answered that I expected word from the mandarin, and next day, early in the morning-it was Saturday, 21st July-he sent a sedan chair and a few soldiers to escort me to Kuang-chau.

July 21-"The Servant as His Lord"

We arrived at the Yamên there at half-past four in the afternoon. I was left in the yard four hours, all the time being at the mercy of large crowds of enemies, who abused me and mocked me, saying, "God has brought you safely back, has He? Your God cannot save you. Jesus is dead; He is not in this world. He cannot give real help. Our Kwan-ie (god of war) is much stronger; he protects us, and he has sent the Boxers to pull down your house and to kill you"; and thus saying they spat in my face, and threw mud and melon peel at me, and did what they liked. Some pinched me, others pulled my queue, and others expressed themselves in the most vile way. All the time I did not answer a word. Some of the Christians came to see me, but had to run for their lives.

July 22

At half-past eight the mandarin, being afraid that the people would kill me in the courtyard, ordered that eight Yamên runners should carry me outside the city in a sedan chair towards Lo-shan. On the way they told the people that they were carrying me to the execution grounds. The night was dark, and we were travelling by lantern light, so we only went three miles. The day after, Sunday, July 22, they carried me without disturbance twenty-seven miles farther, to a place called Chau-ho-tien. I had visited there twice before, and many came and recognised me, but did not make any trouble.

July 23-Deserted but Guided

Next morning, Monday, July 23, about 3.30, I got into the chair, and they carried me for a quarter of a mile, and then they asked me to dismount and let them tighten up the chair. No sooner had I left it than they took up the poles and away they went back to Kuang-chau. One of the mandarin's attendants still remained, and he told me that they had no official letter, and so were unable to escort me to Lo-shan, and that now I was free to do what I thought best. I talked to him and asked him if the mandarin had not left him any money for me. He said, "No," but afterwards produced 400 cash, and then left me in the darkness. There on the spot I prayed for guidance, and waited till the sun rose.

Then I walked on past Lo-shan, intending to go to Sin-yang, where I had heard that there were some foreigners prospecting for a railway. At Lo-shan the people called out "The Bewitcher," and wanted to kill me, but others said, "He is only a Canton man.' They followed me some distance and then returned. At noon I

stopped at a small inn four miles beyond Lo-shan. After dinner I rested till five o'clock, and then proceeded on my way, but I had barely walked a quarter of a mile when I seemed to hear an inner voice saying to me, "Do not go on," and I returned to the inn. landlord was surprised to see me back. I told him that I was footsore, and so could not get on that day.

"Under the Shadow of the Almighty"

The

During the evening some thirty men, armed with swords and spikes, stopped at the inn, and asked very excitedly if the innkeeper had seen a "foreign devil" passing by that morning, and saying that they were hunting after him to kill him. The innkeeper answered in the

negative, and the men began angrily cursing the foreigner.

I was lying down on the floor with my face turned to the wall and my head partly covered with my hand, so they did not recognise me; but I heard all they said, all their plans to overtake and kill me, and their conjectures that I was farther on the road to Sin-yang. They talked for a long while, but started off very early in the morning. A little later I, too, left the inn.

July 24-31-" Delivered out of so great a Death"

It was Tuesday, July 24, I had walked five miles, and was feeling very weary, as if I could not go much farther, and for a time felt very despondent, when I saw a man coming from the opposite direction. As he neared me he stopped and looked very closely at me, and again went on. We passed one another, and then he stopped again. turned round, and then he asked if I was not Mr. Ai (my Chinese name).

I

Being doubtful of the man, I did not answer, but only asked him his name and where he came from. He told me that he was a Mr. Lo, of a place called U-li-tien, and then I remembered having seen him two years before at the city of Ju-ning. As soon as I let him know who I was, he came towards me and, bursting into tears, told me that he had heard that I had been killed. He offered to turn back and accompany me to Han-kow, so I told him that I had hardly any money. He said he would get some from his house, which was on the way to Han-kow. So we started off together.

When we were near U-li-tien, leaving me at an inn on the further side of the river, he returned and fetched money and dinner for me, and clothes. After dinner we went on towards Han-kow, and by his help, after a week's more travelling, during which our lives were three times at stake, I reached Han-kow safely. We journeyed partly on foot, partly by barrow, partly in sedan chair, partly by boat, and on Tuesday morning, July 31, we reached our journey's end, glad to have the dangers and sufferings over, and to be able to get rest and medical treatment.

FROM SIANG-CH'ENG TO TAI-HO

Mr. C. H. Bird, who had decided to "stay on at Siangch'eng and stand by the Christians and the Hall as long as possible" (see p. 217), soon found the position untenable. He was only able to remain there three days after the other friends had gone. The story of his journey is most remarkable, and is another proof of how God can and does deliver His servants when their deliverance is for His glory. Mr. Bird was sent out by the Australian branch of the China Inland Mission. His story is as follows:

MY ESCAPE FROM SIANG-CH'ENG

By Mr. C. HOWARD BIRD

"In Peril by Robbers"

I arrived safely at T'ai-ho, Gan-hwuy, on Monday evening, the 24th July, after a most trying time on the road from Siang-ch'eng. I left there on Wednesday morning, the 11th. The previous two days there had been an increase in the rumours, and the rowdy and threatening behaviour of the people when the Swedish ladies passed through had indicated a thorough change in their attitude towards us. News also had been received of a rising at Pao-feng, twenty-three miles west, where the people were said to be looting the granaries of the wealthy. On the Tuesday evening the evangelist took my card, and went to see the mandarin, but was told no protection would be afforded us; an Edict had been received ordering the expulsion of all foreigners, and I must leave at once.

