•: -v) 3a <_3 :;i ^ :^ V Q. ^^— ' to O ^aOJITVJJO'f^ ^OF-CAliFO/?^ ^ ^ to 6: ^OF-CALIFO/?^ ,\WEUNIVER% ^lOSANGElfjv. o ■^/5a3AINn 3V\V -oMlIBRARYQr^ ^llIBRARYQr '^OJIWDJO^ '^^ ^\\EUNIVER5■/A ' -^(l/OJnVDJO^ ^OfCAllfO% M,OFCALIF0% .^WEUNIVER% , ^ o ^aOSANCEl% ■^//^aSAINn 3V\V ^^MEUNIVER% ^^VlIBRARYac. m ^0FCA1IF0% ^OFCAIIFO% ^ o %Ji3AINn 3WV 0FCA1IF0% ^<9Aav{ian-^s^ ^V^EUNIV "■13DNVS01^^ ^adAiNnjwv" ^^lUBRARYQ^^ '^ ^i'iliONVSOl^"^ %a3AINn-3\\V^ ,iWEUNIVER^//, .vKlOSAN'CEl£r.> -J^^l•lIBRARYQ^^ ^s helped forward our next trouble. It was just about a week after the thief's first visit that our table boy went out to buy provisions and was waylaid by a friend who whispered something to the effect that he was on no account to sleep on the foreigner's compound that night, as fifteen or twenty local blacklegs had planned a midnight raid upon the place pretend- ing to be " Boxers." They intended to " hold us up " with fire-arms and make off" with any plunder they could get. Although we usually ignore these kind of tales there seemed a good colouring of truth about this, and knowing lawlessness was spreading all around, the boy himself being very frightened too, we were led after prayer to once more send a letter to the mandarin asking for pro- tection. J Again the Secretary was promptly Bent round with a letter and word of assurance, so that evening and the subsequent three or four nights, a guard of eight or ten underlings patrolled the place outside.O I v/as waited upon by two of the local police- men who assured me what diligent caro they were taking o*' us each night, which is the Chinese way of asking for a tip, and of course being Chinese I pro- ttdsed One. All these days I was kept busy sitting with the numbers of natives who came to see roe, chiefly out of curiosity, I think. "We were nouTthe principal topic of talk in the city and many came to assure them- selves that we had not run away, as Lt was so persistently rumoured.. Others again advised us to leave for a time, either to go into Shansi or else to the coast, offering to procure mules or carts If we needed them. The special messenger returning from Shuenteh brought word that on Sunday, June 25lh, the people there assumed a very riotous attitude, gathering a crowd, shouting, etc., but that they had disr persed quietly and our friends there did not anticipate any serious trouble just then. On June 27th and 2Sth the Shansi couriers of our ovn and other missions called at Huailuh as usual, en route to Paotingfu, but by Satuiday, June 30Lh, they had all re- turned, having ouly been able (o get about two-thirds of the way there. The roads were guarded by Boxers, and any one found carrying foreign letters was killed on the spot. One courlej belonging to the Catholics at Cheng- tingfu had been killed that week and later we heard that several others had shared the same fate. We were now cut off" from any co;nraunication with Paoting except by telegraph and we realized that the danger was coming nearer to us, as Ting Chau, where the couriers were murdered, was only about sixty miles from Huai-luh. On Satur- day, June 30th, an abundant rain com- menced', which lasted more or less for three days and was sufficient to allow the later autumn grains to be sown, thus saving our district at least from the long dreaded famine. -^ The charac- ter of the rain too led us to hope that it must have fallen over a very wide area. When at last the rain came, after long continued prayer and the strain of waiting, we could not keep back tears of thankfulness and perhaps from this little incident something may be gathered of what those days had meant Our ladies and the children when the storm approached were in the gar- den and the first peal of thunder at- tracted the attention of the little ones r 4 1 who r.in to Miss Orejrg clapping their hands in dcliglit crying, "Oh, auntie! its thundering." " The rain's coming I Praise the Lord ! " We bad a series of praise meetings that day and the Sunday following for the Lord's goodness in graciously re- membering His people and these poor Chinese. We trusted that now our troubles were past and rejoiced that the people vonld be all busy on their land and more peaceful times were at band. On Monday, July 2ud, I found a man willing to attempt to reach Pao- tingfu by a circuitous route with one letter secreted in his clothing. He was about to start, but the rain coming on again he decided to wait until the next day. • Just then I was led to gend a note round to the telegraph office, asking the clerk, with whom I was on friendly terms, if be bad any news from Paotlngfu or T'aiyuenfu. Our little household were at prayer when the messenger returned with a reply from the telegraph clerk to this effect :^ «' He had just learned on the wires that all the mission premises in Paoting- fu bad been destroyed the previous day, and all the foreigners killed except two ladies who had been carried into the district yamen, and that many natives both Protestant and Catholic had perished." The Lord Himself gave the grace for receiving this sad news. I tried to believe that it might not be true and inuuediately wrote out a wire to Mr. Bagnall, asking if all was well. AV'ord was sent back from the office that the wires had just been cut somewhere between Huai-lub and Paotingfu, but they hoped to have it repaired quickly. Early next dfy, Tuesday, July 3rd, a reply came to the cfi'ect that thc«re was "no receiver" at the Chin.i In- land Mission for my message. 1 then Kent a wire to Shanghai with the in- formation as I had first received it from the telegraph clerk. L\ the afternoon I wrote two harried letters to send olf special messengers, one south to Shuentcbfu and one west to Sheo-yaivg, with the sad news from Pao- tingfu..' ^ The same afternoon about 3 o'clock I was waited iipou by two policemen for the pro uised tip to give the men who had been on night duty round our house. It appears that a local ne'er- do-well, seeing these two^public men enter our place, bad his curiosity aroused and he said, " What are you going to the foreign devils for? I'll go with you 1 " They, not wishing their busi- ne?:s to be known, bustled him off, and would not let him cone in. The mischievous fellow, I suppose out of spite, went running all round the city, and suburbs shouting, " They have set fire to the foreigners' place, such a lark, come along." A people who had been worked up to such pitch of excite- ment for two or three months needed much less than that to cause a rush and a crowd, so that the police were only just nicely clear off the place when we were