,he jumped on top4 ,he was led off into the open plain4 ,away across the desert clear in the moonlight came the dark mass of the caravan with the tinkle of innumerable bells4 ,arabs galloped ahead of the caravan4 ,they drew up their horses shouting1 ,who are you8 ,what do you want8 ,then came fifty horsemen with long spears in their hands1 rifles slung from their shoulders1 swords hanging from their belts1 and revolvers stuck in their robes4 ,they were guarding the first section made up of four hundred camels4 ,there were four sections1 each guarded by fifty warriors4 ,as they passed1 the man with ,forder shouted out the names of friends of his who--he thought--would be in the caravan4 ,sixteen hundred camels passed in the moonlight1 but still no answer came4 ,then the last section began to pass4 ,the cry went up again of the names of the men4 ,at last an answering shout was heard4 ,the men they sought were found4 ,forder's guide explained who he was and that he wanted to go to ,kaf4 ,his baggage was swiftly shifted onto another camel1 and in a few minutes he had mounted1 and his camel was swinging along with two thousand others into the east4 ,for hour after hour the tireless camels swung on and on1 tawny beasts on a tawny desert1 under a silver moon that swam in a deep indigo sky in which a million stars sparkled4 ,the moon slowly sank behind them2 ahead the first flush of pink lighted the sky2 but still they pushed on4 ,at last at half-past six in the morning they stopped4 ,forder flung himself on the sand wrapped in his abba 7his ,arab cloak7 and in a few seconds was asleep4 ,in fifteen minutes1 however1 they awakened him4 ,already most of the camels had moved on4 ,from dawn till noon1 from noon under the blazing sun till half-past five in the afternoon1 the camels moved on and on1 unhasting1 unresting4 ,as the camels were kneeling to be unloaded1 a shout went up4 ,forder looking up saw ten robbers on horseback on a mound4 ,like the wind the caravan warriors galloped after them firing rapidly1 and at last captured them and dragged them back to the camp4 ,start again1 the command went round1 and in fifteen minutes the two thousand camels swung grumbling and groaning out on the endless trail of the desert4 ,the captured ,arabs were marched in the centre4 ,all through the night the caravan went on from moonrise to moonset1 and through the morning from dawn till ten o'clock--for they dared not rest while the tribe from whom they had captured the prisoners could get near them4 ,then they released the captives and sent them back1 for on the horizon they saw the green palms of ,kaf1 the city that they sought4 ,the camels had only rested for thirty minutes in forty hours4#fh ,with grunts of pleasure they dropped on their knees and were freed from their loads1 and began hungrily to eat their food4 ,forder leapt down and was so glad to be in ,kaf that he ran into some palm gardens close by and sang ,praise ,god from ,whom all blessings flow1 jumped for joy1 and then washed all the sweat and sand from himself in a hot spring of sulphur water4 ,lying down on the floor of a little house to which he was shown1 he slept1 with his head on his saddlebags1 all day till nearly sunset4 ,at sunset a gun was fired4 ,the caravan was starting on its return journey4 ,forder's companions on the caravan came to him4 ,come back with us1 they said4 ,why will you stay with these cursed people of ,kaf8 ,they will surely kill you because you are a ,christian4 ,it was hard to stay4 ,but no ,christian white man had ever been in that land before carrying the ,good ,news of ,jesus1 and ,forder had come out to risk his life for that very purpose4 ,so he stayed4 ,what made ,forder put his life in peril and stand the heat1 vermin1 and hate8 ,why try to make friends with these wild bandits8 ,why care about them at all8 ,he was a baker in his own country in ,england and might have gone on with this work4 ,it was the love of ,christ that gave him the love of all men1 and1 in obeying ,his command to ,go into all the world1 he found adventure1 made friends1 and left with them the ,good ,news in the ,new ,testament4 ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #fe3 ,thursday morning1 ,december #ac1 #aijj4 ,footnote #ff3 ,recall ,henry ,martyn and ,sabat at work on this4 ,footnote #fg3 ,passing ,es-,salt 7,ramoth ,gilead71 ,gerash and ,edrei in ,bashan4 ,footnote #fh3 ,it took the caravan six days to go back4 ,,chapter ,,xxviii ,,the ,,friend ,,of ,,the ,,arab ,archibald ,forder 7,date of ,incident1 #aija7 ,the ,lone ,trail of ,friendship ,so the two thousand camels swung out on the homeward trail4 ,forder now was alone in ,kaf4 ,never1 he says1 shall ,i forget the feeling of loneliness that came over me as ,i made my way back to my room4 ,the thought that ,i was the only ,christian in the whole district was one that ,i cannot well describe4 ,as ,forder passed a group of ,arabs he heard them muttering to one another1 ,nisraney#fi--one of the cursed ones--the enemy of ,allah6 ,he remembered that he had been warned that the ,arabs of ,kaf were fierce1 bigoted ,moslems who would slay a ,christian at sight4 ,but he put on a brave front and went to the ,chief's house4 ,there he sat down with the men on the ground and began to eat with them from a great iron pot a hot1 slimy1 greasy savoury1 and then sipped coffee with them4 ,why have you come here8 they asked him4 ,my desire is1 he replied1 to pass on to the ,jowf4 ,now the ,jowf is the largest town in the ,syrian desert--the most important in all ,northern ,arabia4 ,from there camel caravans go north1 south1 east1 and west4 ,forder could see how his ,arabic ,new ,testaments would be carried from that city to all the camel tracks of ,arabia4 ,the ,jowf is eleven days' camel ride away there1 they said1 pointing to the south-east4 ,illustration3 ,,forder',s ,,journey ,,to ,,the ,,jowf4 ,go back to ,orman1 said the ,chief1 whose name was ,mohammed-el-,bady1 it is at your peril that you go forward4 ,he sent a servant to bring in the headman of his caravan4 ,this ,nisraney wishes to go with the caravan to the ,jowf1 said the ,chief4 ,what do you think of it8 ,if ,i took a ,christian to the ,jowf1 replied the caravan leader1 ,i am afraid ,johar the ,chief there would kill me for doing such a thing4 ,i cannot do it4 ,yes1 another said1 turning to ,forder1 if you ever want to see the ,jowf you must turn ,moslem1 as no ,christian would be allowed to live there many days4 ,well1 said the ,chief1 closing the discussion1 ,i will see more about this to-morrow4 ,as the men sat smoking round the fire ,forder pulled a book out from his pouch4 ,they watched him curiously4 ,can any of you read8 he asked4 ,there were a number who could2 so ,forder opened the book--which was an ,arabic ,new ,testament--at ,st4 ,john's ,gospel1 ,chapter ,,iii4 ,will you read8 he asked4 ,so the ,arab read in his own language this chapter4 ,as we read the chapter through ourselves it is interesting to wonder which of the verses would be most easily understood by the ,arabs4 ,when the ,arab who was reading came to the words3 ,god so loved the world that ,he gave ,his only begotten ,son1 that whosoever believeth in ,him should not perish1 but have everlasting life1 ,forder talked to them telling what the words meant4 ,they listened very closely and asked many questions4 ,it was all quite new to them4 ,will you give me the book8 asked the ,arab who was reading4 ,forder knew that he would only value it if he bought it1 so he sold it to him for some dates1 and eight or nine men bought copies from him4 ,next day the ,chief tried to get other passing ,arabs to conduct ,forder to the ,jowf1 but none would take the risk4 ,so at last he lent him two of his own servants to lead him to ,ithera--an oasis four hours' camel ride across the desert4 ,so away they went across the desert and in the late afternoon saw the palms of ,ithera4 ,we have brought you a ,christian1 shouted the servants as they led ,forder into a room full of men1 and dumped his goods down on the floor4 ,we stick him on to you2 do what you can with him4 ,this is neither a ,christian1 nor a ,jew1 nor an infidel1 shouted one of the men1 but a pig4 ,he did not know that ,forder understood ,arabic4 ,men1 he replied boldly1 ,i am neither pig1 infidel1 nor ,jew4 ,i am a ,christian1 one that worships ,god1 the same ,god as you do4 ,if you are a ,christian1 exclaimed the old ,chief1 go and sit among the cattle6 ,so ,forder went to the further end of the room and sat between an old white mare and a camel4 ,soon a man came in1 and walking over to ,forder put his hand out and shook his4 ,he sat down by him and1 talking very quietly so that the others should not hear1 said3 ,who are you1 and from where do you come8 ,from ,jerusalem1 said ,forder4 ,i am a ,christian preacher4 ,if you value your life1 went on the stranger1 you will get out