CHAPTER V

CARRIER OX.PAGE 54

THE OX-CART OR TALGOOGY.PAGE 197

Our road on leaving Kangai passed directly over the mountains, through a region more sparsely populated and more wildly beautiful than anything we had yet seen. There were a few stray farms where sparse crops of potatoes were raised, but the mountains hemmed us in closely on all sides. They were covered with magnificent trees; here and there a woodcutter was seen or heard, but the evidences of human life were few. We had noticed with interest through the mountain districts a large number of people for these sparsely settled regions who were afflicted with goitre.

At night we reached a small village of scarce a half dozen houses, established by the government as a place of rest for travelers, since there was no other place within convenient marching distance. A subsidy was given in return for which these natives were bound to provide refreshments, horses, oxen, or torches for those who bore passports or official orders. But travel was rare and they had come to consider their duty a tyrannical exaction, their subsidy as their right; so when we arrived an ominous silence reigned over the place, and we found it had been completely deserted and that not long since everything had been dropped and the people had fled and hidden. This inhospitable reception was a very definite sign of ill will, a plain refusal to give the shelter and assistance they were so well paid to bestow. Of course it did notauger well, but there was nothing to be done for the present but to try to supply our needs. Fires were built, horse provender found, and rice for coolies, mapoos and attendants cooked, while for ourselves we fared well on the contents of our box of stores. Some of the villagers returned that night to their homes.

Early next morning, having paid for what we had used, we started away. But the necessity for haste, as our stage that day was a long one, and our want of suspicion of any serious danger led us into making a mistake; we divided our small party, Mr. Underwood, the soldier and myself hurrying on ahead on what we afterwards called the Jericho road, leaving helpers and constable with the pack-ponies and mapoos, which traveled more slowly, to follow at a distance of several miles. We planned to reach our noon rest place early, and order food and provender (which it always takes an hour to cook) in advance, so that all might be ready on their arrival and a speedy departure insured. The day was a very fine one, the mountain air exhilarating and delightful, and there were no sightseers, so that Mr. Underwood and I walked together a long distance, laughing and chatting and gathering the pretty spring flowers, of which there were many, especially the sweet-scented violets, which I was surprised to find growing thus wild in the mountains. We arrived early at the little hamlet which was our destination, and were immediately installed in the one tiny inn the place could boast.

I am not sure how much time elapsed before our loads appeared, but it was not very long, and when word was brought that they were coming my husband slipped a small revolver (our only weapon) from our traveling-bag into his pocket. I understood too little of the language to know what message he had received, but he told me thatsome rough fellows were coming with our party and that there might be trouble, in which case he might need the revolver. He had received a message, while on the way to the inn, that robbers had overtaken our people and were following us. It seems that as soon as we were out of sight a number of men had overtaken our loads and charged one of our mapoos with theft, saying that they had come to reclaim their stolen property. They bound his hands, took possession of our ponies and loads, and followed us to our inn. I peeped out through a crack where the door stood ajar, and saw what was not reassuring, a party of twenty or thirty country fellows, wilder and ruder looking than any I had yet seen, their hair falling in matted locks around their evil faces instead of being fastened in the usual rough top-knot, and their angry eyes fierce and bloodshot. Each carried a short stout club, and they were all shouting in angry tones at once, while our mapoo, his hands bound, my husband, the constable, soldier and helper stood in the midst of this wild throng. The tiny place seemed filled with the men and the hubbub, while the frightened villagers peeped in at the gate or over the wall; our brave chair coolies had hidden away, for which we were later extremely thankful.

The attacking party with loud and angry voices accused our mapoo of having stolen their money, a hat and a bowl; and when asked for evidence, pointed to the man’s own shabby old hat, then on his head, to a rice bowl, placed on top of the packs (he said by their hands), and to our own large and heavy bag of Korean cash, fastened and sealed just as we saw it placed on the pony’s back in the morning. They refused to release the mapoo unless these things were delivered up. Mr. Underwood told them that the hat and money were ours, but that he would go with them before a Korean magistrate and leave thewhole matter to his decision, only they must unbind our mapoo. This they would not hear to and continued to insist on our giving them the money. My husband absolutely refused to do this. Meanwhile, having placed himself, with the brave little soldier at his side, in a narrow space wide enough only for two, between the wall of the compound and the house, he bade the latter cut the mapoo’s bands. The mob threatened to kill him if he did so, but he turned to Mr. Underwood and said, “Does the great man bid me cut?” and receiving the affirmative reply, he at once cut the ropes which bound the mapoo. The ruffians made a rush, but Mr. Underwood, hastily pushing the mapoo behind him, managed with the aid of the soldier at his side in that narrow place to push one man back against the others and keep them off for some time.