surrounded by a shout- ing, howling mob, who began to throw stones at the front door and in other way.i became very rowdy. With all that had passed during the last few weeks to unnerve us, and our hearts still numb by the terrible news from Piloting, it will be understood what an ordeal this was to us. My dear wife and Miss Gregg re- mained in the inner court with the two children and I stayed near the front. Leaving there for a moment to en- courage the ladies, I returned to find that our men servants, with true Chi- nese excitability, bad opened the front door and were quarrelling and expos- tulating with some of the foremost of the crowd. I quickly got them inside again, .shut and barred the door, re- maining on the alert just within. I think the attitude of the crowd was more sport and curiosity to see what would happen than anything of a desperate nature, and I found that those immediately near the door were only children and youths. The grown- ups having withdrawn a few paces away were urging on the young folk to 5 ell and throw stones, etc. I was led to go out alone and face the irowJ, Aand ask them what the excite- ment was about. I dared not let the natives go with me, knowing that with Ihcir excitable nature there would soon b;ive been higher words and perhaps blows. The crowd fell back and many r 5 ] of tLem looked very sliecpish as I went, •forward. Bat I foand in trying to talk with them that very soon, one more evil disposed than the rest came to the front, and hy turning my words upside down tried to make out that 1 was cursing them, thus bringing the laugh of the crowd upon me. One or two of the more friendly then cric;d out, "Go back, teacher, it's all right; we are going to scatter now." So I returned, but it was quite dark before the crowd had all dispersed and quiet was restored again. Shortly , after our landlord called and stayed till near midnight, as he did again the following night, paying a third visit on the Thursday morning. Pretending to be anxious for our safety he urged us to leave, hut his many and varied suggestions, as to what we should do, and where we should go, only proved that it was his property and not our lives he was so desirous to save. One can scarcely understand what an additional strain these interviews were at such a time. Troops had been passing Huai-liih for several days going North, it was said "to stop the Russians" who had invaded the empire from that quarter, and now c-ime word that the Governor of Shansi (Yuhsien) was on his way down .vith soldiers and a company of Boxers, that they had already reached T'ai-yuan fu, and were likely to cause trouble at any stations on the way. This official being a well known sym- pathiser with the Boxer movement, and learning from the telegraph otEce that the Catholic Missions at Tai-yuau fu had been burnt down, and some foreigners killed, we began to con- sider the advisability of seeking a place of retreat, where we could hide until he and his followers had passed through. A temple keeper, a few days previous, voluntarily oftered us a room in his temple on a mountain near by. We sent a man to see thfe place, and make arrangements for our going if we decided to leave our home. The next day, Thursday, July 5th, the tension Increased. One after an- other came to urge us to hide. ^ I sent out a man to gather any information he could from travellers coming down from the west, knowing that the troops only march about twenty miles a day and the ordinary traveller would soon be two or three days a head. The whole city seemed to be in a fever. About 3 o'clock camo a very unex- pected blow. A man arrived and was quickly ushered into my office, where I soon gathered that he was from Shuen-teh- fu, that our mission there had been rioted on June SOih ; everything was destroyed or stolen and that the friends had escaped at midnight with just what they stood in, to a v-illage 12 miles away in the mountains, both the Hsien and Fa Magistrates refusing to See Mr. Griffith or have anything to do with them. He brought word too that Mr. Glover and family, in endeavouring to return to Lu-an from Shuen-teh, had been stopped and robbed, ^even the hired mules being taken off by the crowd ; the nearest Hsien magistrate had refused to have anything to do with the case. AVe heard later however that they had been sent on officially to Lu-an-fu. This man also brouglit us news that the L. M. S. Station at Hsiao- chang had been destroyed, but he did not know how the foreigners had fared. While he was yet talking to me, the man I sent out came in to say that a traveller from Shan-si had just told him ,^\Le Sheo-yang Mission premises were 'destroyed. This was the nearest Station west of us, about three days journey, and now we went to God in prayer for guidance; all the nearest stations around us, K., S., E. and W. were destroyed ; the Shan-si governor and his troops were expected either on the morrow or the next day. So we were led to gather a few things to- gether, just a change of clothes, etc., to leave the house under cover of night, and take refuge in our hiding-place on the mountain. About 10 p.m. we sent off three men with bedding, a few cookin» utensils, provisions, etc., and just about midnight we, carrying -the sleeping children, with one servaiit attending, set off' for our three mile walk and mountain climb. It would be difficult to describe all we felt as we made our way over the rough roads in the dark, [ c ) find it was jnst beginning fo sliow signs of dawn when we reached the gateway of our retreat, tired and sick at heart, but realising our God to bo "Avery present help in trouble," and that we were suffering for His sake. Nearly an >hour passed before the temple keeper came to unlock the door and let us in. On unpacking our things we were distressed to find the oil stove on which we relied to make food had been broken; it was some time before I could make it usable, and we could get some refreshment. To our dismay, too, wo found that the slighest sounds travelled most distinctly in these echoing hilla and valleys; we could hoar the conversa- tion of the men working in the fields several hundred feet below, and we knew that any sounds we made could be heard by them, fo that it was one long strain all day to keep the children q\iitt in case our presence there should become known. There were teujples too on the face of the mountain opposite, just across the valley, where lived pries-.ts and their labourers, and we had to be very cautious when coming out- side of our room lest we should be seen. jThe first day we saw no one from the