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 BV 3265 .W8 1919 
 
 Wood, M. D. 
 
 Fruit from the jungle 
 
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FRUIT FROM THE 
 JUNGLE 
 
FRUIT FROM THE 
 JUNGLE 
 
 by 
 
 M. D.AVOOD 
 
 "And othere fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, 
 growing up and increasing ; and brought forth, thirty- 
 fold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold." Mark 4 : 8. 
 "He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit 
 unto life eternal." John 4 : 36. 
 "My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold." 
 Proverbs 8:19. 
 
 ^nw of ?mcif^ 
 
 JUN 12 1998 
 
 ^WGICAL 
 
 PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING ASSN. 
 
 MOUNTAIN VIEW. CALIFORNIA 
 
 Calgary, Alberta, Canada 
 Kansas City, Missouri 
 
 St. Paul, Minn. Cristobal, Canal Zone 
 Portland, Oregon Brookfield, Illinois 
 
Copyright, 1919, by 
 
 Pacific Press Publishing Association 
 
 Mountain View, California 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 TO those who may read this little volume, I wish 
 to say that at first I had no intention of writing a 
 book. Had I so planned, I should have formed a 
 consecutive narrative, one chapter the unfolding of 
 another, thus making a well rounded whole. 
 
 Most of the chapters herein given are experiences 
 from real mission life, and were intended for papers 
 to be read by our young people in America; a few 
 are the outlines of addresses given while on furlough. 
 Some of them have appeared in missionary publica- 
 tions in the United States. 
 
 As this matter accumulated, friends suggested the 
 idea of printing the whole collection in book form. 
 This I finally decided to do, hoping thus to bring these 
 experiences before a larger number of young people, 
 who might thereby obtain a clearer understanding of 
 mission life among the heathen, and whose interest 
 in this great work might thereby be increased. 
 
 I have always felt that real mission life among the 
 heathen is not so fully depicted to our youth in 
 America as it should be; hence my plainness of speech 
 in several instances. The refined conditions of society 
 in the United States of America make it exceedingly 
 difficult to explain properly real conditions in this 
 field; but it is hoped that this little book will help 
 to an understanding of the great need, and awaken 
 among our young people a sympathy and soul burden 
 for the depressed and lower classes in heathen lands. 
 
 M. D. Wood. 
 
 Kalyan, G. I. P., India. 
 
 (5) 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 I AM requested to introduce myself to those who 
 may read this little book ; indeed, a list of questions 
 to be answered has been placed before me. 
 
 My paternal and maternal grandparents were na- 
 tives of old England, which they left to find a home 
 in New England, where both my father and my 
 mother were brought up. In their youth, my parents 
 listened to the preaching of William Miller and other 
 Adventists. In fact, they both professed conversion 
 among the Adventists, and were baptized by them. 
 Later they were married by Elder Clark, of Massa- 
 chusetts, who was pastor of an Adventist church till 
 his death, and who conducted my father's funeral 
 service from his meeting house. 
 
 Six sons and one daughter were born in our family, 
 I being the third youngest child. About the time of 
 my father's decease, the four elder sons were able to 
 earn their own living, and to assist my mother, who 
 had the care of the three smaller children. For a 
 short time, an aged uncle, who had no children of his 
 own, gave me a home, and sent me to the village 
 school. While there, I attended an Adventist Sun- 
 day school, and also some of their camp meetings. 
 
 Thus my first impressions of religion were molded 
 by these sober and devout yet hopeful people. At 
 a very early age, I fully believed that Jesus was soon 
 to return to this earth. 
 
 My next home, at the age of eleven years, was with 
 a godly family of first-day Adventists, Mr. and Mrs. 
 J. F. Guild, of North Attleboro, Massachusetts. This 
 dear couple, who had no children, became my foster 
 parents. They were known as Millerites, and our 
 home was the stopping place of the Adventist minis- 
 
 (6) 
 
Introduction 7 
 
 ters who itinerated in New England. Originally, Mr. 
 Guild was a Baptist; and he, with about forty others 
 who accepted the teaching of Mr. Miller, was expelled 
 from that church. Many times I have heard the 
 Burnham brothers, as well as Dr. Litch, of Boston, 
 and other Adventist preachers; and as they gathered 
 around our table, I have listened to their serious con- 
 versation about sacred matters. In fact, I may truth- 
 fully say that I was rocked in the cradle of Adventism. 
 
 Until I was twenty-five years of age, the home of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Guild was mine; and I never knew, so 
 far as love and kindness were concerned, any dif- 
 ference between them and my own parents. I grew 
 to love and respect them as tenderly as a child could; 
 and to me, their memory will always be sacred. They 
 both sleep in Jesus, to come forth, I fully believe, 
 when He shall wake His sleeping saints. At Mr. 
 Guild's death, he left several thousand dollars to be 
 used in mission work. 
 
 Until I was well along in my teens, I attended the 
 public schools; but when I was eighteen years old, 
 Mr. Guild sent me to Mr. Moody's school for boys at 
 Mount Hermon, Massachusetts. I had been there but 
 six weeks when, through the personal efforts of my 
 Sunday school teacher, Miss Jessie Ironside, I gave 
 my heart to Christ, and realized a great spiritual 
 change in my life. All desire for worldly pleasures 
 and rewards was taken away, and I threw myself 
 whole-heartedly into Christian service. 
 
 There was no Adventist church near Mount Hermon, 
 so I attended the Methodist church, which afforded 
 me an opportunity to teach a class in Sunday school, 
 and to assist in other religious meetings. From the 
 time of my conversion, I had a great desire to lead 
 my unconverted young friends into the way of re- 
 pentance and faith, and to see them take the same 
 
8 Introduction 
 
 definite step I had taken. To this end I prayed and 
 worked day and night. The greatest joy I ever felt 
 was when some of them accepted Christ as their 
 Saviour. 
 
 Just about that time, the Student Volunteer Move- 
 ment was organized at Mr. Moody's school, and I 
 became completely absorbed in the subject of foreign 
 missions. My heart was stirred to its depths as 
 I listened to appeals for consecrated men. At six 
 o'clock in the morning, Mr. Moody personally led large 
 meetings for boys and young men who felt their 
 need of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Although 
 I attended these meetings, I did not gain that for 
 which I sought; but later, at a Methodist camp meet- 
 ing, faith was rewarded, and my heart. was filled and 
 satisfied with His sacred presence. 
 
 Then I became more settled, and felt impelled to 
 prepare for a life of service. About this time, I be- 
 came a member of a Methodist church in New York 
 City, a step which caused my dear old foster father 
 some pain, for he had hoped I would become an 
 Adventist preacher. While attending school in that 
 great city, I found splendid opportunities to work in 
 the large missions, and for some time conducted a 
 Sunday school for the Chinese. 
 
 While listening to the address of a missionary from 
 India, I had a clear and convincing call to that field. 
 Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, . . . and they 
 follow Me." The voice of the Shepherd is sufficient 
 for one of His fold. 
 
 At that time, I was very timid, and hesitated 
 to tell my friends of my future plans; nevertheless 
 I ever kept the one object in view, and bent every- 
 thing to that end. When I told one friend, she 
 thought me mad; and when I told my mother, she 
 
Introduction 9 
 
 wept for grief. The path of duty is not always bright, 
 neither do our dearest Christian friends always see 
 eye to eye with us. 
 
 In the fall of 1892, after seven years of study and 
 preparation for mission work in India, I sailed for 
 my future home and field of labor, in company with 
 some other young people who had been my school 
 companions. Now the door of opportunity had swung 
 open, and I was indeed glad. We sailed by way of 
 Europe, and landed in Bombay after a rough voyage 
 and many new and interesting experiences. 
 
 As I saw the huge blocks of rudely carved stone, 
 bedaubed with vermilion and garlanded with flowers, 
 and the nearly nude priests, covered with ashes from 
 burned cow dung, bowing on knees and faces before 
 those heathen gods, my heart was stirred. I had 
 read books on India, seen pictures of Indian life, 
 heard missionaries lecture about Hindustan; but the 
 awful reality of idol worship had never fully gripped 
 me till I stood dazed, under that burning Indian sun, 
 in the streets of Bombay. To see a human being, 
 made in the likeness of his Creator, prostrating him- 
 self at the feet of a dirty, repulsive image of stone, 
 knowing naught of the true God, moves a person's 
 sympathies till he is filled with zeal to tear the scales 
 from their poor, blinded eyes. 
 
 For three years, my chief occupation was language 
 study. Two years after my arrival, I was married 
 to Miss Effie Holmes, from my own state, Massachu- 
 setts. She was a member of the Methodist Church, 
 had sailed for India one month before me, and had 
 taken up the same language I was studying. Her 
 period of service was brief. For one year, she bat- 
 tled with Indian fever; and she died at the end of 
 her third year in the field. She sleeps in a quiet 
 English graveyard in the Central Provinces. 
 
10 Introduction 
 
 Two years later, I was again married, this time 
 to Miss Anna Mattock, of the Baptist Church, from 
 Pennsylvania. She too was converted at about eight- 
 een years of age, and in a missionary meeting had 
 received her call to India. 
 
 The incidents recorded in these pages now find 
 their place in my life's history. 
 
 My wife has always conducted medical work in 
 each place where we have been stationed, every year 
 treating thousands of sick and afflicted natives. The 
 special blessing of God has accompanied her labors. 
 Although the mother of four children, all born in 
 India, she has never permitted her maternal cares, or 
 anything else, to stand in the way of her doing the 
 work which she believes God has called her to do. 
 
 In the fall of 1909, with the object of giving our 
 children better opportunities to gain an education, we 
 sailed for the United States; and immediately on my 
 arrival, I took up the pastorate of two Methodist 
 Episcopal churches in Minnesota. The Lord blessed 
 our labors, and souls were added to the church. 
 
 For several years, I had been convinced that the 
 churches as a whole were not following the Bible as 
 closely as they should. Man-made creeds have taken 
 the place of God's word, and I yearned to know that 
 what I taught and practiced in church life was in 
 conformity to the revealed oracles of God. When I 
 followed the rules of the church, I was certain that 
 in some instances I was not fully on Scriptural 
 grounds. 
 
 Then the constant clamor from church members to 
 make me a lodge member drove me farther from 
 them. I had no affinity for, and no desire to be a 
 member of, anything but Christ's own body, the 
 church. Thus the false position of the church, and 
 the worldliness of the same, led us to withdraw from 
 
Introduction 
 
 11 
 
 conference, pastorate, and membership. It was a sad 
 and painful step; but, convinced that we were in the 
 right path, we believed that the hand of God would 
 lead us in the future. There were a few days of test- 
 ing, when we wondered just what to do; but all was 
 left in the hands of our heavenly Guide. Very soon 
 a call came to take up church work in North Dakota. 
 We did so, and spent some months in that state. 
 While we were there, young people gave their hearts 
 to Christ, and we had many proofs that God was 
 with us. 
 
 One day a young canvasser, C. J. White, came to 
 our meetings. He impressed me as very sincere, and 
 free from that spirit of worldliness which possesses 
 so many of the young professed disciples of Christ in 
 the churches. Later Mr. White called at my home, 
 and I learned that he was a Sabbath keeper. I was 
 
 The Wood Family When They Accepted the 
 "Present Truth" 
 
12 Introduction 
 
 not only surprised, but stunned. I had never heard 
 a good word said in favor of Sabbath keepers, al- 
 though personally I had never known one before. To 
 me, it was a novel thing to meet one who kept the 
 seventh day, and who was not a Jew. 
 
 After a while, Mr. White fell ill; and as canvassers 
 have no certain dwelling place, I shared mine with 
 him, and tried to nurse him back to health, little 
 realizing that God, who "moves in a mysterious way, 
 His wonders to perform," had sent that young man 
 to me as His messenger. One day I said, "Mr. White, 
 I wish you would tell me why you keep the Jewish 
 Sabbath." 
 
 Thereupon he did tell me why; but I was no nearer 
 keeping it than I was before. In fact, I was filled 
 with bitter prejudice. After a short space of silence, 
 I agreed to study the Bible with him on the subject. 
 Soon light began to dawn, and I saw the path, marked 
 out for all time, for God's people to walk in. I sin- 
 cerely repented that I had always broken the fourth 
 commandment, and pledged to keep God's holy law 
 in the future. 
 
 Soon other hidden truths began to appear as a re- 
 sult of Bible study. I saw that man is not yet im- 
 mortal; that all who sleep in Jesus, as well as all the 
 wicked dead, are unconscious in their graves, await- 
 ing the trumpet call of God. Prophecy, which had 
 always seemed like a very stale and musty subject, 
 now took on new freshness and luster; and books 
 that had been sealed from my vision glowed with sim- 
 plicity and interest. The investigative judgment and 
 the end of the wicked were as clear as a bell, as I 
 read with new interest and meaning words I had 
 never understood before. I had promised to keep 
 God's law; and that very fact seemed to put me into 
 such relationship to truth that the Holy Spirit took 
 
Introduction 13 
 
 the things of God, and revealed them to me. Jesus 
 Himself was not merely the Son of God, but God 
 Himself, and the author and creator of all things. In 
 reality, I had a new Bible. 
 
 This was a second conversion, and it made all things 
 new. I cannot, in few words, tell the marvelous 
 changes that took place in my vision of the Christian 
 faith during that period ; it is enough to say that in a 
 few months, I emerged from the dried-up chrysalis 
 of human creeds and church rules, and was inhaling 
 the atmosphere of another world. 
 
 Let no one think I am exaggerating. This to me 
 was a very fact. I was heartily tired of theology, 
 and welcomed the bread of truth. For months, I 
 ate it as a hungry soul, and wondered why I had been 
 so impoverished. 
 
 The next step was to place our children in one of 
 our best schools. When this was done, my wife and 
 I were free for a year of special Bible study and re- 
 search at the Foreign Missionary College, at Wash- 
 ington, D. C. Here we heard the word of God un- 
 folded by men who had made its study the one great 
 object of their lives. Those golden days of special 
 privilege will never be forgotten. 
 
 In the fall of 1912, the General Conference brethren 
 thought it good to send us back to India, and to this 
 we gladly agreed. Bidding the two older children a 
 sad farewell, and leaving them in school, we again 
 sailed for India, this time by way of the Pacific 
 Ocean. At all the halting places on the way, we found 
 churches of Seventh-day Adventists, who welcomed 
 us, and some of whom would gladly have detained us 
 in their fields. 
 
 After a fifty days' voyage, we landed in Calcutta, 
 and soon took up the threads of our work at Kalyan, 
 Bombay Presidency. The last five years have been 
 
14 Introduction 
 
 spent in building up the Marathi Seventh-day Ad- 
 ventist church, also the medical, school, and litera- 
 ture work. 
 
 It is now fifty years since I first saw the light of 
 day, twenty-five since I first put my feet on India's 
 soil, and seven since I first heard the message of God's 
 remnant church. Never for one moment have we 
 regretted taking the step that cast our lot with this 
 people; we only regret that the message found us 
 so late. Our children are being educated in this 
 truth; and several of our former friends have taken 
 a stand for it, and joined God's commandment-keep- 
 ing people. Not only so, but our spiritual children 
 in India are now accepting the truth, and assist- 
 ing us in telling it to their own people. Our hope 
 is that we may toil on until the Lord of the harvest 
 returns to reward His people with immortality. 
 
 M. D. Wood. 
 
 Kalyan, G. I. P., India, 
 January 1, 1918. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Foreword 5 
 
 Introduction 6 
 
 I Life at Kalivali 17 
 
 II Idol Worship 29 
 
 III Saved After Ten Years 47 
 
 IV Kasho — The Dreamer 81 
 
 V Anand Rao 90 
 
 VI The Epistle of John 97 
 
 VII Snakes in India Ill 
 
 VIII Casting Out Devils 127 
 
 IX The Plague 141 
 
 X Rama the Scavenger 155 
 
 XI Bloody Offerings 167 
 
 XII Obeying the Holy Spirit 179 
 
 XIII Was It Worth While? 193 
 
 XIV "One Sows, Another Reaps" 205 
 
 XV Beaten for Christ's Sake 215 
 
 XVI A Free Camel Ride 235 
 
 XVII Work at Kopergaon 255 
 
 XVIII The Famine 273 
 
 XIX Susie and the Sugar Plum 288 
 
 XX Answered Prayer 297 
 
 XXI What It Means to Give India the Gospel . 311 
 
 XXII Healing in the Jungle 327 
 
 (15) 
 2 
 
Saying "Salaam" to Each Other 
 
 (16) 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 Life at Kalivali 
 
 HEN I had been in India a few 
 months, I decided to leave the com- 
 fortable mission house and the society 
 of English-speaking friends, and try- 
 life among the heathen in a native 
 village. It was my plan to learn to speak 
 the language "like a native"; and I felt that 
 in order to do this, for a time I must hear 
 nothing else. The superintendent soon found 
 a building that had been used as a travelers' 
 rest house, or chowdie, for natives in the vil- 
 lage of Kalivali. Every Indian village has 
 such a house for natives to stop in overnight. 
 Two of us young missionaries, bent on the 
 same object, decided to use this house, and 
 prepared to move in. 
 
 Kalivali is ten miles from the nearest rail- 
 way station. We were driven over the coun- 
 try in native bullock carts till we came to a 
 large stream. The cart men took our goods 
 over, and we were carried across on the backs 
 of big, strong natives, who asked only a few 
 pice for their labor. 
 
 (17) 
 
18 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 We had not seen the house we were to oc- 
 cupy, till we drove up in front of it. To 
 say the least, we were surprised to see this 
 native "mansion," which consisted of one big 
 room, about twenty feet long by fifteen feet 
 wide. The house was made of dried mud, 
 with a floor of the same material. When we 
 walked over the floor, our shoes broke up the 
 dry crust that was its surface, and it soon 
 looked like an ash heap. 
 
 The way in which the natives keep down 
 the dust is to smear the floor over with a 
 slime made of water and fresh cow manure. 
 This mixture is prepared in a pan, and spread 
 on evenly by hand. If applied once or twice 
 a week, it furnishes a fresh, thin, green car- 
 pet of cow dung, that is effective for the 
 purpose, but the odor is sickening. The na- 
 tives always go barefooted indoors, so they 
 do not break up their floors. I suppose the 
 use of so much water on the floor made the 
 house more unhealthful than usual. A tent, 
 which we could have placed under a large 
 shade tree, would have been cleaner and far 
 safer. 
 
 We had scarcely reached our new quarters 
 when a crowd of curious natives flocked 
 around to look us over. We said "Salaam," 
 
Life at Kalivali 19 
 
 and they soon departed. The house had but 
 three walls, with a row of posts in front; 
 so we had no privacy whatever. At first, 
 we sat and pondered the situation, and 
 planned what to do to make ourselves com- 
 fortable. As soon as one learns how to get 
 on with little or nothing, it is easy enough; 
 but the learning takes time. 
 
 Finally we concluded to tack up sheets at 
 one end of the room, and place our cot beds 
 there for privacy. But this was not a sure 
 protection; for if a native wanted to see us, 
 he did not stop to knock, — that being a 
 European custom, — but deliberately pulled 
 aside the curtain and walked in. 
 
 We had employed a native Christian cook 
 named Bapu, — an honest fellow, but un- 
 trained, and so filthy that we lost our appe- 
 tites when he brought our food to the table. 
 He had no house to sleep in, so made our 
 front steps his place of abode for some time. 
 We were glad to have him there as our in- 
 terpreter. He cooked our food on one end 
 of the front steps; and when the wind blew 
 in our direction, the smoke came also, and 
 frequently brought with it strong whiffs of 
 garlic and frying onions. 
 
20 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 Sometimes we kept a little food or milk 
 overnight; and as we had no doors, the 
 village dogs and cats entertained us from 
 smiset till dawn. Finally w^e secured some 
 bamboo matting and nailed it across the 
 opening in front, piling up our table and 
 chairs for a door at night. We were fre- 
 quently aroused hy the dogs pushing over 
 the pile of furniture, which would come down 
 with a crash. Then we would lie in bed and 
 hear the dogs scratching on the matting, and 
 sniffing at the food in our screen-covered 
 box. 
 
 Our front yard was also a gathering place 
 for donkeys ; and when several of them brayed 
 half the night, we had a restless time of it. 
 The rotten ceiling rafters made a good hid- 
 ing place for sparrows, which lived on the 
 crumbs that fell to the floor; and at times, 
 our house was like a large bird cage. 
 
 Gradually we became accustomed to these 
 somewhat unpleasant surroundings, and slept 
 on untroubled by minor disturbances, with 
 one exception — bedbugs. Natives had used 
 the house for years, and the posts and the 
 rafters were alive with these pests. All our 
 goods were covered, and there was no way 
 of getting rid of them. 
 
Ldfe at Kalivali 21 
 
 We engaged a hunhi (farmer boy) to in- 
 struct us in the language, and made its study 
 our main business. Once a week we had 
 "market day" in Kalivali, when a few vil- 
 lagers would gather, and spread out their 
 wares under the scorching sun. How they 
 stared at us two white men when we went 
 among them! Much of their stuff was sold 
 in the lump rather than by weight. At 
 first, this was a problem to us, for we had 
 never bought that way before, and we scarcely 
 knew how much we should receive for our 
 money. We knew only a little of the lan- 
 guage, but found the market a good place 
 for practice. 
 
 We kept a small native pony, which took 
 us from village to village, and became a real 
 companion. The turtledoves had their nests 
 in the babul (gum arable) trees, and their 
 plaintive cooing added to our feeling of iso- 
 lation and loneliness. I have never enjoyed 
 their mournful cry since then. 
 
 But those were profitable days. We 
 studied books, customs, and people, and soon 
 found ourselves quite advanced in native 
 ways and ideas. Never shall I forget those 
 experiences; and although they were hard 
 at the time, I shall always be grateful for 
 
22 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 them. We learned much of value that we 
 might not have gained under more favor- 
 able conditions. God greatly helped and 
 blessed us there. 
 
 FACE TO FACE WITH A WOLF 
 
 Wild plums, or bora, grew on the river 
 banks near Kalivali; and one evening, we 
 went to gather some of them. The sun had 
 set, and the evening was cool and pleasant. 
 As we were filling our baskets with the lus- 
 cious yellow fruit, we looked up, and to our 
 astonishment, saw, directly in front of us, 
 and not more than ten feet away, a large 
 wolf. For a second, we were dazed. It was 
 necessary to act quickly; and as we had no 
 weapon with which to defend ourselves, we 
 decided to give one yell, and leap suddenly 
 at him. This we did, and as suddenly he 
 was gone, and we saw him no more. We 
 were thankful he did not attack us; for we 
 were in close quarters, and he might have 
 done us much harm. 
 
 OUR FIRST PUBLIC WORK 
 
 It was in Kalivali that we began our first 
 public services in India. Though we could 
 say very little in that strange language, God 
 was with us, and wonderfully helped us. We 
 
Life at Kalivali 23 
 
 would take our stand before a huge village 
 idol, and say: 
 
 "This is stone; no God here. God above, 
 not on earth. God above in heaven. We 
 on earth. Devil is bad. Sin is bad. You 
 stop sin. You believe in God, and Jesus 
 His Son. Jesus died for you and me. Jesus 
 saves me. Come to Jesus." 
 
 Then we would sing several songs, which 
 the natives always appreciated. It is so much 
 easier to read or sing than to talk! Some- 
 times our cook would help in these simple 
 efforts, telling the people who and what we 
 were, and thus advertising our religion. It 
 was feeble work indeed; yet God blessed it, 
 and gave us many tokens of His favor. The 
 natives never made sport of us nor gave us 
 trouble, but tried to help us talk to them, 
 and acted as if they knew what we wanted 
 to say, even when we could only half ex- 
 press ourselves. We soon learned to read 
 very well, and much of our spare time was 
 spent in reading the Bible in different parts 
 of the town. 
 
 One young man of great intelligence used 
 to spend many of his evenings with us, talk- 
 ing of Christ and reading His word. His 
 heart was hungry, and he used to say, "Some 
 
24 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 day I will be a Christian too." I think that 
 at special meetings a few years later he was 
 converted. 
 
 The head master of the village school be- 
 came quite friendly, and called often to see 
 us, frequently bringing a little gift of food 
 from his home. Sometimes it was only a 
 bit of fruit, such as a lime; but it expressed 
 his desire to be friendly. 
 
 CROSSING A RIVER BY ""cHARPIE"" 
 
 While at Kalivali, we made one trip to, 
 the mission house, ten miles distant. A heavy 
 rain fell during our stay; and on our return, 
 we found the river at Kalivali badly swollen. 
 Carts could not cross, and men and bullocks 
 were swimming over. Our cart man was 
 paid at the river bank, and left us. There 
 we sat for some time, watching the natives 
 and the cattle, and wondering how we should 
 get across. We prayed God to help and 
 deliver. What else could we do but call 
 upon Him? 
 
 Surely He heard and answered; for soon 
 the natives of Kalivali brought a charpie 
 (cot bed), and a big bundle of dried squashes 
 tied to ropes. Then four strong men bade 
 us be seated on the bed, and they tied the 
 
(25) 
 
26 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 dried squashes to it. We obeyed orders; 
 and each man, grasping a corner post of 
 the bed with one hand, swam with the other 
 till we had crossed the deep and angry- 
 stream, and landed safely on the other side. 
 The squashes buoyed us up, and the men 
 furnished the power and propelled us over. 
 All we had to do was to sit perfectly still, — 
 not so easy, under the circumstances. 
 