While his whole attention was thus engaged, however, with those in front, some of the party found a way to the rear, and coming up quietly behind, suddenly pinioned his arms back and held him helpless, while the others carried off our poor mapoo away outside the village, their voices dying away in the distance. In the awful silence that succeeded the uproar we waited what would follow. After what seemed an age of suspense they returned without the man and seized and carried off our constable. Again that fateful silence, that agonizing suspense; again another raid, and our other mapoo was dragged away. If these and our other companions had shown half the courage of the little soldier and made any effort to defend themselves and us, and especially had the chair coolies stood by us, the ruffians would very likely have been beaten off. As it was, we were practically helpless, the only question was who was to be attacked next. Mr. Underwood was very doubtful of the wisdom of producingthe little revolver until the very last extremity. One by one they carried away the members of our party till only Mr. Underwood, the little soldier and I were left.

A KOREAN VILLAGE

We learned afterward that they were a set of wild men, many of them fugitives from justice, probably an organized band of robbers, into whose hands we had fallen, and the fear that lay like ice at my heart was that when all our friends and defenders were one by one removed they would carry away and murder my husband too. So I waited, scarcely breathing, for the next return. What I dreaded they did in fact propose to do, saying it was the right way to treat foreigners. They said they had robbed and killed a Japanese officer some years ago, and having never been punished, would be quite safe in treating us in a similar way. On our return to Seoul we found by inquiry that this was true, that while the government had been forced to pay a heavy indemnity, they had never been able to identify and punish the murderers. Had we been overtaken before we reached the village perhaps our fate would have been that of the Japanese; but when the affair reached this point the villagers interfered and forbade. They said they had allowed them to carry off our Korean servants and our money, but should we, foreigners, known at the palace and carrying a passport, be killed there, their village would have to bear the penalty, and we must be spared. They were only a few men, but probably people who, knowing the haunts of the criminals and able to identify them, had them to some extent in their power. The men therefore sullenly filed away, or at least most of them. One or two of the fiercest and most repulsive still hung about, and one of them walked into my room (an insult in the eyes of all Koreans) and insolently stared until my husband, entering, ordered him out.

The inn-keeper was a little man not five feet high,who did all in his power to reassure and make me comfortable, as if such a thing were possible with our poor friends in distress, if not dead, and our own fate only too uncertain. It was twenty-five English miles to the nearest magistracy, and doing our best, it would be difficult to reach it that night; but we knew that if any help was to be had for the captives it must be secured at once, aside from the fact that we had no assurance of safety with so small a party until within the walls of the yamen. So it was decided to start as soon as possible. My scared chair coolies had sneaked out of their hiding places in a sufficiently well-preserved condition to be able to partake of a hearty meal, and were soon ready to start. My husband had a Korean pony which possessed the rare virtue of kicking and biting every one who attempted to touch him, except his mapoo and his master; to which quality we were indebted for his being left us that day. One other pony we were able to obtain, but as it of course could carry only our rugs and bedding, the rest of our belongings we were compelled to leave behind.

We asked the host to take them into his house and take charge of them, to which he willingly consented. His son, in an agony of terror, begged him not to do so, as the robbers had threatened to come and burn down his house if he sheltered either us or our goods. The stout-hearted little fellow, whose soul was much too large for his body, laughed at the threat, and bidding one of the very men who had attacked us give a lift, he carried our trunks into his house and said he would take good care of them for us until we should send for them. In the meanwhile Mr. Underwood had been urging me to eat, which I tried in vain to do, as a large lump of something hard had become fixed in my throat, would neither go up or down and no food could pass that way. In fact, I mayas well admit I was a very much frightened woman, and my whole desire was to run away as fast and as far as possible from that dreadful locality. It sounds, and is, disgraceful, but as this is a narration of facts it may as well be confessed. My chief grief was that we must leave our poor friends behind. That, indeed, seemed cruel and unthinkable, yet there appeared to be no other way to relieve or help them.

Just as we were ready to start two or three country people came and asked for medicines for trifling complaints. Was anything ever so ill-timed? Surely we could not wait then, when the lives of our poor people as well as our own perhaps depended on our speedy departure. But not so, counseled my husband. These men and women needed help which we could give. It was our duty to show that we, as the servants of Jesus, had come in a spirit of brotherhood and love, and it gave us a fine opening to deliver a message and to distribute the printed Word—it would not take long, and in any case were we not in God’s hands? So not knowing what moment the ruffians might return to drag us away to share the unknown fate of our attendants, perhaps death, surely torture, I prescribed. Alas! I hope none of my patients were poisoned; but with so distracted a mind did I work that it was very difficult to fix my thoughts on afflicted eyes, ears and throats, etc. At length all had been seen, the medicines repacked, when another patient appeared; again we waited, I diagnosed and prescribed and Mr. Underwood prepared the medicine; but still another and yet another appeared, till I began to think we should not be able to leave that day at all. At last, however, all were satisfied, and we started with our race with time, considerably after two o’clock.