I waited till next morning, when the evangelist and other friends came and urged me to leave without a moment's delay, as the house had been watched during the night, and the report of a massacre of foreigners down south had just been received. I was very reluctant to leave, but thought it only right to follow their advice. I took nothing with me, intending that my boxes should be sent on later. A man accompanied me, carrying my rug, and some cash and silver.

July 11-In Flight

That day we went thirty miles. The people were all friendly, but they knew we were fleeing, from the absence of baggage. Next

morning we had not gone very far when we were met by a messenger from Mr. Powell at Chau-kia-k'eo, telling us of the riot there, and of the Gracies, and Mr. Macfarlane, and also the Swedish sisters, having been robbed. We were then about half-way to Chau-kia-k'eo. What to do we did not know. Just then a man coming along the road, seeing me, yelled at me to go back, saying that all the foreigners had been killed, and so on. The main road seemed thus to be impracticable, so I decided to go by the river.

I hid in the fields all day, not daring to go through a village; and my man went on and agreed with a boatman to take us down to Chau-kia-k'eo. The day was very hot, but I was able to get refreshing drinks from the wells in the fields. In the afternoon I lay in a hut in a melon patch, and later on in the crops by the river bank. At nightfall my man came back and led me to the boat. The boatman was very friendly, having taken me before, and the brother of one of the men was employed in the Hall at Chau-kia-k'eo. We anchored for the night outside the small town of Siao-iao. During the night a strong wind arose, and the boat became strained, and this delayed our starting the following morning.

July 13-Robbed

I sent off the messenger from Chau-kia-k'eo, with a note to Mr. Powell, telling him that I was coming. In five minutes he returned, saying he had forgotten something. He started again, but back he came once more, this time with the news that three Swedish ladies were at the place, only four miles distant, where they had been robbed. This frequent coming and going excited the suspicions of a boy who was standing near, and he jumped on to the boat, lifted up the mat under which I was lying, and discovered me. Of course, he immediately spread the news, and in a few minutes a crowd gathered. They clambered on to the boat, seized me and robbed me of all my money and the few things I had in my cash bag. They then made me get down off the boat, and pulled the clothes off my back, leaving me stripped to the waist. I had put my little pocket Bible in my waist, and when they felt that, they thought it must be silver, and half-a-dozen pairs of hands grabbed at it. I could have laughed, so eager they each seemed to secure the prize; no one would let go; they wrenched furiously at it. At last they got it out, and great was their disgust on finding it was only a book. A boy standing by suggested that they should take my trousers, but a bystander was indignant and rebuked him. They took off my shoes, however, and then they left me standing there.

I had heard just before this that the district mandarin was in the town, and had sent him my card; but all that the official did was to come down and insist on my getting on to the boat and continuing my journey. This I refused to do, as the boat people were not willing, naturally fearing that their cargo might be plundered next if I

remained with them. So they gave me an old ragged shirt and a pair of old shoes, and I got across to the other bank, my man carrying me on his back. My intention was to strike across the fields to the place where the Swedish ladies were; but I soon found that was impossible. The people came rushing from all parts, and one man seized my queue, and, drawing a dagger, presented it at my heart. He also took off my cotton girdle.

I then waded the river again, and, entering the town with my clothes all dripping, stood in the main street, in a shady place, determined at all costs to see the mandarin myself. When he came back I made my way to the Yamên, but I was refused admission. They promised, however, to tell the mandarin and to see what he would do for the ladies and myself. For the rest of the day I sat in a tea-shop, in my disconsolate condition, a spectacle to all beholders. Some unknown friend bought me a little bread, which, however, I could not swallow. In the evening an inferior official came back with my gown and shirt, and said I must go on the boat again and leave for Chaukia-k'eo. I replied that this could not be, as I was not going to leave without knowing something about the ladies.

That night I slept in the boat, and in the morning again entered the town. The official said it was impossible to give the ladies and myself an escort, so I determined to make a final attempt to see the mandarin myself, as he descended from his chair and entered the Yamên. That day a Yamên runner kept constantly by my side, both on the street and in the tea-shop. In the afternoon I took my stand at the Yamên gates. A crowd soon gathered. They tried to get me to move, with all sorts of promises; but, seeing I would not go away, two runners suddenly caught hold of me and dragged me down the street by the hair of my head. Some kind person had returned me my Bible, but one of the runners, seeing that I treasured it, took it from me again.

July 14-A Noble Friend

I now saw that it was hopeless to expect help from the mandarins, and I just sat down by the roadside. In this my hour of extremity the Lord in a wonderful way raised up a good friend for me, who took me to his house for the night. This man was a Mohammedan, as were also two others who befriended me. A pedlar selling a sort of porridge gave me a basin of it, and would not take any money; and another selling black bread gave me a small loaf. My good friend stayed by me for the next four or five days, gave me my food, and found me a little room where I lay hid for two days. He also sent messengers with letters to the ladies, but these never reached them. During these days, I think, my good friend did hardly anything else but make arrangements for me.

Then the water in the river me, to take me to Chau-kia-k'eo.

rose, and my friend hired a boat for By that time I had heard definitely