 The well water at Kalivali was salty and 
 unfit for use, so we had to drink river water. 
 Of course, all the villagers living on the 
 banks of the river for miles up and down 
 the stream not only drank the river water, 
 but bathed their bodies and washed their 
 clothes daily in it. We boiled the water, 
 used alum to settle or purify it, strained it 
 through a towel, and then placed it in a 
 water jar in the breeze to cool. It was 
 quite unsatisfactory after all was done, but 
 we were thankful to have even that. 
 
 We never knew the import of the words, 
 "Sorrow not, even as others which have no 
 hope," till we saw a funeral at Kalivali. A 
 man living near us died in the Aight. Early 
 in the morning, the barber shaved the heads 
 and faces of the mourning brothers and other 
 male members of the family. The corpse 
 
Life at Kalivali 27 
 
 was laid on a crude bamboo bier, his face 
 was painted red, and then the mourners were 
 permitted to express their grief. 
 
 The women pulled their hair and beat 
 their breasts, shrieked, rolled on the ground, 
 and frothed at the mouth. About nine o'clock 
 in the morning, the men took up the body, 
 and bore it to the river, where they immersed 
 it, and then they carried it to the grave- 
 yard. There they lighted their pipes for a 
 smoke, and proceeded to dig a shallow hole 
 for a grave. They were loud and rough. 
 At last, two men jumped into the grave, 
 doubled up the dead man under their feet, 
 placed huge rocks on the body, and then 
 covered it with earth. These poor people 
 know of no resurrection through a living 
 Christ. 
 
 After a while, we came down with fever, 
 as a result of the dampness and unhealth- 
 ful surroundings of our mud house, and 
 the unclean river water. We moved out 
 just in time to save our lives, but not soon 
 enough to avoid an illness that lasted three 
 months, and brought us close to death's 
 door. A trip of two weeks to a cooler cli- 
 mate in the hills built us up, and so we 
 pulled through. A change of climate will 
 
28 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 often break up a very stubborn attack of 
 India fever. How good God was to us dur- 
 ing those days of initiation! 
 
 Much earnest work has since been done 
 in*Kalivali, and some have believed in Christ. 
 INIany more will accept if properly taught. 
 May God bless Kalivali. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 Idol Worship 
 
 T is very easy to learn what Jehovah 
 thinks of idols. "I am the Lord thy 
 God," He declares. "Thou shalt have 
 no other gods before Me. Thou shalt 
 not make unto thee any graven image, 
 or any likeness of anything that is in heaven 
 above, or that is in the earth beneath, or 
 that is in the water under the earth: thou 
 shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor 
 serve them." Through the psalmist, He says, 
 "Confounded be all they that serve graven 
 images, that boast themselves of idols." 
 Again: "Their idols are silver and gold, the 
 work of men's hands. . . . They that make 
 them are like unto them; so is every one 
 that trusteth in them." 
 
 The fate of idol worshipers is also clearly 
 set forth: "The fearful, and unbelieving, 
 . . . and idolaters, and all liars, shall have 
 their part in the lake which burneth with fire 
 and brimstone: which is the second death." 
 So explicit is the word of God on the 
 subject of idol worship, that it is the book 
 
 (29) 
 
30 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 of value above all others to scatter among 
 the idol-worshiping millions of India. The 
 Hindu confesses that his religion approves 
 of thirty- three million gods; hence we find 
 gods great and gods small, gods short and 
 gods tall, gods of gold and gods of earth 
 — yes, gods by the millions on all sides. 
 One of the first things that catches the eye 
 of the newcomer in India is the image of 
 some god. Many of these are carved in 
 the shapes of snakes, bulls, monkeys, ele- 
 phants, horses, etc. Others are more re- 
 pulsive, suggestive of evil, and often dis- 
 gusting in the extreme. 
 
 THE PRIESTS OF IDOLATRY 
 
 Temples are everywhere in India, hun- 
 dreds and even thousands of idols being 
 placed in them side by side. Usually these 
 temples are surrounded by the devotees, or 
 priests, who are the attendants of the gods, 
 and act an important part in keeping up 
 the whole abominable system. 
 
 These men would not meet a Westerner's 
 ideal of priests, at least in appearance. Most 
 of them are without clothing, save for a 
 small loin cloth of salmon color. Many of 
 them wear a great coil of hair, made by 
 
A Fakir at Delhi 
 
 'A Holy Man' 
 
 braiding long hair cut from cows' tails into 
 their own. They think to add to their merit 
 in this way, as the cow is regarded as sacred 
 by the Hindus. Some who pass as holy 
 men shave part of the head, leaving a shandi 
 — a lock of hair something like a Chinese 
 cue — at the top. 
 
 During the years of our stay in Hin- 
 dustan, we have seen millions of these fel- 
 lows. Yet it is difficult to describe them 
 accurately, for there are scarcely two of them 
 just alike; nevertheless they never appear 
 quite like the rest of the people, and are 
 readily distinguished from them. You can 
 
 (31) 
 3 
 
82 Fruit fro7ii the Jungle 
 
 tell one as far as you can see him, by his 
 dress, hair, ornaments or lack of ornaments, 
 by what he carries, his speech, etc. Most 
 of them are low and ignorant, though of 
 course there are many exceptions; and as a 
 class, they are grave and serious in demeanor. 
 They have no fixed place of abode, but 
 wander here and there, lounging about the 
 temples, and begging from house to house. 
 They are inveterate smokers, and most of 
 them indulge freely in the use of opium, 
 gang a, and other narcotics. They are a 
 nuisance all over India, not only to foreign- 
 ers, but also to their own people. 
 
 You would not be able to remember the 
 names of all the gods and goddesses of In- 
 dia, even if I were able to give them to 
 you. Chief among them, however, are 
 Kali, Jagannath, Siva, Parvati, Vishnu, and 
 Krishna. The Hindu says, "Wherever your 
 faith is, there is your god." So the sun, 
 the moon, the stars, fire, air, water, and 
 everything in the universe is an object of 
 adoration. 
 
 KALI^ AN UGLY AND CRUEL GODDESS 
 
 Kali is the name of a very ugly and cruel 
 goddess, said to be the wife of Siva. She 
 
X 
 
 
 The Goddess Kali 
 
 has two characters, one mild and the other 
 fierce, and is represented as a black or dark 
 blue woman with four arms. In one hand, 
 she carries a sword; in another, the head 
 of a giant, whom she has slain; and with 
 
 (33) 
 
34 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 the other two, she is encouraging her wor- 
 shipers. She wears a necklace of skulls, 
 and has two dead bodies for earrings. Her 
 only clothing is a girdle of dead men's hands ; 
 and her tongue, a vivid vermilion, protrudes 
 from her mouth. Her eyes are as red as 
 those of a drunkard, and her breasts are 
 besmeared with blood. She stands with both 
 feet on the body of her husband. 
 
 The natives say that after her victory over 
 the giant, she danced for joy so furiously 
 that the earth trembled. Certain offerings 
 are very acceptable to her. The flesh of the 
 antelope and the rhinoceros give her pleasure 
 five hundred years; with a human sacrifice, 
 she is pleased one thousand years; and with 
 a sacrifice of three men, she is pleased ten 
 million years. Blood drawn from the body 
 of the worshiper himself is looked upon as 
 a very proper and desirable offering. 
 
 The sacred books of the Hindus tell them 
 that when they worship Kali, they should 
 say: "Kali, Kali, hail devi! Goddess of 
 thunder, hail, iron-sceptered goddess! . . . 
 Hrang, hrang, Kali, Kali! O horrid, tooth- 
 less goddess! Eat, cut, destroy, all malig- 
 nant! Cut with the ax, bind, bind! Seize, 
 
Idol Worship 35 
 
 seize! Drink blood. Spheng, spheng! Se- 
 cure, secure, salutation to Kali!" 
 
 The thugs who used to rob and murder 
 travelers made offerings to Kali before they 
 set out, and expected her to preserve them 
 from detection. Immense crowds assemble 
 to worship this terrible goddess. Pilgrims 
 who visit one of her temples are expected 
 to sacrifice a goat, a sheep, or a buffalo. 
 Parents desirous of sons, and families in 
 sorrow, often vow to Kali that if their re- 
 quests be granted, they will sacrifice a kid 
 to her. Those who offer this sacrifice must 
 also pay to the priest four annas, or eight 
 cents, for the privilege. 
 
 On some days, hundreds and even thou- 
 sands of animals are sacrificed to Kali, and 
 the priests divide the proceeds among them- 
 selves. The courtyards of these temples 
 look like slaughterhouses, while the smell is 
 sickening on account of the hot climate. 
 Flies swarm everywhere, and disease abounds. 
 
 On busy days, noisy, bustling crowds sur- 
 round the temples, pushing and jostling one 
 another, with nothing sacred about the cere- 
 mony. When a victim to be offered is 
 brought, the priest puts a little vermilion 
 on the forehead of each worshiper. Then 
 
36 
 
 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 the executioner puts the animal's head into 
 a cage, and beheads it. A little of the blood 
 is sprinkled in front of the idol, and the 
 pilgrim carries away the headless body. 
 
 JAGANNATH 
 
 Jagannath (Juggernaut) is another hor- 
 rible idol. He has circular eyes, and a 
 straight headline, with a square knob at the 
 top. The nose is large and hooked, the 
 mouth crescent-shaped, and the arms pro- 
 
 The Car of Juggernaut 
 
Idol Worship 37 
 
 ject in a line with the mouth, ending in 
 stumps without any hands. He is about six 
 feet tall, and is black all over. 
 
 These images have several changes of rai- 
 ment each day. The first, at dawn, is most 
 simple. Later, another is put on for the rest 
 of the morning, and yet another for the 
 afternoon. Still another outfit is used when 
 the worshipers smear themselves with san- 
 dalwood paste. Soon after dusk, following 
 the evening meal, the court dress is put on. 
 Jagannath is usually kept in a room as dark 
 at midday as it is at midnight, illustrating 
 the scripture, "Men loved darkness rather 
 than light, because their deeds were evil." 
 
 Food that has been offered to this god 
 is called Mahaprasad, and is regarded as 
 absolutely holy. The Hindus believe that, 
 a single particle of this food is able to wash 
 off the moral taint of the greatest crimes 
 that created beings can commit. Dancing 
 girls are kept in the temples. Sometimes 
 there are as many as one hundred and twenty 
 in a single place to dance for the gods after 
 meals. The idols representing Jagannath 
 have many feasts during the year, such as 
 the "Holi," or warm clothing festival, the 
 birth festival, and the bathing festival. At 
 
38 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 the last-named, the idols are bathed; then 
 they are supposed to be sick for two weeks, 
 having contracted fever from bathing. Dur- 
 ing this period, they receive a new coat of 
 paint. 
 
 The car festival for Jagannath, the great- 
 est event of the year, usually takes place in 
 June or July. Pilgrims throng by thou- 
 sands to this feast. The car of Jagannath 
 is forty-five feet in height, and has sixteen 
 wheels. When the idols are brought out 
 and placed in carts, the vast multitudes 
 surge back and forth, shouting as with one 
 voice, and thousands fall on their faces in 
 the dust. Then the crowd drags the cart 
 down the main street of the town. 
 
 Music strikes up, drums are beaten, cym- 
 bals clash, and charioteers shout obscene 
 songs, with coarse gestures, which are re- 
 ceived with roars of laughter from the 
 crowd. Jerking, tugging, sweating, shout- 
 ing, jumping, singing, praying, and swear- 
 ing, the crowd pulls the cart along. Four 
 thousand two hundred professional pullers 
 are required to move the car of Jagannath 
 a distance of one mile, it is so heavy. 
 
 Pilgrim hunters all over India try by 
 every means in their power to get poor. 
 
Idol Worship 39 
 
 deluded souls to visit these sacred places of 
 worship. They declare that the ground all 
 about Pun, the place of the gods, is literally 
 made of gold. Pilgrims must purchase their 
 food at these sacred places. Often it is 
 so miserably prepared that they cannot eat 
 it, but they dare not waste a morsel of such 
 holy diet. Often it is eaten after it has 
 decayed. Pilgrims suffer greatly, too, from 
 the impurity of the water in the sacred 
 tanks. Although these are filthy, and cov- 
 ered with slime, the water is said to be holy, 
 and therefore the people drink it. 
 
 Disease and death take a fearful toll from 
 these crowds every year, both at the holy 
 places and along the way thither and re- 
 turning. Hundreds of skeletons are scat- 
 tered along the principal routes to the 
 different places of special worship. When 
 conditions become too bad, the government 
 steps in and puts a stop to the pilgrimages. 
 
 THE GOD SIVA 
 
 Siva is worshiped under the form of a 
 thick, uncarved block of granite, about eight 
 feet long. This block is bathed several times 
 a day with a great profusion of water, also 
 with milk, and even with intoxicants, and 
 
40 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 wiped dry after each washing. Offerings of 
 flowers, sandalwood paste, and new clothes 
 are placed on the block, and the idol is in- 
 voked to accept them. This idol also is 
 kept in a dark room, where only the sick 
 may enter, with a lamp. His daily worship 
 consists of twenty-two acts, as follows: 
 
 1. At dawn, a bell rings to awaken the 
 god. 
 
 2. A lamp with many wicks is waved. 
 
 3. The teeth of the god are cleansed with 
 a long stick. 
 
 4. The god has a full bath. 
 
 5. The god is dressed. 
 
 6. The god has breakfast of grains, sweets, 
 curds, and coconuts. 
 
 7. Breakfast of cakes and viands is served. 
 
 8. A lunch is served. 
 
 9. The god has his regular lunch. 
 
 10. Dinner of curry, rice, pastry, cakes, 
 and cream is served. A priest burns a 
 lamp and incense. 
 
 11. Strains of noisy music are sounded 
 to waken the god, who has slept for some 
 time. 
 
 12. Sweets are offered. 
 
 13. An afternoon bath is given. 
 
 14. He is dressed again. 
 
Idol Worship 41 
 
 15. A meal is served. 
 
 16. Another bath is given. 
 
 17. He is arrayed in full dress, — costly 
 vestments and yellow flowers, — and per- 
 fumed. 
 
 18. Food is served. 
 
 19. Regular supper. 
 
 20. Oblations. 
 
 21. Waving of lights. 
 
 22. A bed is brought, and the god com- 
 posed to sleep. 
 
 One's head nearly swims at the thought 
 of so much ceremony for a stone, and all 
 this in the name of religion! Oh, what can 
 be found here to cure a sin-sick soul ? — 
 Nothing, absolutely nothing. Yet this is 
 all that these poor people know. 
 
 Many of the temples in India have been 
 erected through the generosity of Hindus of 
 royal blood. Large sums have also been 
 collected in small amounts from the people, 
 and devoted to this purpose. 
 
 HANUMAN^ THE MONKEY GOD 
 
 At Benares may be found the Monkey 
 Temple. Here large monkeys are cared for 
 in temples as the representatives of Hanu- 
 man, the monkey god. These agile animals 
 
42 
 
 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 scamper over the tops of the houses, and 
 wherever their fancy leads them, sitting on 
 walls, and watching their opportunity to steal 
 the property of travelers. They are fed 
 
 A Monkey Tamer 
 
 An Old Sadu, or Beggar Priest 
 
 with grain supplied by worshipers, the giv- 
 ing of which is believed to be a very meri- 
 torious act. When a person scatters grain, 
 and cries, ''Ao! Aor ("Come! Come!") the 
 monkeys gather in large numbers. 
 
 On account of the mischief done by these 
 creatures, a magistrate removed large num- 
 bers of them to the jungles some years ago. 
 
Idol Worship 43 
 
 In this system of idol worship, man has 
 "changed the glory of the uncorruptible God 
 into an image made like to corruptible man, 
 and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and 
 creeping things." ISTote some of the re- 
 sults of this awful system of idolatry: There 
 is an incalculable loss of money, and a great 
 deal of toil and sickness; the worshipers are 
 corrupted, and wickedness is increased. In 
 many instances, the mode of worship is re- 
 volting in the extreme. The worshipers are 
 deceived by the most outrageous falsehoods, 
 and demerit is acquired instead of the merit 
 promised by the priests. No instruction is 
 given concerning man's duty to God and 
 his fellow men, and the objects worshiped 
 give the most degrading ideas of Jehovah. 
 
 SACRED PLANTS AND TREES 
 
 Many plants and trees, such as the pepul 
 tree and the toolsie plant, are regarded as 
 sacred by the Hindus. Every Hindu who 
 can afford it has a garden in which he 
 raises fruits, flowers, and sacred trees, which 
 are dedicated to the priests and the gods. 
 Usually several idols are found in the shady 
 nooks of such a garden. 
 
44 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 Night after night, the Hindu is found 
 in the temple, chanting his weird songs, and 
 making the night hideous with his shouts 
 and yells. He is never ashamed to be seen 
 bowing before idols. Usually the climax is 
 reached at midnight, and the sounding cym- 
 bals and the noise of the multitudes make a 
 din that is fairly deafening. 
 
 RAG GODS 
 
 Before closing this chapter, I must tell 
 you of the rag gods, which we have seen 
 many times. A rag god is nothing but a 
 tree by the roadside, covered with various 
 sorts of rags. One person vows to the tree, 
 and tears off a piece of his garment as a 
 sacrifice. This is repeated day after day, 
 year after year, till the number of wor- 
 shipers runs into thousands, and the tree is 
 a mass of waving rags. At first, a foreigner 
 smiles at the sight; but when he sees men 
 actually bowing before such a god, he grows 
 sad with pity for the deluded worshipers. 
 
 Driving through the mountains, we have 
 often seen by the roadside huge bowlders 
 dedicated as gods. These are covered with 
 red paint, and daily receive the homage of 
 the cart men. Usually a heap of coconut 
 
Idol Worship 45 
 
 shells is scattered about at the foot of each 
 of these crude gods, a coconut being a com- 
 mon offering. 
 
 WHAT IS IT TO YOU? 
 
 These things have not been written to 
 entertain or amuse those who might read, 
 but to open their eyes to the present needs 
 of India. I have told you but a very little. 
 Volumes on such themes have been written 
 by many eyewitnesses, yet the half has never 
 been told. One must visit India to get a 
 faint idea of her sad and needy condition. 
 Will you not ask God to bless and save 
 her people? And will you not give of your 
 means, be it little or more, to help those 
 already working in that needy land to pro- 
 claim the good tidings to those who sit in 
 darkness and the shadow of death? 
 
46 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 "Before Jehovah's awful throne, 
 Ye nations, bow with sacred joy. 
 Know that the Lord is God alone; 
 He can create, and He destroy. 
 
 "His sovereign power, without our aid, 
 Made us of clay, and formed us men; 
 And when, like wandering sheep, we strayed, 
 He brought us to His fold again. 
 
 "We are His people, we His care, — 
 Our souls and all our mortal frame; 
 What lasting honors shall we rear, 
 Almighty Maker, to Thy name! 
 
 "We'll crowd Thy gates with thankful songs, 
 High as the heavens our voices raise; 
 And earth, with her ten thousand tongues. 
 Shall fill Thy courts with sounding praise. • 
 
 "Wide as the world is Thy command, 
 Vast as eternity Thy love; 
 Firm as a rock Thy truth shall stand. 
 When rolling years shall cease to move." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 Saved After Ten Years 
 
 HEN we began our village mission 
 work at Zoonagaon, we found that 
 we had as regular attendants three 
 boys from one family. They were 
 little fellows ranging from six to 
 twelve years of age. They told us their 
 people were stonemasons, and belonged to 
 the goundie caste. 
 
 We usually gathered our Hindu friends 
 with the boys and girls under a large banyan 
 tree not far from the home of these three 
 brothers. Almost ten feet from the trunk 
 of the tree stood a small shrine about four 
 feet high, made of stone and cement, and 
 built on a cement platform. In this shrine 
 was placed a row of wooden idols from about 
 eight to fifteen inches long. They looked 
 like a child's dolls, each crudely carved out 
 of a straight stick of wood, and painted 
 with vermilion. At night, before the shrine 
 might be seen a tiny light, burning from a 
 coconut shell. In front of the shrine and on 
 the ground there was usually a pile of coco- 
 nut shells, these nuts being among the most 
 
 (47) 
 4 
 
48 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 common offerings to the idols. On a cer- 
 tain day each year, — and at that time, they 
 are rather expensive, — tons of coconuts are 
 thus offered, and then cast into the ocean. 
 After we became known to these people, 
 we taught their children the Ten Command- 
 
 Two Little Mohammedan Broth- 
 ers at Our Kalyan School 
 
 Three Brothers from One Fam- 
 ily at Our Kalyan School 
 
 ments and many other parts of the word of 
 God; and we are sure they will always re- 
 member that we told them just what an idol 
 really is. 
 
 Among the brightest, keenest boys at that 
 place were the three brothers already re- 
 ferred to. They were faithful in attendance. 
 
Saved After Ten Years 49 
 
 and learned many Bible texts. An older 
 brother taught in the public schools. He was 
 evidently too proud to come into our gather- 
 ings with the rest of his people, though he 
 often stood at a distance and listened to 
 what was said, and for some reason, never 
 objected to his brothers' learning from us. 
 Perhaps he thought they could never be 
 turned from Hinduism to Christianity. 
 
 Whenever these boys saw us approaching 
 with our company of Christians and musical 
 instruments, they would run for mats or 
 chairs, and carry them to the shade of the 
 tree, for us to use. Surely this spoke of a 
 welcome to us, and we greatly appreciated 
 their courtesy. 
 
 RAMANA 
 
 The oldest of the three brothers, Ramana 
 by name, was self-appointed usher, and took 
 it upon himself to make all the others sit 
 where he thought they should. In this way, 
 he really helped us; and if for any reason 
 he was absent, we missed his assistance very 
 much. 
 
 After a while, the parents and many of 
 the relatives and friends of these boys be- 
 came regular attendants at our service at 
 that place; and whenever we passed their 
 
50 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 home, they came out and greeted us with 
 respectful salaams. 
 
 Most of the children of India are very 
 poor. Not only do they wear no clothes, 
 but they seldom get even a taste of popped 
 corn or other things such as children in all 
 countries usually like. So it has always been 
 our custom to take with us a bag of some- 
 thing that we know the children are fond 
 of. I would tell them to sit quietly with 
 folded hands while we instructed them, and 
 then every one would receive a present. It 
 would not be wise to do this if these children 
 were Christians; but as they are heathen, it 
 has a good effect, winning them to us, and 
 holdino^ them while we sow the seeds of truth. 
 
 When the famine of 1900 came on, we 
 were glad to be able to assist many of these 
 people by giving them work. Following 
 famine came the plague. We were grieved 
 when news came to us that one of these 
 brothers had died. For some time, the fam- 
 ine and the plague broke up our meetings, 
 and our flock about the banyan tree was 
 scattered. When we resumed meetings at 
 that place, many little faces were gone; yet 
 we were glad we had taught them the word 
 of God and to sing Christian songs. One 
 
Saved After Ten Years 51 
 
 of the greatest comforts to our hearts in 
 that town was to hear the boys whistle and 
 sing our Christian songs in the streets and 
 about their play. 
 
 HUNGRY BOYS 
 
 One afternoon, several of these boys came 
 to the mission house, and said they were so 
 very hungry they did not care if they did 
 break their caste. They were so hungry they 
 would eat food prepared by a Christian cook, 
 requesting only that they be allowed to eat 
 it in secret. We consented, food was pre- 
 pared, and they evidently relished it. We 
 were well repaid by their expressions of 
 gratitude and appreciation. I think it also 
 helped them to see that eating our food did 
 not defile them, nor make them any worse 
 off than they were before. 
 
 Caste people may not eat food nor drink 
 water handled by castes lower than them- 
 selves. All white men and Christians are 
 regarded as outcastes by Hindus. Some of 
 these lads frequently attended our services 
 conducted for Christians. Few heathen ever 
 do this, so most of our inside meetings are 
 for our own people. Meetings for heathen 
 are generally held out in the open. 
 
52 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 One day, Ramana came to the mission 
 house, and had a serious talk with two of 
 the missionaries. He said he believed in 
 Christ, and really wanted to accept Him; 
 but it was hard to forsake all, and he felt 
 that he could not take the step then. We 
 were disappointed, but did not forget to pray 
 often that this young man might have cour- 
 age to decide for the right. 
 
 For some time after that, there was si- 
 lence, and Ramana seemed shy of the meet- 
 ings and the mission. He obtained employ- 
 ment, and was lost in the crowd, so we did 
 not see him for months. Then we opened 
 our medical dispensary in town. This was 
 a new feature of mission effort; and Ramana, 
 hearing of it, became almost a daily visitor. 
 He did not always come for treatment or 
 medicine, although a mere scratch on liis 
 hand or foot would have been to him ample 
 excuse for a visit; but he seemed to like 
 the atmosphere of the place, where he al- 
 ways heard the Bible read and sweet songs 
 sung. Without doubt, his heart longed to 
 be free from the yoke and chains of super- 
 stition and heathenism. He saw beyond him 
 the green fields of peace, while he fed in 
 
Saved After Ten Years 53 
 
 the wilderness of sin and bitterness. The 
 struggle going on in his heart must have 
 been fierce in those days. 
 
 READY TO HELP 
 
 At the dispensary, he was only too glad 
 to be asked to go on errands, and was al- 
 ways ready to help in any way, and give 
 what time he could. He attended public 
 school until his eyes began to trouble him. 
 After leaving school, he frequently requested 
 the mission to employ him; but usually Hin- 
 dus are not employed when there are needy 
 native Christians to look after. He kept 
 company with the Hindus, but frankly con- 
 fessed that he had no faith in idols, and 
 never worshiped them. Of course, we were 
 glad to hear this, and had no reason to 
 doubt his word. 
 
