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New York 14609 USA '16) 482 - 0300 - Phone aIi|F fStafitflnary §nripty of tl|P lH?tl|ubifit CIl)unl|jranada REV T K ICERTON *HORF M A, BD REV lAMi^ AILEN M A «ev AHA". C FARPELL. BA MR t H APSL P. H A RTN- F C STEPHtNSON MD MR H M fLDL.[R, .1 H.-ii>o..rf I ■ REV CHARl E^ I MASM', H^.T< M>-M«M MH S R IAM30NS THE YOUNG PEOPLES FORWARD MOVEMENT DEPARTMENT 33 Svlfnuin^ ^trrri 9rat ipronto. Mjy. '9' 2 Dear Friend :- TM3 boon IS presented to you as a coilpctor of f.nds and a worker in thf^ interests of the Missionary £oci--ty of our Church. It is roped that it will not only t-e interest in? but helpful. The more you Know and pray atout Missions and the more you do for Missions the greater will le your interest and joy ;ot and )oy in ih- worK. m I / V^-' Superint^enuent For Information atout Missionary Gift Books, address F. C. Stephenson. Methodist Mission Booms, Toronto. V z^/ I^H National Library Biblinlheque nalionaie ■ ol Canada Ol Canada ^^nV>^*'-'/v, -^:>i^ x>^ *^ ^^W »^»C^ >^X?<1 ^ ^r^j^^ "^^ <©>) :^ >^ \ / fv ::; A/yK yK w ^ -^, //I "VLw^^ *>o^ N.\ -* ^'-f // >5L^ r «< \\ ^-:* Canada I oil .^.■V.,:;,.-, ; a'S'X>t:fM&f^tf% •' I wish you would tell me the story of Yin-dee." it They're a Multitooc.u and Other Stories ♦> COMPILED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S FORWARD MOVEMENT FOR MISSIONS TORONTO : The Missionary Society of ;he Methodist Church The Young People's Forward Movement for Missions F. C. STEPHENSON, Secretary tJ^'\^r \ C 1 ti They're a Multitoode" \ " We ain't expected to do only our part." Christopher Morton, Jr., was looking through the morning mail in the office when there came a knock at the door. He glanced at the clock and frowned, it was too early for visitors by five minutes, and this vigilant young man of business was very careful of his minutes. While he hesitated, the door opened without cere- mony and admitted a gaunt, unfashionable figure, hollow-chested and sallow-faced. " Hello, Christy, old chap !" cried the intruder, stretching out a hearty hand and feeling api)arently no doubt of a welcome. " How are you?" For an instant the other looked at him vaguely, the crease still showing in his forehead. Then his eyes lit. "Why, Jim Perry, is it you!" he shouted, getting around the table with a bound. "Part of me," said Jim, sinking into a chair. He panted a little, but he smiled yet. Christy looked him over discontentedly. " What have you been doing to yourself?" he asked. " Caught a fever," explaiiied Jim, with a nod "The missionaries sent me home. T might better have ^tuck it out there, but I had no breath to argue with them, so they packed me off. I am to go back in September." "They're a Multitoode" " I have always believed in foreign missions.'" said Christy. " but when thev took you out of the country I found it hard to keep my faith. And no^v— *' he stopped abruptly. " It was a mighty good day for me when I went." said Jim Perry. " I have got a good dcul out of living these past three years.'' 'I'here was no mistaking the ring it; his voice. " You have snug quarters here." said Perry. " They tell me that you are a prosperous man of affairs." " I am getting on," said Christy, modestly, " I have some turn. I think, for making money." " We out in China." said Jim, with a chuckle. " haven't any ; it is the last thing we can do. Our strong point is spending. We claim that nobody on earth can surpass us in that. We will invest for you if you like. By the way- " He plunged his hand into his pocket and brought out a flat .strip of cardboard which he jiroceedcd to fit together into a money box. " There !"" he said, .setting it up gravely on the corner of the mantelpiece. " You will kindly contribute." "What is it?"" asked Christy, regarding the small object distrustfully, very much as if it were a dyna- nntc liomb. •' We are trying."' explained Jim. "to raise a special Christmas offering for missions. Along with the rest of her Christmas giving, the church is asked to give to those who have never learned what Christmas is." There was a sligh< pause. •' Conid anything,'" Jim asked. ' be more acceptable t.i 1 Inn in whose name our festival is kept .- ' "They're a Multitoode" " The original meaning of Christmas has been over- laid in a good many minds," commented Christy, briefly. "To their loss," said Jim, " and to the bitter loss of many besides." He rose from his seat and began to pare back and forth over Christy's thick carpet. iUit he was weak ; he soon came back to his old place. " I have walked." he said musingly. " the swarming >treets of heathen cities, I have gone into heathen homes, I have stood face to face with weary, heavy- laden, heathen souls, and I have been taught what Darkness is. lUit then, thank God. I have time and again seen the Star of Bethlehein break in the black sky and stand still over some place where the Christ was l)orn, and I know, yes, I know, the brightness of its rising!" There was another silence. Again Jim was the first to speak. " No doubt." he said. " you give a number of Christmas presents." " I don't think of them in September," said Christy. " That is fortunate," responded Jim, lran(|uilly. "It will give you more lei-^ure to think of this betimes." He looked at his watch and said that he must go. They walked together to the corner where he took the car. and tlien Christy hurried back to his work. " That man will never go to China next September." lu- muttered to himself, as he rang ui> the elevator. " It will be another Celestial Kingdom for which he will start, unless the signs .ire wrong." i'ur the re^l of tlie liiorfiiug. Mr. Morloti wa^ not so "They're a Multitoode " nndividtd in Ills altenlion to business as was custom ary with him. Many times his mind wandered to the face that was Hke, and so unhke, the face of his old college mate. It was aged. It was lined. It was tired. " But you could trust it," Christy concluded, " to the uttermost." " Jim Perry/' he said, facing at last the crucial idea which he had souglu to evade, " has got much out of life. What am 1 getting?"' The ruar of tlu: cily came in at the open windows. Chri.sty did not hear. " If I should die to-nighi- -that is too trite a sup- position. If I should have softening of the brain to- night, or advancing paralysis, what .satisfaction would there be to which I could hold fast, as I sat with my face to the wall while life passed me by?" The breeze fluttered the papers on his desk. "If my plans stopped now, nothing would be left from tiie failure. They need the future in order to .iniount to anything. If Jim I'crry never gets back to China, why "— he leaned his head on his hand and thought came slowly — " he has lived for an ol)ject and attained it as he went along." Christy was still thinking of the look in Jim's eyes and the sound of his voice when footfalls along the corridor foretold an interriiption. Several men followed on the heels of one another. W hen they were all gone. Christy's mind had largely recovered its ordinary temper. " lim Perry is an awfully decent chap; it was up- setting to see him looking so done. If he had stayed *' They're a Multitoode " in this country, three-(|uarters of a lifetime of work would probably be before him. One can't help remem- bering it. But — I can accept the logic of missions." He took the little cardboard box from the drawer into which he had thrust it and read every Scripture verse on all its sides. " Yes, the arguments are strong. I don't pretend to gainsay foreign missions. But yet it can't be denied that thousands of the holiest of saints have lived their lives out within the limits of Christendom and found more than their hands could do wath their might. However, that sort of incompatibility between the two sides of a truth is the commonest thing in the world. It does not shake the claim of the missionaries." " I wonder," he meditated, " how much genuine missionary spirit there is in the church of to-day. I don't mean among the specialists, the experts, like Jim (and me)" — Christy had the grace to laugh a httle — " but in the rank and file." He lifted the contribution box and regarded it with a new expression. By-and-bye he smiled broadly. " It will be an mteresting experiment," said Christy. " Let us try it." He put the box up again on the mantelpiece, where Jim had first set it. clearing a space about it that it nfight stand unshadowed in a small rim of black marble. Another hour of the afternoon passed as many other hours had d(jne. Christy had returned to his habit of absorption in what was in hand. )l They're