outside world ; much time was spent in prayer that God would guide us, and if possible bring us quickly through this troublous time and enable us to return to our home. We left three natives iu charge of the house, with orders to hold the fort as long as possible, and one was to come up on the Saturday night, bringing us provisions and any further news of the situation. iThe temples, a small living room in connec- tion with which we occupied, were very rarely visited by worshippers, except during the 4th moon, which was a gala day there. The court-yard door was kept locked, so that ar:y one visiting the place must go to our friend the keeper lor the key, and ho always accompanied thera. Thus wo had an arrangement with him, that he should give us v>'arn- ing of his aj)proach, so that we could fcbut our door, and keep cpiet until they had gone again. On our second day there, wo had a fright. Towards evening, the oil for our cooking lamp having run short, Mis^J Gregg and I venturtd into anotber building ustd as a kitchen, M'here there was a lot of sticks and dried grass, and tried to boil the kettle gipsy-fashion. While thus employed and with the door wide open, two men came by and went along into one of the temples to worship. They made nO' .signs whatever that they saw us, so we, hoping they had not noticed, slipped quietly into our retreat, while they were burning incense, and remain- ed there until they had gone again. Alas, this was the beginning of trouble for us, but trouble which our God turned into the means of our escape from death, as AviU be seen as I tell t'le sequel. I', appears that tl;e temple- keeper's mother was very ill, and he having to go off to the city seeking medical help for her his younger brother, who was not in the secret, brought up a worshipper who came along at the time ; hence we had no warning of their approach. The wor- shipper, a man from the North suburb of the city, had seen us, and upon his return soon set the rumour afloat that the foreign devils were hiding in the temples on *' Lien-hua-sha.i " (Lotus Mountain.) The effect of this rumour did not reach us for a day ar two, so I will go on to describe our experiences consecutively. About midnight on this day, Satur- day, July 7th, our cook came with two inquirers, bringing us provisions and news which filled our hearts with diamay ; it would have been despair, but we had our Heavenly Father with us, and through this and all our subsequent trials we have realised His constant and keeping power. Our house had been looted by the rabble that day, and wo were now practically houieless. This not only meant the loss of our all, but also the belongings of Miss Gregg and our fellow-worker, Mrs. Cameron, who was away in Cuefoo. The Master had given us an opporUinity to take joyfully the spoiling of our goods for His Sake. It seeuis that after we lift, the servants thought it well to gather the things together as much as possible, and even went so far as to remove beveral boxes, under cover of dark oti Friday night, «ind deposited them in their homes. " On the (Saturday morn- [ ^ 3 ing two of them went i.ext door ic* interview the landlord Tliey tokl him we had gone aw.iy for a timo, and asked his help in keeping the place intact. Upon this, the landlord, professing to be in full sympathy, came round to our houses and at once advised that they should co.npletely clear the three dwelling buildings of the main court, stowing away the things in the two rooms through at the back, the idea being to throw the place open to any who might come about, when word of our flight got round, and let them see that we had really gone and the place was empty.- So they set about the work, our three men, the landlord, his brother and their partner. All our foreign padlocks were removed from the 2 doors and some considerable amount of stuff was already stowed away at the back when one .suspicious character after another began to arrive. Thicker and faster they came, and the affair soon developed into a general riot, every one making oft" with what they could lay hands on. The whole thing was planned by the landlord ; ho Lad been on the roof the night before watching our men removing the things. Now he locked the two back rooms with his own locks, ordered off our servants and Avould not let them touch another thing. At an ordinary time this could not have happened, but if it is understood what a state the country was in,v what an anti-foreign(_ spirit there was abroad, how the news of the wholesale murder of foreigners and the destruction of Mission property was rife, how the Boxers were doing their terrible work under the patronage of the Dowager-Empress and a certain party of the Government, how the officials were all afraid to show favour to foreigners and quite unable to give them any proLtction, then it will be teen what an easy matter it had be- co le. The mandarin, who would know quite well wh.it was going on, took no step to prevent it. Some may wonder why I liad not sought his protection instead of ourselves finding a place of retreat, and why I left witliout Icttintr him \inow, but since my last tom- Uiuuication with him the Government • aad taken a strp which effectuallv prevented the officials from in any way defending or befriending foreignera. The^ Boxers hr,(\ becii^ 'officially re- cognized by tho Peking atithorities and some of their leaders promoted to the highest ranks and grade:-!. They were now being u,but little, dse could be t^keu with UP, and not knowing where wo might get the next meal we were all just trying to choke down ^omo food vhcn the keeper himself arrived. ]Io fust told us wliy he had not visited us ; Lis mother had died the day before, and he had been unable to leave her. Since thtii he had Iccu making fuuorul arrangements. The priest had proved his friendliness by going at once to him, ielllng our position and urging him to try and help us out of it. We knew that our prayer was answered as soon as we saw him coming, and our hearts overflowed with thankfulness to God as he said, " Don't be afraid, I have another place for you ; it is a natural cave high up on the face of this mountain ; plenty of room inside but a very small entrance ; very few know of its existence ; you will be perfectly safe there until they can find you a better place." 