 I think he may have taken part in the 
 good times on their feast days; and fre- 
 quently his mother would prepare a tray 
 of nicely cooked food, with sweets and fruits, 
 which, with great pride and pleasure, he 
 would present to us. It pleased him also to 
 see us taste of each thing. Finally Ramana 
 became an apprentice to a tailor in town, 
 and decided to pursue that occupation. Thus 
 
54 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 time rolled on with us all till about the 
 ninth year after we first met under the 
 banyan tree near the shrine of the gods. 
 Then Ramana could endure the pent-up feel- 
 ings of his heart no longer; he made up his 
 mind definitely to study the Bible and the 
 Christian religion for himself. 
 
 RAMANA^S MARRIAGE ARRANGED 
 
 His parents had spent a considerable sum 
 of money in making an engagement for his 
 marriage, which did not altogether suit his 
 enlightened ideas. He had never seen the 
 little Hindu girl whom he would be called 
 upon by this step to take and support. He 
 knew that Christians did not do things that 
 way, and he wished to choose for himself 
 when he was ready for so important a step. 
 As an obedient son, however, he knew that 
 he must soon be married to the girl his 
 parents had chosen for him, and when thus 
 married, he must live with her. He wished 
 to become a Christian; and what would he 
 do then with a child wife, and a Hindu at 
 that? 
 
 More serious thoughts than ever now pos- 
 sessed his mind. If he could only become a 
 Christian before the marriage, then they 
 
Saved After Ten Years 55 
 
 would at least have to postpone it. But he 
 needed to know more of our religion before 
 he could take that step. What should he 
 do? He seemed in a plight indeed, and 
 frequently came to us for advice and coun- 
 sel. Realizing our personal responsibility, we 
 prayed for help to do the right thing at the 
 right time; but we often wondered what the 
 outcome would be. 
 
 Our great Teacher said, on one occasion, 
 "Ye are the salt of the earth," and, "Ye 
 are the light of the world." Truly this is 
 so; for when a servant of God daily goes 
 in and out among the heathen, he is always 
 preaching the gospel, whether he is conscious 
 of the fact or not. In time, such influences 
 bear their fruit among idolaters, who are 
 convinced of a better way through the gospel 
 of light and truth. This was Ramana's state. 
 He saw the light, he believed in it, and 
 yearned to walk in it, while his natural heart 
 and every earthly influence about him seemed 
 to pull in the opposite direction. 
 
 A MOMENTOUS DECISION 
 
 One day, Ramana came to the mission 
 house, and, like a trustful child, sat on the 
 floor and opened his heart in confidence. 
 
56 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 He longed for rest and quiet, and acknowl- 
 edged that his greatest battle seemed with 
 his own heart. But he was tired of the 
 struggle, and was ready to do anything if 
 only we would take him, and teach him the 
 way of peace. I was out in the jungles 
 
 "-^7 
 
 ^~^"! 
 
 ^r: 
 
 'T^o^.4 
 
 A Hindu Reading God's Word 
 
 Cutting off the "Shindi, 
 Sacred Lock of Hair 
 
 that day looking after some men who were 
 cutting grass. He hunted me out, and came 
 bounding over the fields to say he had de- 
 cided to leave the life of the past and become 
 a Christian. 
 
 Men do all the dressmaking and tailoring 
 in India; and as this young man possessed 
 some experience in that work, we concluded 
 
Saved After Ten Years 57 
 
 that the mission ladies could teach him daily 
 how to cut and sew, and I could give him 
 Bible lessons. Thus he would be able to 
 gain a livelihood and a fuller knowledge of 
 the gospel truth at the same time. His work 
 brought him to the mission house daily; but 
 as he boarded at home, his people did not 
 suspect his full intentions. 
 
 Ramana wanted a Bible, to study for him- 
 self; so from the Bible fund, one was bought 
 for him. I never saw another person so 
 anxious to read and know the Bible as that 
 lad. He always kept it open beside him 
 at his work. All his spare time was spent 
 in its study, and frequently he remained until 
 a late hour at night to read. He seemed 
 to think he must read the whole book before 
 he could understand what we really be- 
 lieved. Every one at the mission house was 
 amazed at his intense interest. We have 
 never seen anything just like it, either be- 
 fore or since. 
 
 THE PLAGUE AND PROVIDENCE 
 
 By and by Ramana's parents began to 
 wonder why he spent so much time at the 
 mission, for he had never worked such long 
 hours before. Their suspicions were aroused, 
 and they accused him of planning to leave 
 
58 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 Hinduism. About this time, plague broke 
 out again in our town, and the government 
 forbade our people to associate with those of 
 the plague-stricken district. In this we saw 
 the providence of God; for Ramana was 
 obliged to remain at the mission night and 
 day, or be sent off to the jungles with all 
 who were driven from the town because of 
 the plague. The town itself was actually 
 deserted. Now came the golden opportunity 
 of his life, and wisely he improved it. 
 
 He not only studied the Bible, but he 
 began to commit our hymns to memory, and 
 delighted to repeat them one after another. 
 He also began to pray at our meetings. I 
 shall never forget the night he decided to 
 take the final step. He prayed and con- 
 fessed and sought divine help for nearly an 
 hour. His petition was most pathetic. A 
 change was very evident in his life and words. 
 He had really accepted Christ in his heart, 
 and endeavored to conform his life to every 
 precept of the word of God. 
 
 1 MUST BE BAPTIZED^" 
 
 Ramana found a special friend in one of 
 our schoolmasters, Lucas by name, and these 
 two spent much time in study together. As 
 
Saved After Ten Years 59 
 
 soon as work closed one evening, Ramana 
 came to me, and said: "Sir, I cannot con- 
 tain myself any longer. I must be baptized." 
 Before this request was made, the elder 
 brother had heard that Ramana was praying 
 and reading the Bible, and it had caused 
 such a stir in their home that the elder 
 brother took a cane, and beat this young 
 disciple of Christ so severely that he bore 
 the scars for many days. Yet he patiently 
 endured it. The day he asked for baptism, 
 we scarcely knew what to say. There was 
 no deep water in those parts; so we de- 
 cided to dig out a spring and make a place. 
 This took several days. In the meantime, 
 he told his people his intention, and was 
 willing to take the consequences. 
 
 A TRYING TIME 
 
 People in America and other Christianized 
 lands little realize just what it means in 
 India to become a Christian. To a Hindu, 
 truly it is death to all once held dear. About 
 this time, the mother of the boy paid us a 
 visit, and became so enraged as she spoke 
 of the matter, that she foamed at the mouth, 
 and was literally beside herself. She de- 
 clared she would beat out her brains on our 
 
60 Fruit froin the Jungle 
 
 doorsteps before she would consent to her 
 son's becoming a Christian, and actually 
 did bang her forehead on the stone steps. 
 Then she said she would jump down a well. 
 Finally she and her daughter began to pull 
 at the boy's hair, arms, and legs, till we 
 feared they would kill him, and interfered 
 to protect him. Then she said: "Take him, 
 then. I don't want him. Now he is yours, 
 and not mine any longer." After this, she 
 threw rocks at the house, and left to go to 
 the police station, all the time screaming out 
 oaths and foul language. Verily she seemed 
 as one gone mad or possessed with a demon. 
 
 That indeed was a trying time for us 
 all. We were so grieved over what we had 
 seen and heard that we had little to say to 
 one another. It was a time for great cau- 
 tion and much prayer. The evil one seemed 
 let loose upon us, and a battle between the 
 forces of good and evil seemed waging about 
 the place. 
 
 Ramana decided to remain with us at 
 the mission, perhaps fearing that his people 
 would kill him if he went to his home. About 
 this time, JNIrs. Wood had some patients in 
 the locality of Ramana's home; and when- 
 ever she went to visit them, whether on foot 
 
Saved After Ten Years 61 
 
 or on horseback, Ramana's mother and sister 
 were sure to come out upon the public road, 
 and curse her as she passed. Some of our 
 native Christians who lived near became 
 afraid to pass Ramana's home, as his people 
 seemed always on "the lookout for Christians, 
 and bent on expressing their hatred in some 
 way. 
 
 After a while, Ramana decided to go 
 home, and show his relatives he could be 
 kind to them, although he had changed his 
 faith. They endeavored in all manner of 
 ways to pervert his mind and turn him aside, 
 but the lad stood firmly. He said little, but 
 walked circumspectly. Daily he came to 
 see us, and told us all that was going on. 
 
 Our hearts were sick during this time, and 
 we knew that God alone could help us. 
 These battles with wicked people and the 
 powers of darkness are quite common in 
 India. While they are on, they seem to 
 divert the mind from everything else, and 
 sap the vitality and strength of the workers. 
 
 There is little if any restraint among those 
 whose hearts are "set in them to do evil"; 
 and when they are wholly given over to 
 the devil, they are absolutely reckless, and 
 indifferent as to the results of their misbe- 
 
62 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 havior. When the evil spirits had become 
 weary, and matters began to quiet down, 
 Ramana made up his mind the time had 
 come for him to obey his convictions and be 
 baptized. Quietly calling me aside one day, 
 he said, "Sir, please take me away from 
 this place, and baptize me, and then they 
 will not marry me nor have anything more 
 to do with me." Little did he realize then 
 that the greatest battle for him was just 
 ahead. 
 
 A SECRET ERRAND 
 
 Calling the missionaries together, we told 
 them what we thought of doing. No one 
 disagreed, so we began to plan for our 
 silent departure. Ramana quietly brought 
 a few of his clothes into the mission house, 
 and we packed them in a suit case, and 
 engaged two seats in the mail coach for the 
 following day. The plan to leave was kept 
 a secret. The coach would drive to our 
 door, stop at the post office a moment for 
 mail pouches, and then at five in the after- 
 noon we would be off toward the railroad 
 station, twenty-eight miles distant. Those 
 were anxious moments till the time came 
 to leave. 
 
Saved After Ten Years 68 
 
 The next day, the mail coach drove up to 
 our door; and bidding the family good-by, 
 we were soon on our way to the post office. 
 Ramana and Lucas were in the habit of 
 taking a walk together at this hour; and on 
 this particular day, they had gone across 
 the mountain pass, intending to meet the 
 coach outside the town limits. The driver 
 asked for the other passenger; but we re- 
 plied, "He will meet us on the way, outside 
 the town." We feared lest he should be- 
 come inquisitive, and want to know who was 
 to go with us; but he was silent — much 
 to our relief. 
 
 We had driven on for several miles, before, 
 from the side of the winding mountain road, 
 out stepped our other passenger, Ramana. 
 We merely said "Salaam," and he quickly 
 seated himself beside me. Then, lest he 
 should be recognized by some one going to 
 our town, he threw a cloth over his head, 
 and pretended to lie to one side asleep. We 
 did not talk much on the way, and then only 
 in short sentences. 
 
 In India, one may be a Christian, and it 
 does not matter so much among the Hindus 
 until he is publicly baptized. But from 
 that moment, he is counted as a real Chris- 
 
64 Fnilt from the Jungle 
 
 tian, and is usually ostracized by all his 
 former associates. Ramana only longed thus 
 to be cut loose from them all. 
 
 When we reached the railway station, 
 about 9 : 30 p. m., I began to feel a sense 
 of relief, and quite sure of our escape with- 
 out detection; but my charge cautioned me 
 lest some one knowing us might be at the 
 station, or that perhaps his family had tele- 
 graphed ahead to the police to stop him 
 from getting on the train. While I pur- 
 chased the tickets, he quickly slipped off in 
 the shadows, but where he could see me as 
 I boarded the train. I purposely took a 
 third-class ticket, and chose an empty apart- 
 ment, where we could be by ourselves, and 
 pray and converse together. 
 
 '^ANOTHER orphan' 
 
 When the signal to move on was sounded, 
 Ramana quickly slipped into the train and 
 closed the door. Soon the train was in mo- 
 tion; and with a sigh of relief, we began to 
 breathe freely once more. In his relief, 
 Ramana threw his arms about me, and knelt 
 on the floor of that speeding train, thanking 
 God for a safe deliverance, and begging His 
 special protection and blessing. I asked 
 
Saved After Ten Years ^5 
 
 God that if it was His will, as a sign of His 
 special approval, I might obtain another 
 orphan boy for my school while on this trip. 
 
 When we arose, we began to speak of 
 Ramana's family at home, and what they 
 would probably say and do. We knew he 
 would be missed at once, because for some 
 time he had spent his nights in his own 
 home. His mother would go to the mission 
 house (this she actually did), and would 
 be very angry with the Padri Sahib, — the 
 preacher. Then she would conclude that 
 her efforts to keep her son a Hindu were 
 vain; and the sooner she gained this knowl- 
 edge, the better for herself and all con- 
 cerned. 
 
 With these thoughts uppermost in our 
 minds, we spread out our blankets and pil- 
 lows on the board seats of the railway car- 
 riage compartment, and were soon rocked to 
 sleep by the jostle and rolling of the train. 
 We had decided that it might be best to stop 
 off at Igatpuri, a hill station eighty-five 
 miles inland from Bombay. There were 
 many Christians in that town, some of whom 
 we knew. Besides, there was plenty of 
 water there, and a good place for baptizing. 
 
66 Fruit p^om the Jungle 
 
 After the strain and suspense of the previous 
 day, it would be a delightful change to meet 
 Christian friends and breathe a clearer at- 
 mosphere. 
 
 At six o'clock in the morning, after being 
 on the train about eight hours, we arrived 
 at our station. As we had our own lunch 
 with us, we decided to wash our faces in the 
 station, and then go to the home of some 
 friends, and tell them the object of our 
 visit. 
 
 THANKING GOD IN THE RAILWAY STATION 
 
 Ramana was so delighted with the plan, 
 that he almost forgot himself, and began to 
 laugh with delight. We knelt on the stone 
 floor of the waiting room, and in prayer 
 asked God to lead and bless us that day. 
 
 The station servants looked on in curiosity, 
 concluding, of course, that we were Chris- 
 tians, and only following out our custom. 
 As soon as we thought it proper, we went to 
 the preacher's house. The native preachers 
 were called, and the news of our visit and 
 plans spread very rapidly. 
 
 Fearing that the Hindus of the town might 
 try to make trouble, we decided to have the 
 baptismal service at seven o'clock that eve- 
 
(67) 
 
68 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 ning. A little group of believers accom- 
 panied us to the beautiful mountain lake 
 where the meeting was to be held. 
 
 THE BAPTISM 
 
 A few Hindus who had seen us baptize 
 at that very place once before also joined 
 the company. We have always made such 
 a time an occasion for clearly reading the 
 word of God on repentance and baptism, 
 also for saying a few words to those as- 
 sembled as to their personal obligations to 
 God. This we did at this time, then sang 
 some hymns, and offered fervent prayers 
 for God's blessing on the candidate, and on 
 all the work of the gospel in that great and 
 needy country. 
 
 Then came a part of the service which is 
 seldom if ever seen in other lands. First 
 asking the candidate to say a few words by 
 way of personal testimony, and of his de- 
 sire to follow Christ in baptism, I took out 
 of my pocket a small pair of scissors, and 
 proceeded to cut off the sacred Brahmanical 
 thread, and the shandi, or sacred lock of 
 hair on top of his head. To me this is a 
 delightful task, for it means that the last 
 sign of Hinduism is gone. "Then, while a 
 
Saved After Ten Years 69 
 
 hymn was sung, we walked together down 
 into the water, and I mimersed him, in the 
 name of the Father and of the Son and of 
 the Holy Ghost. We had been battling 
 against the powers of darkness for ten years 
 for that one soul; and now that he had 
 publicly renounced the world, and followed 
 Christ in baptism, words could not express 
 our joy. 
 
 THE PRAYER ANSWERED 
 
 When Ramana was baptized, we changed 
 his heathen name to Ralph. Knowing that 
 for the lad to return home immediately 
 would probably not be safe, we made a short 
 visit in Bombay, then returned to Igatpuri, 
 where a good sister opened her home to 
 Ralph, and arrangements were made for 
 him to study and rest. During our visit in 
 Bombay, a sister who had a temperance hotel 
 told me that she had with her a poor mother 
 with a little boy who needed a home, and 
 asked if I would take charge of them. See- 
 ing in this call the answer to my prayer, I 
 gladly answered, "Yes, of course." 
 
 While at the hill station, our young con- 
 vert was constantly gathering little groups 
 about him, and expounding the Scriptures 
 
70 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 to them, and telling them of his faith in 
 Christ. In fact, he put many of the older 
 Christians to shame in his enthusiasm and 
 ardor for the truth. This is often the case. 
 As we become used to the gospel, it fails to 
 grip our hearts as it should. 
 
 In a few days, I returned to my friends 
 and duties. Before I arrived, the news of 
 Ramana's baptism had spread by letter, and 
 so the way was prepared for my reception. 
 I had not been at home long before his old 
 mother came to tell me just what she thought 
 of her son and of our treatment of him, and 
 to express the hatred in her heart. I listened 
 patiently for a while, and then said I had 
 duties to attend to, and must say a final 
 "Salaam." Thereupon she took her leave, 
 apparently convinced that her efforts were 
 fruitless, and we went on with our regular 
 work as if nothing had happened. 
 
 Still the undertone of the town's talk con- 
 vinced us that the whole Hindu community 
 was stirred. One of their own schoolboys 
 had actually become a Christian, and they 
 had not been able to prevent it. Not only 
 so, but for years they had seen us sowing 
 the seed on all sides early and late, in their 
 
Saved After Ten Years 71 
 
 public markets, in our day schools, sewing 
 classes, and medical dispensary. The influ- 
 ence of the Christian religion was beyond 
 their control. 
 
 THE TESTING TIME 
 
 At the end of a month, Ralph came home. 
 He had bought new dresses in Bombay for 
 both mother and sister, hoping in this way 
 to convince them that he still cared for them 
 as before. They accepted these presents; 
 but when he told them he had been baptized, 
 and when they saw that his hair had been 
 cut off, they wept bitterly, and the words 
 they uttered were strange words — such as 
 only a Hindu can utter. 
 
 The testing time for our boy now came. 
 He was informed that he must not eat with 
 the rest of the family; that he could not 
 use their dishes nor cups. In fact, he would 
 defile the whole family and all his caste 
 people in that town, if he ate under their 
 roof. So he came to the mission house, and 
 boarded with his friend Lucas. 
 
 For some time, Ralph remained at the 
 mission, taking an active part in all the work, 
 but not going into the market place to teach. 
 His people frequently came to see him, and 
 
72 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 his j^ounger brother became so interested that 
 we all felt that he might follow his example. 
 One night, we had a special service, which 
 lasted till a late hour. Several Hindus 
 were present, and seemed deeply impressed 
 with what they saw and heard. Imagine 
 our surprise the next morning when one 
 came quickly to tell us that Ralph and all 
 his things were gone! His room was empty, 
 and the door wide open! We could scarcely 
 believe the report, and went to see if it 
 was so. Yes, it was too true; and no one 
 had heard a word or knew a thing about 
 his departure. What had become of the lad? 
 Had we been too careless, after all our 
 trouble? We began to chide ourselves, and 
 think that perhaps we had not been cautious 
 enough. Had he recanted, and given up 
 the Saviour under the pressure of trial and 
 family persuasion? 
 
 CAST OUT 
 
 Inquiries were made, and we learned that 
 Ralph was not in the village. Where could 
 he be? We made up our minds that the 
 Hindus were desperate lest this young Chris- 
 tian's influence should spread and draw many 
 others after him. We knew that his people 
 
Saved After Ten Years 73 
 
 had planned a marriage for him; but now 
 their plans must come to naught if the facts 
 were known. The parents of the Hindu girl 
 intended for Ramana's wife would never 
 consent to their daughter's having a despised 
 Christian for her husband. Who ever heard 
 of such an awful calamity in India! Through 
 the tactics of an old woman who served at 
 the mission, we learned that Ramana had 
 gone to the place where the intended bride 
 lived. We believed the report, but know- 
 ing nothing of his motives, could only pray, 
 and try to be as patient as possible. We 
 wanted Ralph to have a Christian wife, and 
 had already promised to get one for him, 
 even before he was baptized. Parents in 
 India always look after such matters; so it 
 falls to the lot of missionaries to act as foster 
 parents in this respect. 
 
 One day we were told that Ralph's peo- 
 ple hoped to get him back into caste, and 
 that they could do it by new decrees recently 
 passed among Hindus, in order to offset 
 the work of the Christian missionaries. Be 
 that as it might, we felt sure that Ramana 
 would never consent to return to Hinduism. 
 We knew that he must be restrained in some 
 way, and believed that sometime we should 
 
74 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 be able to get the facts in the case. It would 
 not be wise to attempt to visit him at such 
 a time. It was a comfort to know that the 
 Hindus had not killed him; and we did not 
 care to enrage them, lest they in revenge 
 should take his life. 
 
 A VISIT BY NIGHT 
 
 After several weeks of absence from home, 
 it was said that Ralph was at home again, 
 and that he had again become a Hindu. We 
 did not believe this report, although many 
 of our native Christians gave credence to it. 
 Days of suspense passed, and not a word 
 of news came. Some said they saw Ralph's 
 face as they passed the home of his people; 
 but these whisperings died down, and no 
 one said a word about the matter. Still we 
 did not cease to pray that God would de- 
 liver Ralph from the devil's grasp. 
 
 About two o'clock one night, I heard a 
 gentle tap on my window not far from the 
 head of my bed, followed by the words: 
 "Papa! Papa! It is I. May I come in?" 
 I knew the voice, and the plaintive tones ap- 
 pealed to my heart. Running to the back 
 door, I pulled the bolt, and my long absent 
 boy Ralph fell into my arms. We both 
 
Saved After Ten Years 75 
 
 wept, and in hushed tones began to plan 
 and get at the facts. He had but a dothie, 
 or loin cloth, on his body, and a goat's hair 
 blanket over his head. I was stunned as I 
 learned of the case. He said, "Papa, pray 
 with me, please;" and this I did. 
 
 Then he said: "I am a prisoner, kept in 
 a little room all alone, and sleep on the 
 ground on this blanket. I jumped out over 
 the wall; and now I must return, or they 
 may kill me. I am a Christian still, and 
 some day I shall be free. At present, it is 
 best that I suffer. I will come again when 
 I can." 
 
 I accompanied Ralph to the gateway, saw 
 him wrap himself in the goat's hair blanket 
 to protect himself from detection, watched 
 him as he disappeared into the darkness of 
 the night, and followed him in thought across 
 the grass fields, and over the wall into his 
 little prison. 
 
 This is the story Ralph told me that night: 
 "The evening when we had the special meet- 
 ing at which several Hindus were present, 
 they did not leave the place until a late 
 hour; and when they did, it was to take me, 
 
76 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 with all my things, put me in a cart, and 
 hasten over and down the mountain side as 
 fast as they could, then to the railway sta- 
 tion and on to Amaroti. My people had to 
 pay one hundred dollars [a very large sum 
 for poor people in India] to keep in caste 
 themselves. They were regarded as defiled 
 for harboring a son who had become a Chris- 
 tian. Not only so, but they have purified 
 me according to their custom, and taken me 
 back into caste, and now they regard me as 
 a Hindu, again. Of course, I am not. I 
 am just as much a Christian now as I was 
 before, and they will know it some day." 
 
 "What did they do to 'purify' you, as 
 they say?" I asked. 
 
 "Well, papa, they called all our caste peo- 
 ple of that town together, among whom were 
 the parents and relatives of the girl they 
 intended me to marry. Then they had a 
 barber come and shave me all over from 
 head to foot. It was an awful process. 
 Then they made a big fire of cornstalks, and 
 made me run through that fire. Then they 
 gave me a bath, after which they put all my 
 clothes in the fire and destroyed them, and 
 supplied me with new garments. They had 
 brought flour, and quantities of other food, 
 
Saved After Ten Years 77 
 
 all prepared. By and by all present sat 
 down, and I had to serve them to show them 
 that I was clean, and that they could eat 
 from my hands and from the hands of my 
 people. They forced me to obey; and what 
 could I do in all that crowd of people? But 
 some day it will all be over, and they will 
 see how useless was all this ceremony." 
 
 PRAYER AND MEDITATION 
 
 In this experience of Ralph's, you will get 
 a glimpse of what some must go through 
 in order to serve Christ Jesus our Lord. 
 From that night, I felt sure that Ralph 
 would never recant; but as long as he had 
 no permanent residence in any other town, 
 it was best to be silent and suffer as a Chris- 
 tian. It had taken years to lay the founda- 
 tion for the faith of this one young man, 
 and we did not believe that it could be 
 easily overthrown. 
 
 After that first visit, Ralph often called 
 in the darkness of the midnight hours to see 
 me, and I always arose and welcomed him. 
 Each time, he had a new story to relate. He 
 was not permitted to read the Bible or any 
 of our literature, so he spent most of his 
 time in prayer and meditation. They still 
 
78 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 kept him shut up at night, and did not al- 
 low him to leave the house alone during the 
 day. Little by little, however, he regained 
 his accustomed liberty, and by and by came 
 to see us openly, even in the daytime. After 
 a while, he agreed to teach a school for us, 
 but said he must go back and forth. 
 