a Multitoode" All (ild woman, rich and "crotchety," had heen talk- ing business with liini for the last fifteen minutes. " The old dame is as keen as a weasel," thought Christy, as he listened with bowed head, deferentially. " Not many men could fool her on a deal. She is honest herself, and she doesn't mean to be cheated. The most of her time is given to padlocking and double-barring her money chest."' Finally she came to a pause. She pointed across the room. " You liave something new there. What is it ?" "A collection box," answered Christy, accepting his cue, promptly. "A college classmate of mine, a mis- sionary to China, left it. The missionaries are calling for a special offering at Christmas." The old lady heard him out patiently. When he had fmished, she began to speak of further precautions and l)rovisos that had occurred to her as to her affairs. Then she arose stififly to go. At the mantelpiece she stopped, took a bill from her full i)urse and slii)ped it into the narrow opening of the missionary box. She had given the first contribu- tion to Jim's heathen. ■' Of her abundance." quoth Christy, as he shut the door behind her. Miss Craig, his stenographer, was movng at the other end of the office She shut up her typewriter ; it was the hour for her to leave. A little time before Christy had felt a sensr^tion in regard to Miss Craig. He did not often do this, which was one of his chief virtues. They're a Multitoode " But, jusl riuw, in the midst of his discourst- on foreign missions, he had been arrested for an instant l)y meeting the straight, intent gaze of the young woman who always, unless directly addressed, kept Iier discreet eyes upon her work. Miss Craig put on her hat and gathered up her liandkerchief and purse. " May I trouble you to post these, Miss Craig ?■" ^aid Christy, giving her a handful of letters. " Thank you. (lood afternoon." She laid the letters down on the mantelpiece while she opened her purse, which was shapely but thin. Out of it she took a dollar bill, leaving some silver, and put it in the money box. Christy had started up to expostulate. He sat down to recover. " She was as calm and matter-of-course about it," he gasped, '' as if it were only natural for poor work- ing girls to help evangelize China out of their slim wages." During the next two or three days much notice was taken of the missionary box. The notice was diverse in kind. The curiosity of some was quickly satisfied. Some stared politely. Others openly scoffed. ( )ne fashionable club man put in a penny. " To see how^ it feels," he said. " The shock can't be very great," observed Christy, " even to so new a subject as yourself." " But you know," said the club man with a grin, "They're a Multitoode" " it comes on top of finding you running the machine. My nerves are all gone." A clergyman who coughed gave liberally. " If I could have guessed that he was coming," said Christy, with chagrin, " I would have covered the thing up. vSome men can no more pass a collection basket than a drunkard can a corner saloon. But they are few."" A hard-headed merchant furtively dropped in a gold piece. " I got it in change,"" he apologized, when he met Christy"s gaze. " It is as well to make some special use of it before I i)ay it out for a ([uartcr.'" A circuit judge lifted the box in his hand and read the verses as Christy had done. When he set it down again he stood before it in silence while Christy looked up, wondering, and did not disturb him. At last the judge aroused himself, lie made a large donation. " My daughter was interested in all these things," he said. Christy remembered then the young girl who had died the year before. In one way and another, Jim Perry"s missionary box grew heavy. Then it was full. Christy took it apart, put the money in a pigeon-hole in his desk and set it back into place. He did not allow himself to comment. (.)n the same afternoon, Chippy Black, the errand boy, was waiting in the office for a note. Chippy was a new boy ; Christy did not feel sure of him. Lifting 8 ^^'^ .-SPp^-r . :#''*>^> ^■■%x a Behold. I bring yo\i i^ood tiding? of great joy which s>h-dll be to all people.'" "They're a iMultitoode" his head now to give directions, Chippy was caught in the act of "liefting" the missionary hox. "Ah/' said Christy to himself, with vexed enhghten- ment. Hunting oflice boys was a bore. " Why, this is empty!" said Chippy, facing round on him and holding out the box. " Did you send it off?" " No," answered Christy, uncertainly. " ft was full. I took the money out."' " 1 .see," said Chippy. There was relief in his \oii e and in the cle\er. dark, little face. He |)lunged his h.uid into his jacket and brought out a small newspaper parcel tied with twine. " 1 promised Lin to bring it to you," he said. " It would have been too bad if Td been too late.'' "What is it?"' asked Christy, receiving the packet with no show of distrust in its dinginess. And he was fastidious. " Who '^- T,in?" " It's money. Si my sister,'' answered Cliippy. " She wants it to go with the rest." Christy pushed a chair towards him. " Sit dov/n," he said. " Tell me all about it. '^^akc your time." Chippy crossed his knickerbockered legs, and by tilting forward a little managed to keep one toe on the carpet. " There's two of us boys home,"' he began. "And there's Lin. My brother Bob and me are like lots of other fellows. But Lin is extry. I'd call her qu'te extry myself. She's like — well, she's like Lin. That's all I can say." " I have seen one or two such persons." said Christy, " One Sunday night one of those foreign preachers 9 "They're a Multitoode " was talking about the heatlien. Tf it hadn't been for IJn," said Chippy, " we'd have forgotten all about them inside of a week. But Lin was bound that some- thing had got to be done. ' There's so many of them, Lin,' says Miss Loretta Pease. (Miss Loretta lives f)n the next floor to us; she's educated.) 'They're a multitoode." she says. ' Vou cant never reach 'em.' ' Not all of them at once.' .says Lin to her. ' XDt just us alone by ourselves. We ain't expected to do only our part.' '' " Miss Lin is sagacious," said Christy- " ' It isn't any more than right for us to do our part,' she told Miss Lo.etta. 'And for one I won't back out of it.' Nor, you may be sure, she wouldn't. Lin is the sort that wouldn't." "An uncommonly good sort," said Christy. " You are like that, too, ain't you !'' said Chippy, looking over at him kindly. " Miss Loretta came round all right after Lin had worked over her a while. She ain't obstinate. She's genteel. So Lin fixed it up that we was all to chip in together and make up a purse for the heathen. So we did it. And there it is." He nodded proudly toward the newspaper parcel. " You must have worked hard." said Christy. " It's savings, mostly. I mean our part of it is, Lin's and my brother's and mine. Lin got off the neighbors, too, you know ; it's all there together." " You saved yours?'' questioned Christy. " Yes, sir. Lin is grand on saving. She scatters it. She don t bunch it all on one thing till it appears as lo "They're a Multitoode" nothing else but just that was worth eating. First it's sugar, and then it's sausage, and then it's some- thing different again. And sometimes it ain't anything at all. You don't hardly miss it that way." Chippy slipped still farther forward on his seat and felt for his cap. He glanced at Christy's unfolded note. Christy got out an envelope and dipped his pen in the ink. Then he let it rest over the edge of the desk, where it dried. He picked up the roll of money. " You must have been collecting this for some time." "All summer," said Chippy. " There's a good deal of it. Lin and Miss Loretta had just begun to talk about where they would carry it when you first began to take up money here. I told them about it and I told them that, so long as this was where I worked, I thought you'd ought to get it. So after a bit they decided on that." Chippy plainly felt that the bestowal of Lin's patron- age was no light thing. Christy agreed with him. " I'm very much obliged to you,'' he said heartily. " This will help me along splendidly. Let's put it in at once." He pulled at the twine string, which was tied in a very secure knot, and laid open the hoard. It was made up of all the original pennies and nickels; there was also one dime among them. The sum total was $2.11. II "They're a Multitoode" Christy handed Chippy a nickel and held one him- self. He brought the missionary box. " Now, drop yours in," he directed. " Then I will drop mine. We'll take turn about." Chippy was eager. His interest grew with every rattling coin until the last w^as safely inside. Then he straightened himself with a long breath. " Lin said she was going to do it, and she's done it," he said. "And she doesn't know how much she has done," said Christy, soberly. "That's so," answered Chippy, with quick percep- tion. " That's the best of it, I suppose. The best of everything, Lin -ays, is what the Lord can make out of it. Anything will go twice as far with Him, she says. You talk a great deal like her." Chtisty lifted the box. " It's about full," he said. " It'> just about ready to empty again. But there is a little space yet. We wilb leave it. I shall be glad to see what gift will be put in on top of this." The weeks passed. Several times over the mission- ary box was emptied into the pigeon-hole. On a foggy December afternoon a Mr. Riihards was alone with Christy in the office. He had brought the young man a windfall of $i,fx>:). " It is by hap{>y strokes like these," said Mr. Richards, "that n man grows rich." Many such strokes of \'arioMs kinds had come in the way of Mr. Rirhard^ during ;, Irmg life. " I have built up my own fortunes," he continued. 