of this as quickly as you can1 or the men1 who are a bad lot1 will kill you4 ,i am a ,druze#gj but ,i pretend to be a ,moslem4 ,what sort of a man is the ,chief of ,ithera8 asked ,forder4 ,very kind1 was the reply4 ,so the friendly stranger went out4 ,forder listened carefully to the talk4 ,let us cut his throat while he is asleep1 said one man4 ,no1 said the ,chief4 ,i will not have the blood of a ,christian on my house and town4 ,let us poison his supper1 said another4 ,but the ,chief would not agree4 ,drive him out into the desert to die of hunger and thirst1 suggested a third4 ,no1 said the ,chief1 whose name was ,khy-,khevan1 we will leave him till the morning4 ,forder was then called to share supper with the others1 and afterwards the ,chief led him out to the palm gardens1 so that his evil influence should not make the beasts ill2 half an hour later1 fearing he would spoil the date-harvest by his presence1 the ,chief led him to a filthy tent where an old man lay with a disease so horrible that they had thrust him out of the village to die4 ,the next day ,forder found that later in the week the old ,chief himself was going to the ,jowf4 ,ripping open the waistband of his trousers1 ,forder took out four ,french ,napoleons 7gold coins worth #afs4 each7 and went off to the ,chief1 whom he found alone in his guest room4 ,walking up to him ,forder held out the money saying1 ,if you will let me go to the ,jowf with you1 find me camel1 water and food1 ,i will give you these four pieces4 ,give them to me now1 said ,khy-,khevan1 and we will start after to-morrow4 ,no1 replied ,forder1 you come outside1 and before the men of the place ,i will give them to you2 they must be witnesses4 ,so in the presence of the men the bargain was made4 ,in the morning the camels were got together--about a hundred and twenty of them--with eighty men1 some of whom came round ,forder1 and patting their daggers and guns said1 ,these things are for using on ,christians4 ,we shall leave your dead body in the sand if you do not change your religion and be a follower of ,mohammed4 ,after these cheerful encouragements the caravan started at one o'clock4 ,for four hours they travelled4 ,then a shout went up--,look behind6 ,looking round ,forder saw a wild troop of ,bedouin robbers galloping after them as hard as they could ride4 ,the camels were rushed together in a group3 the men of ,ithera fired on the robbers and went after them4 ,after a short1 sharp battle the robbers made off and the men settled down where they were for the night1 during which they had to beat off another attack by the robbers4 ,forder said1 ,what brave fellows you are6 ,this praise pleased them immensely1 and they began to be friendly with him1 and forgot that they had meant to leave his dead body in the desert1 though they still told him he would be killed at the ,jowf4 ,for three days they travelled on without finding any water1 and even on the fourth day they only found it by digging up the sand with their fingers till they had made a hole over six feet deep where they found some4 ,in the ,heart of the ,desert ,at last ,forder saw the great mass of the old castle1 no one knows how old1 that guards the ,jowf#ga that great isolated city with its thousands of lovely green date palms in the heart of the tremendous ocean of desert4 ,men1 women and children came pouring out to meet their friends3 for a desert city is like a port to which the wilderness is the ocean1 and the caravan of camels is the ship1 and the friends go down as men do to the harbour to meet friends from across the sea4 ,may ,allah curse him6 they cried1 scowling1 when they heard that a ,christian stranger was in the caravan4 ,the enemy of ,allah and the prophet6 ,unclean6 ,infidel6 ,johar1 the great ,chief of the ,jowf1 commanded that ,forder should be brought into his presence1 and proceeded to question him3 ,did you come over here alone8 ,yes1 he answered4 ,were you not afraid8 ,no1 he replied4 ,have you no fear of anyone8 ,yes1 ,i fear ,god and the devil4 ,do you not fear me8 ,no4 ,but ,i could cut your head off4 ,yes1 answered ,forder1 ,i know you could4 ,but you wouldn't treat a guest thus4 ,you must become a follower of ,mohammed1 said ,johar1 for we are taught to kill ,christians4 ,say to me1 ',there is no ,god but ,god and ,mohammed is ,his prophet' and ,i will give you wives and camels and a house and palms4 ,everybody sat listening for the answer4 ,forder paused