We had twenty-five English miles to travel before we could reach the nearest magistrate, on a road leadingthrough and over the mountains. It was wild and exceedingly beautiful, but correspondingly rough and difficult. Sometimes it was only the narrowest foot-path, running along a ledge of rocks overhanging the stream; sometimes it was almost lost among great boulders, which must be skirted or surmounted. The loveliest wild flowers were all around us, but for once they did not tempt us to linger. We had barely left the confines of the village before we saw in the road before us the prostrate and apparently inanimate body of a man, whom we soon recognized as our constable. He proved to be not dead, but simply fainting from the cruel beating he had received. He soon revived a little and begged us to hurry on for aid. He was too much exhausted and bruised to be carried on with us, unless we abandoned our purpose of reaching the magistracy that night, which it seemed for the best good of all to do; so most reluctantly we left him to the mercy of the villagers. It was a sore alternative, but otherwise help for the others would have been delayed many hours.

When we had proceeded two or three miles farther we saw a line of armed men half kneeling barring the road in front of us, with their guns aimed apparently at us. I of course concluded that my last hour had come, but we decided that to advance with no signs of fear or doubt was the only course to pursue, and found a few minutes later that our formidable-looking opponents were only some hunters waiting game that was being driven towards them by others. Our road steadily ascended, and was more and more difficult. Where it was worst I walked to relieve the tired coolies, for even with four men and a light burden it is no easy matter to carry a chair up the mountain side on a warm April afternoon. When sunset was almost due, and we had many miles yet to go, the coolies insisted on waiting for supper. I dreaded the possiblenecessity of being obliged to spend a part of the night unsheltered in a country that seemed so hostile, added to which the other thought of the necessity for speed made it seem impossible and wicked to delay for such a paltry thing as food.

Why the men who had seemed so bitter and cruel at noon had not followed and attacked our weakened party I have never been able to entirely explain. I can only surmise that, like most Asiatics, they were firmly convinced that Mr. Underwood, in common with all foreigners, always went heavily though secretly armed, and that any attempt to injure our persons would result in awful calamity. In addition, our passport and the well-known fact that we were on very friendly relations with the palace may have made them fear the consequence of harming us, even though they were more than half resolved to do so. More than this, the villagers who forbade them to touch us probably knew their haunts and would be able to hunt them out; and lastly, the fact that Mr. Underwood stoutly resisted them and showed no signs of fear undoubtedly had a marked effect upon their treatment of us. Witness the fact that even the little soldier, the only man of our native party who fought them and showed no fear, was the only one of the Koreans who escaped unhurt. If we had at any moment shown ourselves afraid of them they would have taken it as sure proof that we were defenseless. Had they seen our little revolver, and known it for our only weapon, they would have counted us, as we were, practically helpless, and our fate might have been decided very differently.

At the time I felt certain they were not through with us, but having weakened our party, they would attack us in the lonely road, far away from the friendly village, and finish their work.

We could scarcely hope to distance them, handicapped as we were, but I felt we could not put too much space between them and us, and many a backward glance I cast, expecting to see them emerge any moment from some rock or tree. Good for man or woman it is to feel one’s self cast utterly on God’s mercy, and entirely in his hands, to know one’s self beyond all human aid, with him alone to look to for succor. As I turned to my husband that day and said, “Well, there’s nothing left to do but to trust the Lord,” it flashed over us both how commonly we only trust him when there is nothing else to do, as if his help were the last we should ever invoke, a last forlorn hope. How far, far too much, we fall into the habit of trusting in an arm of flesh and all the frail little human makeshifts with which we encompass ourselves and fancy we are safe. But how near he seems, how strong the uplift of the “everlasting arms,” when the soul is left alone to him.

We were forced to wait some time while our tired coolies fed, the darkness meanwhile coming on rapidly. At length, rather than waste any more time, I started, walking in advance and leaving the coolies to follow; eat I could not. Soon the road divided into two, one a short cut over the mountain, the other a much longer one around it; we decided to take the shorter road, which also leading through the woods became extremely dark, so that in a short time we were obliged to call for torches, the road too turning out to be very bad. It was barely a foothold, circling and twisting down the precipitous mountain side. Mr. Underwood soon concluded that he would rather trust his own feet than his pony’s, as we heard the displaced stones go rattling down into depths far below; but as for me, though I would have much preferred to descend from my chair, which had some time before overtakenus, I was now so tired that it would have delayed us too much and added nothing to my safety.