'Shouldering a giant's share of our thlng.5, he then led the way ; we carried a load, and dear Vera trotted along- side over the difficult stony pathway. The last 300 feet was a steep track- less climb, and the children had to be carried up, but after two or three trips we were all sitting breathless in His own "Cleft in the rock." Pro- mising to go to the city next day, ahd let our servants know where we were, and indicating a spot right away down at the foot of the mountain where I could get water, he left us. On inspecting our new home we found how damp it was ; only one small place on the ground, 5 feet by 3, seemed really dry, and here we spread our bedding-bag. Certainly it was beautifully cool, after- the intense heat outside of the hottest month of the year, but we realised how injurious to health any prolonged stay there would be. •^^It was no,v about 6 p.m., and we partook of some food, the children asking piteously for a drink. Wo could only promise that they should have ^ome water as soon as it was dark enough for father to go down and fetch It. V. Tlic last words on little John's lips as he fell asleep were " I'm so tliirsty," About 10 p.m. I ventured to creep out and clinjb down to the stream ; unfortunately none of our utensils would hold more than about a quart ; so taking a kettle and small bucket I made a successful trip, finding that it was quite as much as I could manage toQiiuib up with. C After a a rest I made a second trip and secured ( nough for our nc<;ds the ne.\.t day. C 9 ] "When the news reached the city r.cxt day that the village people had turned ns out of the Teinplo, ; our servants and friends were filled with (lismay. 'Not having the least trace of us, they could only guess that we had not gone far ownig to the children and the (fFtcts. So five or six of them set out and searched nearly all day in every nook and cave they could find. When the man went to the cook's house to tell him our hiding-place, he, poor fellow, was out searching for us and the messenger dared not leave ■word with anyone else. The search party had separated in order to cover more ground, and some remained until dark in their vain effort to find us. One of them, an inquirer, met a gang of eight or ten armed men who said, " Are you looking for the foreign devils too?". Others of the party had seen the same gang, and later on vwo learned they were a band of Boxers. The Governor of Shansi had only travelled some 20 miles from T'alyuen- fu, his capital, when he was recalled on urgent business, but the troops and Boxers had come on and arrived at Huailuh that very day. Hearing that our house was empty, and that we wers hiding on the '* Lienhua Shan," a party of them tried to find us, and even searched the temple we had left the clay before 1 We were hidden alike from friend and foe, for when He hides none can find till He Himself show the way. This was the first of our wonderful deliverances from death, for they certainly would have killed us had we fallen into their hands. ( i Late in the afternoon our cook returned to his home tired and hungry. When told that a man of a certain description had called to see him, he knew it was the temple keeper, and it flashed upon him that in some way he knew of our whereabouts ; .so, only waiting to get food, he set off again to the keeper's home, Avho about 10 p.m. brought him along to our hiding- place, What a meeting ! How we praised God together ! The lad had carrie(3 \with hun a big stone bottle of Chinese tea and some eatables, .and also the good news that on the Monday lie -with our servant had been into the country and found out what seemed to be a splendid retreat for us. ,^It was too late then to arrange for our re- moval that night, but he promised to come ther next night, with three or four others, and help us move to our third home, about three milts away. The two days spent in this cave were truly a trial to our faith. After sleeping the one night there, we all felt tho cold ; chilled to the bone we sat hud- dled together covered with rugs ; our food supply was very meagre, in fact by mid-day on the Wednesday we had very little left. But the God who sent the ravens to Elijah sent us a feast '^oi unleavened cakes and cucumbers by the hand of a man who had one time been in our employ ; his vilUgo was near, and he Avas fricndlv with the templr-kecper. Succeeding in learning from him our hiding-plaoe, ho brought these cakes, just when we were feelingvery hungry, and offered to take us into his home if we would( "-o. Picture the little company sitting round in that dimly lighted cave, a dough cake in one hand and a cucumber in the other ! I assure you we needed not to pray " for what we are about to receive make as truly thankful " I The children especially felt the res- traint of these two days. We dared not let them Fpeak above a whisper, for there were shepherds with flocks of sheep on tlie mountain side nearly the whole of the time. With thankfirlness too deep for words, we welcomed our relief party who, with us, could hardly keep back the tears of emotion and joy. Six men came so that we might be relieved from every burden. With Vera on the back of one and John asleep in the arms of another, the long single file m.oved on. A bright full moon made the progress easier, thougli not so safe, and all were verv glad when we reached the place about 1.30 a.m., without having been seen by any one. We found a nice clean little room prepared for us, such as one rarely sees in a Chinese farm-house. The prin- cipal value of this place as a refuge was the fact of its standing alone, iho nearest village being a mile away, and i io J hidden from view by hills. These single houses are very rare in this part of China,, jThe household consisted of Mr. Kao, his wife, two little girb, W his elder brother. Arrangements had been made that they should cook for us, it being impracticable for us to have anything l»ut Chinese food now. Keceiv- ing us very kindly, our landlord assured us that he intended to take good care of us and nothing should be left undone that could possibly lessen the trials of our imprisonment there ; although we found out afterwards that he did not know the seriousness of our position. A splendid watchdog was an additional advantage. ">No one was allowed to get nearer th^n hearing distance without there being a vigorous warning.. So here we have a house alone, coaipletely shut off on all sides by mountains, out of sight and hear-ng of the nearest village, and a clean room; a strong- minded landlord, respected and feared by all the near villagers ; a clean woman who could cook Chinese food admirably, and two little children about the same age as our own, whose laugh or cry would be a set-oflF against any similar noise our bairns might make ; a good watchdog, and a household of one mind to keep the fact of our presence there a S( oret. Surely this must be owned as the Lord's provision for us. There were disadvantages, however, for the hillsides all around were terraced and under cultivation, and this being a busy time 0:1 tlic land our court-yard was over- looked all day. Thus we were obliged to remain in the roo:u and could only take air and exercise after du.sk, when tlie toilers had gone over the hills to tlieir villages. Tlie wrll, too, being the only one in the valley, was cou- slantly used by tiiose who were working on tlieir land, and only a very thin wall, through which the slightest sound could be hoard separated tills well from our room ; thus many times a day we were oMiged to keep perfect silence. Thi-n, again, they often came to borrow so'.tio vi'pleinent, or to chat >vlth tlie landhird ; and although he did his best to ge-. rid of them quickly, all thi.