12 "They're a Multitoode ■P " from the stub. From what I see of you, Mr. Mor- ton, I predict you success." He regarded Christy with a glint of favor in his iron- gray face as he added in chmax, " You are very much Hke I was at your age. You are hke myself." Christy was rather silent. When he was left alone he thought of Jim Perry. He often thought of Jim now. His late visitor and his clas.smate stood side by side before his mind. " There is wealth and weal 'i," he mused. " Mr. Richards has one kind, Jim has another. I am not so awfully pleased," he thought resentfulH', " with my likeness to Richards. I don't fancy being a cash register. All the man's fortunes are in money." Christy looked down at the cheque in his hands; he looked at Jim's box. " I said the real Christmas was forgotten. I said that all tile ndssionary spirit of the present resided in the missionaries and me. I doubt whether Mr. Richards at my age was such a fool. Poor Richards! He is old. 1 shall have a good part of my life yet, I trust." He wrote on the liack of the cheque and folded it small. " Richards, and Jim. and Lin, and the others have spoiled my taste a little for happy strokes, however innocently come by. The mission shall enjoy this one." He pushed the cheque through the slit in the money box, which was getting frayed and worn. Christy met .Mr. Tvichards on the street soon after- wards. 13 They're a Multitoode" " I hope," said Mr. Richards, " that you have found a good investment for your money." " I have,'' said Christy. " Is it reasonab.y sure?" " Perfectly." " Nothi,.g in this world can be perfectly sure, Mr. Morton." " But there is another world," said Christy. *' It may be," he said. As the man of millions passed on. Christy heard a faint sigh. Three days later the office door burst open and in walked Jim Perry, broad and brown. <'"'hristy stared at him speechlessly. " Fm veil again," announced Jim. superfluously. Christy shook him by the hand, clapped him on the shoulder and thumped him on the chest. " Providence knows how to give to missions !" he said. Jim turned to the mantc1i)iccc and shook his money box. It was emi)ty. He was openly disappointed. " You lazy beggar." he cried. "Are you leaving all the g'ving to Providence?" " I am not a lazy beggar." said Christy. " I am a very industrious one. Look at this." lie i)nt the contents of the pigeon-hole in front of Jim and watched him fall upon them, and enjoyed tremendously his blank delight. "Why," stammered Jim. "what does it mean? Is it all for us?" " P means," said Christy. *' that a week from to-day w ill Ik- Christmas."—}'. /'. M. M. I '5* i i The Penny Ye Meant to Gi'e There's a funny old tale of a stingy man, Who was none too good, though he might have been worse ; Who went to church on a Sunday night, And carried along his well-tilled purse. When the sexton came with his begging plate, The church was but dim with the candles' light; The stingy man fumbled all through his purse^ And chose a coin by touch, and not sight. It's an odd thing now that guineas be So like unto i)ennies in shape and size, " I'll give a penny," the stingy man said; "The poor must not gifts of pennies despise." 'I'he penny fell down with a clatter and ring; And back in his seat leaned the stingy man, " The world is so full of the poor," he thought, " I can't help them all— I give what I can." Ha. ha! How the sexton smiled to be sure. To see the gold guinea f.il! into his plate; I la. ha! How the stingy man's heart was wrung. Perceiving his blunder, but just too late! »5 "They're a Multitoode" " No iritter," he said, " in the Lord's account l^hat guinea of gold is set down to me, IMiey lend to Him who give to the poor; It will not so bad an investment be." " Na. na, mon." the chuckling sexton cried out ; " The Lord is no cheated— He kens thee well ; He knew^ it was only by accident That out of thy fingers the guinea fell. " He keeps an account, no doubt, for the puir; But in that account He'll set down to thee Na mair o' that golden guinea, my mon, Than the one bare penny yc '^^--.mt to gi'e!" There's a comfort, too. in the litMe ta.e— A serious side as well as a joke; A comfort for all the generous poor In the honest words the sexton spoke. A comfort to think that the good Lord knows How generous we really desire to be, And will give us credit in His account For all the pennies we long to " gi'e." li Rue's Heathen The long line of blue check aprons followed the other line of small blue jackets through the wide hall, up the hare, polished stairs, and into the clean, airy chapel. Then, at a signal, every apron and jacket was -till. Little Rue's apron had been about midway in the procession, and so she found a seat near the middle of the chapel, where, swinging the small feet that could not (|uite touch the floor, she looked listlessly out through the window opposite, over a beautiful view of grf)vc and meadow, and then up at the white ceil- ing, where a gre; fly buzzed at his pleasure, without iKuiiig to walk in line. On the platform a man in line broadcloth and gold spectacles was beginning to talk ; but Rue only listened dreamily. " My dear children, I am delighted to visit this grand institution— to see so many of you in this beau- tiful home, -SO well cared for, so well instructed, and so happy.*' I\ue wondered why all the men who talked there nc brave. I should alwavs have iiad my own way and have been petted by all. W hen a year old, they would have called my relations together and spread before me a lot of things, to see what my future was to be. Theie would be books and pens, scissors and scales, a rule, and some money; and they would have waited to see which was the thing I grabbed. If it had been books how it would have pleased them, for it -vould have meant that I was to be a scholar; if scissors, then a tailor; and .so on. Now, I wonder which I should have chosen? Not books, I'm afraid: for I don't like learning — do you? Well, a.s 1 wasn't a boy, 1 had none of this, so had to be content. As small-pox was very bad, I had a label on my back to say I had already had it (tb.ough I hadn't), but that was to deceive the goddesses. Then. to make quite sure I had a clotli n;oiikiy strung round my neck, which made a nice plaything. I am afraid I wasn't always good at night I am >nre \ov all are I — but cried, for I didn't have enough to cat most of the time; so father got the teacher next door to write a 25 "They're a Multitoode " verse and paste it on the wall outside. This is how it goes : Tien luvang, hwang, dee hwang, hwang, Ngo jah yo go yea coo long, Go wong jwin dz nien san hien, Ee jo shway dao da tien liang. In English it is — Ve gods in the heavens, ye powers on the earth, My baby began from the hour of her birth With horrible screams to rend the night ! O passing stranger, these my rhymes Read, I pray you, through three times. And then she will sleep till broad daylight. But I'm afraid there were not many who read them thrv:e times, for it didn't make much difference. Still, it was the correct thing to do, so mother felt satisfied. s6 How Yin-Dee Changed Her Name CHAPTER II. Orphaned Through Opium. According to our Chinese books, when a son is born he sleeps on a bed, he is clothed in robes, he plays with gems, his cry is princely loud ; as an emperor, he is clothed in purple, and he is the king of the home. But when a daughter is born she sleeps on the ground, she is clothed in a wrapper, she