Still it was rather an uncomfortable thing to be carried along on the brink of a precipice, down a slippery, uncertain path, in a darkness which was scarcely relieved, only made visible, by the flickering torchlights, especially as they invariably burned out before the next came up, and we were obliged at times to proceed a quarter of a mile or more—it always seemed more—in total darkness; and yet worse than this is probably often experienced by people traveling in the mountains for pleasure. At last, however, after nine o’clock, Mr. Underwood came to the chair and bade me look up. There above us on a hill in relief against the starlit sky stood the walls and gate of the little city. A city of refuge indeed, and we realized that night, a little at least, of the joy of the hunted, who, closely pursued by the avenger of blood, found himself safe within protecting walls. The gates were hospitably open as our messenger had arrived, and we were expected.

We were told that it was a custom in many towns in the north to set a lamp in each doorway as a token of welcome to expected guests who for any reason were persons of importance. As we passed down the street and saw these bright little beacons before each door our hearts were deeply touched. Although it was too late for a formal audience, and the gate of the magistracy was closed, my husband insisted on being admitted at once. The request was granted and he hurried in and began the usual ceremony of introducing himself, when a familiar voice exclaimed, “And don’t you know me?” Then for the first he looked closely into the face of the official before him, and found that he was an old friend from Seoul, who had often been entertained at our house.

All was now easy. The events of the morning werecarefully related, with the request that the police should be sent at once to rescue and bring back our people, reclaim our goods and arrest, if possible, the criminals. This he promised to do at once, and in fulfillment, immediately ordered up the hunters, a guild of brave men who know the woods and mountains for miles around, and who fear nothing. His spokesman then called out to them in loud tones, which thrilled through the clear starlit night, the order to go at once, find and arrest the robbers, and bring safely our attendants and goods in three days’ time, or lose their heads. To which they replied in a sort of chant in a minor key that they would so arrest, reclaim, and bring back in three days’ time or would lose their heads. The last syllable long drawn, rolled, rippled, and re-echoed, seeming to die away somewhere among the stars. The condition about the loss of their heads was, of course, merely for rhetorical effect, or very likely the echo of an old custom, the address and reply being probably a form hundreds of years old. At any rate, though they returned after three days had passed, their mission not fully accomplished, there was no talk of beheading, or thought of it in any quarter.

It may be noted that not much has been told in this chapter of Christian work and its results, but it must be remembered that conditions were somewhat unfavorable. Owing to the fears of our American minister, Mr. Underwood had been forbidden to preach in the country at this time, so that his work was limited to studying the country and the people and their possibilities, laying plans for future work, examining, instructing and encouraging converts and supervising and testing the work of native helpers. As for me, the effort to make a favorable impression through the treatment of the sick and the distribution of tracts was the limit of my usefulness.

Our Stay in Wewon—We Give a Dinner—Our Guests—Magistrates Propose that we Travel with a Chain-Gang—Our Trip down the Yalu—The Rapids—Contrast between Korean and Chinese Shores—We Enter Weju—The Drunken Magistrate—Presents and Punishments—Unpleasant Experiences with Insincere People—Rice Christians—The Scheming Colporter—The Men Baptized in Weju—The Lost Passport—Another Audience at the Palace—Queen’s Dress and Ornaments—Korean Summer House—The Pocket Dictionary—Our Homes.

Here, then, in the hospitable little town of Wewon we rested, made friends whom we hoped to draw into the friendship of our Leader, and ministered to sick bodies and souls, as opportunity was given. Here in a few days were brought our boxes and a few of the men who had attacked us. Still later, for they were unable to travel for some time, came our poor attendants, who had twice been cruelly beaten with clubs and left tied up all night in a painful and agonizing position. The mapoo’s arm was broken, and our helper never entirely recovered from the injury his back had suffered. Those of the criminals who were found were sent up to the provincial capital to be punished by the governor.