 A NEW DOOR OPENED 
 
 Finally we moved from that town, and 
 so a new door opened for Ralph. He went 
 with us, and began to preach the gospel 
 with other men. Not long after this, he 
 became acquainted with Bargoo Bai, a young 
 woman who had been trained in a Methodist 
 mission school; and of their own choice, they 
 became engaged and were married. By this 
 act, the die was cast — the Hindus would 
 never want him after that, and now he was 
 a free man forever. All their efforts to re- 
 instate Ralph had been in vain; he was a 
 Christian in heart and faith. While he was 
 young in experience, and made many mis- 
 takes, yet he never denied Christ, and went 
 through more and endured greater trials than 
 any other native brother I have ever known 
 in India. 
 
Saved After Ten Years 79 
 
 For several years, Ralph and Bargoo Bai, 
 with their little girl, have been laboring for 
 the Master as best they can. I think they 
 deserve our sympathy and earnest prayers. 
 These two are some of the fruit from the 
 jungles of India. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 Kasho — the Dreamer 
 
 HREE of us missionaries had been 
 assigned to open a new work in Jal- 
 gaon (Firetown), in the Khandesh 
 district, Bombay. This is a manu- 
 facturing district, the large cotton 
 factories giving employment to thousands 
 of persons. 
 
 Jalgaon is a stronghold of the devil. Idol 
 worship is carried on in every street and 
 on every corner, and money is freely spent 
 for its maintenance. In fact, it is one of 
 the most "religious" towns we have ever 
 seen in India. (The more religious they 
 are, the more wicked they are likely to be- 
 come.) One has appropriately said of these 
 people, "They live religiously, bathe reli- 
 giously, eat religiously, and sin religiously." 
 A small stone house of four rooms was 
 rented for us to live in, and a Mohammedan 
 boy was employed as cook. Thus provided 
 with shelter and food, we set to work on 
 the native language. Though our house was 
 situated in a very public and noisy place, 
 and its low ceilings in that torrid atmosphere 
 
 (81) 
 
82 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 seemed designed to bake our heads, quiet by 
 night or comfort by day thus being equally 
 out of the question, still we thanked God 
 for the privilege of living there and work- 
 ing for Him. 
 
 In opening a new work, it is always a great 
 help and pleasure to have a few sample na- 
 tive Christians, so to speak, to stand by and 
 testify to the truth preached. Often we 
 wished we had one converted native to speak 
 in his own familiar way of Christ, but we 
 had no such assistance; the gospel had never 
 been preached in Jalgaon, neither could we 
 find one soul there who had ever heard of 
 Christ. In spite of all discouragements, 
 we took pains to gain as many friends as 
 possible among the people, and succeeded in 
 establishing several small schools for their 
 children. The mission school is the most 
 practical method of reaching the heart of 
 India. 
 
 Daily, too, we prayed that some might be- 
 lieve; that we might find, in that dark place, 
 even one into whose heart the light of the 
 gospel had shone. 
 
 About four o'clock one afternoon, we heard 
 a rap at the door, and looking up, saw a 
 bright-faced, barefooted boy about fifteen 
 
Kaslio — the Dreamer 83 
 
 years old. He wore a red cap, a white 
 shirt, and a dothie, or loin cloth. We greeted 
 each other with the beautiful Eastern salu- 
 tation, "Salaam." I asked his name, and he 
 said, "Kasho." 
 
 "Who are you?" I asked. 
 
 "Me Christe arha" ("I am a Christian"), 
 he replied. 
 
 Indeed we were glad to hear a native say 
 that in Jalgaon. We welcomed Kasho into 
 our home; and he sat down cross-legged on 
 a mat, and told us his story. 
 
 Kasho was born in Shegaon, Central In- 
 dia. His people were well-to-do farmers, 
 deshmooh by caste. He had several brothers 
 and one sister. His parents had taught him 
 to worship daily Mahar-Dev, a rude stone 
 idol found in nearly every village. For 
 several years, Kasho knew of no other God; 
 and at first, he had great respect for this 
 painted stone — in fact, he was really afraid 
 of it. His mother told him that if at any 
 time he offended this family god, some great 
 calamity would surely overtake him. Con- 
 sequently, for several years, he paid honest 
 homage to this heathen deity, and often re- 
 turned from his worship with a feeling of 
 satisfaction that all would go well with him. 
 
84 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 As Kasho grew older, doubts arose in his 
 mind as to the power of this huge stone to do 
 him either good or ill. Thousands of men 
 keep up the form of idol worship, when 
 they have no faith in their idols. We have 
 frequently conversed with such. Not know- 
 ing of the true God, and His Son Jesus 
 Christ, they live and die carrying on a form 
 of worship that can never save from sin. 
 
 Kasho finally concluded that it was too 
 much trouble to make daily trips to the vil- 
 lage temple to worship a lifeless stone, and 
 little by little he mustered courage to prove 
 Mahar-Dev. One day, filling his lota (brass 
 cup) with water, he sauntered off to the 
 temple. There, observing that he was quite 
 alone, he made a big lump of mud, and 
 threw it all over the sacred image; then, half 
 frightened, he ran home. For a while, he 
 was fearful lest he should become sick, or 
 some calamity should befall him. The head 
 man of the village sought for the offender, 
 but failed to find him. 
 
 When Kasho saw that he was as well as 
 usual, his first doubts of Mahar-Dev were 
 confirmed, his faith in idolatry was shaken, 
 and in his own mind he believed it false. 
 Still he knew of nothing better, for Chris- 
 
Kasho — the Dreamer 85 
 
 tians had not told the good news in those 
 parts; so, though his heart was not in it, he 
 continued the form of worship. 
 
 About this time, a young friend invited 
 Kasho to accompany him to a jathra, or 
 fair. A native fair is a curious place indeed; 
 and like all such gatherings, it possesses great 
 charms for a boy in his teens. In one way, 
 a jathra is a sort of native camp meeting, 
 several dirty priests conducting a service of 
 worship in honor of some chosen idol. This 
 may last for one day, or for many days, or 
 even for months. Grasping men, eager to 
 obtain the loose cash of the people, frequent 
 these places, and side shows and all sorts of 
 gambling are carried on. 
 
 On such occasions, too, the gospel heralds 
 seek to proclaim their message among the 
 masses, singing and preaching the good news, 
 selling books. Bibles, and Scripture por- 
 tions, and scattering leaflets. Medical mis- 
 sionaries also find all the work they can 
 do; for many sick folks manage to get to 
 the jathra in hope of recovery. 
 
 While at a fair of this kind, Kasho for the 
 first time saw a native Christian preacher. 
 He had never heard of Christ before, and 
 he listened to the stranger with earnest at- 
 
86 Fruit froiii the Jungle 
 
 tent ion. Somehow his thoughts went back 
 to the village idol and to his past doubts. 
 
 The speaker, after his address, distributed 
 leaflets to his hearers. That is the fruit of 
 love and generosity, a thing seldom if ever 
 seen among the heathen. A real Christian 
 will spend and be spent for Christ, and yearns 
 over others, that they may know of Jesus. 
 
 Kasho took a leaflet. He could not read 
 well, but this simple story was so fascinating 
 that he persevered till he had read it all. It 
 made a deep impression on him. As he threw 
 himself on his mat on the ground to sleep 
 that night, he carefully placed his leaflet un- 
 der his head for safety, and, with his mind 
 full of the new things he had heard, fell 
 asleep. 
 
 Suddenly he awoke. He had dreamed 
 that a tall, white-faced person, of radiant 
 countenance, and clad in glistening garments, 
 stood before him, smiled gently upon him, 
 and said, ''Marza marga yae'' ("Follow 
 me"). That gracious, tender smile touched 
 the lad, and he wept as if his heart would 
 break. Only a moment had the radiant 
 vision stayed, then vanished. 
 
 This dream produced such a profound im- 
 pression upon Kasho that he could scarcely 
 
Kaslio — the Dreamer 87 
 
 sleep for joy the rest of that night. He 
 felt sure that both the preacher and the 
 leaflet had described the person of his dream. 
 The following day, Kasho heard more of 
 Christ through the evangelist, and was thrilled 
 with joyful hope. He resolved to obey the 
 voice, "Follow me," and finally requested 
 the preacher to take him to his home and 
 teach him more. At this time, he literally 
 forsook father, mother, brother, sister, all, to 
 follow Jesus. 
 
 A pupil now in Christ's school, he opened 
 his whole heart to the truth, believed, and 
 was saved through grace. Then he publicly 
 confessed Christ in baptism and personal 
 testimony, turning his back upon all the 
 world for his new-foimd Friend and Saviour, 
 following his Master in the path of obedience 
 and service, and remaining among Chris- 
 tians until he was well established in the 
 faith. 
 
 When Kasho called at our door, he was 
 the only native Christian in town. He was 
 working in a cotton mill, and living by him- 
 self in one small room, paying sixteen cents 
 a month for rent, and doing his own cook- 
 ing and washing. Unable to find any other 
 Christians in Jalgaon, he had earnestly 
 
88 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 prayed for three months that God would 
 send workers there. "I prayed," he said, 
 "and God heard, and sent you here." We 
 did not doubt his assertion. He believed in 
 the promise, "Ask, and ye shall receive;" and 
 we rejoiced that when God called us in the 
 homeland, we had obeyed. Our hearts were 
 made happy to meet this new brother of 
 ours. 
 
 For some time, Kasho continued in the 
 mill, while we tested him, and found that 
 he was a real Christian. 
 
 As we watched scores of naked, needy 
 children in the streets and markets of Jal- 
 gaon, we longed to gather them for instruc- 
 tion in letters and the truth of God. Kasho 
 helped us call them in; and when we had a 
 large room full, they were organized into a 
 mission school. They quickly learned the 
 Lord's Prayer, Christian songs, and the plan 
 of salvation. He frequently assisted in the 
 preaching services in the markets and vil- 
 lages, and was always ready to sing, pray, 
 and testify how wonderfully God had saved 
 him. His life was as consistent as any we 
 have ever seen in Christian countries. 
 
 My friends, here is fruit for Christ, picked 
 from the jungles of heathenism. Who can 
 
Kasho — the Dreamer 89 
 
 compute the gain in the salvation of one 
 such soul? Through his life and labors, 
 others accepted Christ at Jalgaon. The last 
 reports from Kasho showed that he was 
 still pressing on in the narrow way, teach- 
 ing in a mission school, and acting the part 
 of a true missionary to his own people. 
 
 Let us earnestly pray God to raise up 
 thousands of such to assist in establishing 
 His kingdom in heathen lands. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 Anand Rao 
 
 HILE we were living at Jalgaon, a 
 young man clad in simple attire, and 
 carrying a staff and a small parcel, 
 called at the mission house one day, 
 and giving his name as Anand Rao, 
 requested the privilege of talking with the 
 missionaries. We invited him to remain a 
 few days to study the Scripture with us, 
 and to this he gladly consented. By caste, 
 this man was a warrior, or Rajput. 
 
 Our first impressions of Anand Rao were 
 very favorable. He spoke several languages, 
 English among them, was self-possessed, and 
 showed, by his intelligent conversation on 
 different topics, that he possessed an excel- 
 lent education. His use of English was so 
 fluent that we did not speak with him in 
 Marathi, it being a real pleasure to us to 
 use our mother tongue. 
 
 Anand Rao seemed like a friend. He told 
 us that he had for some time made a study 
 of Christianity, and had finally decided to 
 accept it. He appeared to have saving faith 
 in Jesus Christ, and this was the absorbing 
 (90) 
 
Anand Rao 
 
 91 
 
 topic of conversation between us. As we 
 became acquainted, we found that he knew 
 the Marathi language so much better than we 
 did that it would be profitable to engage 
 his services in some translating work we had 
 
 Leon, One of Our Marathi S. 
 D. A. Men 
 
 Virgil, One of Our Marathi 
 Colporteurs 
 
 on hand. This we did, and he proved a 
 valuable helper. His striking personality 
 and congenial manners won our hearts, and 
 we began to cherish bright hopes of his full 
 conversion. Few of our converts in India 
 
92 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 are from the upper classes; consequently 
 they have not the personal influence that a 
 man of this sort would have. For this reason, 
 and because of our love for him, we coveted 
 this man for the cause of truth and right- 
 eousness. 
 
 Anand Rao always attended our family 
 worship and cheerfully took part in it. He 
 seemed like a "babe in Christ," just learning 
 the language of the kingdom, and expressed 
 a desire to delve into the deeper truths of 
 the Bible and Christian experience. 
 
 . WORKING FOR OTHERS 
 
 Anand Rao had been with us but a short 
 time when he began to testify boldly for 
 Christ. His arguments were strong, and 
 his faith was unshaken. Soon he began to 
 attract special attention; and night after 
 night, he talked for hours to a group of 
 young men, who apparently came to over- 
 throw his faith. However, he always silenced 
 his antagonists, and overcame all their argu- 
 ments by the simple use of the Scriptures. 
 His countrymen recognized his warrior spirit 
 in his manner as well as his modes of expres- 
 sion. His spirit was humble, yet he was as 
 firm as a rock. 
 
Anand Rao 93 
 
 Whenever this son of India testified of 
 his love for Christ and the gospel, his enemies 
 were silenced and abashed. They had no 
 such zeal and devotion for their false system 
 of religion, neither did they find pleasure and 
 peace in the worship of dumb gods. 
 
 The news of the conversion of Anand Rao 
 to Christianity soon spread from Jalgaon at 
 a rapid pace. To us the experience was in- 
 tensely interesting, and nothing short of the 
 wonderful working of the Spirit of the true 
 God. We hoped for great things from the 
 life and labors of this noble young man. 
 
 But a silent voice seemed to say to us, 
 *'Keep a careful watch of him, lest the Hin- 
 dus molest him." We had known of the 
 conversion of several high-caste men in In- 
 dia, and some of them had not been able 
 to resist the pressure brought to bear against 
 them by their Hindu friends. You remem- 
 ber that Paul the apostle was compelled 
 to leave his own country after his conver- 
 sion, and live in seclusion for some time, 
 both for protection from those who would 
 have killed him, and for the opportunity to 
 become more fully established in the faith. 
 In heathen lands, the enmity against the 
 
94 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 gospel is equally strong, and the danger is 
 great. 
 
 On a certain Friday, Anand attended serv- 
 ice as usual, and seemed happy and free. 
 We had arranged to baptize him the follow- 
 ing week, and were aware that the feeling 
 against him in the town was stronger than 
 ever. In fact, we felt the power of the evil 
 one in the very atmosphere as we passed 
 through the streets. The lowering faces of 
 some w^iom we met spoke to us, as plainly 
 as words, of the hatred in their hearts. Many 
 greeted us pleasantly, and smiled when our 
 efforts seemed fruitless; but as surely as 
 there were evidences of our success, or addi- 
 tions to our converts, their attitude toward 
 us was changed. 
 
 Two days before Anand was to receive 
 Christian baptism, he went for his usual 
 afternoon outing, taking with him nothing 
 but his lota (brass cup), not even his sandals. 
 Apparently he did not intend to take a long 
 stroll. We missed him at nightfall, and be- 
 gan to search for him; but he was nowhere 
 to be found. We knocked on his door, and 
 finally went into his room. There were his 
 books, Bible, and clothing. But the man 
 — where could he be ? We made careful 
 
Anand Rao 95 
 
 inquiries of the neighbors, but no one had 
 seen him; every mouth was silent. Anand 
 had suddenly disappeared, and we could find 
 no trace of him whatever. We might have 
 notified the police; but what use to call for 
 them to make a search in such a case! Their 
 interest would be to conceal his fate from 
 us. What could we do? We could only 
 pray, and leave the matter with the One who 
 sees and knows all things. 
 
 While we were searching for Anand, he 
 may have been lying under some tree in the 
 jungle, a martyr to his new-found faith. 
 But if he was killed, as seems quite probable, 
 we are sure he sleeps in Jesus, and will come 
 forth from his unknown grave when Christ 
 shall gather His jewels. 
 
 NO INQUIRIES 
 
 As time passed, we were much impressed 
 with the fact that not one person inquired 
 about the sudden departure of Anand, and 
 as suddenly did the young men who had 
 visited the mission house to converse with 
 him cease to come. Had Anand been a low- 
 caste man, weak and ignorant, he would 
 without doubt be found in the ranks of the 
 church to-day. 
 
96 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 This tragedy gives a hint of what heathen- 
 ism is in practical life, especially when a 
 high-caste man is converted. It costs all 
 a man has, yea, even his life, to follow Christ 
 in some lands. Such instances should nerve 
 our hearts for the battle, and call forth ar- 
 dent petitions for the salvation of the great 
 heathen world. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 The Epistle of John 
 
 N 1894, a missionary friend of mine 
 established an orphanage for English- 
 speaking children in Central India. 
 After a while, he found that he had 
 a larger work there than he was able 
 to support; still, when the famine of 1896 
 came on, he was impressed to receive a 
 number of purely native children, who could 
 speak only the vernacular. He wrote to 
 me, hoping that I might relieve him of some 
 of his famine boys; and I replied that I 
 would receive all he cared to send. Does 
 it not seem strange that boys and girls are 
 so plentiful in heathen lands that they are 
 given away? Yet this is frequently the case. 
 
 TRAVELING AVITH SEVENTEEN ORPHANS 
 
 At the time referred to, I took seventeen 
 boys from this overcrowded orphanage. Such 
 a dilapidated lot of human beings you never 
 saw. Many of them had sore eyes, full of 
 pus. Their hair was all crusted over with 
 sores, and most of them were so thin and 
 weak they could scarcely walk. They had 
 
 (97) 
 
98 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 not been at the first mission long before we 
 took them; hence their sad condition. At 
 first, we wondered if some of them would 
 ever recover, even with the best of care and 
 treatments. The question came to us in the 
 words of the prophet, "Can these bones live?" 
 But "with God all things are ^^ossible," and 
 "all things are possible to him that believeth." 
 With these thoughts to encourage us, we 
 undertook our work, determined to do our 
 best for these Hindu lads. 
 
 How the people stared and wondered as 
 we led this motley crowd of seventeen fam- 
 ished youths into the railway station! Mis- 
 sionaries are always collecting children from 
 various conditions in life; but seldom do 
 they get such a group as I had that day. 
 
 The European train guard — or conductor, 
 as we in America call this official — was kind 
 to us, giving us a good-sized compartment 
 to ourselves. The boys made no objections 
 to going with me, an utter stranger; in fact, 
 they seemed glad to go, and really wanted 
 a place to call home. This I assured them 
 they would have, with father, mother, and 
 man^y friends. Perhaps, too, the prospect 
 of the trip quieted their fears. Our station 
 was in the mountains, amid bowlders and 
 
John Wesley Wood 
 
 Mrs. John Wesley Wood 
 
 Little Bobbie Paul Wood 
 
 Who Was Branded 
 
 WITH Hot Irons 
 
 (99) 
 
100 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 wild forests, while these lads had always 
 lived on the flat, dusty plains; so the thought 
 of the long ride and the new scenes rather 
 inspired them. Some of them tried to smile 
 as we talked with them, but it was an ef- 
 fort; their thin, emaciated faces seemed al- 
 most to have lost the power of smiling. 
 
 The largest boy in the group, though un- 
 doubtedly a famine boy, did not seem so 
 bad off as the others, and from the first, 
 was round-faced. This lad, whom we after- 
 ward called John, took charge of one of 
 the smaller boys, who was hardly able to 
 walk; and another boy, whom we named 
 Frank, helped another weak little fellow. 
 
 It was almost noon when we boarded the 
 train; and we reached our destination at 
 three o'clock the next morning, having been 
 on the train fifteen hours. We sat up all 
 the way; and I assure you the boys were 
 tired, sleepy, and cross when we arrived. 
 But John was patient, and tried to help us 
 all he could by caring for the smaller ones. 
 I can hear him now as he called out, ''C hullo! 
 Chullor ("Go on! Go on!") to the boys that 
 night as we left the train and station. 
 
 We soon climbed the short hill leading to 
 the mission house, where friends were wait- 
 
The Epistle of John 101 
 
 ing to welcome us. The boys' dormitory, 
 consisting of two rooms, had been made as 
 comfortable as possible for their coming; 
 and after greeting our friends, I led the lads 
 to their new quarters, and bade them sleep 
 as long as they desired. I had determined 
 to take such a rest myself, and thought they 
 too might appreciate the privilege. 
 
 JOHN GIVES HIS HEART TO JESUS 
 
 For the present, we must leave sixteen 
 of these boys, and tell you something of 
 John. Several months after he came to our 
 home, we had some special meetings, when 
 most of these boys gave their hearts to Christ. 
 Many of them would speak or pray, and 
 were a help in our meetings; but John al- 
 ways sat in one of the back seats, and never 
 gave any particular indication of interest. 
 One night, after the meeting was over, I 
 called him aside, and said: "John, I feel 
 bad about you. The other lads are accept- 
 ing Christ, but you do not seem to care 
 about Him. I think you are making a 
 serious mistake." 
 
 His heart melted completely at these words, 
 and he assured me, with tears, that he did 
 want to be a good boy, and would take 
 
102 Fruit fi'om the Jungle 
 
 the step the others had taken, and give his 
 heart to Christ. How glad I was to pray 
 with him that night! 
 
 WANTED AN EASY JOB 
 
 John was older than the other boys, so 
 it frequently happened that he had more 
 than his share of the work to do, while 
 the younger boys were often at his side for 
 help and comfort. One day, I took him to 
 the vegetable market to help bring supplies 
 home in a basket, while other boys were 
 picking up stones near a well that had been 
 blasted out. On the way to the market, 
 John stepped close to my side, and said: 
 "Sir, I want to make one request. I do 
 not like hard work. Will you please let me 
 always go to the market with you, and let 
 the other boys do the hard work?" 
 
 It was amusing, to say the least; but of 
 course I did not accede to the lad's request. 
 Though I could not but admire his honesty, 
 I gently remonstrated with him for his dis- 
 like of hard work; and after that, I was 
 always careful to give him plenty to do, at 
 the same time trying to encourage him in 
 whatever would be helpful to him as a man. 
 He was so faithful in the duties assigned 
 
The Epistle of John 103 
 
 him, that finally we made him overseer among 
 the boys in our absence; and we found that 
 he insisted that each one do his work exactly 
 right. He was not a talkative lad, like some 
 of the others. Frequently those who talk 
 most accomplish least. 
 
 John's early childhood 
 
 We always make it a point to learn all 
 we can about the past lives of our people, 
 as in this way we are better prepared to 
 deal with the natives who come to us from 
 heathenism. So, as John grew older, he 
 gradually unfolded to me much of his past 
 history. Few of those who read these pages 
 will ever have the pleasure of talking to a 
 Hindu youth about his past life, so I will 
 tell you some of John's experiences. They 
 will give you just a glimpse into the dark- 
 ness of the Hindu faith; but they should stir 
 our hearts to do greater things for these be- 
 wildered, lost souls. 
 
 When John was a little boy, he lived in 
 a small village out in the jungles of Central 
 India, and often herded cattle, goats, and 
 sheep for the Parteil, or head man of the 
 village. He was not a strong lad; and one 
 day he fell quite sick, and his parents thought 
 
104 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 he might not recover. His poor old grand- 
 mother was very fond of him; so she made 
 a vow to her idols that if John should re- 
 cover, she would make a sacrifice to them. 
 I have already told you how pleased Kali 
 (the black goddess) is with certain kinds of 
 sacrifices. It may have been to this hor- 
 rible creature that the terrorized old woman 
 made her vow. 
 
 The heathen have an idea that their gods 
 become very angry with them, and that cer- 
 tain things will appease their wrath. They 
 seldom think of their sins, or of their need 
 of a change of heart and life. At that 
 time, John knew of his grandmother's vow, 
 and, of course, thought it all right. He did 
 not know of any other religion, and con- 
 sequently believed that whatever his people 
 did must be right. Children are not born 
 heathen- — they are made heathen by false 
 precept and evil example. 
 
 John had seldom if ever seen a European, 
 and knew nothing of the God of the white 
 man. Although his grandmother was a very 
 superstitious old creature, still he was fond 
 of her; for it is true, though we sometimes 
 forget it, that the heathen have the same 
 
The Epistle of John 105 
 
 natural affections and susceptibilities that 
 more enlightened peoples have. 
 
 After a time, John grew to be a strong, 
 healthy lad, and had completely forgotten 
 his grandmother's vow to her gods. Chil- 
 dren do not usually think much about such 
 things. One day, to his astonishment, the 
 old woman called him into the little mud 
 house in which thej^ lived, and told him that 
 she had decided to pay her vow to the idol. 
 Then she took a knife, and made a small, 
 round hole in each of John's wrists, squeezed 
 the wounds, and gathered up the blood on 
 cotton, to offer in sacrifice to the idol. I 
 have seen the scars many times. 
 
 It was not long till John became so faint 
 and weak that the old woman was alarmed, 
 and tied strings about his. wrists to stop the 
 flow of blood. But his condition was serious: 
 a little more, and he would probably have 
 bled to death. When his grandmother saw 
 that he was sinking fast, she ran to a cow, — 
 the cow is sacred to a Hindu, — quickly made 
 a gash in its body, drew out a quantity of 
 blood, and tried, in her stupid way, to in- 
 ject cow's blood into his veins. Of course 
 she failed. John was frail and weak for 
 
106 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 some time, and it was only with great care 
 that he was restored to his former health. 
 
 I could scarcely believe such a thing pos- 
 sible; but the boy has related it so many 
 times to me and others, that I cannot doubt 
 his word. This is but a glimpse into the 
 heathen influences and practices that sur- 
 round the youth of India. 
 
 Herding cattle was tiresome work, so one 
 day John lay down in the road to sleep. 
 After dark, an oxcart was driven along the 
 road where he was sleeping, and one of the 
 wheels passed over his legs, breaking both 
 of them. He screamed in agony. The cart- 
 man stopped, picked him up, placed him in 
 the cart, and drove to the hospital. For a 
 year, John was an invalid, and scarcely able 
 to hobble about on sticks. During this last 
 sad experience, he began to meditate upon 
 the realities of life; for life had become to 
 him a reality indeed. 
 