plays with a tile; she cannot be eit! er good or evil, and has only to pre- pare wine and food without giving any cause of grief to her parents. So, being a girl, I learned to play with broken tiles, and found them as good as gems. When I was about three years old, something dreadful happened. Another baby was born — and it was a girl. I didn't mind at all, as I wanted .someone to play with, and a girl is as good as a boy- better, / think. But our proverb says, " Eighteen beautiful daughters arc not e(|ual to one son, even '" ough he be lame." My father was dreadfully angry, and beat mother; so she was miserable, and cried a good deal. After a few days I missed my baby sister, and when I asked where she was, someone laughed, and pointed to a pond near by. I didn't know then what he meant; l)ut sister never came back, so I had to play alone. About this time I was betrothed. Practically .dl girls are. iti China, and at a very early age. My father said girls were a useless cspcnsf, so hv wanted to get me ofif his liands as soon as possible. So a lucky day 27 "They're a Multitoode" was chosen, and two middlemen engat]^cd. who came and compared the day and ^he hour of my birt.i with that of the lad they sugge Then followed a feast, when iiie agreement was made and my future fixed. The home of my future husband was some little way off. and his fath.er was a broken-down scholar, who kept a small school, and was a slave to opium. The lad was his youngest son. The mother bore a bad reputation for quarrelling and scolding, so you may imagine I didn't look forward with much pleasure to entering my new home, and hoped the day was far off. Rut it came sooner than 1 expected. \\'hen T was about seven years old, T began to notice that father was away a great deal at night, and tli.it we didn't get much to eat. The furniture slowly dis- ap[)eare future luisband's home, and so obtain the amount they had jtractically bought me for. With this he was enabled to satisfy mother'r, relatives, and I soon found myself transferred to my new home I never saw my father again, 'i'lie cruel f»[)ium had made me worse ibati an orphan. j! 2n They're a Multitoode " CHAPTER III. Little Golden Lilies. When I was about four my feet were bound. You mu.st know that in China the smaller the feet the more a woman is admired. For over a thousand years the custom has been observed, and only a few give it up, even though, as the common saying has it. " For every pair of small feet there has been shed a bucket of tears." So as my mother wished me to have " little golden lilies," as they were called, she conmienced to bind my feet early. The calendar was consulted for a lucky day ( it would never do to commence anything on an unlucky (lav), and mother brought some strips of calico a few inches wide and several yards long. With these she tightly bound my ieet, making them narrow and pointed. At first 1 v.cnt nearly crazy with crying. No one took any notice of it. and mothe'^ tried to console me by saying that no one would marry a woman with large feet. She told me that when she was married hers were only two and a half inches long. Dav bv day the binding was done until I wished I could die and be rid of the pain. Cradually it became less as the feet ceased to grow, and I was able to hobble about the house. liut with it all I wa^ much more fortim.ntr than little " Pearl." my friend luxf door. They left the binding 30 How Yin-Dee Changed Her Name of her feet until she was nearly eight, and then bound them very tightly. She was only scolded and beaten when she cried, and the pain was so great she nearly died ; and when one of her feet got very bad they called in the native doctor. He said it was a demon in her left leg, so they heated needles and poked thcni in her legs to let the evil spirit out. But she didn't get better, so they took her to a charni priest some miles away. They couldn't afford a chair, so little Pearl was forced to walk part of the way. The priest wrote some characters on paper, put them in water, and Pearl drank it. Then they paid a good sum of money and returned. The long walk was too much for Pearl, and she had a long illness, and is now lame. They say it was because she, in her previous life, was a bad man — so she was born again as a woman, and has had all this pain. I have heard that in the mission-schools of the foreigners the girls all have large feet ; but I am sure tliey must look very coarse — and whoever will marry tlicm? Stiil, I daresay it's nice to be able to run about without falling. I remember once mother slipped on the ladd' V going into the loft, and fell, hurting !ier bark ; but she didn't blame her feet. " Little golden lilies make an insecure footing," says the proverb. I was about eight when I was taken to my new home, and the following years were so full of sorrow that 1 hardly dare tell you about them. T was just a little ■^lave-girl, nothing more. There are many thousands m the same pbght in China. 1 wa-^ the property of 31 in "They're a Multitoode " my mother-in-law, and she was a bad-tempered and cruel woman. She seemed to take a delight in beating me, and was always thinking of some new way to make my life miserable; while from morning to night I had to work far beyond my [lo^- cr. The opinm- eating father used to grab all the money he could, so the rice often barely went round, and I was con- tinually being half-starved — only having gruel, and but little of that. All the menial work of the house fell to my lot, and, as I was at the beck and call of all, I was at it from morning to night. The brothers, too, expected me to wait on them, and struck me if I didn't obey their wishes. My mother- in-law's cruel tongue and crueller hand drove me on all day, and late at night I was glad to rest my weary bones on the straw bed in the loft. Things went from bad to worse. Not only was the father given to opium, but the mother and sons were all bad — continually drinking, card-playing, and quarrelling, till the house bore a bad name all round. Surrounding the house were several fields. Once there had been a large farm, but one by one the fields were sold for opium, until only a few were left. These were tilled by the sons and so brought in a little money. The thing we depended on most was cotton, and I had to take my share in cultivating it. The fields had to be constantly weeded, and that was done by the women and girls. As with our bound feet it is diffi- cult to 5*tand, we used to take small stools into the fields and sit with our hoc in our hands busi!y digging out the weeds. Then came cotton-pick.ng — back- 32 How Yin-Dee Changed Her Name aching work, with the sun fiercely shining overhead, and plenty of angry words when the amount picked wasn't as much as my mother-in-law tliought it ought to he. In the autumn and winter I learned to wind the cotton, and then to work at the loom, weaving the coarse white clotli of which our garments were made. This, with making shoes and cooking rice, was my chief work; and though I suffered much I dared not complain — for I was like the dumb man eating worm- wood, unable to utter my misery. 11 33 "They're a Multitoode " CHAPTER IV. A Village School. I should like to tell you something about tlie scliool my father-in-law kejjt. It was held in a little dark room at the back o^ the house, and there were a dozen or so boys of about six to twelve, who came daily, as soon as it was lit^ht, and studied till dusk. They brought their (jwn doks and stools, paid for their own ink and pens and l)ooks, .and gave a little to the teacher, either in money or farm produce. They were mostly farmers' boys, and in the busy season often hatl to help at home; so their education proceeded slowly. Their chief work was to learn by heart long strings of words, of the meaning of which they knew nothing. They began with the three-character classic, and went on to the works of Confucius and Mencius. Rut what they learnt was of little good; for they repeated the sentences like so many parrots, and with just as much understanding of the meaning. Then there was writing — following a copy set by the teacher, with a brush j)en and ink rubbed on a stone slab. That was all. No geography, or arithmetic, or history; it was dull indeed. Then, too, there was no discipline to speak of ; for the teacher was often under the influence of opium, so the boys did as they liked. The biggest boy in the school was called "Seven Pounds," because he weighed that when he was born. 34 How Yin-Uee Changed iHer Name .'! lit* was a bad boy ami a rt.