Before leaving Wewon we gave a dinner to the magistrate in order to gratify his curiosity and that of his friends. We wished to show in some way our appreciation of his kindness and hospitality, and Mr. Underwood,who had considerable experience and much skill in camp and bachelor cooking, undertook, in the face of some odds, to manage the matter; and we found our ingenuity well taxed in evolving a feast from the now scanty remnants of our larder and the few obtainable native articles out of which a foreign meal could be manufactured. However, we prided ourselves that we did quite well, with some six courses, including soup, fish, a bewitching little roast pig, well decorated with wreaths and berries, served with apple sauce and stuffed with potatoes, chestnuts and onions. Our dessert, marmalade spread on crackers, was sufficiently light to please the most æsthetic, and we introduced a novelty, coffee sweetened with honey, never whispering that our sugar was gone. The magistrate came with a huge crowd of retainers, who filled our tiny room and flowed over into the kitchen, peered into and fingered everything, and nearly wrecked the courses, which our overtried servant was attempting under many difficulties to serve. With nothing but a bowl of charcoal in lieu of a stove, and no proper kitchen utensils, it was by no means easy to achieve such a feat of culinary art in the far interior of the hermit kingdom, but we did not stop to consider a little inconvenience or bother, nor regret a little extra work where we could thereby make or strengthen friendship with Koreans. Trifling as it may look for missionaries to be planningmenusand giving dinners to country magistrates, there are more ways of furthering the cause than preaching only. The hearts of the people must be won, and he who wins most friends wins the readiest and most attentive audience, one inclined in advance to favor and accept what he has to teach, and nothing is trifling which helps.

After the return of our men and belongings, and as soon as the former were able to travel, we felt we musthurry on to Weju. The magistrate of Wewon proposed that when we departed, the eight criminals who had been captured should be chained together, two and two, and led in advance of our company during the rest of our journey. Thus should we march through the land like conquerors, instilling awe and terror in all hearts, and none who looked on this tableau would ever again dare assail a foreigner. Now this was of course exactly the impression that we wished to produce as missionaries! We pictured ourselves going about preaching the cross, with such an object lesson as this, trying to win the hearts of the people, while driving their compatriots before us in chains, and we enjoyed the vision hugely. It would hardly have been possible to have obtained the relief of our Koreans without the arrest of the criminals, several of whom were identified as notorious men, whose seizure was necessary to the peace and safety of the community. But we never would have had them punished on our own account or to gratify revenge, so we politely thanked the magistrate for his tactful suggestion, but begged to be excused.

We found the town of Chosan, where we stopped on the evening after leaving Wewon, quite a unique and interesting little place. It is situated near the Yalu, or, as the Chinese call it, the Amno River, which forms the boundary line between Korea and China. Two “kisus,” a sort of soldier police, were sent out three miles to meet us, and preceded us into the town, blowing trumpets all the way, to our helpless annoyance and disgust, for they either could not or would not understand that this sort of demonstration was most distasteful to us both.

As at Kangai, more and more soldiers met us at intervals. There were flags, music, crowds, and again we entered the town like a circus. The crowds, however, were kept well back, the place was much smaller, and wewere undisturbed at the magistracy. As soon as we entered the house a small tray was brought, with cups of hot ginger tea, most restful and refreshing, the kind thought of the magistrate, who, unlike others, did not force himself at once upon us, but considerately waited until we were a little rested and refreshed. We found here a custom which we had not met elsewhere, that of sounding a bell every morning at a certain hour, when all morning fires must be extinguished, not to be relit until late in the afternoon.

We were compelled to go on some miles farther to obtain a boat for our short trip down the Yalu. In rainy weather the rapids between this point and Weju are rather dangerous, but at this time it was only a swift current, which made the trip the pleasanter. We found a Korean junk, which served our purpose as well as any that were to be had, which was flat-bottomed, and thirty feet long by three wide. This would carry our attendants, our packs, two or three boatmen and ourselves. Some mats were rigged on bamboo poles above us for an awning, and others stretched across the middle of the boat for a partition, which left one half for the use of the natives, while we reserved the other for ourselves. Here we spent three days and nights; during the latter, however, we always anchored near the shore. Provisions in plenty were obtained from the villages we passed, when a great many people came out to kugung; but here we had the advantage, and while quite able to talk to them from the boat, were not forced to permit more than we liked to examine us and our belongings.

One night we were wakened with the cry of “Pull, pull!” “Fire, fire!” and found the boat was on fire. Some one had fallen asleep while smoking and dropped hot ashes among combustibles; but we were close to the shore,there was plenty of water and people to use it. The blaze was soon out, and nothing thrilling came to pass. Thus was it ever with our adventures. While danger in one form or another made itself known, as if to prove beyond a doubt our Father’s care, we were kept as safe and unharmed as a child in its mother’s arms; and were we not with the everlasting arms underneath us?