^ tended to make the restraint, under wh'.jh we were placed more trying and difficult. It was here, however, that tor the next four weeks we learned omany precious lessons from our Master, and enjoyed much of His loving kindness and fellowship. On the night following our arrival, two of our men came to bring provi- sions, and a reply telegram froui Shang- hai, in which anxiety for the safety of our Station was expressed, and for that at Shuenteh. I had to reply that both stations were already rioted, and gave some idea of the danger and difficulty of our present po.sltion. Very few nights passed, especially during the earlier part of our stay, without our men coining either with provisions or news of so.nc kind ; and though daily wo hoped for an improve- ment in the situation, things seemed to go froui bad to worse. Not very long after he had got rid of us, (he landlord of our house in Huai-luh, now under his true colours, invited a teacher of the Boxers to the place, and soon a School of some twenty men and youths were in full po.^scssion of our premise^', learning the mysteries of " Boxcrism," which is the art of beco.ning invulner- able to knife or bullet and a fit subject to be possessed by demons. I'rom time to time we heard of dilTercnt Mission stations being destroyed. Through the kindness of the clerk, I kept in touch with the^telegraph office, though the wires were repeatedly cut in both directions. A message I sent to P'ing- iao, one of our Shansi Stations, was returned after nine days delay with the words " No receiver " on it. This, with the terrible rumours of what was taking place in Shansi, although Ave could loarn nothing definite, convinced us that the awful persecution was spreading in that province also, and kept us constantly ..in prayer for our friends there. ^ Again, as though to add sorrow upon sorrow, some of those who had helped us in our exile, falling under the temptation of the evil one, sought to gain advantages to themselves at our expense and serious injury.O Sickness too came to test us. ]\Iiss Gregg had a very b.:d attack of dysentery which lusted about a week. i: 11 ] My dear wife passed through nearly three weeks of great duflfering with abscesses in her ear, whilst I myself was troubled more or less with neuralgia and indigestion nearly the whole time. Only llie Lord Himself enabled us in the midst of so much suffering both of body and mind to bear the constant strain of answering and quieting the dear children. ( ^ The messenger who first brought ■word of the riot at Shuentehfu had promised to return within a fortnight and let us know how our friends, Mr. and Mrs. Griffith and Mr. Brown, fared ; but as time passed there was no news of them, and we were thinking of send- ing to enquire, when wo were startled one night to hear from our cook that they were in Huailuh, having arrived the same evening. After spending a forlinght in the mountains, they were turned away by the villagers, their money was all gone, and being practi- cally destitute they walked back to Shnen-teh Fu in the night, ^nd de- manded protection from the chief official there. He promised to escort them to a place of safety and was sending them through into Shansi. Had there been time to get there and back before daylight, I would have gone to the inn to see them, but we could only eend them a few of our things with a letter of sympathy, and follow them with our prayers as we heard of their destitute condition and the ill-health of Mrs. Griffith and her baby. Tlie dread uncertainty of their destination, and the fear that in going west they were only going from bad to ■worse, S( emed almost more than we could hear. Four days later, as a further gurprise, word came that they were again in Huailuh. It appears that when thwj reached Fingting Chco, about 70 niiles away, the official there would not allow them to be sent back to Shuen-teh. He told them that Mr. I'igolt of the Sb(0-yang Mission, 30 mWti further on, had been killed by Boxers, and that it was almost certain death to proceed. This was indeed the Lord's deliverance for our friends, and ■we*^ praised Him for it. ^ On arriving at CLengtingfu, 20 miles cast of Huai- luh, Mrs. Griffith was very ill» and, . as tc continue travelling by cart seemed risking ^ her life, they decided to accept an invita- tion to go into the Roman Catholics Mission there, which was still untouched, thus we were able to correspond with them and know of each other's welfare. With the third week of our stay at the farm came a new trouble. It be- gan to be whispered abroad in the villages that we were there. This led our host to prepare a place for us in case of emergency. By cutting a passage way through the cliff' that the house was built against, he joined one of the smaller rooms oS" the kitchen with two tumble down caves at the back of the building, which had once been Uicd as dwellings. Leaving only a very small entrance on the house tide, and no one but ourselves knowing of its existence, it could eas-ily be concealed. The doors and windows of the caves were ■walled up, only leaving a very small hole to admit a little air and light, and the only means of entrance Avas by the secret passage from the kitchen. "With but a very bliort warning, we and our belongings could all be hidden, so that anyone searching the place Avould search in vain. But of course the caves were too damp and dark for us to stay any length of time there. Even with this additional security, we thought it ad- vik'able to seek another retreat. One of our inquirers urged us to go to his home, about 40 ruiles south, and we had a very warm invitation from the E.G. Bishop at Chengtingfu to join the friends there. It was on Thurs- day morning, Aug. 10, while we were