-y;ular bully, lording il uvt-r tlu- small ones nd helping himself to their j>ens and paper. .\'o one dared to reprove him, least of all the teacher, for he was the son of the village pawnbroker, the most wealthy and powerful man in the n*'ighb(jr- iiood. Large numbers of Chinese regularly pawn their summer clothes in the winter, and their winter clothes when the warmer weather returns : so the pawnbrokers make a good harvest, and are usually very wealthy and powerful. So. you see. it didn"i pay to (juarrel with Seven Pounds, and he knew thi^ well enough. Now, althougli ni}- father-in-law was reckoned a scholar, he was, like all in the house, very superstitious. In the large room, which was dirty and dusty in the extreme, the place of honour was given to the God of Riches. There he sat in fat dignity, presiding over the house, though we never saw any of his riches. In fact, since the coming of wealthy foreigners into the country, it is often said that the god has moved to foreign parts, and is now bestowing his riches on the Western nations. Certainly 1 never saw the use of him, for our circumstances got worse and worse. Then on the outside door we had pasted a pair of door gods. These pictures represent famous warriors who now are regarded as gods, and they have to pro- tect the house from calamities. Certainly they are ugly enough for anything; but I have never known them ward off robbers. But perhaps it is only the spirits that are afraid of them; men aren't, I am sure. To frighten off the spirits we had a looking-glass hung over the front door, so that when the spirits came if m il 35 "They're a Multitoode" round and were about to en'er, thev should see their ugly faces and retire in a fright. The calendar was invariably consulted for lucky days on which to begin everything; and when there was an eclipse we joined our neighbors with gongs and drums to prevent the heaveidy dog swallowing the sun. Every spring there were the sacrifices at the ancestral graves, and much i-ash pajjcr was burnt lest the spirits of our ancestors should not have enough to pay currcni fxpciist's. Sacrifices wltc oftcrcd to them, and it was a general holiday. Any paper on which there was an) writing or printing was carefully burnt. By this act merit was stored up. On All Souls' Day my mother would burn incense and cash i)aper for the release of tho>e wandering spirits who had no descendants to do it for them. Near by was a Inuldhist temple, where a few lazy priests idled away the day in opium-smoking and gambling, bearing out tiie common 'aying. " Nine priests, ten rogues." My brothers-in-law often went there to try to find out whether any proposed undertaking was going to turn out successfully. So by all these things you will see there was plenty of religion in our house, though but little goodness. New Year, which is the great Chinese festival, brought only added sorrows to me; for the time was given up to gambling, and I was busier than ever attending to the wants of the gamblers, and only received blows in return. Only at the new year itself was there a little rest from abuse, for at that time it is unlucky to use bad words. To name ilu' evil spirits 36 How Yin-Dee Changed Her Name is to cau;;e them to appear. I have heard missionaries sav that they feel free to go where they hke then with- out fear of abuse, for no one calls them " foreign devil " then, even though they make up for it later on. 'li 'I 1 ! I iUiWl 37 ll "They're a Multitoode" CHAPTER V. Gods Maw and LoiiDs Many Over our stove was a i)aper figure of the kitchen god. He presides all the year round over the cooking arrangements, and listens carefully to all that is said. A few day l)cf(ue tlie clo.se of the year he goes up to heaven t(; report ail he lias heard to the geniiny em- peror, his ma^rcr. ! le must have had a lot to tell ahout '•'.ir house: so my mother-in-law took the precaution to dauh his lips with sticky treacle so that he could not oi)en his mouth and tell of her doings. Most of our neighbors did this, too; so I suppose they didn't feel any too comfortah.le ahout his rejwrt of them. At the new year he came down again— at least we put up a new one in the j.Iace of the one we had Ininied. which, I .'- I he goddess of smallpox was much dreaded in our district She usually got to work at the beginning of the summer, and unless big gifts were given to her, sh.e reven-ed herself by killing large numbers of little children as well as grown-ups. I remember wdl how she ca .le one summer. One by one of the children fell ill nf "heav>'nly flowers," as the disease was called, and the temple wa/ throngeiores of grain supposed to be reserved in every town against famine were found to be bad from neglect, and it was only with dilticulty a riot was prevented. The official dared not show his face, as there were rumors that he had been pocketing some of the relief money given by the Government. < )n the third day we were all of us too weak to light our way through the crowd to where .ice was beini? distributed. Near by was a shoi) where a kind of coarse wheat bread was sold. My mother-in-law eyed it hungrily. 'I'here were few about, so she went up to tlie man and whisi)ered to him. He looked across lo me. and then I saw him give her a lump of bread, wliicli she clutched eagerly and di-.ij ij)ea r.-d down a back stri-ef I never saw her ;igain. She iiad sold me to the baker iur a piece of bread! 41 S I "They're a Multitoode " I was at the tinit- too starved and ill to be frightened, and the man appeared to he knul and crood, and told me not to be afraid. ITc brought me to his wife, a pleasant woman with a kind face, who gave me a little food, and after a while 1 slept. Then began a new hfc for me. .\t lir.^t I was terribly afraid lest mv old enemy should come back and try to get me away.' My new-found friends I soon began to like. The man was a small trader, who had done well in previous vears and though, like all the others, they were hard pressed by the famine, they had money enough to tide them over the worst. They had no children, so the man bought me as a servant for his wife, and I found in her a good mistress. Meanwhile the distress grew. Many of the officials were so corrupt as to try to make money out of the calamities of the people. Transit by water was very slow, so it was long before relief came. At last we heard that kindly foreigners were bringing up some boat-loads of flour for the si()narv heard my story. " You have come out of much tribulation." he said. Then turning to father, he remarked, " Why not give her a new name?^'' " Yes," said father, " we will not call her Yin-dec any more, but Pin<^-an— Rest and Peace— for that is what T have now found in Christ." vSo that is how my name was changed. Then it was suggested that I ought not to grow up ignorant, hut should learn to read and write; for in the Chri.stian religion there is un difference made between girls and boys— all are alike precious to Jesus. The missionary told us that at TTan-yang there was a school for girls, where many were living and being taught useful things, and. best of all. were taught the story of Christ. How excited I was at the pro.spect of going, though not a little afraid of so strange a place ! At last the longed-for day came and 1 found myself with my father landing at TIan-yang. At first I was bewildered by the busy crowds and clung to father's gown as 1 walked along. How T trembled w "th excite- ment as we reached tlie school, and I think father felt as nervous as I did. But we were inside the gates at last. In a large yard we saw a group of girls playing. I gave a gasp of :urprise. How could they run so? Then T saw that their feet were unbound, and the Mnall. pointed shoes had given place to comfortable ones, which didn't cause them to Iiobi)le along. T smilerj .'! welcome at them, and wondered how long it would he before T ( (luld run as thev did. 47 "They're a Multitoode" We wore shown in and introduced to the matron, a Chinese lady, who made us feel (juite at home, and after a chat two foreign ladies came in. At first I could only stare, and I nearl\' forgot my manners ; but I found that though tiiey were dressed strangely they spoke my language ; so my fear left me and 1 was soon enrolled as a scholar in the David Mill Girls' School, and proud I was ol the fact, too. Truly my new name suited me — I had found re^t and peace. 