As we drifted down the Amno those lovely spring days, with China lying on one side of us and Korea on the other, the contrast was wonderfully marked, almost as much, indeed, as if the two nations had been separated by oceans rather than a river. This difference too was almost as marked in the physical features of the country as in national customs. On the Korean shore the trees were mostly of pine; on the China side, of oaks and other deciduous varieties. The Korean peasants’ huts were of mud, straw thatched; the Chinese houses of brick or stone, roofed with tile. Koreans dressed in white were plowing with oxen; Chinese farmers in blue were plowing with horses. Rhododendrons gave a lovely roseate tinge to the rocks and hills on either side. It was easy for the passing traveler to see which country bore the greater appearance of prosperity and thrift.

On the evening of the 27th of April we reached Weju. Fortunately no official notice had gone before, and there were no trumpets, drums, harps, sackbuts, psalteries and all kinds of music at hand to make our lives a burden. A chair was hired for Mr. Underwood, and in the kindly protection of the deepening twilight we surreptitiously entered these conveyances and were carried into the city as quietly and unobtrusively as happy common folks.

And now, to return a little, soon after leaving Pyeng Yang we had met a Mr. Yi, of Weju, an agent of the Bible Society, then on his way to Seoul; but when he heardwhere we were going he concluded to return with us. Mr. Underwood was at that time trying to decide whether Weju or Pyeng Yang would be the better place for a sub-station, with a half-formed plan to purchase a house, to which we could go when itinerating, in charge of which we might place a care-taker, who would also be helper, intending to select from among the converts in that region, if possible, one of the most capable and earnest. This plan was in part communicated to Mr. Yi, and seemed to strike him most favorably. He shortly proposed to precede us to Weju and select such a place. Mr. Underwood, however, told him plainly that he must on no account purchase or promise to purchase any such house for us; that, as our plans were indefinite, we could not buy until we had seen the city and the Christians, and, in a word, until we had some data by which to decide whether we needed such a house there at all. And even then the locality and the house must first be seen by us.

We, however, consented that he should go in advance and arrange at some inn or Christian home for our entertainment, so that we could be quietly and quickly housed on entering the town. We also consented that some inquiries should be made as to what houses in localities convenient for work were purchasable, and at what price, so that we might have something definite to consider on reaching there. Accordingly he left us before we reached Kangai and hurried on to Weju. When we arrived, therefore, he met us and conducted us with much éclat to a very commodious and nice bungalow, which he said was his own. Here we were introduced to his consumptive wife, his aged father, and his little children.

According to custom, we sent our passport to the magistrate as soon as we arrived. This scarcely reached his office before an order was sent out for the arrest of ourservants and helper, who were forthwith dragged off to the yamen, beaten and locked up. We had hardly received this disconcerting news when it was announced that some messengers had arrived from his excellency with a very generous present of chickens, eggs, nuts, fruit and other edibles. These articles again had barely been received and the messengers not well out of sight when officers arrived with orders to arrest our host and have him beaten. This very contradictory conduct was certainly disquieting, and we were at a loss to conjecture what it meant.

A BUTCHER SHOP

BASKET SHOP

However, we had not long to wait. The deputy or vice-magistrate was shortly afterwards announced, and before he left, he gave Mr. Underwood to understand that his honor the magistrate had been imbibing rather freely and was not altogether responsible for his honorable (?) conduct, and that he, the deputy, hoped, therefore, that we would overlook his slight playfulness in arresting and beating our poor innocent people. These little aberrations were, he said, quite frequent, and of course when once we understood what was to be expected and the reason, no concern need be felt. We were, of course, immensely comforted and soothed by this explanation, and rested with quiet minds in the happy consciousness that it was entirely uncertain what sort of magisterial and honorable earthquake or cyclone might strike us next; assured it would be all right, as he intended no harm in his sane moments. The poor deputy, in a strait betwixt two (the magistrate near at hand, and the Foreign Office in Seoul, represented by our passport), had been trying to smooth over the magistrate’s uncivil reception of the passported foreigners, by offerings of said chickens, eggs, etc., and this was the explanation of the strange combination of presents and punishments.

Drunkenness is, I am sorry to say, very common inKorea. The people do not, as in Japan and China, raise tea, and even the wealthiest have apparently only recently learned the use of either tea or coffee, which the common people are far too poor to buy. Milk, strange to say, they have never used, and they are therefore without a harmless beverage which they can offer their friends on convivial occasions. As it is, they resort only too generally to wines and some very strong alcoholic drinks, which they make themselves.

