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one of these people by sham piety. They understand the gentle art of bluffing just beautifully and have no use for it in reli gion. “Yesterday one of my laundry boys stood up for prayers and said he wanted to be a Christian. In the missions in this part (if the country those who want to know ‘more about the words of God’ are put into a class for inquirers until they understand what salvation means; then they are baptized and become church members. We have had some great meetings in the village. Many natives come, and several have been con verted who never --darkened church doors before their conversion.” “OURS” IN CHINA. A touch of life among the Chinese may be had from the letters received from Pi Yang, province of Honan, where several graduates of our Bible Institute are at work. Miss Bessie Pike writes: “I am now quite at home with the Chinese characters and reading comes easy to me, but I do feel all at sea when I hear the women talking; they talk so fast, it is hard for me to understand, but it will all come in time. T carry on quite a conversation with our teacher and am gradually progressing. He is a type that would amuse you. He has much pride in him and is so fussy; he is truly converted, I believe; he was baptized last week. I must tell you all about it. “There were twenty-seven men and wo men baptized and one little boy of twelve years among them, all those desiring bap tism came in from the out-stations three days before and Mr. Nowack spent more than two days explaining the doctrine to them so they would understand all the sim ple truth and have a clear understanding of the way of salvation. Then he heard each one on the catechism and, besides, exam ined each one separately, taking them in a room by themselves and questioning them before the elders, for it is most important that only those who are truly converted enter the church. . “After each one was baptized, we sang a verse of a hymn. They were a happy little
services. They sit on one side of the church and the men on the other—even husbands and wives do not sit together, though often a Christian father cares for some of the chil dren. during the service. The ‘raw’ native women are extremely superstitious. They are very dull of understanding and stand greatly in awe of the ‘spirits’; but if they ever comprehend the truth, they will suffer much persecution without a thought of re canting. “Saturday night a woman died, and last night another. Neither was a Christian. This tribe has no word for ‘to die’; they call it ‘kunia,’ which means ‘to finish; that’s the end of you ; when you’re dead you're dead' all over.’ It’s the most fearfully sad outlook on life, isn’t it? ‘Hatiri undu’ is their favorite expression. It means ‘it doesn’t matter—nothing matters.’ “People are dying every day in the native village-—so many are sick. Monday, Tues day and Wednesday women were buried in the native cemetery. The Agikuyu do not bury their dead; unless they have become converted they cannot be prevailed upon to tbuch a dead body. They carry the dying out to the bush and leave them there alone Frequently jackals attack the dying, and they always' carry off the dead. If one dies in a hut, the hut is burned at once. On the other hand, one of the Kiffirondo tribes buries the dead in the center of the hut, and those left behind go right on living there. “To show you the other side, though: We have one young man, Wan-gu-hu, who is the most sunny, winning thing you ever saw in any color of skin. He had many lady loves all around the country, and went to every native dance there was. He was very rich, too, and was buying more goats in order to buy more wives (a wife costs 50 cents), when he fell very ill. He had said before this that he was a Christian, and had joined the church, but he was not acting very much like a Christian. Well, he turned over a new leaf, and you ought to see his face and hear him preach, and see his happy home. The savages are being led to Christ through his preaching—and you can’t fool
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