4« How fin-Dee Changed Her Name ■ * I CHAPTER VIII. TiiF. Girls' School, So began my school-life. There is not time to tell you all about i^ now. There were about seventy of us there, from five to seventeen years old. Some of them had been slave girls, and could tell a story to match mine. Twice a day we gathered for meals, and we learnt to clean out our rooms, mend and wash our clothes, and make our ov/n shoes, so as to be useful when we returned home. Then there was sturly and drill, and all of it was .so interesting— not a bit like the dry way they teach in "hinese schools. Yet. best of all, were the Sunday services in the chapel and the class-meeting and j'iible-study in the week. My feet were gradually loosened, and as they grew again I learned to skip and run with the other girls; and when f went home it was wonderful the impression made on tlie people in our out-of-the-way village. Several years have gone by since I went to school and entered upon that new life. Now I am learning to teach others; for teachers are badly needed in our schools and women teachers are difficult to get. To- «!.'y I have been thinking over my life. Like a dread- ful dream there rises bef- o me the picture of Vin-dee. 'lie ne.dected little slavv of .i cruel woman. 1 see mysr'f hobbling over the groutul picking end,,,,, or in tbr e\il home in,,knig (ra fm npiuni sm..kcr,s and 49 r I "They're a Multitoode " gambler?. I almost expect to hear the harsh tones of my mother-in-law calling me to do some menial duty. Then T remember the famine and its horrors. I can scarcely believe that it is all a thing of the past, and I have become Ping-an. the child of rest and peace. .And what has done it all?" Just this — the love of Jesu.-^. It was Jesus who sent the missionary with the message of love and pardon, and it is Jesus who now fdls my heart with joy. Vet T cannot forget that there are many — oh, so many! — of my sisters in China in the same sad plight as T was 1 wonder how long it will be before the message will come to them? How long before th(>v will enter the land of rest and peace? In the city of Pckin ihcre hangs a great boll, and there is a legend connected with it on which I love to ponder. Twice had the labor of years been lost at the time of casting. The third time, just as the molten metal was to be poured into the mould, the lovely daughter of the maker, knowing that by no other means could a perfect bell be cast, flung herself into the cauldron and gave her life to save her father from disappointment and shame. China now is waiting to be moulded. Old things arc passing. It is a new China we are beholding. -Many ways have been tried for her regeneration. The cold m(.raliiy of Confucius is powerless. Buddhist monks ;ind Taoist priests ha\e come in \ain. Only bv the clean^itig C.osprl of Clirist can Cliina be purified .md made a \ <<,scl mcft for the .Master's w^v Ages ,igo this jTJtl sacniucfi iuTsclf that th»- bell might be l>cif(it What we women and girls of China need is 50 How Yin-Dee Changed Her Name that more missionary teachers should come to us, bringing the love of the Lord on their lips and in iheir lives— then will China he saved and won for Christ. It is worth it a thousand times. Will some of you come? Will more of you give? Will all of you pray? There is something each can do, if you will only try. Out of death springs life, and out of your sacrifice for Christ shall spring a new China, free from the sins which have bound her in the past. 1 51 David Livingstone \'>y A l'"i;i,i,<)vv-'r(nv.\s.M.\.N. At Rlantyrc, Scotland, on the i<>th Mardi. 1813, a child was horn to Xeil and Agius Livingstone. We never know when is happening an epoch-making event. Every new soul ushered nito the world is a shut cask of possihilities. The boy horn in the humble home con- sisting of a " but and a ben," was destined to become one of the greatest missionaries ; and the most conspic- uous and intrei)id ex])lorer the world has ever seen ; to achieve for himself a deathless fame, a name of imperishable memory, and to leave to mankind a heri- tage ol truth and influence. His cradle was in the peasant's cottage, l)ut his grave js in Westminster Abbey. I have many times visited the house where he was born, anonal Sa\iour, and there can be no doubt that his heart was thoroughly penetrated by the new life that then flowed into it. K'eligion became the everyday business of his life and his daily i)rayer was that he might resemble Christ, a peliiion fulfilled in no ordinary degree. A desire was born within him to preach Christ in China, and that he might be fitted for that work he entered as a medical student in the Uni- versity of Glasgow, and in due time was graduated in medicine, lie received not a cent of aid from anyone. What a struggle he had! What cci^nomy he had to practice! I'Veijiienlly hi> meal consisted entirely of <'atmeal porridge. lie was accepted l)y the London ]\Hssionarv Societ) and sent out in iS4(>- not to China but to Africa. 'Po God and to Africa he gave his manhood's prime. Xo grander wcrk was ever done than that accomplish- ed by David Livingstone. In him life's fire glowed. With magnanimous and self-sacrificing devotion, with undaunted courage, in the midst of niani- foid sufferings, through days of hunger and 5.^ i(,l'. "They're a Multitoode" wearijicss, and nights of dreadful loneliness, he worked for Africa's salvation. He loved the natives, and they loved the man who was ever kind and good. He worked amongst them with a vision ever before him of the men and women, whom they, by Ood's graee, might become, and that vision shaped and controlled and sustained him m all his eii'orts. With the vision of the latter day before him he addressed himself nobly and well to the work of the present. Ood alone knows what Africa owes to Livingstone. 'i'his full and overflowing life closed to earth's activi- ties in May. 1873. His spirit marches on. Such men never die. His spirit has entered into the great stream of the ever-swelling life of mankind, and continues, and will continue, to act there with its whole force for evermore. He lives in minds made better by his noble example. He lives in the Livingstonia Mission, that great beacon light ; he lives in great numbers of the regenerateci natives of Africa; he lives in all who are constrained to work for Christ in that dark land. I pray our Eiiworih Leaguers to read the story of his life, that they may know what one consecrated man did m a lifetime, that they may have a revelation of the possibilities in man. that they may be in.spired to emu- late him in his noble simplicity, high resolve, invincible courage, exalted self-.sacrifice ; that they may be pos- sessed with the overmastering purpo.se which guided and drove him or. Read his life and be in.'^pired with the thought that lifr i< a high and noble calling. Read- mg of his toils and struggles and victories, pray God 54 David Livingstone for grace to "follow in his train."' His motto was: " Fear God, and work hard."' Make it your motto. The greatest of all tragedies is to live and d.c without a thing done by the sweat of the soul. — Loch [uiii::j. J J Christmas in Our Boys' School, Junghsien, West China I'.v Kdwaki) \Vi' .-\ Wai.i.ack, 1;..\.. P.,!). If you were a Chinese, and every day ate two meals of rice and some veijetables, with meat only twice a month, if as often; if you worked from daylight to dark seven days in the week, and had no summer vacation or Chiistmas holidays; if you had no books to read except possibly (if you were lucky) one or two greasy and tattered volumes of ancient philosophy, not one word of which you understood : in other words, if you were an average Chinese boy or girl, don't you think that you uld look forward even more eagerly than you did this year to Christmas? I think vou would. At any rate the boys and girls connected with the church in junghsien were expecting a great ircat, and we were planning to give them all that they ex- pected, and more. Then suddenly, unexpectedly, a terrible thing hap- pened that put an end to all these hopes and plans. Can you guess what it was? It was not a fire, or an earthquake, or a riot on the mission. But one mornin? there came word that the Emperor of China and his 56 Ch istnias in Our Boys' School stfi mother had >ii(i(knly died, and that everyone inu^t go into :^ournin^^ And that wa. the end of the two Christmas concerts, the Christmas ti\c, and the feast. For the rules for mourniiii,'- fur a dead Enij,er()r in China are (luite strict. Xo one could inarry for a month -that rule did not affect us. for the only wed- ding arranged for by anyone connected with the church, that of Mr. Mc.