We had had Christian workers at Weju for some months, one of whom Mr. Underwood had appointed and two who had constituted themselves such, of whom we were doubtful then, and later had cause to be more so, and who now hoped to prove themselves so useful to us that we would give them some good-paying position in the mission. Several of our experiences at Weju were very bitter and disappointing to us, for the insincerity of men whom we trusted was made clear, and yet at the same time they were instructive, for they taught us to be very slow and cautious in investing men with responsibility, and to be very guarded both in receiving converts and in using money, and helped to strengthen us in those ideas of rigid self-support which Mr. Underwood had already, from the study of Dr. Nevius’ book, begun to consider deeply and to some extent follow. One of the self-appointed begged us to start a Christian school in a place where as yet there was no opening for it, and to put him in as teacher with a good salary. “But,” Mr. Underwood objected, “we are not yet ready for such a school, and I cannot start a school merely to give you a living.” Such unconcern for his material interest grieved him sorely. Long he pleaded his need and begged with great naïveté that we would then inform him how he was to subsist, with refreshing guilelessness rolling the whole of the responsibility of his existenceupon us. We were obliged to tell him with some emphasis that we were not here to provide incomes for indolent men, but to further the gospel.

Another man whom we had trusted had given us altogether exaggerated, and we feared intentionally false, accounts of the interest in Kangai, of which we had failed to find any signs. He did not suppose we would go there to verify the reports which were to accrue to his credit. But another and still more annoying experience awaited us. The agent Yi told us that the house we were in belonged to us, that in spite of our repeated injunctions he had bought it for us, and had sold his own little home in part payment and installed his family here. This was now the only shelter of his aged father, his sick wife and his helpless little ones. The scheming fellow had indeed placed us in a serious predicament. To turn these weak and helpless people into the street for the sins of this man was not to be thought of; to allow the man to profit by his dishonest trick would be to encourage every covetous hypocrite who sought to make gain out of the church and to misuse consecrated funds. Fortunately within ten days after a sale the money or deeds may be demanded back, and so we made him ask back his own house and return the one we had used, with a slight extra payment, to the original owner. It is due to the British Bible Society to say that they were of course deceived in this man, as we are all liable to be at times, no matter how careful. The distance from his employers at which he was working made supervision almost impossible.

We were visited by a great many people, mostly men, who seemed deeply interested in Christianity and eager for baptism. Over one hundred such applicants presented themselves. Mr. Underwood examined them with great care, and found that all had studied the Scriptures andtracts with great assiduity, and nearly all were well informed in the cardinal truths of the gospel. One man was quite a phenomenon of a rather useless kind of Biblical erudition. He knew the number of chapters and verses in the Old and New Testament (Chinese, of course), the number of characters, the number of times the name of God and Christ occur, and a variety of similar facts, showing he had an extremely facile memory, but proving nothing with regard to his conversion. I could not help regarding the poor man with compassion. It seemed too bad that he should have taken so much pains and spent so many hours of toil to gain non-essentials when the sweet bread of life and honey out of the rock might have been had so simply and easily, had he only really wanted them, had he learned enough of their wondrous value to desire them. I am afraid that this man and some of the others that we questioned had no inkling of what Christianity really is, but supposed it was a philosophy, fine and good, no doubt, which if adopted would bring them in touch with rich and influential foreigners, and find them speedy employment as teachers, helpers and what not.

What we anxiously, longingly sought for in these applicants were the signs of a sincere change of heart, of a real love for the God who was crucified to save them, and of the fruit of this belief in a change of life and character. Out of the hundred applicants we selected thirty-three, not those who answered most glibly or showed the greatest information, but those who gave almost unmistakable evidence of sincerity of heart and true knowledge of Jesus. I say almost, for it is well-nigh impossible not to make mistakes at times.

We had been forbidden to baptize in Korea, under our passport, and we all crossed the river into China, and there held a communion service, a very solemn and deeply feltoccasion to us, and Mr. Underwood baptized these men, the only ones baptized during the whole trip, a larger number than he ever received before, or after that, for some years. These numbers, rather large so early in the history of the mission, were afterward much exaggerated by rumor. No one was able to visit this little company of newborn souls for two years. No response from the church at home to urgent pleas for help; exacting demands of work in Seoul, sickness which took us to America, made it impossible for any one to go and strengthen, encourage and uphold them. With no pastor, few books but Chinese, they were sadly neglected, and humanly speaking, it would hardly be surprising if they were scattered and lost as sheep without a shepherd. We had hoped to visit them at least once a year, but had no idea how the work near home would grow and how impossible it would be to leave. These men were not of the city of Weju, but from some little hamlets at some distance, some of them fifteen or twenty miles away. Several of the men were already well known to Mr. Underwood and had been under instruction for more than a year, and some had been reported ready for baptism by Mr. Saw, who had been employed by Mr. Ross when he came to Seoul three years before.

