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coaster at Whampoa. The first leg on the road to Liberty. Twice in a lifetime I have experienced this joy. The next morning, May 11th, we sailed by Hong Kong. We could scarcely see Stanley on account of the poor visibility. May 10th was an anniversary of ours, next in importance to our wedding day. Were you there? Were you still alive? Again the little voice spoke doubtingly, "How could they be alive?" I shrugged my shoulders as if to ward off an impact. No, I must not doubt. They are all still alive, but could the baby have lived through these months? These were tormenting moments. We were sailing along through minestrewn waters - sown by our own nationals. Would we strike a mine? It seemed the sort of ironical fate a novelist would revel in - granted liberty by the enemy only to be killed by his own people as he left on the way to that Liberty. We reached Shanghai May 22nd after a ten-day passage from Whampoa. We called at Swatow and Amoy on our way up the Coast to pick up a few more allied prisoners. It was refreshing to meet a few new people, some of whom were old friends, and check with them what had happened at other ports since Pearl Harbor. On arrival in Shanghai we were allowed to proceed to the Shanghai American School in the French Concession. We were entirely free from Japanese restraint except, of course, we could not leave the city. The school dormitories were being used as a refugee center and food was provided by the Red Cross. I stayed a few days there and then checked out and went to live at the headquarters of the China Inland Mission with Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Parry, treasurers of the mission. One of the first things I did on arrival in Shanghai was to try and get news of our three children who were at boarding school in the China Inland Mission Schools at Chefoo, Shantung Province, North China. At the C.I.M. Headquarters there was up-to-date news of the school and the pupils relayed to them by German missionaries resident in Chefoo. This news channel was a Godsend to the parents. Again, in God's mysterious ways, He has used our earthly enemies to furnish the means of this
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