in the very act of talking about these t^Nvo offers and seeking to know our Loid's will for us, that the decision was .suddenly taken from us and we found ourselves in the hands of a band of armed Boxers Warning was given that several men were approaching, and we quickly hid ourselves in the cave, A\hile the woman covered the entrance with household chattels. The inquirer mentioned above, Mr. Keng, who was there at the time, joined us in the cave and listened near the open- ing so that we miglit know what was C 12 3 going on. Soon the tramping of many footsteps and loud altercations could be heard.C Mr. Keng came to tell us in awed wliispers that a number of Boxers wore searching for us. C We felt that, if they had any reli- able inf ovulation that we were there, they would soon intimidate the farmer into revealing our hiding-place. E-;- cape was hopeless. Wc were walled in securely; the only exit there was was through the house now being loot- ed and searched. Looking up to our God, whose own peace garrisoned our hearts, we waited with bated breath to hear if they should discover the concealed doorway. The footsteps came nearer, the voices grew louder, there was a banging of utensils, then a shout of triumph 1 { With one voice we lifted up our hearts crying ** Thou art worthy." We tliought of the dear children whose piteous queries, "Will they kill us ? " "Are they going to kill now?" jilerccd deeper than any Boxer's knife, and wo told^ )them that very soon we should be with Jesus, and I was led to go out and plead with thftse men for the lives of the ladies and little ones. Groping my way along the passage, I stooped and lifted the curtain which covered the hole and was just creeping through when one of them fired at me. By the dull heavy thud on ray head I knew I was wounded, and was con- Ecions of falling through the entrance, then rising to my feet I seemed to spin round two or three times in the room, then I leaned against the wall for support As I did so, I saw through the open door several Boxers run across the court-yard and heard one shout, " All get outside and on the roof." The blood was now streaming down my face, but clearing my eyes with my handkerchief I saw one of them on the roof Ojiposite just filing at me. It was an old flint-lock and just fliishtd ill the pan and missed fire. Tlien two others appeared further along on the roof, armed with* gun-.', who sought to aim at mo through tlio windows and doorways as I staggered from room to room, scarcely knowing what 1 was doing. I think I was look- in;: for a way of tscape. Then I made my way hack Into the cave and said to my wife, " They have shot me in the head, dearie ; 'tis cer- tain death for us, only a matter of time now. We are not worthy, \wi He is worthy." Soon after, Mr. Keng left the cave. They knew they had us safe and had not been watching the en- trance, and as they did not know he was with us he m^inaged to conceal himself in one of the other rooms and escaped when all had left. Fearing we might be armed, they dared not venture Into the dark unknown pass- age, and now we heard them battering In the recently walled up doorway of the cave from the fields outside. Some few bricks were removed, letting the full light in upon us, and we retreated into the darkness of the second cave. Then the battering ceased, and soon the farwier himself came through the passage and joined us. Poor fellow ! liis face was a terrible picture of fear. He told us how they had robbed the place of evervthing moveable worth taking away, and now threatened to get fire to the house unless he could persuade us to come out of the cave. They promised not to kill or Injure us in any way, but would take us to the local Magii-trate and let him do what he liked with us. This was so far removed from any known , Boxer policy that we were sure it was only a ruse of the farmer to save his pro- perly. To die in the cave or outside in the yard was all the same to us, and if the man's house could bo saved why should we prolong this terrible wait- ing? So we sent Mr. Kao to tell them that we would come out into the yard, and, after briefly committing each other to our Faithful Creator, made our way through to the kitchen. Not a soul could be seen through the open doorw.iy, but as I stepped on the threshold I saw a man standing on each side against the w»ll, with their huge ghaslTy swords uplifted. Stepping back for a moment to tell the ladies to bo prepared, I walked out with one of the children in my arms, the ladies following with the other child. > Wo were immediately seized and tho.se great knives brandished over our heads. Then the word yixi given, C 13 ] " Bring; tLem round to tlie back," and ' tl'ey dragged us out of the court, round tb« buildings and up an cmbank- raent leading on to tbe flat roofs of the nortb rooms. ^ Here, without re- leasing us or removing tbe swords from our necks, tbey demanded to know what things we had ar.d where tbey could find them. Seeing the distress of the children they told us to tell them that they would not kill us. vHaving Fecured all that was left of our cloth- ing, bedding, etc., tbey proceeded to search our persons, even to the tearing off of my wife's wedding-ring, keeper and f-pectacles. Tbe only thing Miss Gregg' had with her was a imall Bible which she was led to blip into her pocket as we left the cave. It was examined by two or three of them; then, although divided in opinion, the leader handed it back and ■aid she might keep it, adding, ^" If you read that you can get to heaven. " Thus our gracious God made provi- sion for His children, and this little treagure, positively the only thing we now possessed, beyond the few clothes we were wearing, has been an untold help, blessing and constant comfort to us through the rest of our trials. " I have esteemed the words of His mouth core than my necessary food. " Once on a later occasion it was taken from us, butC He prevented its destruction, and after six days' wanderings it was •gain restored. Much to our surprise, having secured all the booty, they led us off to the city as promised, and actually hired two men to carry the children, Feeing how weak I was from loss of blood and that our progress was too slow. ^ What a procession I The villagers had turned out "en masse" on the Eurrounding hills and saw us led away, each overshadowed by those awful knives, while thofe who carried fire- arms walked in tbe rear. About half way we met the local school of Boxers, ^ho I suppose had not yet graduated Bufficiently to take part in the more active businesp, but who could in