and prayed in silence for a few seconds1 for he knew that on his answer life or death would depend4 ,chief ,johar1 said ,forder1 if you were in the land of the ,christians1 the guest of the monarch1 and if the ruler asked you to become a ,christian and give up your religion would you do it8 ,no1 said ,johar proudly1 not if the ruler had my head cut off4 ,secondly1 he said to ,johar1 which do you think it best to do1 to please ,god or to please man8 ,to please ,god1 said the ,chief4 ,johar1 said ,forder1 ,i am just like you2 ,i cannot change my religion1 not if you cut off two heads2 and ,i must please ,god by remaining a ,christian4444 ,i cannot do what you ask me4 ,it is impossible4 ,johar rose up and went out much displeased4 ,kill the ,christian6 ,one day soon after this there was fierce anger because the mud tower in which ,johar was sitting fell in1 and ,johar was covered with the debris4 ,this is the ,christian's doing1 someone cried4 ,he looked at the tower and bewitched it1 so it has fallen4 ,at once the cry was raised1 ,kill the ,christian--kill him--kill him6 ,the ,christian6 ,the ,christian6 ,an angry mob dashed toward ,forder with clubs1 daggers and revolvers4 ,he stood still awaiting them4 ,they were within eighty yards when1 to his own amazement1 three men came from behind him1 and standing in front of ,forder between him and his assailants pulled out their revolvers and shouted1 ,not one of you come near this ,christian6 ,the murderous crowd halted4 ,forder slowly walked backwards toward his room1 his defenders doing the same1 and the crowd melted away4 ,he then turned to his three defenders and said1 ,what made you come to defend me as you did8 ,we have been to ,india1 they answered1 and we have seen the ,christians there1 and we know that they do no harm to any man4 ,we have also seen the effect of the rule of you ,english in that land and in ,egypt1 and we will always help ,christians when we can4 ,we wish the ,english would come here2 ,christians are better than ,moslems4 99 99 99 99 99 ,other adventures came to ,forder in the ,jowf1 and he read the ,new ,testament with some of the men who bought the books from him to read4 ,at last ,khy-,khevan1 the ,chief of ,ithera1 who had brought ,forder to the ,jowf1 said that he must go back1 and ,forder1 who had now learned what he wished about the ,jowf1 and had put the books of the ,gospel into the hands of the men1 decided to return to his wife and boys in ,jerusalem to prepare to bring them over to live with him in that land of the ,arabs4 ,so he said farewell to the ,chief ,johar1 and rode away on a camel with ,khy-,khevan4 ,many things he suffered--from fever and hunger1 from heat and thirst1 and vermin4 ,but at last he reached ,jerusalem once more2 and his little four-year-old boy clapped hands with joy as he saw his father come back after those long months of peril and hardship4 ,fifteen hundred miles he had ridden on horse and camel1 or walked4 ,two hundred and fifty ,arabic ,gospels and ,psalms had been sold to people who had never seen them before4 ,hundreds of men and women had heard him tell them of the love of ,jesus4 ,and friends had been made among ,arabs all over those desert tracks1 to whom he could go back again in the days that were to come4 ,the ,arabs of the ,syrian ,desert all think of ,archibald ,forder to-day as their friend and listen to him because he has proved to them that he wishes them well4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------- ,,seeing ,,then ,,that ,,we ,,are ,,compassed ,,about ,,with ,,so ,,great ,a ,,cloud ,,of ,,witnesses1 ,,let ,,us ,,lay ,,aside ,,every ,,weight ,,and ,,the ,,sin ,,which ,,doth ,,so ,,easily ,,beset ,,us1 ,,and ,,let ,,us ,,run ,,with ,,patience ,,the ,,race ,,that ,,is ,,set ,,before ,,us1 ,,looking ,,unto ,,jesus1 ,,the ,,author ,,and ,,perfecter ,,of ,,our ,,faith1 ,,who ,,for ,,the ,,joy ,,that ,,was ,,set ,,before ,,him ,,endured ,,the ,,cross1 ,,despising ,,the ,,shame4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------- ,,footnotes3 ,footnote #fi3 ,that is ,nasarene 7or ,christian74 ,footnote #gj3 ,the ,druzes are a separate nation and sect whose religion is a kind of ,islam mixed with relics of old ,eastern faiths1 e4g41 sun-worship4 ,footnote #ga3 ,the ,jowf is a large oasis town with about #dj1jjj inhabitants1 about #bej miles from the edge of the desert4 ,the water supply is drawn up by camels from deep down in the earth4