 A HUMAN SACRIFICE 
 
 John told of another strange incident that 
 took place in his heathen village, and that 
 evidently made a lasting impression on his 
 mind. Heavy rainstorms frequently swept 
 down the valley in which this village stood, 
 
(107) 
 
108 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 doing much damage, and often carrying 
 whole villages downstream. These houses 
 are only made of mud and straw; so it would 
 not take long, if the water rose, to over- 
 throw many of them. 
 
 On a certain day, the farmers had watched 
 the heavy, dark clouds gathering in the dis- 
 tance above the village. As nearly as they 
 could tell, the storm was headed toward 
 them. What should they do? The black 
 clouds leading the storm had the appearance 
 of a tornado; and for a while, everybody 
 was greatly excited. Finally the people be- 
 came desperate, and offered a reward of grain 
 and money to the man who could appease 
 the wrath of their gods and avert the on- 
 coming storm. 
 
 There was no time to waste, and whatever 
 was done must be done quickly. One of the 
 villagers, a barber by occupation and caste, 
 perhaps more superstitious than some others, 
 volunteered to accept the offer, and to avert 
 the wrath of the gods in the tempest. The 
 barber called his wife and little girl onto 
 the flat roof of their mud house to get a 
 better view of the situation, and to do obei- 
 sance to their idols, which are frequently 
 kept on the top of the house. They probably 
 
The Epistle of John 109 
 
 took rice and coconuts to offer in worship, 
 according to their custom. 
 
 During their devotions, as the storm kept 
 bearing down in their direction, they began 
 beating their breasts, pulling their hair, etc. 
 The gods must be very angrj^ thought they. 
 What could they do? They had accepted 
 the offer of a reward to stop the storm, and 
 now they must not be defeated. In their 
 frenzy, they took their little girl, the father 
 holding one part of the child, and the mother 
 the other, and with a corn knife they cut 
 her body in two pieces to sacrifice to their 
 dumb idols. Horrid gods and horrid be- 
 lief! Murder to please the folly of men! 
 Millions of lives have been sacrificed in the 
 past in just this way. 
 
 Strange to say, the storm passed to one 
 side, and did not reach the village. Of 
 course, the people declared that the human 
 sacrifice caused it to pass by, and the barber 
 received the money and the grain, and the 
 heathen of the place became more confirmed 
 than ever in their folly and superstition. 
 
 John said that a very strange sensation 
 came over him when the child was sacrificed 
 in worship. He could not forget the im- 
 pression made on his mind when he was but 
 
110 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 a small lad amid such awful surroundings. 
 Were it not for the iron hand of the govern- 
 ment, the Hindus would still offer human 
 lives to their gods. 
 
 With what curiosity John must have 
 watched the people of another manner and 
 another religion! But how glad he must 
 have felt when he learned that they did not 
 worship idols nor offer bloody sacrifices! 
 After being with us for a few years, he had 
 the pleasure of a trip to America to assist 
 in meetings, and frequently related before 
 large audiences his varied experiences. While 
 here, he made many friends and did much 
 good work. Afterward he married a Chris- 
 tian girl, and for a number of years has 
 had employment in a government office in 
 India as a clerk. He is the father of two 
 sons. Can you imagine how different his 
 present life would have been had he not 
 providentially fallen into the hands of God's 
 servants ? 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 Snakes in India 
 
 HEN talking on India, I am fre- 
 quently requested to tell something 
 about the animals and reptiles of 
 that country. What is related in 
 this chapter is largely based on per- 
 sonal observation. One time when we were 
 living in Central India, I was sitting in 
 the office about midnight, at work on some 
 Bible lessons. It was the time of the mon- 
 soon rains — just the time for reptiles to 
 seek a place of shelter from the chill and 
 dampness outside. Several times I heard a 
 strange noise above my head, and looked 
 up, but saw nothing unusual. Then I heard 
 a hissing in the transom window. I was 
 now suspicious of danger, and could not 
 rest till I had found what this strange noise 
 meant; so I took the lamp and began a 
 search. 
 
 In a moment, I found in the window seat, 
 only two feet above my head, a very poison- 
 ous fellow about two feet long, and quickly 
 smashed his head with my cane, grateful 
 that I had discovered him before he had 
 
 (111) 
 8 
 
112 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 fallen on me. By the way, that is one 
 reason why both ladies and gentlemen usu- 
 ally carry canes wherever they go in India. 
 There are so many snakes and other reptiles, 
 so many dogs and wild animals, that it is 
 wise to have some weapon of defense. 
 
 IN HOUSE^ TREE^ AND FIELD 
 
 Not feeling well one evening, I returned 
 home early. My wife had been out that 
 evening to visit a sick patient, and returned 
 rather late. As she closed the outside door, 
 suddenly an awful hissing was set up, and 
 a scream fully awakened me from my 
 slumbers. 
 
 "Come quick! Quick!" Mrs. Wood called; 
 and springing out of bed, I turned up the 
 lamp in the corner, and ran toward the 
 door. 
 
 A large snake, which evidently had been 
 dozing on the top of the double door, had 
 been caught between its two leaves as the 
 door was closed. Half of his body was 
 outside, and the other half inside. Of course, 
 he was angry in his intense agony. My 
 wife held the door with her hand just a few 
 inches beyond the reach of the poisonous 
 creature. I never saw a snake strike at 
 
Snake Charmers Showing Their Tricks 
 
 (113) 
 
114 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 any one as he did, but he could not get close 
 enough to reach the hand that held the door. 
 I seized a shoe for a "war club," and made 
 short work of the reptile, and together we 
 thanked God for deliverance. 
 
 One afternoon, I walked from the mission 
 bungalow to the public road. Near the front 
 gate stood a large shade tree. Its leaves had 
 been well washed from all dust by recent 
 rains, and, being young and tender, were a 
 bright green. Just as I was about to open 
 the gate of the compound, I saw a snake 
 as green as the leaves on the tree, and nearly 
 six feet long. He had twisted his tail about 
 one of the limbs, and hung there, ready to 
 strike at anything that came in his way. I 
 got a long pole and soon disposed of him. 
 This was a whip snake, which usually hangs 
 from the limbs of trees and strikes at his 
 prey. 
 
 One Sunday afternoon, when I was ready 
 to go to the bazaar for our regular preach- 
 ing service, I called our native helpers, and 
 started on ahead, expecting the others to 
 follow. Just then our Bible woman ran to 
 me to say that her little boy had been bitten 
 by a snake in the yard, and that he was 
 suffering great pain. We used what reme- 
 
Snakes in India 115 
 
 dies we had to counteract poison, and prayed 
 for the little fellow. He recovered; but for 
 a number of days, he was dull and stupid, 
 and his body was badly swollen. 
 
 On another occasion, I went for a walk 
 with two young men. It was just about 
 sundown. We had not gone far when a 
 huge cobra crossed the road in front of us, 
 and made for the fields, we after him. There 
 were no stones at hand, only lumps of dry 
 earth. We threw those, but of course they 
 only enraged him. Several times he turned, 
 raised his head, and darted toward us; but 
 we managed to keep at a safe distance. Then 
 a man with a cartload of wood came along; 
 so we quickly got a long stick and threw it 
 at the snake, which was making for a large 
 banyan tree in the middle of the field. Just 
 as he reached the tree, he turned and leaped 
 after us; but we stood our ground, and 
 threw the club at him until a blow wounded 
 and crippled him, and we could come near 
 enough to kill him. 
 
 The cobra, a very common pest in India, 
 is the most poisonous of all snakes. It has 
 on the back of its neck a mark like the letter 
 V, and has a way of spreading out its body 
 near the neck in an oval shape. This is called 
 
116 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 its hood. When about to strike, it coils up 
 the end of its tail as a support, and leaps 
 forward. In spite of its deadly character, 
 the cobra is regarded as sacred. The super- 
 stitious Hindus worship it and feed it on 
 milk and sugar. No wonder there are so 
 many of these creatures still in existence, in 
 spite of the fact that the government offers 
 a substantial reward for every cobra that 
 is killed. 
 
 ^^NAG PANCH me"" 
 
 During the famine of 1900, a native priest 
 had a dream that if he would pull down the 
 house in which he was sleeping, and dig for 
 a well in that very spot, he would find not 
 only water, but plenty of it. Accordingly 
 the house was pulled down, a well was dug, 
 and, strangely enough, water was found. 
 But what pleased the native people as much 
 as the water was that in the process of 
 digging the well, a pair of cobras were found 
 in their nest. Doubtless some day that well 
 will be regarded as a very holy spot because 
 of the presence of the cobras. 
 
 The snake is one of the thirty-three million 
 gods of the Hindus, and its worship is a form 
 of devil worship. A special snake feast is 
 
Snakes in India 
 
 117 
 
 held on a day called Nag jmncJi me. Many 
 natives have been killed while worshiping 
 these creatures. May God speed the day 
 when India shall be free from Satan's power. 
 
 THE ROPE THAT WAS A SNAKE 
 
 One evening, our three children had been 
 playing for an hour or so on the board 
 
 A Boa Constrictor, Which 
 Crushes the Life Out of Its 
 Victim Before Swallowing It 
 
 A Cobra 
 
 where we stood for shower baths in the bath- 
 room. By and by they became tired of 
 their toys, and left them there. One of our 
 orphan girls, Mary by name, passed the 
 open bathroom door for the purpose of water- 
 ing some plants near by. Suddenly she 
 ran to my wife, and exclaimed, "Oh, mamma, 
 
118 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 sarp, sarp! Narg, nargT (Sarp is ''snake," 
 and narg means "cobra.") My wife re- 
 plied, "Oh, no! It's only a rope. I saw 
 it to-day." But Mary looked again, and 
 insisted that it truly was a cobra. Investi- 
 gation proved that a large cobra was coiled 
 up under the bath board,' just where the 
 three children had spent an hour or so in 
 play. A native was called, and soon he dis- 
 patched the monster with a stout club. 
 
 A" SNAKE IN HIS HAT 
 
 At another time, we were stopping at one 
 of the mission stations while the missionary 
 in charge was absent on a tour among the 
 villages. One day, he wrote us that early 
 in the morning, he had placed a large "solar 
 hat" on his head to protect him from the 
 sun, and he had been out all the forenoon 
 preaching and distributing tracts. At about 
 eleven o'clock, he went into his tent, and sat 
 down to wait for breakfast. Once or twice 
 he scratched his head rather unconsciously; 
 then he felt impressed to take his hat off 
 and look inside. There in the top of it was 
 a long, slender snake, coiled around inside 
 the lining. Much to his satisfaction, and 
 not without a due sense of God's protecting 
 
Snakes in India 119 
 
 care, he succeeded in pulling it out and kill- 
 ing it without harm to himself. 
 
 This same gentleman told me of an official 
 who was once awakened in the night by a 
 sense of weight on his chest, and called to a 
 manservant who slept on the veranda, just 
 outside his door. The servant sprang into 
 the room, and turned up the light, which 
 was burning low on the dresser, just in time 
 to see a long black cobra glide off his master's 
 chest onto the bed and then to the floor. 
 The call, the noise, and the light aroused the 
 creature, and he sought safer quarters. His 
 flight was arrested by a shot from a gun. 
 It was the middle of the cold season; and 
 the snake, seeking a dry, warm place, found 
 on the officer's bedclothes and chest one that 
 just suited him. Fortunately the unusual 
 weight aroused the man in time. 
 
 ONE SNAKE SWALLOWING ANOTHER 
 
 One morning, a friend of mine saw a 
 curious sight. One cobra had nearly swal- 
 lowed another, much larger than himself, 
 and in the cannibalistic act, had been caught 
 and slain. It was a cobra eating cobra. 
 
 I have seen as many as six or eight snakes 
 in the course of a short walk. One day, I 
 
120 Fi^nit from the Jungle 
 
 wanted a drink from the black water jar in 
 which our drinking water was kept in the 
 breeze on the front veranda. I took a glass- 
 ful from the jar, and stood there drinking, 
 when, to my amazement, Mr. Snake poked 
 up his black head from the mouth of the 
 jar from which I had just filled my glass. 
 I called the native cook to see, and he took 
 up the jar, and let it fall with a crash, when 
 out fell a snake over five feet long. 
 
 A COBRA AT A FUNERAL 
 
 On the occasion of the death of one of 
 our orphan boys during the hot season, about 
 forty native Christians accompanied us to 
 the jungles for the burial service. It was 
 about 11 a. m. The grave was ready, and 
 the service was nearly over, the funeral group 
 sitting quietly at one side. I stood at one 
 end of the grave, looking toward the people. 
 In the midst of this solemn gathering, im- 
 agine my consternation to hear Paul, one 
 of the native boys, scream, ''Sarp! SarpT 
 and to see a huge cobra glide out under 
 the boy's legs, make straight for the grave, 
 and fall in! For a moment, it was quiet; 
 then as we tried to kill it, it jumped, or 
 rather danced, on its tail from one end of 
 
(121) 
 
122 Fruit froin the Jungle 
 
 the grave to the other. At last, with one 
 desperate leap, it landed outside. The fu- 
 neral was forgotten for a few moments, and 
 a crowd with pick, hoe, and ax pursued and 
 killed the snake. 
 
 The natives at the funeral had a strange 
 superstition about this cobra. They declared 
 that it was a representation of Satan; that 
 the snake was born at the time this boy 
 who had died was born; and now both must 
 die at the same time. 
 
 We knew of one native woman who had 
 an enemy on whom she sought revenge. She 
 took the skin of a poisonous snake, dried it 
 well, pulverized it, mixed it in flour, and 
 made bread of the flour. Then she made a 
 feast, and called her enemy, pretending she 
 wanted to be at peace. The enemy ate 
 the bread, and soon died in great pain. Her 
 body was swollen to an enormous size, and 
 turned a horrid black. 
 
 It is a common thing to find snakes in 
 our homes. Many have been killed in my 
 own. When a high-caste native discovers 
 a snake in his house, he does not destroy it, 
 but very carefully entraps it, as we catch 
 mice and rats, then lets it loose in the open 
 fields, whence it often returns to the haunts 
 
Snakes in India 123 
 
 of men, perhaps to do much harm. Some 
 of the smaller snakes, such as the ''carpet 
 snake," are very poisonous, and do a great 
 deal of damage. There are also many non- 
 venomous snakes of the Python variety, such 
 as boa constrictors, anacondas, rock snakes, 
 and others, often measuring twenty feet in 
 length, which are a nuisance to the country. 
 A certain class of men known as acrobats 
 roam about the country with bags of cobras 
 and other snakes. It is said that the fangs 
 of these snakes are drawn, and the poison 
 is extracted, making them harmless. But the 
 sight of several of them rolling about in all 
 directions makes a person shudder. I once 
 saw one of these snake charmers pass a small 
 snake up one nostril and down through his 
 mouth and so out. Many other horribly 
 repulsive things they do. 
 
 VICTIMS OF THE JUNGLE 
 
 The statistical reports of India say that 
 thousands of persons die each year from 
 the bites of reptiles. As long as these people 
 remain heathen, they will worship and foster 
 these creatures, which will continue to cause 
 the death of thousands of their devotees. If 
 India were Christianized, and this super- 
 
124 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 stition, with others, were done away, the 
 snake would become largely a thing of the 
 past. The following government report is 
 amazing, to say the least: 
 
 "The deaths caused by wild animals in 
 India continue to reach a high total. The 
 total reached in 1906 was 3,084 as against 
 2,051 in 1905. Wolves are reported to have 
 killed 178 persons in the United Provinces. 
 Tigers killed a larger number of persons 
 than in 1905 in Madras, Bombay, the United 
 Provinces, and Burma, and steps have been 
 taken for the destruction of man-eating tigers 
 in these provinces. Elephants killed 18 per- 
 sons in Bengal. The appalling number of 
 deaths through snake-bite for 1906 was 32,- 
 854, as against 21,797 in 1905." 
 A later report gives the following: 
 "Simla, October, 1913: Although the march 
 of civilization may be gradually exterminat- 
 ing the wild beasts of the forest, the loss of 
 human life from the ravages of wild animals 
 in India shows no signs of diminishing. 
 Reports received from various local govern- 
 ments and administrations show that 2,066 
 persons were killed by wild animals in 
 British India during the year 1912. Al- 
 though this figure is somewhat in excess of 
 
Snakes in India 125 
 
 that reported for 1911, it compares favorably 
 with the statistics for each of the three 
 preceding years. 
 
 "Tigers as usual claimed the largest num- 
 ber of victims, and the number of persons 
 killed by them rose from 762 in 1911 to 885 
 in 1912. Of these, no fewer than 396 per- 
 sons were killed in Bihar and Orissa, all 
 but 9 of whom were inhabitants of the Chota 
 Nagpur and Orissa divisions. It is notice- 
 able that in the United Provinces, the num- 
 ber of deaths caused by tigers rose from 
 18 in 1910 to 36 in 1911 and to 71 in 1912. 
 Of these 71 deaths, 61 occurred in two dis- 
 tricts, Naini Tal and Almora. In the former 
 district, a single man-eater is regarded as 
 responsible for some 41 deaths; and although 
 a special reward of 1,500 rupees ($500) had 
 been offered for its destruction, it was still 
 at large at the end of the year. 
 
 "Leopards caused a total number of 261 
 deaths against 253 in 1911, while the number 
 of persons killed by wolves rose from 190 
 to 255. Of the 255 deaths for which the 
 latter animals were responsible, 197 occurred 
 in Bihar and Orissa, mostly in the Hazari- 
 bagh and Darbhanga districts. The total 
 mortality due to snake-bite among human 
 
126 Fimit from the Jungle 
 
 beings fell from 25,312 in 1911 to 21,461 in 
 1912. Bihar and Orissa with 5,810, the 
 United Provinces with 5,214, and Bengal 
 with 4,471 deaths were the provinces which 
 suffered most severely in this respect." 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 T 
 
 Casting Out Devils 
 
 HE people of India believe in evil 
 spirits, and that these take posses- 
 sion of persons, animals, and places. 
 JNIany cases of this kind have come 
 under my own observation. It is too 
 hot in India to preach in public places in 
 the middle of the day; so mornings and 
 evenings are usually the times the missionary 
 may be found working among the people, 
 telling them the grand old gospel story. His 
 constant motto is: 
 
 "I love to tell the story; 
 
 'Tis pleasant to repeat 
 What seems, each time I tell it, 
 
 More wonderfully sweet. 
 I love to tell the story; 
 
 For some have never heard 
 The message of salvation 
 
 From God's own holy word." 
 
 With Bible and songbook, in the cool of 
 the afternoon, I one day passed through the 
 narrow, crooked lanes of Chikli, toward the 
 regular place of preaching. On the w^ay, I 
 saw two Hindus sitting face to face on the 
 ground. There was nothing uncommon in 
 their sitting thus in the dust of the road, 
 
 (127) 
 9 
 
128 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 or even lying there for a midday nap; but 
 these men were not asleep. Their attitude 
 attracted my attention, and I stopped to 
 observe them. They were very intent on 
 something, but at first I could not make out 
 what it was. They were looking at each 
 other, evidently "straight in the eye." 
 
 PRIEST AND PATIENT 
 
 As I drew near, one was repeating, "Ram — 
 Ram — Ram — Ram," the name of a Hindu 
 god much reverenced in India. The speaker 
 had two small twigs about a foot and a half 
 long, with which he beat the ground rapidly, 
 till it seemed as if his arms must ache from 
 the constant motion. I watched the men in 
 silence for a while, and finally asked what 
 they were doing. The man with the twigs, 
 who was a priest, appeared greatly annoyed 
 at what he evidently considered as my im- 
 pertinence. But I had never seen such a 
 performance before, and was anxious for an 
 explanation; and why not, as this was a 
 public place, and the performance seemed 
 free to all who passed by? 
 
 Observing the innocence of my intention, 
 the priest told me that the other man was 
 possessed with evil spirits, and that he was 
 
(129) 
 
130 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 casting them out. The spell of the priest 
 seemed broken the moment I spoke, and he 
 gave a suggestive glance, and made a re- 
 mark in an undertone to the patient. 
 
 I then asked how long the poor fellow 
 had been possessed, and what effect the evil 
 spirits had on him — not that I believed all 
 the men said, but because I wished to learn 
 their ideas on the subject of demon pos- 
 session. 
 
 The priest replied that the evil spirits had 
 been in the man a long time, that he had 
 suffered much pain and torment from them, 
 and that when he saw the blood of a goat 
 or any other animal, he raged, and tried to 
 tear himself. 
 
 It was too good an opportunity to lose to 
 relate the teaching of the gospel on the sub- 
 ject. I did not for a moment doubt that 
 the man, possibly both men, were possessed 
 of many evil spirits, which gave them both 
 much trouble; but I doubted the efficacy of 
 their superstitious and nonsensical method 
 of dealing with such mighty forces of evil. 
 
 It is a pleasure to stand among positive 
 unbelievers, and declare the truth of God. 
 At such times, we feel the special help of 
 the Holy Si)irit. I told these men that 
 
Casting Out Devils 131 
 
 Ram was dead and buried, and that the use 
 of a dead man's name would never cast out 
 demons nor bring any relief whatever. I 
 told them of Jesus Christ, the One mighty 
 to save and to deliver; that while He was on 
 earth, and even in these days, in answer to 
 prayer, many afflicted souls had been de- 
 livered from the power of the evil one. 
 
 The men listened in breathless silence. 
 Whether they grasped the message or not, I 
 cannot tell; but the seed was sown, and the 
 result was left with the Lord. I never saw 
 those men again, but I was glad that I 
 could tell them of Him who can cast out 
 legions of devils by His word. When Jesus 
 cures the sin-sick soul, devils flee, and peace 
 fills the heart. 
 
 A UNIQUE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT 
 
 A company of "dwellers in tents" had 
 made their camp not far from the mission 
 bungalow. They spent their days in manu- 
 facturing palm leaf brooms and hemp rope, 
 disposing of their goods in the weekly ba- 
 zaars, and night after night sang their weird 
 songs till a late hour. Their singing was 
 accompanied by a one-stringed instrument, 
 made of a dried squash, a hollow bamboo 
 
132 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 stick, and one wire, and producing a most 
 monotonous strain. 
 
 One of the young mothers from this tribe 
 brought her small, unclothed child to our 
 door and asked for a garment. We gave 
 her one, and with thanks she departed. 
 
 In a few days, our heavy annual rain be- 
 gan to fall, and the rag tents, with all their 
 contents, were soaked through and through. 
 The mother of this babe fell very sick with 
 a high fever, and for several days lay on a 
 heap of old damp bedclothes, without proper 
 food and care. Finally she became so ill that 
 her people were alarmed, and decided to 
 send for the witch doctor of their tribe. The 
 day he arrived, the camp was all astir. Evi- 
 dently they had the utmost reverence for 
 and confidence in this aged but evil-eyed 
 man. Great preparations were made for 
 his comfort and entertainment. Chickens 
 were killed, and a tempting feast was pre- 
 pared. 
 
 BAllBAROUS ""treatment"" 
 
 After he had been well satisfied with the 
 good things made ready for him, he diag- 
 nosed the fever case. He looked very wise 
 for a while, and finally informed the people 
 
Casting Out Devils 133 
 
 that this fever-stricken woman was possessed 
 with evil spirits; then he called the musicians 
 and drummers, who played their instruments 
 with great zest and enthusiasm. The whole 
 camp was in an uproar. The old witch 
 doctor himself became quite excited, and 
 whirled and danced with many gestures and 
 contortions. When the critical moment had 
 arrived to cast out the evil spirits from the 
 suffering woman, he took a bamboo stick, 
 and beat her from head to foot. Of course, 
 she was dreadfully frightened, and the re- 
 sult was a free perspiration, which broke 
 the fever, at least for a time. Naturally 
 the people concluded that the "devils" had 
 departed. 
 
 About that time, the missionary appeared 
 on the scene, quite indignant at the cruel 
 treatment inflicted on the sick woman with- 
 out a word of protest from one of the camp- 
 ers. We insisted on an explanation, and 
 informed the doctor and the people that if 
 they attempted any such treatment again, 
 we should send for the police, and have them 
 arrested. The "doctor" was so frightened 
 that he soon picked up his belongings and 
 departed, and we never saw him again. 
 
134 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 Many such deluded men roam over India, 
 deceived themselves, and deceiving the peo- 
 ple. Doubtless many of them really be- 
 lieve that they possess a supernatural ability 
 to cast out and overthrow the works of dark- 
 ness, when in reality they are in league with 
 the evil one himself, and are helping to set 
 up and strengthen his kingdom. But they 
 deserve our pity rather than our censure, 
 for they have never been taught the things 
 of light and wisdom. I have often thought 
 that many of these deluded men might make 
 good evangelists if they were converted and 
 trained in . the things of God. They are 
 serving Satan and propagating his subtle 
 superstitions because they have never known 
 a better way. 
 
 A ""cranky"" cow 
 
 We had purchased a large buffalo cow, 
 which furnished our table with rich milk and 
 cream. A buffalo is quite different from an 
 American cow in disposition. This one be- 
 came very gentle, but at times took peculiar 
 "cranky" spells — just why, we never knew. 
 One day our milkman was not able to draw 
 her milk. She was well fed, and even ca- 
 ressed; but no inducement could we offer 
 
(135) 
 
136 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 that would lead her to yield her milk. She 
 withheld every drop, and stamped in rage 
 and defiance. 
 