this way share in the glory of taking us to the city. ."With them came our land- loid, bringing a supply of water- BQelons for the loyal fellows who in the Fmppror's name were ridding the dlirtricl Hi th(Be dreadful foreigners. A* I passed quite close by him he hid his face with his hand, no doubt hop- ing that I should not recognise him. Leaving tbe road leading' to the nearest city gate, they took us along by the North wall towards the East Buburb, and when I overheard them say they were going to our own home my heart failed me, as I felt sure it must be their intention to kill us there ; ©nee in their hands no foreigner had over been known to escape. I knew too, from the dialect, that these men came from the Paotingfa district and shuddered as I imagined they were probably part of the company who killed all the dear mis-sionaries there, including our own Mr. W. Cooper, Mr. and Mrs. Bagnall and their little girl. There was real sympathy on the part of many' in the enormous crowds lining the fctreets as we passed along, and among them was the tear-staiped face of our own serving women, '^^ to whom Miss Gregg shouted as we passed, •* We are not afraid, God is with us" I On arriving at the familiar doorway, the crowd was held back and not allowed to enter, while we were taken up into tbe dining room and the door was immediately fastened. The un- certainty and suf-pense were terrible, but when they proceeded to examine and wipe their iMordg, I said to the ladles, " They are going to kill us now. '' Then word was given that all sl.ould rejair to the back for worship (ibis plays an Important part in the Boxer propaganda), and we were left alone in tbe room, with the doors fecurely fastened. Seeing an empty beditead in tbe inner room, we passed through, and were very thankful to sit down after our three mile walk in the hot ?un. What a wreck our home looked I With unswept court!-', broken windows, and bare en pty rooms ! The dear children were soon asking innumerable questioes as to what had become of this and that. Now the door opens and a man enters, the sight of whom fills my heart with hope • he was on© of the local policemen. After gome commonplace talk; Lq C 14 ] and him using lang- to be an managed to whisper in my ea^ <' Don't fear, there are several of us here on the alert, and the mandarin will be here directly. " Could it be that after all they were handing us over to the official, as they said ? The joy of life given back and deep thAnkfpilness to God began to fill oar hearts." Truly this was as a cup of cold water to the fasting soul ; the faint- ing body too was very grateful for the pot of water handed through the broken window by some one who he-aid the children crying for a drink. Whoa the official arrived we were formally handed over to him by the t;pckesman of the Boxer parly, now dressed up with fan and gown, uage which proved educated man. Without much delay wo were escort- ed outside and a new procession formed! ' Besides his ordinary retinue, the Mandarin had now an additional bodyguard of about 200 soldiers who were also used as a kind of city guard, and had been enlisted on account of tha troubled state of the Empire. Wo Avalked between this long single filo followed by the official chair and all the underlings, through the suburb and eastern gate, to the Yamen in the middle of the city. Thousands lined tho streota, and although I was now too faint and giddy "to care, this walk to the Yamen was a great trial to the ladies. The Mandarin blamed me for not having nought him earlier, that ho niiglit have sent us awav before tills trial came upon us 1 When I tried to remind him that I had sought his protection, he iuuncdiately talked about some- thiu'' else. As this was before all his staff and he had his " face " to sAve, and as I knew how helpless ho was, I did not press tho matter. ' ' He said he would send us to Cheng- tingfiy on the morrow, hoping tho Bishop there would rccoivo us, fail- ing which we should be escorted from city to city up to Paotlngfu, and tho Governor of the Province would find some means to enable us to leave tho country and return to our own land. ^ Having already received an invita- tion from the Bishop, we thought of no Paotlngfu or elsewhere. ^ He then gave orders that a lodging should be found for us within the Ya- men precincts for safety, and we were accordingly led oft" to a small temple, professedly the only available place they had. The relief of finding ourselves really out of tho hands of the Boxers, and the deep thankfulness in our hearts to God for this second deliverance from death, coupled with the hope of soon seeing our friends in Chengtingfu, enabled vis to look n.ore lightly on the hardsliips of our surroundings. On examining my w^ounds, we found that it was a full charge of No. 1 shot that I had received, and owing to my peculiar stooping position at the time my he.i.d, face, shoulder, arms and back had all taken their share. As blood, hair and clothing were now firuily clotted, we decided to leave it so until we reached Chengtingfu, where I could get proper surgical dressing and treat- ment. I suft'ered terribly that night, which we spent on some reed mats Fpread on the damp floor of the teiiiple, Prai&o God, the dear children slept, but the pain, stift'ness, and dread of the twenty miles jolt in a cart the next day were more than enough to leep me from sleep. How one longed for a soft pillow for the poor wounded head, but tlie only one I had was a couple of bricks .Every now and then the blood all seemed to flow to }ny head and I was obliged to get my wife and Miss Gregg to help mo up anel walk with me up and down the place for some relief. We were out very soon after daylight and had not been long in the yard when dear Mrs. Liu, our woman, arrived. Sho hael tried tho night before but could I not get to us, and had been wait- ing outside the Yamen since long lefore dawn, hoping for an opportunity to see us. Slie had been told by neighbours that we had been executed in the prison, anel that we dice! singing hynnis. Her reply was, " I do not , feiir, our God is with them." Tho interview Mas nost touching : she took up the two children in her arms with a C 15 ] loving tenderness rarely seen in this people ; and wlien leavint^ she embraced and kissed my -wife and Miss Qre^g, regardless of O fill onlookers, v Her calm f^trong faith in God and loving helpful words, -with the recollection of others in our little flock, enabled us lo share St. Paul's joy when glorying in his Corinthian converts. " I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation." Kc- turning