This is to show that a horde of new professors, of whom we knew nothing, were not rashly baptized in zeal to increase the list of church-members, as was stated by persons who were ignorant of the real facts. All were rigidly examined, all had been long prepared, and although two missionaries who paid a visit to Weju on their way to China two years later, and one who made a long stay eight or nine years later, said they found none of these Christians, we believe God was able to keep his own. It would not be easy, knowing neither the names of the men northe villages where they lived, to find them, especially when we remember the roving, almost nomadic character of the people, most of whom had probably moved quite away, the Japanese war having worked marvelous changes. More than half of the population of Weju and vicinity seemed to melt away during that disastrous war.

When our work in Weju was done we started on our return trip to many waiting duties in the capital. The magistrate had not restored our passport, so we sent for it, but it was not forthcoming. We waited some time, and again meekly requested it; still it was withheld, and at length we learned that on the night of our arrival the magistrate had been in such an irresponsible condition that he had no recollection to whose care he had confided it, and, in fact,the passport was lost. This was indeed a serious state of affairs! To travel without one would involve great risk, to wait for another from Seoul would take more time than we could afford to spare. And, indeed, whether we should believe that it was really lost, or that this was only the excuse of an inimical magistrate who meant to detain us there for some dark purpose, was a question. After some annoying delay, however, it was found and duly returned, and with sad farewells from our friends, but with the hope and intention of returning soon to feed these lambs of God’s fold we left Weju, towhich we have never as yet been permitted to go back.

Mr. Underwood and I discussed long and earnestly on our return trip the comparative merits of Pyeng Yang and Weju for the establishment of a sub-station. In the one the opening was more hopeful, the other held the more advantageous position. We at length concluded to leave the matter open and allow future events to decide where we should start our station. We returned to Seoul by the main road, with as few delays as possible, and had an uneventfultrip, troubled by no mobs or robbers. The season was somewhat advanced and the inns were very hot, but the country was beautiful, with many varieties of the loveliest flowers. Lilies of the valley we found growing in masses not ten feet from the roadside, lilacs, eglantine, sweet violets and quantities of other sweet-scented flowers filled my chair. We found ourselves safely at home near the middle of May, having been absent over two months, traveled more than a thousand miles, treated over six hundred patients, and talked with many times that number.

We were dismayed to find on our return that one of the too loyal missionaries had, in supposed obedience to the edict, closed the little room, where services had been held with the natives, and they were worshiping secretly in one or another of their own little homes. We at once threw open our own house and regularly gathered the Christians there, till all the mission were willing to use the little chapel again.

Shortly after our return the queen invited me to a private audience, in order to give me a very unique pair of gold bracelets, which she had ordered made for a wedding present, and which had not been ready before we went to the country. She also gave a ring set with a beautiful pearl for my husband. She kindly asked about our trip, and was, as usual, all that was friendly and considerate. I wish I could give the public a true picture of the queen as she appeared at her best, but this would be impossible, even had she permitted a photograph to be taken, for her charming play of expression while in conversation, the character and intellect which were then revealed, were only half seen when the face was in repose. She wore her hair like all Korean ladies, parted in the center, drawn tightly and very smoothly away from the face and knottedrather low at the back of the head. A small ornament (indicating her rank, I suppose, as I have never seen any other woman wear one) was worn on the top of the head; fastened by a narrow black band. One or two very ornamental long hairpins of gold filigree set with coral, pearls or jewels were stuck through the knot of hair at the back. She usually wore a yellow silkchogerie, or jacket waist, like those worn by all Korean women, fastened with a pearl or amber button and a very long flowing blue silk skirt. All her garments were of silk, exquisitely dainty.

Her majesty seemed to care little for ornaments, and wore very few. No Korean women wear earrings (except young girls in the north, who wear a large silver hoop), and the queen was no exception, nor have I ever seen her wear a necklace, a brooch, or a bracelet. She must have had many rings, but I never saw her wear more than one or two of European manufacture, set with not so many nor so large diamonds as numbers of American women of moderate means and station often display. She had any number of beautiful watches, which she never wore. According to Korean custom, she carried a number of filigree gold ornaments decorated with long silk tassels fastened at her side. So simple, so perfectly refined were all her tastes in dress, it is difficult to think of her as belonging to a nation called half civilized.

On the occasion of this visit she gave me a fresh proof of her thoughtful kindness. I was wearing my wedding dress and very thin satin slippers, and as I was leaving it suddenly began to rain. My chair was nearly half a mile distant, waiting outside the gate, according to rule. The queen, whom nothing escaped, noted the rain, and my difficulty. She came in person to the window and imperatively ordered word to be sent to the gate for my chair to be brought to the waiting room.

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