 What could be the matter? Several of 
 the natives declared that she was possessed 
 by a devil. We remonstrated; but very 
 politely they told us of many such cases, 
 and the cause as well. They finally im- 
 plored us to call the old gowlie (milkman) 
 of the town. Was he not an elder and a 
 patriarch? and could he not tell every ail- 
 ment of all such animals almost at a glance? 
 Our curiosity was aroused by their earnest- 
 ness, and reluctantly we consented to their 
 calling the old gowlie. 
 
 Very promptly the old man came to the 
 stall, and in a dignified manner walked about 
 the silent animal as if measuring her from 
 head to foot. Then he called for a pan of 
 hot coals, and placed it before her. Natu- 
 rally she did not like the hot fumes in 
 her face, and began to snuff, and snort, and 
 paw, and flash her rolling eyes. Then the 
 gowlie called for a bucket of water and 
 several earthen cups. The cups were first 
 heated in the fire, and then carefully placed 
 in the bucket, where they sizzed and sput- 
 tered. The attendant then took several hot 
 
Casting Out Devils 137 
 
 cups, and waved them about the body of the 
 cow, the gowlie pulling her tail, stroking her 
 back, and at the same time repeating a bit 
 of nonsense. 
 
 Then, with a wise air, he said that no doubt 
 she had been possessed, but now he was sure 
 she would give her milk all right. We have 
 to acknowledge that she did give her milk 
 without the least further trouble; but of 
 course we are still unconvinced that an evil 
 spirit had been exorcised by the old man's 
 performance. 
 
 What impressed us most was the conclu- 
 sion of these men as to the cause of the sup- 
 posed possession. They asked a number of 
 questions, and then were sure they knew 
 the reason. The woman from whom we had 
 purchased the animal had been to see her, 
 and remarked that she looked "fat and fine" 
 — which was true, for the animal was kept 
 in excellent condition. "This is enough to 
 spoil any cow," they said. "Yes, yes, that 
 is the reason of her ill behavior. No one 
 should ever assert, about either animals or 
 men, that they are big and fat." 
 
 Two stonemasons set out to a neighbor- 
 ing village to wall up a well. They had 
 gone but part way when suddenly they were 
 
138 Fruit from, the Jungle 
 
 observed to wheel about and return to their 
 home. When asked why they returned so 
 soon, they replied that they had seen the 
 track of a snake on the road they were tak- 
 ing, and that it was a very bad omen indeed; 
 in fact, that Satan had cursed their path, 
 and that their work on the well would never 
 prosper if they proceeded then; so they 
 postponed it until the trail in the dusty road 
 had been swept away. 
 
 We knew one woman who wore a necklace 
 of snakes' teeth to charm away snakes and 
 evil spirits. She afterward became a Chris- 
 tian, and gave us the necklace, which is 
 now in a museum in the United States. 
 Many of the men wear two steel armlets 
 above the muscles of the upper arm, as a 
 guard against evil spirits; and sometimes it 
 has been difficult to convince converts how 
 useless these charms are. 
 
 Nearly every Hindu child wears tied to 
 the neck a small silver box containing a tiny 
 idol consecrated by a priest. This, too, is 
 worn to keep away evil spirits. 
 
 The light of the gospel scatters all these 
 superstitions, which affect the lives of the 
 heathen as strongly as beautiful ideas affect 
 ours. It is a great joy to see these people 
 
Casting Out Devils 139 
 
 converted, and note the transformation of 
 their natures, the blossoming out into joy 
 and beauty of that which before was sad 
 and repellant. 
 
 Thank God, we know this better way, and 
 have the privilege of working with our Sav- 
 iour in establishing His kingdom on the 
 earth. 
 
(140) 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 The Plague 
 
 N the book of A^umbers, eleventh chap- 
 ter and thh'ty-thh'd verse, we read, 
 "The Lord smote the people with a 
 very great plague." And if you will 
 take the trouble to look through the 
 Bible, you will find many instances, in both 
 the Old and the New Testament, where 
 various kinds of plague are spoken of. 
 
 Secular history also affords many examples 
 of plague upon the people in numerous places, 
 as the "black plague," which visited London 
 in the seventeenth . century. Without doubt, 
 men have always felt, during such severe 
 calamities, that God was displeased with 
 them. John Wesley frequently spoke to men 
 upon the judgments of God because of their 
 sins. 
 
 The epidemic of Bombay, which began in 
 1896, was in some respects different from 
 other plagues that have made their appear- 
 ance in the past. One of the earliest signs 
 of plague in this instance was the large num- 
 ber of rats that died in the city. At first, 
 little notice was given to this new and strange 
 
 (141) 
 
142 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 occurrence; but when thousands of rats were 
 found lying dead or stupid in private homes 
 and places of business, the city became 
 alarmed. About the same time, several per- 
 sons were suddenly stricken with a peculiar 
 new malady, which puzzled the physicians, 
 and baffled their skill. The patient would 
 be taken with a burning fever, and very 
 soon large swellings appeared in the neck, 
 the groins, and under the arms. These 
 swellings were called biibos; and from this 
 word, the plague was named bubonic. In 
 a short time, it was found to be highly con- 
 tagious; and wherever dead rats were found, 
 it flourished greatly. 
 
 In a short time, the people by thousands 
 became so frightened that they fled from the 
 city to the surrounding towns. Still the 
 scourge swept on. Those who fled carried 
 the germs of the disease with them; and in 
 a short time, like a prairie fire, it had spread 
 to many other towns and cities, and was 
 beyond the control of all the medical force 
 that government could command. A system 
 of skilled medical inspection was soon or- 
 ganized, but immediately another insurmount- 
 able difficulty arose. JNIany of the Hindu 
 and Mohammedan women keep 'piirdah, and 
 
The Plague 143 
 
 never show their faces in public. No men 
 but the members of their immediate families 
 are allowed to see them face to face. Civil 
 surgeons could not visit such homes for in- 
 spection. This hindered the carrying out of 
 a well planned system of disinfection and 
 
 The "Sunset Ghat" Dispensary at Kalyan 
 
 sanitation. Where caste prejudice interfered 
 with these regulations, police force was some- 
 times resorted to, with the result that among 
 certain classes of rigid caste people, resist- 
 ance amounted almost to riots. 
 
 FIGHTING THE PLAGUE 
 
 The attempt to control the situation by 
 force led to deception on the part of many. 
 New cases were not reported, but were kept 
 
 10 
 
144 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 hidden, and thus the whole situation baffled 
 the skill, wisdom, and patience of the city 
 authorities and sanitary commissioners. As 
 soon as possible, medical attendants were sta- 
 tioned all along the main railroads; and -at 
 certain places, everybody in the train was 
 called out and examined. Many cases of 
 fever were thus detected. Not far from each 
 large railroad platform might be seen tem- 
 porary buildings of coarse bamboo matting, 
 which were used as places of quarantine for 
 suspected cases, some of which developed into 
 plague. 
 
 In not a few instances, men who were com- 
 ing down with plague when they fled from 
 the city, died on the train. There were 
 daily accounts of many who died from plague 
 on the trains. At some stations, it was al- 
 most amusing to see the sleeping travelers 
 pulled out of their compartments in the night, 
 lined up with all classes, and deftly inspected 
 by the skilled medical attendants. Not one 
 could escape. The trains themselves were 
 fumigated at frequent intervals. But in 
 spite of all precautions, the plague advanced 
 rapidly over large districts, and to remote 
 villages. The rats died in all directions, 
 and not only rats, but squirrels, cattle, and 
 
The Plague 145 
 
 monkeys. Nearly all the little striped squir- 
 rels that had played about our mission com- 
 pound disappeared. 
 
 THE PEOPLE TERRIFIED 
 
 Business was seriously affected; and for a 
 time, panic conditions prevailed. No one 
 cared to purchase goods from the plague- 
 affected cities; and men became afraid to 
 meet their neighbors, lest they become con- 
 taminated. Even the mails were disinfected, 
 to prevent the spread of the contagion from 
 one place to another, and even to distant 
 lands. Almost everybody in the country who 
 had any medical skill or experience was 
 drafted into active service, and at the ex- 
 pense of the government, thrust into the 
 army of faithful men and women who sought 
 by every means possible to stay the disease. 
 
 So many died that the city authorities were 
 kept busy disposing of the bodies. When- 
 ever a person died, the authorities placed a 
 large black cross on the outside of the house 
 — a ghastly sign of the work of this dread- 
 ful scourge. In a few days, whole families 
 were wiped out. House after house was 
 vacated, entire streets were deserted, and in 
 many quarters, whole blocks and squares. 
 
146 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 Often men were so badly frightened that 
 they left their dead and fled. Some stopped 
 in their houses only long enough to bury 
 their dead in the ground floor of one of 
 their living apartments. I saw one body 
 carried through the streets merely tied to 
 a pole. The man had been a priest, and 
 lived alone. When he was not seen for 
 several days, search was made, and he was 
 found dead in his home. He had no friends 
 to look after him; so the mahars, or low- 
 caste men, were forced by the police to bury 
 him. 
 
 Cartloads of human beings were thus gath- 
 ered up, piled in stacks like cordwood, and 
 then thrown into deep pits or trenches and 
 covered. Faces were drawn with sorrow and 
 fright, and a cloud of fear hung like a black 
 pall over the country. Usually only the 
 natives were attacked, but now and then 
 Europeans came down with plague. It was 
 noticeable that few Christians were stricken. 
 Most of the native converts live separate 
 from others, and observe the rules of sani- 
 tation. 
 
 Some villages were more severely afflicted 
 than others. Frequently officials gave orders 
 for the people to vacate a town, and then 
 
The Plague 
 
 147 
 
 set fire to the houses and destroyed every 
 one. I drove through some such places, and 
 the desolation and charred remains spoke 
 more impressively of the terrible experience 
 than any pen can. Profound silence and 
 gloom fell upon us whenever we passed such 
 a forsaken spot, once teeming with business, 
 pleasure, and life. 
 
 Still another effect was produced among 
 the people: Men sought their gods, and en- 
 deavored to appease their wrath by spending 
 much time in the large temples, chanting and 
 offering gifts in the hope of pardon and 
 
 At the Dispensary 
 
148 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 mercy. At one temple, we saw a woman 
 beating her chest, and calling piteously upon 
 the mother god. Appointments were made 
 for bloody sacrifices to the gods. 
 
 Almost any time, one could stand in the 
 doorway, and see long files of men, women, 
 and children passing like so many living 
 streams, each with a sheep, a goat, or a 
 chicken, toward the place of worship and 
 sacrifice. The bleating of sheep and the 
 quacking of fowls, added to the clamor of 
 human voices, made it strangely weird. And 
 it was unspeakably sad, the people were so 
 helpless and so ignorant. One's heart was 
 moved with profound sympathy for them in 
 their distress. 
 
 The majority of the people were so over- 
 powered with their calamity and a sense of 
 divine displeasure that it was quite impos- 
 sible to attract their attention. There were 
 some exceptions, however; and many ac- 
 knowledged that it was no wonder God had 
 thus afflicted them, for they knew they and 
 their people were very wicked in their daily 
 lives. 
 
 When men in large masses are moved to 
 repentance, they often forget it soon, and 
 fall back into the same old ways; but when. 
 
The Plague 149 
 
 without much outside influence, they are 
 touched by a sense of their sin, their reform 
 is more likely to be permanent. 
 
 Doubtless God has spoken loudly and 
 long to the people of India; and if He is 
 still patient and long-suffering toward them, 
 surely we should be, and thank Him for 
 the excellent opportunity we have of pre- 
 senting to them a better way of living, and 
 salvation from sin and its awful consequences. 
 
 PLAGUE BROUGHT TO THE DISPENSARY 
 
 Our medical dispensary was always open 
 for all sorts of needy cases. One day, an 
 old woman came staggering in, carrying her 
 full-grown son rolled up in a blanket on 
 her back. She was all out of breath as she 
 gently lowered her burden to the ground, and 
 placed the sick son beside the medical mis- 
 sionary, who saw at once that he was very 
 ill of plague. Of course, the young man was 
 removed from the place as quickly as pos- 
 sible, but not before many of the waiting 
 patients had been exposed. 
 
 One of our orphan boys, Alfred by name, 
 saw a large rat lying on the ground not far 
 from our house, and picking it up by the tail, 
 began to play ball with it. As soon as he 
 
150 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 was discovered, we properly disposed of the 
 rat, and then had all the boys well disin- 
 fected. The rat had died of plague. 
 
 As I was sitting on the veranda of the 
 mission house one day, a young man with 
 a blanket on his head and with a burning 
 fever, walked up and said: "Oh, sir, I am 
 very sick indeed. Please give me treat- 
 ment." A glance showed that he had the 
 plague, and we sent him to the plague doctor 
 immediately. He died soon after reaching 
 the hospital, which was scarcely five minutes' 
 walk distant. 
 
 INOCULATION TRIED 
 
 All sorts of experiments were made, and 
 various measures were adopted in the hope 
 of relief. A system of inoculation, similar 
 to vaccination for smallpox, was introduced. 
 Many patients who were inoculated died, 
 while others, after passing through a very 
 critical period of fever, recovered. In 
 some localities, inoculation was quite popu- 
 lar. However, many persons would not con- 
 sent to this treatment. 
 
 One daj^ we were informed that dead 
 rats had been found in the cookhouse be- 
 longing to our nearest neighbor, then in the 
 
. The Plague 151 
 
 next cookhouse, and so on all about us. The 
 plague spread all over the town, and hun- 
 dreds of persons were dying every week. 
 In one family, seven or eight members died, 
 and finally not one was left. 
 
 CLAIMING GOD^S PROMISE 
 
 When official orders came to vacate the 
 town, we were glad that our house was apart 
 from all the rest, for so we were allowed to 
 remain upon our own premises. In all, we 
 had about seventy-five persons in our com- 
 pound, which included nearly eight acres. 
 Most of these persons were native Chris- 
 tians. We notified all that they should pray 
 to God for special protection, and claim the 
 promise that "there shall no evil befall thee, 
 neither shall any plague come nigh thy 
 dwelling." 
 
 We provided a special disinfectant bath 
 for all, and of course saw to it that the 
 premises were kept clean, and then relied 
 upon divine protection. The only man in 
 our group who was not a Christian was our 
 cook. He said his home was out in the 
 jungles, and apart from others, and that 
 he would not associate with the townspeople. 
 Whether he kept his word or not we do not 
 
152 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 know; but one day he came to us, and said 
 his son was ill of plague. For a moment, 
 we were almost speechless; but finally we 
 told him to remain at home until we gave 
 him permission to return. He came daily 
 as far as our gate for milk and food, which 
 we sent to his sick boy. About the same time, 
 we received a boy and a girl who had both 
 been exposed to plague. But after keeping 
 them in the jungles and in quarantine for 
 ten days, we allowed them to join our com- 
 pany, and they are still (October, 1917) well 
 and happy. Of the seventy-five souls at the 
 mission, not one died of plague, while all 
 about us many deaths occurred daily. For 
 this special protection and favor of God we 
 shall always be thankful indeed. 
 
 ANXIOUS DAYS 
 
 But this is not all that took place in our 
 compound during those anxious days. While 
 at the dinner table one day, we suddenly de- 
 tected the smell of a dead rat in the house. 
 We watched a large green fly as he buzzed 
 into a hole in the wall under a bed in the 
 corner of the bedroom; then with a pickax 
 we dug away till we found in the bedroom 
 
The Plague 153 
 
 wall a large dead rat, which must have been 
 there several days. 
 
 About that time, I was writing in the office 
 one morning, when a dead squirrel dropped 
 beside me on the floor, from the rafters over- 
 head. I left the room and went to the water 
 jar on the veranda for a drink, and there 
 on the floor saw several more dead squirrels. 
 We had just finished the preparations in a 
 bedroom for an expected guest, and went in 
 to see what more we might do to have every- 
 thing in order for our friend, when the 
 breeze brought unpleasant whiffs of a de- 
 caying rat. We looked everywhere, and at 
 last discovered a large brown spot on the 
 cloth that serves for a ceiling instead of 
 plaster, in the dressing room adjoining the 
 guest chamber. These dead rats and squir- 
 rels were disposed of as quickly as possible, 
 and each place where they had been was 
 properly disinfected. 
 
 HIS PROMISES NEVER FAIL 
 
 Those trying days were a test of our faith; 
 but His promises never failed. "The word 
 of God . . . cannot be broken." "Heaven 
 and earth shall pass away, but My words 
 shall not pass away." 
 
154 Fruit fram the Jungle 
 
 The plague continues to break out yearly 
 in India; and since the incidents related 
 above took place, it has spread to many 
 other lands. It seems to have spent itself 
 in its onward progress, and is not so violent 
 as when it first came; yet every year, we 
 read of many deaths from this awful pes- 
 tilence. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 Rama the Scavenger 
 
 Jj^|,|OST of the boys attending our mis- 
 sion school at Jalgaon were of the 
 mochi, or shoemaker caste. Other 
 boys in town would not associate with 
 the shoemakers, because they worked 
 on the skins of dead animals. A high-caste 
 man may not touch a dead animal of any 
 kind. Should he do so, he would be defiled. 
 The Jews had similar laws concerning defile- 
 ment, such as that recorded in Lev. 11:27: 
 "Whoso toucheth their carcass shall be un- 
 clean until the even." 
 
 Kasho, our schoolmaster, rang his bell at 
 nine o'clock in the morning, when a lot of 
 bright-faced, nearly nude little fellows filed 
 into the whitewashed schoolroom of the mis- 
 
 Shoemaker 
 
 Candy Seller 
 
 (155) 
 
156 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 sion home. The master most of the time 
 sat cross-legged on a red cotton rug in 
 one corner of the room, and the boys were 
 ranged around its four walls in the same 
 fashion. If too many boys were present, 
 and the wall was overcrowded, they sat in 
 the middle of the room, all flat on the floor. 
 When a native sits on a chair, he says, 
 ''Moongy arlie/' which means, literally, "The 
 ants have come." And a white man, ac- 
 customed to the use of a chair, if compelled 
 to sit cross-legged all day on the floor, 
 would say his legs had "gone to sleep." That 
 creepy sensation of numbness which we call 
 "going to sleep," they call "creeping of 
 ants"; and what cures it in one man causes 
 it in another. Such is the effect of custom. 
 
 THE BIBLE TAUGHT 
 
 The opening exercises of our school con- 
 sisted of a Christian song, a few verses of 
 Scripture read by the master and repeated 
 by the pupils, and prayer. The school was 
 usually closed with similar exercises, all the 
 pupils reciting a psalm or some other Scrip- 
 ture portion which they had carefully com- 
 mitted to memory, and enjoyed reciting to 
 visitors. Missionaries and native helpers 
 
(157) 
 
158 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 spend much time drilling the children and 
 young people to repeat the word of God, 
 with the hope that if it is once fixed in 
 the memory, it may sometime reach the heart. 
 "The entrance of Thy words giveth light," 
 declared the psalmist long ago; and we are 
 sure that when the word of God begins to 
 operate in the hearts of the heathen, false 
 notions will be destroyed, and the truth will 
 transform their lives. 
 
 Bibles are always provided for those who 
 wish them and will promise to read them. 
 If tons of Bibles in the language of the 
 people could be freely scattered in India, it 
 would not be long before thousands would 
 turn to the true God, and forsake idolatry 
 and superstition. 
 
 A BOY OF THE SWEEPER CASTE 
 
 Many cases of real conversion can be 
 traced to the simple reading of the Bible. 
 It is customary for one of the sweeper or 
 scavenger caste to visit each house and com- 
 pound once or twice a day to collect and 
 carry off the rubbish and waste that ac- 
 cumulates in the closets, etc. A widow with 
 nine small children to support thus visited 
 the Jalgaon mission each day. The death 
 
An Indian Sweeper and Wife 
 These are the untouchables 
 
 11 
 
 (159) 
 
160 F7'uit from the Jungle 
 
 of her husband had left her the sole bread 
 winner for the family of ten. One day, her 
 oldest son, Rama, came instead of his mother. 
 He would be called a mate?', or hungee, which 
 means, in the Hindu language, a sweeper; 
 but the poor boy could not prevent his caste 
 any more than he could change his dark 
 skin. I asked him if he ever went to school. 
 
 "No, sir; but I wish I could go," was the 
 prompt reply. 
 
 That was just what I wanted him to say, 
 for I sincerely hoped to persuade him to 
 become a learner in our mission school. We 
 did not object to his caste, and soap and 
 water would make him as clean as a high- 
 caste youth. Did he not have a soul to 
 save as well as those from higher castes and 
 of more respected occupations? His only 
 excuse was that he must care for his two 
 little brothers; but he could find some time 
 for study, and I agreed to accept him as a 
 pupil in our school, as well as his two small 
 brothers. 
 
 HAD TO SIT IN THE HALL 
 
 Few boys in America would have the 
 courage to try to study and act as child's 
 nurse at the same time; but Rama had be- 
 
Rama the Scavenger 161 
 
 come used to such responsibilities in his 
 mother's absence from home, and became as 
 attentive to his studies as were those about 
 him. His eyes sparkled with delight the day 
 we arranged the plan and welcomed him 
 into our mission school. None of the 
 shoemaker boys, however, would sit beside 
 him. They regarded themselves as above a 
 sweeper, and would not become defiled by 
 close contact with one whom they had been 
 taught to think beneath them. So Rama, 
 with his brothers, sat in the hallway, but 
 close to the door, where the master could 
 see and hear all they did and said. He 
 proved quick to learn, and soon committed 
 some Scripture portions to memory. The 
 Lord's Prayer was very attractive to him. 
 
 BITTEN BY A SCORPION 
 
 After the boy had been in school for some 
 time, his mother came to our door one morn- 
 ing, apparently in a high state of excite- 
 ment, and very anxious to tell us something. 
 She said that the previous night, when all 
 was quiet in her humble little home, Rama 
 suddenly jumped up from his bed on the 
 floor, screaming and in great pain. He had 
 been stung by a scorpion, a common pest 
 
162 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 in India. Begging his mother to do some- 
 thing quickly for his relief, he lay down 
 again on the floor, writhing in agony. I 
 have seen strong men in a spasm of pain for 
 several hours, with beads of perspiration 
 standing all over their bodies, after they were 
 thus poisoned by a scorpion's sting. 
 
 Rama's mother tied a bandage about the 
 wound to prevent the circulation of poison 
 to other parts of the body, and then ap- 
 plied a burning match to cauterize it, and 
 an onion ointment to allay the pain, which 
 was unbearable. Suddenly Rama exclaimed: 
 "Why don't you pray to God, as the mis- 
 sionaries do? They tell everything to God, 
 and He hears their prayers." 
 
 "But," said she, "what could I, an ignorant 
 woman, do? I could not pray like the white 
 man." 
 
 Then Rama said he must pray; so he knelt 
 down, and poured out an earnest petition 
 for deliverance. The pain ceased, and mother 
 and son lay down in peace. 
 
 Now that heathen woman stood before me 
 with beaming countenance, confessing her 
 simple faith in the God we worship, who 
 almost instantly answered the prayer of her 
 boy that night. She seemed to feel that she 
 
Rama the Scavenger 163 
 
 must come and tell us the good her son was 
 getting from our school. Both mother and 
 son had grasped a faith which brought great 
 consolation to their hearts. To me this was 
 a beautiful fulfillment of the promise, "Call 
 upon JNIe in the day of trouble: I will de- 
 liver thee." 
 
 EMPLOYED AS A MISSION SERVANT 
 
 After a time, for lack of room and on ac- 
 count of other changes, the Jalgaon Mission 
 House was closed; but Rama continued his 
 regular visits to the mission, and sometimes 
 attended family worship. While attending 
 the mission school, he had learned to read, 
 and became a happy Christian boj^ Now 
 we employed him as a regular mission serv- 
 ant, to drive the bullocks and make himself 
 generally useful. 
 
 He heard that a native Christian camp 
 meeting was to be held not far away. With 
 joy he thought of meeting so many con- 
 verted people, and endeavored to attend. 
 First he gained the consent of his mother; 
 for the older he grew, the more loyal he 
 seemed to be to her. Then he asked leave 
 of the missionary for whom he worked; and 
 when car fare to and from the camp meeting 
 
164 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 was given him, a happier lad than Rama 
 never walked the earth. While at the meet- 
 ing, he made many new friends, and heard 
 much about Christ that he had not before 
 learned. 
 
 THE ACCIDENT 
 
 I must now relate a sad story in Rama's 
 life. One afternoon, several persons were 
 leaving the camp meeting for the railroad 
 station, and Rama accompanied them in the 
 bullock cart. Accidentally he fell from the 
 cart, and the heavy wheel passed over his 
 body, crushing him badly. This sad accident 
 caused a feeling of gloom over all that happy 
 gathering. Friends hastily carried him to 
 the government hospital for proper care and 
 treatment. At the hospital, inquiry was 
 made as to what caste he belonged to; and 
 when it Was known that he was of the 
 sweeper caste, he was not permitted to lie 
 on a cot in the ward with the other patients, 
 but was assigned to a heap of old rags on 
 the floor. Much as the missionaries longed 
 to see him better cared for, they could not 
 interfere with custom and caste prejudices. 
 He was visited daily by his Christian friends, 
 who prayed for him, and took him such 
 simple food as he could eat. 
 
Rama the Scavenger 165 
 
 One day, one of the missionaries who had 
 called to see Rama, saw that the lad was 
 sinking fast, and asked him if there was any- 
 thing he wanted. 
 