home she sent us a thick wadded Chinese coverlet to f^pread in our cart, with some fruit and cakes for the children'^ By about 7 a.m. we had left the city ; the country was looking beautiful, especially to us after our nionth's imprisonment. Tlic rains had only just come when we It ft our home, and the whole plain was bare and barren ; now it was a picture, with its luxuriant crops and trees. Wli^n about five miles out, a new trial came to US ; the band of Paotingfu Boxers overtook us I Each was carrying a Imndle of the booty taken, and some were even wearing our garments. Although they did not actually keep alongside, they overtook us and wo passed them again two or three timeiB during the remaiinng fifteen miles of the way. When we stopped for lunch at the ten mile stage, they were at the same inn also taking food; The Lord wonderfully strengthened me for the journey and, though I suff'ercd con- siderably, I was a marvel to myself and others. On arriving at the East Gate of the city, we saw a large crowd gathered, and several Yamen people about. The cart was stopped and the ofBcial papers concerning us handed over by our e.'cort. Then followed a long wait while the papers were taken to the Y-'TiKn. It was early afternoon, and the fierce sun, with the great crov,'d f-warniing almost on the cart, made the heat unbearable; but there we sat, bathed in perspiration, travel-stained and dishevelled, gazed upon by a con- tinually moving stream of,' curious ones for two hours. It was during this try- ing wait, when we expected every minute to be taken into the city and to the Mission House where we should see our friends, that the Lord gave to my wife this text, "Delivering theo from the people unto whom now I send thee " ; and in the cave that day, as we sat momentarily expecting death, was given to Miss Gregg the promise, "A'^ thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee." These two remarkable texts, seemingly so in- appropriate at the lime, were used of God through all our later experiences to keep us in the assurance that it was His purpose to save us, and over and over again He led us to remind Him of His own word. A stir in the crowd, and way was made for a military officer who told us not to fear, we were being sent home to our own country. Then word was given to drive on to the North suburb, but still outside the city. Even yet we never dreamed we were not to be allowed to enter, hut thought they feared the crowd and so would escort us to the suburb nearest the Roman Catholic Mission, and then take us there undei cover of night. Once at the inn, I thankfully lay down to rest, but alas I not for long. We were soon to be undeceived, for a man from the Yamen came to say we had better hurry up and order some food, as another cart was already waiting in the yard to take us on the next stage of our journey to Paotingfu ! . • In vain I pleaded that we had hoped to go to the R.C. Mission, that it was certain death to send us to Paotingfu where the foreigners had already b( en killed, and that many places on the way were full of Boxers ; also that it was inhuman to send a wounded man such as I was, with two ladies and the children, without a rest, to travel far into the night He declared that I could rest as long as I liked at the next stage, Avhich was only a village, but go on we must. The officials were afraid of the Boxers who accompanied u'=!, they too being forbidden to enter the city. It was useless to say more. ' I was only talking to an underling, and we were entirely at the mercy of these people. We ordered food and tried to take some, knowing there would be none during the next stage. [ 16 ] Tlio Mindariii at Hnailuh had given no 500 c.ish for .travelling expenses, and now ihcy brought me 1,000 from the oflli -ial hero for the same purpose. Even wliHe getting food they carae again and again to hasten lis. _) On going out to the cart, we found the Boxers' bundles ;ind weapons piled on the back ; and we knew that after all wo wore not out of their hands, but that although at each stage we had an official escort from the Yamen we were really in the power of the Boxers. It is useless to attempt to tell all that passed in our hearts as wo got on the cart, which soon started and left the tOAvn behind. What would dear Mr. ardQltrs. Griffith and Mr. Brown suffer when they heard of our passing, that Boxers were with us, and that wo were being sent to Paotingfu ! The Provincial Governor there had only recently issued a proclamation which declared that all foreign teachers of religion were deceivers and pro- pagators of devilish and injurious doctrines; that all who had joined their churches must recant at once, or they and their families, man, woman and child, would be killed, their houses burned and property confiscated ; that the missionaries nnist get back to their own countries and would be protected as they proceeded to do so < This last, as we have proved, was only an empty clause. To this man we were now beiniT sent, barely six weeks after all the missionaries and their families had been cruelly murdered in his own city and its suburbs. The children slept most of the way, and Fuchingi, the next posting slHtion, 15 miles distant, was reached al)out midnight. Instead of being allowed the rest we were promised, we were transferred to another cart at once, and proceeded on our journey to Sinloh ILsicn, the next stage of 23 miles, which wo reached at daylight the following morning. Here tlie Boxers brought us some millet soup and a few bread cakes, and wc begged a drink of hot water from fiome of the Yanien men. After sitting in the cart for about an hour and a half, we were once more transferred JQ a fresh cart and started for Tiuj^- | cheo, the next 20 mile stage. This was the place where the postman had been murdered, and all around the neighbourhood the Boxers had pilliged and burned the houses of the Roman Catholics'.Jkilling every man, woman and child they could find. It seemed so improbable that we should be allow- ed to pass through the place alive, that our hearts were kept lifted up to God that we might bo prepared for His will whatever it might be ; our desire was that He might be glorified in us, whether it were by life or by death. The cart was stopped in the street of the South suburb of the city while some of the Boxers paid a visit to a local branch of the fraternity, and of course a great crowd gathered. As we passed along, the streets were lined on either side, the great crowd follow- ing in the rear. Arriving at the Yamen about noon, we were very gl'