\ninioT),rs teacher, took i)lace a few days before. Xo one was to be allowed to have his ii.ad shaved for a hundred days. Every Ciiine.se boy and man allows ju.st enough hair to grow on the top of his head to form his " pig-tail "; all the re.st of his head i. shaved clean. lUit imagine what a messy effect it is to have the head covered witli a couple of months" growth around the long cue, a there is now. li is the Chinese way of going into black; for, of course, every man's hair is as black as pitch. Another rule was that U" one could wear satin clothes for a hundred days, and the little red nobs on the top of the caps had to be changed to blue, which is the second degree mourning color in ('hiri, white being the first. So far the rules did not interi.re with our Christmas entertainment. But now we conu to the fatal order, " There must be no music and no celebrations for a month." Alas! for our Chinese boys ai 1 girls. Christmas fell within the month. It is true that ve might have got around the trouble by claiming that ours was a foreign church, and so did not fall within the common rule< This, I believe, was done in ^iher places. But our church here is a large one, and we are constantly tr;, ing to make the members 57 111 i V " They're a Multitoode " understand that it is a Chinese ehureli, not a foreign one, and we decided that this was a splendid oppor- tunity to impress on the people the fact that when a man joins the Christian Church he does not in any way become less of a Chinese, and that our Church believes in honoring tiie rulers of the country. As soon as it was bnally decided that we should follow the regulations the members agreed that we had done the correct thing. In one way it was rather fortunate for the boys in the school that we had no entertainment to prepare for. Just at Christmas last year came the examinations, and some of the boys were working very hard to prepare for the entrance examination. vSo it gave them a better chance to study. And during Christmas week they had four examinations. We did not intend, however, that Christmas should pass without something to make the boys remember the day and what it means. If they could not have a Christmas tree, I determined to give them the next best thmg— in fact, when I was a boy a year or two ago, I thought it was away ahead of a mere tree — that is hanging up the stockings. The boys had never even heard of such a custom, so it was great fun for them. One morning in school, after prayers, I solemnly asked the boarders, " How many of you have two pairs of socks?'' There was blank amazement. Why did I wish 'o know that? I only smiled, as I began with the boy in the front, little " Georgie Bond.'' " Have you two pairs of socks?" " Yes. but the extra pair have holes." Then to the next boy. " Have you a second 58 K«WMW«MKtMMM The hoy.-^ ot ihe Junt^hsien ScIiodI who had a t^ood time ai Christmas. f Christmas in Our Boys' School pair?" "I have three pair, but they all have holes, some of them as h\g as this," and he made a circle with his thumb and fino^er. "Have them mended," I replied, and passed on down the line. T found that all the nine boys had extra i)airs and all of them, as is the case with the stockings of every decent fellow I ever knew, had holes. I maintain that in China, as at home, it is a sign that a boy is a real boy when he wears holes in his stockings. So I advised them to have one pair mended and washed before Christmas Eve. and bring it to me. And then — well, we should see what we should see. Oreat was the excitement among the boys, and not a sock was missing when the gi at night arrived. I did not let the boys hang up their own socks, but j)ackcd them all olT to the school study-room upstairs, while one of the teachers and T pinned the socks up in a row in the class-room under the blackboard. You know we have no fires in the 'Schools here, and so there are no chitnneys. .Ml the same vSanta Claus found a way. for next morning — but wait a bit. When T got do.vn to the school on Chri>tmas morn- ing at half-past seven T found the boys already at breakfast. They were casting anxious evc^ in the direction of tlic room with the closed door, and like other boys f have known they did n(it take long to ent their Cbristmas-moniing breakfast. When thev were all ready thev filed intf) the rooir,. I run not going to tell voti liow thosc stoi knigs wvv fill"d. You in;u drcjdc U>\ \oni>c1ves how, ,ind b\ \vhay much, and I wondered if they were disappoin ■(!. until one of the teachers. Mr. Jang, came up to me with tears in his eye^. saving. " Vou say we must not thank you, >o I think we ought to thank Cod. Can't we ('o it just now :-"' It t(»uche(l me deeply. "Yes." I .said, and wc all went up to the study-room and. standing there about tlic long ta1)le. one after another of the boys made a ^hort, simple pra\(r of thanks to (jod, not r»!)l\ for tJu' gifts of the morning, but r-penallv for th..' greatest Cil't ni .ill, Icmis Christ. At mm- () clo( k we l',.,d onr regular nioniing pravers, and then I ga\i fo the da\ boxs their presents, a Xew T(-t;iment and .1 bag of nul-^ .ind candv to each one. We hnri a m the' ,i;iil^. the hanpN lieiuted gins, The loving girls, the best of girls, The worst (jf girls ; ( 'i(hI wants to make the girls I lis pearls, And so reflect His holy face. And bring to mind ilis wondrous grace, That beautiful 'I'he world may be. And tiKtd with l(»ve .\nd purity. ( "lOfl w.'int^ the girl>. 62 Li Liang Chen Student, Soldier, Trader, Ih'angelist. Rev. T. L. Stkwart. B.A., P,.D. It was on the street of the Temple of the Four v'^ages, in tl - c:^ 'ital city, Chenjj^tu. vSzechuan. There, to-day, its low, grey gable abutting the entrance gates, stands al ) tlie Worship Hall to the Western Ood. who is surely becoming Father of the East and of all. Within the temple, only the smoke of a few incense sticks mingled with the tobacco and opium fumes curled up- ward through cobwebs and tiles to the heavens. In the Worship Hall, three score and more of China's \ outli. black haired, bright-eyed, brilliant-minded ho])es of her future greatness, were gathered. Rut half the ball was theirs Up the centre ran a wooden wall past whiJi presumably not even a wandering glance might go. That pari beyond was sacred to the women and school girls. .\s not even these latter were present to cm!)arrass the situation, native elo(iucnce found lull lliiig. It was the weekly meeting of the Epworth League of the College boys. Moreover, it was missionary night, .\ni\ mcm])ers were all attenti./,i. The leader was in 63 "They're a Multitoodo" fine form. With flushed cheek and fervid voice he called his hearers to see visions. " Jesus came to found a kini^dom among men. All within the four seas are brethren. The kingdom must then include all under lieaven, Jesus founded it first among Ilis follows, the Jews. These carried the mes- sage to Greeks and Romans. These bore it to bar- barians in Europe and Britain. These have wafted it round the world, and to our land of the Middle King- dom. And we? We must bear the glad tidings on to Thibet, to the tribesmen and to the aborisrines . . " o ... Just then there was a commotion in the rear of the church. Someone was trying to make himself heard. At this persistent interruption all turned. A ripple of indignation quickly changed to interest as they saw the new speaker, a big, broad-faced, burly fellow.whose countenance beasned forth a happy combination of courage and child-like simplicity. " Your younger brother begs his elders' pardon," he ventured, " but here in the <^eat just i?i front of mine are two of these strangers from die tribes country. Why wait indefinitely some future date? They mav leave before our leader is through. Why not begin here and now^" A voice of assent and appro\al ran aroimd the room. For ten minutes the spcakrr. bending forward, chatted pleasantlv with the wanderers from the great ranges to the west, well diggers, it seemed, seeking work on the plain, welcomed tnem to the meeting and told them simply and sympathetically of the Saviour of all and 64 Li Liang Chen PI is messas^e of love to men. Then the meeting went on as before. A simple enough little incident, surely, but it is an index to the speaker, sincere, sympathetic, fearless, practical. It was Li Liang Chen, that is. Li of Perfect Virtue, as his parents had named him in hope. To at- tain the Chinese goal of greatness by becoming an offi- cial was likewise a longing, and to that end he was sent early to school. There, year by year, through youth and young manhood, he had repeated his history, rhymed his poetry, patiently traced the puzzling char- acters and later written countless stereotyped essavs under a still famous teacher of the