 "Yes," said the boy. "I shall not live 
 long now. I want but one thing before I 
 die. I want to be baptized; but that is im- 
 possible, and I must die as I am. I am 
 sorry, oh, so sorry; but I shall meet you 
 when Jesus comes." 
 
 Since Rama fell asleep in Jesus, the godly 
 missionary who told me this part of his story, 
 and who talked with him at the last, has also 
 gone to rest. Of course, the poor old mother 
 was heartbroken when she learned of her 
 son's death, and the mission also felt his 
 loss deeply. 
 
 That humble little school in Jalgaon has 
 already borne permanent fruit for the king- 
 dom of God. How glad I am that we ever 
 pushed through the obstacles which stood in 
 our way in its establishment! Who can read 
 this simple story and not feel that it pays 
 to follow the footsteps of Jesus, and "preach 
 the gospel to every creature"? There are 
 in India millions of youth like Rama, who 
 should have an opportunity to hear of Jesus, 
 and many who will also accept Him. 
 
166 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 Frequently boys beg to be received into a 
 mission school, but not all are accepted, for 
 lack of sufficient funds for their support. 
 They cheerfully accept the coarsest food 
 and the humblest quarters for the opportu- 
 nity of personal improvement and education. 
 They are not ashamed to be called Chris- 
 tians, nor to be found reading the Bible. 
 In civilized lands, dogs and horses are trained, 
 and it is wonderful to see what these dinnb 
 animals can learn to do. If men and women 
 with the love of God in their hearts would 
 as patiently and perseveringly train the chil- 
 dren of heathen parents, who can compute 
 the results in this world and in that to 
 come ? 
 
 The greatest need is devoted workers and 
 devoted money. Who will go? Who will 
 give ? 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 Bloody Offerings 
 
 ITH but few exceptions, the doctrine 
 of atonement by blood finds place 
 in all the various religions in the 
 world. Prominent among those who 
 do not hold to the necessity of shed- 
 ding of blood are the Parsees, or fire wor- 
 shipers. Practically all peoples are ready to 
 receive the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the 
 gospel of the precious blood of the Son of God. 
 I was called to conduct the funeral service 
 of a native Christian policeman, who had 
 lived fourteen miles from the mission sta- 
 tion. There were no Christians in that 
 town, save this policeman, his wife, and three 
 small children. When he died, his family 
 were without a friend to help them; for 
 when a man accepts Christ, and is baptized, 
 he is usually treated as an outcast by his 
 heathen associates, and even in the hour of 
 his greatest need, is left to push through 
 difficulties all alone. 
 
 After driving fourteen miles in the hot 
 sun, I found the man lying just as he had 
 died, his broken-hearted widow alone in her 
 
 (167) 
 
168 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 sorrow. Their home was a small, one-roomed 
 house, made of mud and thatched with cotton 
 stalks. As I drove up, the wife came out 
 to meet me. For a moment, she forgot 
 her grief, and smiled, she was so glad a 
 Christian friend had come. Then, bowing 
 her head, she sobbed out her heart's anguish. 
 But even then I observed the self-control 
 and expression of hope which I had never 
 seen at such times among heathen women, 
 and thanked God that this family were 
 Christians. 
 
 My first duty was to pull off my coat, 
 roll up my sleeves, and prepare a bier for 
 our dead brother. We laid him on the bam- 
 boo frame, covered him with a white cloth, 
 and tucked green branches among the white 
 to relieve the ghastliness. After carefully 
 tying all to the bier, we placed it in our 
 bullock cart. 
 
 A HEATHEN BURYING PLACE 
 
 An appropriate service was held, consist- 
 ing of a song, the reading of a chapter, 
 prayer, and a few remarks; then with bowed 
 heads we proceeded to the cemetery. We 
 had to bury at one side, as the people would 
 
Bloody Offerings 
 
 169 
 
 not allow a Christian to lie among those who 
 had died as idol worshipers. 
 
 I shuddered as we entered the graveyard 
 and saw skulls and human bones lying all 
 about. Wild animals had pulled dead bodies 
 out of their graves, eaten their flesh, and 
 the bones were bleaching in the hot sun. 
 
 It was a lonely funeral service, — just 
 seven Christians present, with crowds of 
 heathen looking scornfully on. We felt our 
 weakness as far as numbers were concerned; 
 yet a sense of the sacred nearness of the 
 Saviour accompanied us all the way. 
 
 Our brother had been in the service of the 
 British government, at a wage of seven 
 rupees, or about $2.33, a month. They were 
 
 Our Bullock Cart at Kalyan 
 
170 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 a very poor family indeed. On our return, 
 we waited at the little cottage long enough 
 to arrange for the transfer of the widow 
 and the children to the mission house. All 
 they possessed did not fill one two-wheeled 
 cart. 
 
 The next day, they arrived at the mission. 
 The three children were placed in school, and 
 properly cared for, and the widow was given 
 such work as she was able to do, at the usual 
 wage of a woman, two annas (four cents) 
 a day. Thus she supported herself, and had 
 Christian privileges and the fellowship of 
 the native Christians. 
 
 A FEAST OF ATONEMENT 
 
 We left that heathen village about five 
 o'clock that afternoon, and had gone but a 
 short distance when we heard the sound of 
 the tom-tom (native drum) as well as other 
 instruments. Turning a sharp corner, to 
 our surprise, crowds of people dressed in gay 
 attire came into view, marching up the main 
 street of the town. They were a motley 
 throng, — men, women, and children, dressed 
 in red, yellow, green, and blue, as well as 
 combinations of all colors. 
 
Bloody Offerings 171 
 
 We asked the reason for this display, of 
 a passer-by; and he explained that the people 
 were celebrating a special feast, at which 
 a male buffalo was sacrificed, and an atone- 
 ment made for the sins of the people. With 
 our knowledge of the true atonement, the 
 very thought of such a barbarous thing was 
 repulsive in the extreme. I called my driver 
 to halt, and sat looking at the multitude, 
 numbering hundreds, as they approached us. 
 
 The leader was the Parteil, or head man 
 of the village. .He wore a large turban 
 trimmed with gold braid, also a long blue 
 felt coat, and brandished a heavy sword in 
 mid-air. Following close behind him were 
 four other large fellows dressed in gay 
 clothes, each one leaping into the air from 
 time to time, and uttering terrific yells. 
 
 THE SACRIFICE 
 
 Then came a male buffalo about a year old, 
 four ropes tied to his feet, and four men 
 holding the ropes, also a man following with 
 a club, which he frequently used to urge 
 the poor creature forward. As they came 
 closer to us, we observed that the nose of 
 the animal had been slit open, and the blood 
 was dripping freely from the cuts. The 
 
172 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 tail had been mutilated and streamed with 
 blood. The animal wore about his neck 
 a garland of marigolds, roses, and jasmine. 
 The poor thing looked indeed pitiful as it 
 was led toward us and into the big gate 
 of the town. 
 
 I alighted from my carriage to get a better 
 view of all they did; and a high-caste Hindu, 
 who was very respectful to me, pushed the 
 people to one side, so that I could fully ob- 
 serve the ceremony. It might be stated here 
 that while these Hindus do not usually slay 
 animals for food, they frequently sacrifice 
 them for offerings to their gods. 
 
 The people were wild with excitement. 
 The musicians played with all their might, 
 and in the most discordant manner. The 
 noise increased in volume until I felt al- 
 most lifted off my feet. As soon as the 
 procession halted before the village gate, 
 the people all gave one tremendous shout, 
 and a circle was formed, with the buffalo 
 standing in the midst. 
 
 A LOATHSOME SPECTACLE 
 
 Suddenly the head man, in his long blue 
 coat, rushed forward, shrieked, leaped into 
 the air, swung his glittering sword, and gave 
 
(173) 
 
174 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 one wicked blow on the top of the neck of 
 the annual. It made but a small gash. 
 Then the second man leaped like mad, as 
 the first had done, and gave a cut; then a 
 third, a fourth, and a fifth, and so on, one 
 after the other in rapid succession, until 
 the blood splashed in all directions, besmear- 
 ing those who stood near. They chopped and 
 chopped until the head was hacked off, and 
 fell rolling in the pool of blood on the 
 ground. The poor, suffering, quivering crea- 
 ture had repeatedly fallen down from ex- 
 haustion, but as many times had been pulled 
 up by the men who held the four ropes tied 
 to its legs; so after the head was gone, it 
 stood there headless, — a cruel, revolting, and 
 loathsome spectacle. 
 
 The multitudes rushed madly forward with 
 little branches from the trees, and first dip- 
 ping them in the blood, ran to their fields 
 and homes to sprinkle the blood there, hop- 
 ing thus to gain protection and prosperity. 
 Then they dug up the big flat stones in 
 the middle of the gate, pulled out the buf- 
 falo's head buried there the year before, 
 and put this new head in its place. Then 
 the flat stones were replaced, and the cere- 
 mony was over. 
 
Bloody Offerings 175 
 
 As the multitude went in and out of that 
 gate all the year, they would always re- 
 member that a bloody offering had been 
 made for the sins of all the people; but they 
 knew not the only efficient sacrifice, the 
 Lamb of God, slain for the sins of the world. 
 I felt stunned, and almost too overcome to 
 get into my carriage. 
 
 As I turned away, my pent-up spirits 
 found relief in crying to God, "How long, 
 O Lord, how long?" How long will it be 
 before these poor men and women shall be 
 taught that "it is not possible that the blood 
 of bulls and of goats should take away sins"? 
 How long will they be left to sit in such 
 darkness and superstition? How long be- 
 fore the Christians of the world will awake 
 to the command of the Lord, "Go ye into 
 all the world, and preach the gospel to 
 every creature"? There are a few mission- 
 aries in those parts, and they are "up and 
 at it" early and late; but the multitudes are 
 so great! Millions are dying without the 
 bread of life. A few scattered workers 
 cannot reach them all, and so they perish, 
 and that by millions, without a knowledge 
 of the true God and His salvation. 
 
 12 
 
176 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 It takes so long really to learn the lan- 
 guages of India, to minister to its millions 
 of people, that we need to send out mission 
 workers by thousands. I think it may be 
 truthfully said that in America and other 
 civilized lands, all have heard of Christ; at 
 least, all have heard enough so that if they 
 want to be saved, they may. Yet Christ is 
 forced upon men there, and often preached 
 to unwilling ears, while over here they have 
 not had opportunity even to hear of Him. 
 
 But to return to our story! Driving 
 toward home, we had gone only a short 
 distance when we passed another great pool 
 of blood in the middle of a public highway, 
 and were informed that the sacrifice of a 
 buffalo had been made there that day. Two 
 miles farther on we saw still another male 
 buffalo with his nose slit, being driven about 
 another village. 
 
 THE LIVING FOUNTAIN 
 
 We two missionaries talked the matter over 
 between ourselves, and both determined that 
 we would work harder, and be more devoted 
 and self-sacrificing, than ever before, for 
 the salvation of the heathen. We also pur- 
 posed, by the grace of God, to be as zealous 
 
Bloody Oferings 177 
 
 as possible in stirring up an interest in all 
 the world for others to assist us in this 
 great work assigned to the church. If people 
 should say to us, as they said to Paul, "Thou 
 art beside thyself," well and good. No mat- 
 ter what they say, we know that millions of 
 souls are daily passing away without a knowl- 
 edge of the way of eternal life. We can 
 afford to be misunderstood, and considered 
 beside ourselves, or enthusiasts, if thereby 
 the great object of the atonement may be 
 made more prominent, and if more will heed 
 the call, and give themselves and their money 
 for this great cause. 
 
 Why do so many push this great subject 
 to one side? Why do they treat it so lightly? 
 Why do they pray and give so little? Why 
 do they live in luxury and comfort, when 
 men and women by millions are dying for 
 the bread of life? "To him that knoweth 
 to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is 
 sin." "And that servant, which knew his 
 lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither 
 did according to his will, shall be beaten with 
 many stripes." 
 
 May God help you, my friends, to obey 
 Him, and send the gospel to India and to 
 all who have it not. 
 
Mr. and Mrs. John Balid 
 Mrs. Balid was one of our famine girls in 1900, now 
 certified teacher and nurse. They were recently 
 married at Kalyan. Both are members 
 
 of the Kalyan church. 
 (178) 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 Obeying the Holy Spirit 
 
 HEN Philip the evangelist was con- 
 ducting a series of meetings in the 
 villages of Samaria, the Holy Spirit 
 spoke to him, and said, "Arise, and 
 go toward the south . . . unto Gaza." 
 Philip immediately obeyed. On his way, 
 he met a high Ethiopian official, who was 
 converted and baptized. We are told that 
 this man went to Egypt and preached the 
 gospel there. 
 
 If Philip had reasoned concerning his 
 work in the villages as men are wont to 
 reason, perhaps the man of Ethiopia would 
 have been lost. Philip might have said, "I 
 am doing a great work in these towns, Lord, 
 and it seems unreasonable for me to leave 
 such a promising field of labor for a 'one- 
 man appointment,' and out in the country 
 too." But he did not reason that way. 
 When the Holy Spirit spoke, he was prompt 
 to respond. When we walk with the Lord, 
 we are always prompt to do as He suggests, 
 and the results are blessed with divine fruit. 
 
 (179) 
 
180 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 We have seen this repeatedly in the mis- 
 sion field in India. I was seeking to walk 
 very closely with the Lord, and desirous 
 of bringing His blessing to other souls. 
 On a certain New Year's Day, a Christian 
 friend and his family had arranged to take 
 lunch in the forest, amid the beauties of 
 nature, and I was invited to enjoy the oc- 
 casion with them. 
 
 GO PREACH 
 
 It was a real treat to eat one meal out 
 among God's spreading shade trees, remind- 
 ing me of happy days at camp meetings in 
 the homeland. No sooner was lunch over 
 than the Holy Spirit began to speak to 
 my heart, saying, "Go preach;" but was I 
 not taking a "day off" with that good brother 
 who worked so hard in the government office 
 all the year? Still the voice said, "Go 
 preach." When I told my host, he said, 
 "Obey the Lord, and go preach." So my 
 horse was saddled, and I was off to a vil- 
 lage I had never visited before. Often be- 
 fore, as I had passed near this village, my 
 heart had been moved to turn in, but I 
 had felt that I could not spare the time. 
 
 The very hills and valleys seemed filled 
 with the divine presence as I pursued my 
 
Obeying the Holy Spirit 181 
 
 journey. I recall even now the very turns 
 in the road, and remember the places where 
 my soul was specially blessed in obeying His 
 sweet voice. With a note of victory I sang 
 till the hills resounded with praises that day. 
 The village was reached about four o'clock 
 that afternoon. Few people were in sight, 
 and I was tempted to think I could not 
 gain an audience. But I felt sure of my 
 call, and believed that God must have hearts 
 there ready to receive the message; so, halt- 
 ing in front of the resthouse and temple, 
 I began to sing a Christian song. Soon the 
 people, hearing the singing, and wondering 
 what was taking place, began to come from 
 all directions. By the time I ceased sing- 
 ing, a good-sized congregation was quietly 
 seated on the ground in front of me. I read 
 the word of God to men who probably 
 heard it for the first time. They listened 
 intently, and my own heart was made glad 
 as I beheld them. 
 
 LISTENING TO THE GOSPEL 
 
 The text I had chosen, "Have faith in 
 God," opened up as I spoke, and thoughts 
 from the Lord followed each other as fast 
 as I could utter them. I felt special help 
 
182 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 from above, and an assurance that God 
 would bless the message. The people had 
 never heard a Christian address before, but 
 assented to the truth that there is but one 
 true and living God, and that we should all 
 obey and trust in Him. They acknowledged 
 that they were all sinners. How reasonable 
 the claims of Christ appear, when the Holy 
 Spirit speaks to the hearts of men! That 
 whole company of heathen believed the gospel 
 message that afternoon. Repeatedly they 
 said, "True, true," and "Yes, yes." 
 
 I felt inspired with a royal message, and 
 delivered it as best I could. Presently I 
 observed one man much moved. Then I 
 pressed home the message, and made several 
 practical applications of it. I showed how 
 sin had separated us from the true God, 
 whom we should all love and obey, and that 
 faith is the simple means by which we are 
 to come back to our heavenly Father, and 
 make Him a living reality in our lives. 
 
 That one poor heathen saw the point. 
 His eyes moistened as he felt his load of 
 sins, and longed for deliverance from 
 them. Presently he exclaimed, ''Buss! BussT 
 ("That's enough!") Then he stood up, and 
 asked if he might have that experience of 
 
Obeying the Holy Sjnnt 183 
 
 the knowledge of sins forgiven. I assured 
 him that God is no respecter of persons, and 
 that whosoever will may come and partake 
 of the water of life freely. 
 
 Then I told the people we would all kneel 
 before the one true God, and pray to Him, 
 and He would hear our request. They had 
 never seen a man pray to the true God be- 
 fore, so they could hardly be expected to 
 close their eyes. How glad I was that I 
 could teach them how to call upon our God 
 in the name of His Son Jesus Christ! 
 
 CONFESSING CHRIST 
 
 First I prayed for all present; then for 
 that one man, so evidently moved by the 
 Holy Spirit. Then I asked him to pray 
 for himself; and for the first time in his 
 life, he cried to the living God for pardon 
 of sins and peace of mind. He confessed his 
 sins in a very frank and honest spirit, and 
 continued till a change came over him; 
 then with a shining face he arose, and asked, 
 "Am I a Christian now?" I told him the 
 Holy Spirit would speak to his heart, and 
 tell him if his sins were all pardoned. He 
 said he felt much better, and that he had 
 confessed all. 
 
184 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 The people were spellbound, for they had 
 never witnessed anything like that before. 
 Then this seeker asked a question. He said 
 that the Hindus had a certain custom, and 
 he wanted to know if he should follow it. 
 When they forsake one idol for another, 
 they balance the idol about to be forsaken 
 with wheat, and then throw both wheat and 
 idol into the river. He asked if he should 
 weigh his idol and cast it into the river, as 
 he had accepted Jesus Christ. 
 
 Before I could think of an appropriate 
 reply, some one in the audience responded, 
 ''Nucko.nucho'' ("Don't, don't"). But after 
 a moment, I said "Yes." Then they all 
 said "Yes" too. To weigh the idol in wheat 
 surely meant counting the cost, and throw- 
 ing all into the river meant forsaking the 
 past. There was in it the thought of sacri- 
 fice and abandonment, so I agreed. The 
 man who accepted Christ seemed changed 
 then and there. Then the others began to 
 say, "We will watch you, and see if you live 
 as you should after this." 
 
 I shall always believe that that man was 
 converted the first time he heard the gospel, — 
 a thing which is seldom seen in India, but 
 is quite possible when the Holy Spirit has 
 
Obeying the Holy Spirit 
 
 185 
 
 His way. Proper conditions must produce 
 certain results. What a pity that right con- 
 ditions are not always met in every service 
 held in the name of Christ! 
 
 farewell' 
 
 I said "Salaam" to all the friends I had 
 made at that service, mounted my horse, and 
 drove away; but that poor fellow followed 
 me out of the village, and talked as fast 
 as he could all the way. He told me he had 
 been a great sinner, but that now he wanted 
 to be good. He pointed out his little home, 
 and said he had a wife and children. 
 
 'Dhou," or Washerman 
 
 Weighing His Stone Idol 
 IN Wheat 
 
186 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 When I left him, he put his head in his 
 hands, and touched my feet with his fore- 
 head. Of course, I objected; but it is a 
 mark of respect. I promised to call again, 
 and went on. After a while, I kept my 
 promise, and did call; but the man was away 
 at work in the jungles, so I did not meet him. 
 
 Many times I have passed that village 
 since then, but I have never found the time 
 to stop and preach, or to inquire about that 
 converted man. Sad, was it not, after the 
 Holy Spirit had begun such a work in 
 hearts? But the missionary cannot reach 
 all he desires, nor fill all the calls. The 
 field is large, and we can only sow the seed 
 at God's bidding, and leave Him to care 
 for the work that is beyond our power. I 
 trust that that seeking soul is still depend- 
 ing on God for salvation. But how should 
 we fare if we had no one to preach to us 
 and frequently tell us the good news? 
 
 EIGHT MEN ASK PRAYERS 
 
 At another time, three of us missionaries 
 were conducting a service in another village 
 where the gospel had never been preached. 
 We felt that special help was given us from 
 above at this place also. After we had 
 
Obeying the Holy Spirit 187 
 
 sung a hymn, a large company of Hindus 
 gathered on the side of a hill to listen. We 
 felt, in our weakness, that the Holy Spirit 
 came into that meeting, and blessed those 
 present. They gave excellent attention; and 
 when we invited those who washed to seek 
 Christ to come forward, eight able-bodied 
 men came to the front, and knelt while we 
 prayed for them. We were never free to 
 return to that village, so they too were left 
 to the mercy and love of God. 
 
 After a meeting in another village, a young 
 man quietly slipped some fruit into our 
 hands, a thing quite unusual. It meant 
 much for a Hindu thus to treat Europeans. 
 The next time we held a service in that 
 place, two young men followed us out of 
 the village. When they saw that they were 
 quite by themselves, they opened their hearts, 
 and said they believed in Christ, and desired 
 to become His disciples. 
 
 "But," they continued, "if we follow Christ, 
 our people will forsake us and cut us off 
 from the inheritance." Thus they would lose 
 all right to property and home. They 
 begged us to advise them as to what course 
 they should pursue. We could only say, 
 "Follow Christ, and He will provide." 
 
188 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 Still another young man used to visit us 
 at the mission house at night to read the 
 Bible and to propound questions — a Nico- 
 demus, it is true, yet one upon whose heart 
 the grace of God had fallen, and caused a 
 desire to accept the truth. 
 
 One day, the inspector of public schools, 
 a portly looking Brahman gentleman, who 
 spoke English fluently, called for a short 
 visit. In the course of his call, he asked for 
 a New Testament, and desired us to select 
 certain portions of special interest for him 
 to read and study. After a few weeks, he 
 returned the book with thanks, and then 
 asked me several questions about what he 
 had read. 
 
 Many similar instances might be related. 
 The heathen are not all poor and ignorant; 
 some of them are teachers, lawyers, physi- 
 cians, men of ability, with excellent posi- 
 tions. Many from these classes are seekers 
 after truth; but "how shall they hear with- 
 out a preacher? and how shall they preach, 
 except they be sent?" 
 
 Seldom in America will a man come to 
 a preacher, and confess his desire for truth; 
 but there are thousands in India and other 
 heathen lands who do this. As a financial 
 
Obeying the Holy Spirit 189 
 
 investment, it pays better to put one's money 
 into foreign missions than into home mis- 
 sions; for to save a soul costs less money in 
 heathen lands than it does in America. 
 
 A WHOLE VILLAGE CALL FOR HELP 
 
 One afternoon, we were preaching to sev- 
 eral thousands of people in a market place. 
 They had given excellent attention, and we 
 were about to sing the closing hymn, when 
 a Hindu priest drew near to say there were 
 a number of questions he wanted to ask 
 about the Christian religion. To avoid public 
 controversy, something that Hindu priests 
 often raise for the purpose of confusing the 
 minds of the people, we courteously invited 
 him to our home, and promised to reply to 
 all the questions he wished to ask. 
 
 The next morning, bright and early, he 
 arrived with three of his disciples, and sev- 
 eral hours were spent in reading the New 
 Testament in Marathi. Then they care- 
 fully looked through our songbooks, and 
 finally asked for books to take home with 
 them. We thought we might never see 
 them again, but prayed that the word spoken 
 might fall into good ground. In about two 
 weeks, the same priest returned with a large 
 
190 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 band of followers, pleading with us to visit 
 their village, as they had all decided to be- 
 come Christians. 
 
 ^*^COME OVER . . . AND HELP US^' 
 
 In some instances, men have brought let- 
 ters of invitation signed by long lists of 
 villagers, to come and visit them. They have 
 walked long distances and waited several 
 days, hoping we would return to their place 
 of abode with them. Then they have sent 
 postals and letters, but we have not been 
 able to go nor to send any one. Who ever 
 hears of such instances in civilized lands? In 
 other cases, they have offered us land, build- 
 ings, and wells, if we would only come and 
 instruct them. They know that Christianity 
 is uplifting, and they ask only for a teacher 
 to show them the way. 
 
 In many places, the cry is to-day, as it 
 was in the days of the apostle Paul, "Come 
 over . . . and help us." We had a native 
 schoolmaster stationed in a small village, 
 which we visited from time to time, as ^such 
 a native preacher or teacher often serves as 
 the connecting link between the people and 
 the missionary. This man arranged for a 
 preaching service for us at a certain place 
 
Obeying the Holy Spirit 191 
 
 and hour. The house was too small for 
 those who came, so we assembled outside in 
 the court. There, beneath the stars, we told 
 the old, old story. As soon as the service 
 ended, a high-caste man requested a private 
 interview. I consented, and he told me of 
 his great desire to follow Christ. I prayed 
 for him, and instructed the master to help 
 hun all he could, promising to meet them 
 both again soon. 
 
 Imagine my surprise a few nights later, 
 when I was called up at eleven o'clock by 
 the master and this young man, the latter 
 asking for baptism. He had walked fourteen 
 miles to accept Christ thus publicly. 
 