district. More than once he had gone up with the picked men of his county to try for the coveted degree, tl-.at opening door to official life. Alas ! how few could hope for success ; oft-times scarce two in a hundred. His heart was] moreover, ever too great for his head, so those with' more self-abstraction or secret alliances with the cx- anu"ners. won the dav. In nn'litarv matter^, literary attainments plaved a lesser part, the physical was the all-important, so thither his ambitions turned. Here, though some surpasscfl him in lifting the two and three hundred weight stone, success came surprisingly. He soon bent a strong how and sent his arrow clean and quivering to the heart of the target. Tn feats with nsts his stature, strength and courage placed him among the envied few, while in -winging great swords he v.as scarce sur- passed. Cliina. however, cares ii.)t ' t war. Tn the long life of 65 I They're a Multitoode " no other nation has history written so large, " Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Her list of honor run>. scholar, farmer, mechanic, mer- chant. The scholar sways hy thonght. so is first. The farmer and mechanic each produces, so come next. The merchant docs neither, but distributes, so is fourth. The soldier is not even mentioned, for he exists but to destroy. Such being the sentiment, in times of peace but few are maintained or indeed needed to follow the profession of arms among these most easily ruled of the millions of earth. Li, like the many of his fel- lows, must have other means of sujiport. His father was a merchant in the market village of the Chao family, near Jcnshow. Hv dint of industrv and economy, he had also added a small farm to his ])Ossession. T,i was placed in the shop. Affability won friends, time and tact got him trade, while his fearlessness gradually carried him far afield. Rack from the borders of the aborigines he brought white wax and ponies : from the province of IHii T^an he led park nniles l.nU'n with tea. In 'weichow. south and cast, he sought silks and horses. From the far-fluncr tribes to north and west he bought musk and medi- cines, aiKJ from the Thibetans wools and hides. Soon agencies were estabb.hed. compass-like, all about his centre, and l.i. the trader, was known to big firms in scoies of cities, towns, and in the great capital. Rut tra\els had lonrhed more than tr,-;de. In larger centres he liad seen the much talked-of foreigner, with his evcr-pre^^Mlt ho>-pilal>. vthooK, and clnu'chcs, and had lieard liim discussed from province to province in 66 Li Liang Chen countless inns and teashops. Once, only once, he had paused one day in his busy life to listen to a street preacher. He carried away little of what was said. How could such things coticern him and his sole search for ^.oods and gold? Thus ten years fled by. He lost much, but made more, and at length decided to settle in his native village, among his own, the better to be a fdial son to his now aging father. About that time mission problems assumed a new phase. After the dramatic events culminating in the Boxer cataclysm in 1900, the missionary found him- self received in a new light. Previously permitted, as a matter of indifferencCj or in many places despised, insulted, persecuted, he now found himself pushed into unsought prominence. Foreign troops had defeated the forces of the Son of Heaven. Foreign officials had but to say the word, and China bowed to obey. Were not the missionaries friends of these consuls, indeed might they not themsehcs be officials or paid to act as such? In fact, one nation, France, openly allowed their " fathers "" official status. The bishop ranked with a viceroy, the humblest priest with the local magistrate. The fruit of it all came fast. People flocked to the churches, not lo be bettered by Christian teaching, but to gain power with which to threaten and coerce their enemies. This, it is not unfair to say, was particularly true among Roman Catholic native priests and their converts, where the v.orst characters of the community c.irried the day with high hand. It was at least true of ihe Jenshow district, where, abetted by the church, 67 They're a Multitoode " converts " rocroed, Markiiialled. robbed, assaulted their lielpless neighbors. Should reprisals arise they were at once labelled " persecution>;' api)eal was made to the priests, then to the bishop, and thus to the chief othcials of the province, or locally to the magistrates. The honest, hard-working citizen's lot seemed hopeless and helpless. ^1len the knowledge slowly gained ground that there were tw^o i)arties among these foreigners. Protestants, it was said, had ec^ual power, but did not coun<:enance such coercion. Why not invite these into the county, and joui their organization? The pian was plausible and i)revailed. Representative men went to the capi- tal to invite the Protestant missionaries. After a time they came, received everywhere with honor and ac- clami. Villages, a score and more, organized and sent representatives to support the movement. A central organization sprang up and a big building was se- cured. Among the many villages that thus sent representa- tives was that of the Chao family. Who should be sent but Li, the scholar, soldier, merchant, man of affairs. He went to Jenshow, listened, gave hearty sup- port, bought books said to be necessary and went his way. He was more interested now, however, and read his books carefully. Though his motives could scarce be called Christian, he was being led and to lead in a way that he knew not. Some months later, a convention for leaders was summoned in the provincial capital. Li was ready and receptive. He returned to his native village, moved 68 Li Liang Chen as not before to pilot his peoi)le. Many became con- verts, not of coin enitnce, but of conviction, among these his former teacher and his own family and friends. Another year, and a^^ain a conference of those most worthy was called. Li came gladly. This tmie his home-going meant the giving over of business inter- ests to others v.hile he went forth in his own village, county town, and all the surrounding district, this time persuading men to make the greatest of all mvest- ments, those eternal investmeni.-, in the Kingdom of God. Henceforth for him he felt his life's chief busi- ness lay in the extension of the reign of righteousness, peace and joy throughout his native land. Tw^o years have passed since then, but he is still as of old — fervent, fearless, faithful. A year's study at college in Chengtu has given him greater grip and wider vision. To-day he is again out in the work he loves, the scholar seeing even more clearly the signs of his times, the soldier g ling courageously forward in the great commission, the trader offering in all market- places treasure that death cannot corrupt, the evangel- ist heralding the glad tidings of great joy to a great people. Of such stuff are China's first apostles in the far west. Of such appeal is the message of the Son of Man to draw alien races unto Himself. To this end let us have firmer faith in all. 69 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART ANSI and ISO TEST CHART Nu 2, 1.0 I.I 'li 2.8 ,!l == 2.5 .^ 2.2 ■ 3.6 ^— ^ 1^ 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 L6 ^ APPLIED IIVMGE Inc ^l 'iii East Main Sireel rjs ochesler. Ne* Tork U609 USA ~ -'6) 482 - 0300 - Phone ^= '161 288 - ^989 - Fo. Bo and Nare, or Found Out " Rub-a-dub-dub ! rub-a-dub-dub !" Little Bo heard tiie music, and ran after it. He had been lishing in a pool with a bent pin for a hook. "It is lots more fun to run after the band than to fish with a pin and not catch anything." thought Bo. vSo he gave the line to liis little sister Xare. Xare wanted to tlsh before, but Bo had said. " (urls don't know any- thing "bout fishing."' 15o lived in a far country where even fathers don"t love little girls. B,o did not share his playthings with his sister, as you have done. He made her v.'ait on him. lie didn't know any better. That was the way Bo's father treated his mother. Bo was not white, as are the boys and girls who read this. lie was brown as a berry. So was his little sister Nare. vSo were all the peoi)le Bo and Xare knew, except two ladies. These white missionary ladies were Bo's teachers. They told him about Jesus. P,ut Bo's father taught him to worship idols. I'.o some- times wondered which was the true Cod. But at this partiiular minute he only thouj^ht about the music, and ran after it. lie saw a great crowd and a priest Ml the inid^t beating a ilruni. lie heard the priest cry m a lou