 The young man remained with us a few 
 days, in which time we had a public baptismal 
 service at the lake. We had instructed him 
 that it would be necessary for him to cut 
 off his sacred thread, the sign of a high-caste 
 man, also his sacred lock of hair, or shandi. 
 To this he readily consented. When we 
 drove to the lake for the service, I took my 
 scissors with me, as usual; but to my sur- 
 prise, these sacred signs of Hinduism were 
 already cut off, the young man himself hav- 
 ing removed them. How gladly we bap- 
 tized him when we saw this expression of 
 
 13 
 
192 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 his sincerity and bold faith in Christ! It 
 meant very much to that young man to 
 part with those signs of his old faith, but 
 he counted all things as naught for Christ. 
 He afterward suffered great persecution 
 from his own people; but he held fast to 
 his faith, and eventually married a Chris- 
 tian girl. So far as we know, he is still 
 loyal to the truth. 
 
 When Spirit-filled missionaries learn the 
 language of the people, they may see great 
 ingatherings almost anywhere in India. "Not 
 by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, 
 saith the Lord." 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 Was It Worth While? ^ 
 
 UR weekly village bazaar, or market 
 day, came on our rest day; so we 
 could not purchase our week's sup- 
 plies in our own town. On this ac- 
 count, we did our marketing at 
 Deolghat, a village five miles distant. In 
 February, 1900, the famine which afterward 
 proved so severe had just begun in Central 
 India. Rain had not fallen for several 
 months; grain was scarce, and those who had 
 it for sale demanded unreasonable prices. 
 A missionary brother accompanied me to 
 Deolghat bazaar in our two-wheeled bullock 
 cart, or tonga. We drove to the edge of 
 the large crowd at the bazaar, unyoked our 
 bullocks for rest and feed under a large 
 tamarind tree, and sauntered off to do our 
 marketing. We had gone but a few steps 
 when we saw a wretched-looking creature, 
 a tall, skeleton-like black man, squatting 
 on the public highway, and drew closer to 
 get a better view. Multitudes of Hindus 
 and Mohammedans were passing, but none 
 seemed to notice this man. 
 
 (193) 
 
194 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 Our sympathies were stirred to the depths, 
 and we could scarcely believe our eyes. He 
 looked more like an animal than a man; his 
 body was nearly nude ; his nails were long and 
 claw-like; he wore less than a yard of cloth, 
 a dirty rag; his hair was alive with vermin; 
 we could count every rib; his stomach was 
 basin-like and empty; his knees seemed like 
 huge bony balls, — a ghastly sight, filthy, 
 helpless, degraded. He was far too weak 
 to stand alone. 
 
 FIRST AID 
 
 Solid food would not digest in such a 
 stomach, yet he was starving. When he 
 saw us pause to look at him, he touched his 
 forehead to say "Salaam," and then his 
 empty stomach to show his great need. One 
 could not resist his pathetic appeal. We 
 bought him a measure of parched peas; but 
 how could a skeleton receive them? He had 
 no pockets, for he wore no clothes. Spread- 
 ing a clean white handkerchief on the ground, 
 we poured the peas into it, and gave them 
 to him; then with a sigh we turned away 
 with the thought, "He will die in a few 
 hours." 
 
Was It Worth While? 
 
 195 
 
 After filling the tonga boxes with our 
 purchases, we sang a hymn. This drew a 
 crowd of listeners about us, and we told 
 them of Jesus and His power to save; for 
 these large markets afford splendid oppor- 
 tunities to preach, dispose of tracts, and win 
 the hearts of the heathen. 
 
 Before leaving the market, we went again 
 to the place where we had met the man in 
 need; and when we found him, a new thought 
 presented itself. Christianity was being chal- 
 lenged. Hindus passed by, but did not help ; 
 Mohammedans did the same. There were 
 no Christians in that vast throng of human 
 
 The Way We Travel Our Country Roads 
 
196 Frvit from the Jungle 
 
 beings save iis two missionaries. Should 
 Christianity and her representatives pass by, 
 and leave this needy man to die like a dog? 
 The heathen system of religion had brought 
 him to this sad state, and now, indifferent to 
 his great need, its people moved on uncon- 
 cerned. "Actions speak louder than words;" 
 and here was an opportunity to hold up 
 Christ to the masses in a practical way, and 
 possibly to save a soul from death. We 
 asked the beggar his name; and in a pitiful 
 voice he replied, "Rama." He had no home, 
 and slept beside the road, or wherever night 
 cast her mantle of darkness over him. 
 
 "Will you get into the tonga, and go home 
 with us? We have milk, clothes, and shelter 
 for you, and will give you all the care you 
 need," we said. 
 
 Rama quickly signified his willingness to 
 go, and grasped his hoe (his only possession, 
 which in his weakness he could scarcely lift) 
 the closer, as if it might some day help him 
 earn his daily bread. 
 
 AN EARTH DIGGER 
 
 All heathen in India belong to some special 
 caste. On inquiry, we found that Rama 
 was a wadari, or earth digger. These people 
 
Was It Worth While? 
 
 197 
 
 are very ignorant and poor, and roam from 
 j)lace to place, living in low grass huts or 
 in small tents made of ragged patchwork. 
 For food, they snare rabbits, quail, and other 
 small game; they also relish roasted rats and 
 lizards. They do not attend school, and are 
 considered of so low a caste that they do 
 not need to know letters or their ages. They 
 need not know much in order to dig earth; 
 so the Hindus leave them to themselves, to 
 live and die as ignorant as they were born. 
 
 I •fi'"^r^ 
 
 A Feat of Strength — Loaded 
 WITH Iron Chains 
 
 A "Sadu," or "Holy Man' 
 
198 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 We helped Rama to the front step of our 
 tonga (he could not sit up on the seat, so 
 sat on the floor), drove home as quickly as 
 possible, gently assisted him to a little house 
 near our carriage shed, and gave him some 
 bags for a bed, and a blanket for covering. 
 He drank a bowl of warm milk, and we 
 said, ''Nezaf' ("Good night"), and left him 
 to rest. 
 
 On making our rounds in the morning, we 
 found Rama shivering with the cold, al- 
 though, to our way of thinking, the day was 
 warm and sultry. He had so little fuel to 
 feed the engine of life, that his condition was 
 far from normal. His flesh looked parched 
 and dry, like a piece of old leather. 
 
 We propped him up beside a tree in the 
 warm morning sunlight, and read to him a 
 short Bible chapter; but he said he did not 
 understand. We talked about God, the 
 Father of us all; but he had never heard 
 "Our Father which art in heaven." He was 
 not stupid, but ignorant of all that Christian 
 men hold in common. We prayed for him, 
 and left him to bask in the sunshine. 
 
 As soon as our orphan lads had their noon- 
 day meal, we called the older ones to help 
 us make Rama more comfortable. First we 
 
Wa^ It Worth While? 199 
 
 cut off the long locks of hair; then, using 
 plenty of soap, warm water, and a scrubbing 
 brush, we gave him a good bath, cut his long 
 nails, and rubbed about a pint of coconut 
 oil over his parched body. For several days, 
 this treatment was repeated, until the old 
 skin peeled off, and new appeared. We gave 
 him clean clothes, which made him very com- 
 fortable. 
 
 Once Rama wandered off to the bazaar, 
 or market, practically crawling on his hands 
 and knees. While there, he begged raw 
 carrots to eat, which made him deathly sick. 
 
 The mission boys daily prayed for Rama; 
 and in a short time, he began to show signs 
 of improvement. For many weeks, he was 
 unable to walk, having entirely lost the use 
 of his knees. One night, with assistance, he 
 attended our boys' evening devotions. That 
 evening, special prayer was offered. Rama 
 sat in wonder, and listened to all that was 
 said. We sang the chorus, 
 
 "I love Jesus. He's my Saviour. 
 Jesus smiles, and loves me too." 
 
 Suddenly a gleam of light passed over 
 Rama's countenance; he had caught the spirit 
 and meaning of that song. It did him good, 
 
200 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 gave him a new hope, a new desire; so we 
 repeated the song again and again. Then we 
 asked, "Do you want this Saviour too?" 
 
 "Yes," was the quick reply. 
 
 We all knelt, and unitedly and earnestly 
 prayed that Rama might be converted to 
 Christ that night. He prayed for himself, 
 and said, "O Lord, make me happy too." 
 Suddenly the Spirit of God touched his 
 spirit, and the great change took place. By 
 faith, he became a Christian, and confessed 
 and accepted Christ, our Redeemer. 
 
 Rama has never been the same since that 
 night. Old things passed away, and all 
 things became new. Then he followed Christ 
 in baptism, took a bold stand before the 
 world, and has since prayed and testified as 
 well as given his offerings to the Lord. 
 
 DAYS OF FAMINE 
 
 Famine pressed in upon us from all sides, 
 until we were surrounded by hundreds of 
 starving people who cried for labor and 
 bread. Water was very scarce, and we 
 gave it out a cup at a time. We employed 
 about five hundred of these poor people for 
 eight months. Rama willingly joined their 
 ranks, and labored with the rest for six cents 
 
Wa^ It Worth While? 201 
 
 a day. He was able to testify for Christ and 
 what had been done for him, thus proving a 
 valuable witness before many souls. 
 
 During this famine period, the missionaries 
 in the country gathered the boys and girls 
 who have since become such a noble army 
 for Christ in the church of India. Among 
 the young people, w^e gathered in one Shanti- 
 Bai, who became a Christian shortly after 
 coming to us. Her brother and aunt also 
 joined our ranks. For a few days, Shanti- 
 Bai attended our girls' school; but to her 
 it was irksome. She preferred her old work, 
 laboring in stone and mortar with the others 
 of her lot. 
 
 It was difficult to find places for all these 
 people. Rama had a little loft over the sheep 
 
 An Indian Woman Cooking Bread 
 
202 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 pen in our barn, where he slept happily and 
 peacefully. He had grown as fat as an 
 Eskimo/ and was ahvays ready to do any 
 kind of w^ork. He made his own bread, if 
 not the best in the world. 
 
 One day, he had better bread than usual; 
 and when we inquired the reason for this, he 
 told us that Shanti-Bai had made it. He 
 had concluded that a woman could make 
 better bread than a man, and had engaged 
 Shanti-Bai to make his bread always. I 
 am sure no one could object to this plan. 
 
 A CHRISTIAN WEDDING 
 
 As the famine drew to a close, and the 
 people were soon to depart to their respective 
 villages, it was decided to celebrate the oc- 
 casion with a Christian wedding. This was 
 a novel thing in these parts, as nothing 
 of the kind had ever taken place. Rama 
 and Shanti-Bai were the honored couple. 
 Surely the mission could afford to give 
 Shanti-Bai a new sardi, or dress, costing 
 about fifty cents, and Rama a white suit and 
 a red turban. The wedding was solemnized 
 in the large front hall of the mission house, the 
 place used regularly for meetings. Every- 
 
Was It Worth While? 203 
 
 body was invited, although no cards were 
 sent out. 
 
 When the day arrived, the place was 
 crowded with animated faces. The room had 
 been decorated with cartloads of green boughs 
 and pink oleander blossoms. The wedding 
 march was a gospel hymn. The boys and 
 girls sat in a solid phalanx on the floor, 
 clothed in their red, white, and blue costumes, 
 while they chanted beautiful Christian songs 
 in their native tongue, clapping their hands 
 together on the chorus, in which their voices 
 swelled with delightful rhythm and unison. 
 What a happy moment! Happy, yes, very 
 happy, never to be forgotten! 
 
 The couple were self-possessed, and an- 
 swered all the questions readily. The prayer 
 and benediction over, congratulations were in 
 order. As the happy pair turned toward 
 the audience, I first shook hands with the 
 groom and then with the bride; but the oc- 
 casion was too much for her, and suddenly, 
 to my amazement, she threw her arms around 
 me, and cried, "Oh, papa! Oh, papa!" The 
 audience joined in a hearty laugh, and every- 
 body offered congratulations and good wishes. 
 
 The couple were treated to English bread 
 and jam, then escorted to their new home in 
 
204 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 one of our mission houses. They were de- 
 lighted with the goat's hair blankets, brass 
 ware, and other useful articles presented to 
 them by their many Christian friends. Thus 
 they began life anew. 
 
 For several years, they have been walk- 
 ing in the narrow way. Their humble but 
 happy Christian home has been blessed with 
 two children. The boy died; but the little 
 girl lives, and is being trained as a Christian 
 child. These parents labor for their daily 
 bread, attend the services of the house of 
 God, and have the common comforts of life. 
 How much better off they are to-day than 
 they used to be! "He that winneth souls 
 is wise." 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 ''One Sows, Another Reaps'' 
 
 HE word of God teaches us to "sow 
 beside all waters." At times, we may 
 be tempted to think it almost useless 
 to work among certain classes of 
 God's fallen creatures, who may not 
 readily receive the message, and whose in- 
 different attitude leads us to conclude that 
 they are beyond the reach of the gospel. 
 There is no greater mistake than this. 
 
 We should never forget that "God is no 
 respecter of persons;" that every man, 
 whether black or white, has a soul to be 
 saved or lost. Perhaps the reason why more 
 are not reached, is because of some failure 
 on our part in the use of the means pro- 
 vided. It is our business, then, to "cast the 
 net on the right side of the ship;" and with 
 the divine blessing on our labors, we are 
 sure to inclose "a great multitude of fishes." 
 No one was ever caught in the gospel net 
 whom God could not bless and use for His 
 own glory. The chief business of every 
 Christian should be to save souls; but, alas, 
 how few who profess Christ make that their 
 
 (205) 
 
206 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 first business! We have proved repeatedly, 
 in our mission work in India, that it pays 
 to sow the seed at every opportunity, though 
 we may never foresee "whether shall prosper, 
 either this or that, or whether they both shall 
 be alike good." 
 
 The tendency of the natural heart is to 
 endeavor to win the most attractive to Christ, 
 those who have education, position, and 
 wealth. But Jesus, our model, was ever as 
 eager to lift up the leper and the beggar as 
 the rich man and the Pharisee. 
 
 THE BEGGARS OF INDIA 
 
 In many of the large towns in India may 
 be found a certain class of human beings 
 pushed outside the city walls, and not per- 
 mitted to live alongside of others. These 
 people are usually very poor, and their os- 
 tracism makes it all the more difficult for 
 them to get on in the world. Pride and 
 selfishness exalt one and put down another, 
 but the religion of Jesus Christ raises all to 
 one high yet humble plane of common in- 
 terests. Selfishness never thinks of the wel- 
 fare of others, but only of its own; and it 
 is this evil thing that drives a certain class 
 of poor creatures outside the city walls, treats 
 
14 
 
 (207) 
 
208 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 them as outcasts, and cuts them off from 
 every advantage or opportunity of gaining 
 happiness and improvement. 
 
 Such a group of beggars, illiterate, scantily 
 clad, and very poor, had made for themselves 
 outside the city wall low mud houses, and 
 thatched them with cotton stalks and jungle 
 grass. Just about sunset, when the people 
 returned from their day's toil, and while 
 their scanty evening meal was being pre- 
 pared, we used to visit them, and sitting 
 with them on logs and straw mats, read the 
 Bible and sing and pray. We usually took 
 as large a company of Christians as possible 
 for our service. The poor people seemed to 
 appreciate our visits, and endeavored in every 
 way to make us as comfortable as they could 
 with their scanty conveniences. We were 
 deeply moved by their need, and longed to 
 lead them into the light of the gospel. 
 
 A HINDU PRIEST 
 
 One day, we observed an aged man among 
 these beggars, and by his salmon-colored 
 gown and long hair, knew him for a Hindu 
 priest. During the meeting, he gave special 
 attention; and after the service, I felt im- 
 pressed to tell him I wished he could read 
 
'One Sows, Another Reaps' 
 
 209 
 
 for himself our precious Bible, which is like 
 a bright lamp in a dark night, enabling us 
 to see the path ahead. To my surprise, he 
 quickly responded, "I can read it." Then 
 I pointed out certain portions to him; and 
 although it was scarcely light, he made out 
 the words very well indeed. I asked him if 
 he would constantly read the Bible if I gave 
 him one. 
 
 "Oh, yes," was the quick reply. 
 
 By this time, my curiosity was somewhat 
 aroused, and I ventured to ask him more 
 about himself. He offered no objections, 
 and replied freely to my interrogations, tell- 
 
 A Hindu Priest at Worship 
 
 Shuuker, a Devotee of Siva 
 
210 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 ing me that he had been a Hindu priest for 
 twenty years. But it was late, and we had 
 practically held two meetings that night, so 
 we hastened home, praying earnestly that 
 God would bless the seed sown that day. 
 
 FASTING FOR VICTORY 
 
 At such times, fasting and prayer always 
 bring rich returns; so we denied ourselves 
 for Jesus' sake, and pleaded for special vic- 
 tories. The following day, after marking 
 certain portions of the New Testament, we 
 carried a Bible to this inquirer, and had the 
 pleasure of hearing him read from it. He 
 was delighted with the gift, and promised 
 again to make it a special study. About 
 that time, many Bibles were distributed in 
 that locality to those who showed a desire to 
 know more about the word of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Can you imagine our joy when, a few 
 days later, the old priest came to a Christian 
 service in our home, bringing his wife and 
 children with him, and formally announced 
 that through reading this Bible, he was con- 
 vinced of the truth of the gospel, and his 
 one great desire was to become a Christian? 
 We prayed for them, that their sins might 
 
''One Sows, Another Reaps'' 211 
 
 be forgiven; and they all professed to ac- 
 cept Christ as their personal Saviour. It 
 was our habit, as soon as believers had really 
 taken the one great step of repentance, to 
 baptize them, in order to bury the past, and 
 cut off their heathen associations. 
 
 We were to leave that station for an- 
 other, and arranged for the old priest and 
 his family to accompany us for the baptism. 
 We gave him the name of Samuel at that 
 time; for in some ways, he appeared to us 
 like an old prophet, in his long robe, and 
 with his long hair and beard. Samuel gave 
 up his tobacco pipe, and his opium and hemp 
 smoking; but he had many a struggle with 
 the enemy over these habits. Soon after 
 the incident recited above took place, we 
 began special seasons of prayer daily at 
 6 a. m. Samuel was always present, and 
 took great delight in the early morning 
 devotions. His life was very consistent, and 
 from the first, a model to some who had 
 been longer in the way. 
 
 THE RESULTS OF EARLY INFLUENCES 
 
 But there was a secret in Samuel's life; 
 and for some time, he did not disclose it to 
 us. Did we not say that "one sows, and 
 
212 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 another reaps"? This had been the case in 
 Samuel's experience. One day, as I sat in 
 a quiet spot talking with our old Christian 
 brother, he opened his heart, and told me 
 the secret of his conversion. He had cast 
 off the garb of the Hindu priest; and with 
 my own hands, I had cut off the symbols of 
 Hinduism; and to us, Samuel was now in 
 every respect a real brother in Christ. Per- 
 haps our kindly attitude toward him had 
 inspired confidence, so that he wanted us 
 to know him as he really was. 
 
 Years before, when he was yet a little 
 boy, he had worked for a minister of the 
 Church of England who was evidently a sin- 
 cere Christian, and desirous that all about 
 him accept the God he loved and served. 
 This man had taken a great interest in 
 Samuel, which grew into a real friendship, 
 and he had improved the opportunity to sow 
 the seed of truth in the heart of the young 
 lad. There were several years, he said, when 
 he considered entering the service of God; 
 but the work of repentance had not gone 
 deep enough into his heart, his better judg- 
 ment was overcome, and he had spent most 
 of his life in the service of the devil, wan- 
 dering over the country as a sadu, or priest. 
 
''One Sows, Another Reaps" 213 
 
 Thus to smother the sacred influences which 
 still strove with him, and to dispel all light, 
 he had sold himself to the enemy, and became 
 a heathen priest. He acknowledged that 
 the whole system was only one of deception 
 and black arts. 
 
 BECOMES A "home FATHER" 
 
 The quiet dignity of this brother, and his 
 kindly influence in our work, led us to as- 
 sign to him the very important position of 
 "home father" in our boys' orphanage school. 
 It was a pleasure to listen to his mature ex- 
 hortations to his countrymen. His arguments 
 were solid and convincing; and for months, 
 he was a real support in the establishment of 
 God's kingdom among his people. But 
 gradually his health gave way, and he sick- 
 ened and died. We did not realize how highly 
 we had esteemed him, until he was gone. 
 
 The funeral service held over his remains 
 was a very impressive one. When Christ 
 returns, we shall confidently look for Samuel 
 among those who now sleep in the dust of 
 the earth. 
 
 The seed was sown in youth, and gathered 
 in old age, but just in time for the garner 
 of the Lord. 
 
(214) 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 Beaten for Christ's Sake 
 
 LESSED are ye, when men shall 
 revile you, and persecute you, and 
 shall say all manner of evil against 
 you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, 
 and be exceeding glad: for great is 
 your reward in heaven: for so persecuted 
 they the prophets which were before you." 
 As far as we could ascertain, missionaries 
 had never preached the gospel in Floodtown, 
 where we decided to open a new mission. It 
 was a well watered, rich, and prosperous dis- 
 trict. Large areas of cotton, grain, and fruit 
 were cultivated, and the annual income was 
 abundant. The heathen residing in these 
 towns and villages lived on, quite undis- 
 turbed in the practice of their fiendish rites 
 and superstitious customs. Without doubt, 
 some, perhaps many, of the upper classes 
 had come in contact with the foreigner, and 
 understood that his religion was very dif- 
 ferent from their own; but no glimmer of 
 light had reached the masses of the people. 
 Our first effort among them was the dis- 
 posal by sale of small portions of the Scrip- 
 
 (215) 
 
216 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 tures, tracts, and leaflets. Not many, how- 
 ever, ventured to purchase these; and the 
 few who did so were very shy, lest they bring 
 the censure of their caste people upon them- 
 selves. As we frequented their daily bazaar 
 to purchase goods, they often drew them- 
 selves aside, as if our shadow or touch might 
 possibly break their caste or defile them. At 
 first, the sensation of being regarded as al- 
 together unclean is not very pleasant; but 
 at such times, these words are a comfort: 
 "As He is, so are we in this world." 
 
 That unseen but conscious evil power so 
 often realized by the child of the living God 
 in heathen lands, was very prevalent in this 
 field of labor. At times, we observed the 
 snarling criticism of several as we passed 
 through their streets, and by their shrinking 
 from us, were constantly made to feel that 
 we were not wanted. The situation was de- 
 pressing, ahd often convinced us that we 
 were working against the strongholds of 
 Satan. 
 
 Sometimes we formed a small circle in the 
 main thoroughfares of the town, and, as 
 best we could, presented the gospel message; 
 but as often we felt it come back in our 
 faces. For a long time, it seemed as if 
 
Beaten for Christ's Sake 217 
 
 absolutely no impression was being made 
 on these stony hearts. Our only hope lay 
 in the little companies of children we had 
 collected in different parts of the town, and 
 these among the lower castes, where we en- 
 deavored to carry on school work in a very 
 simple manner. The children seemed to 
 feel our affection for and interest in them, 
 and in nearly every instance, responded in a 
 satisfactory manner. 
 
 Since no real impression was being made 
 upon the people of that town, we decided to 
 visit some of the smaller villages in the out- 
 lying districts. Whether or not we were 
 merely a curiosity to the villagers, we can- 
 not say. But we were sure our efforts among 
 them were not altogether in vain; for many 
 of them, coming into town to the regular 
 weekly market, would greet us with smiling 
 faces, as if they regarded us as friends. A 
 few gradually lost their timidity, and came 
 to our house to ask questions and get ac- 
 quainted. 
 
 When the cold season came on, we planned 
 to visit several distant villages in our dis- 
 trict, and at least introduce ourselves and 
 our mission. On one of these trips, we 
 gathered a comparatively large congrega- 
 
218 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 tion. We sought to be very discreet in all 
 we said, so as not to be misunderstood, and 
 for a while held their undivided attention; 
 but almost in an instant, there arose a mur- 
 mur, and we felt that they too were against 
 us. Suddenly a stone struck one of us on 
 the head. 
 
 With as little notice of the incident as 
 possible, we proceeded in our remarks, when 
 another missile fell, then another and an- 
 other. Thicker and faster they fell, in a 
 perfect shower, so that the listeners dis- 
 persed, and we were left in the midst of 
 the excited, angry crowd. It would have 
 been unwise to run, as they would have 
 thought us cowards and guilty of miscon- 
 duct; so we stood our ground as best we 
 could. At first, we thought that perhaps 
 it was only a boyish prank; but when we 
 saw men engaged in the affair, we knew 
 they were angry because we were preaching. 
 
 It was a satisfaction to us to know that 
 we had been very careful in all we had said; 
 but as in the days of the apostles there was 
 a class of unbelieving Jews who stirred up 
 the people, so now there were those who were 
 stirring up against us the minds of our 
 Hindu brethren who desired to listen. It 
 
p. R. Shindi and Family 
 
 He is one of our Marathi S. D. A. preachers. 
 
 (219) 
 
220 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 was the Mohammedans who threw the stones, 
 and who, jealous lest we convert the Hindus, 
 sought thus to insult us openly. Many times 
 we tried to reach the people of that place, 
 but nearly always had to leave in a shower 
 of stones. 
 
 For a time, we thought we must not be 
 easily discouraged, and should persist; but 
 after being bruised with stones several times, 
 we concluded to let this village rest for a 
 time. The report of the treatment we re- 
 ceived in that one place spread from village 
 to village, and doubtless emboldened others; 
 for it was often our lot to be pelted with 
 stones while conducting a gospel service. 
 
 One afternoon, three of us missionaries 
 planned to visit a near-by village for the first 
 time. As usual, we were all dressed in the 
 white suits customary in the tropics, and 
 wore white sun hats. Our carriage top 
 also was white; and as we drove into the 
 village, I imagine we presented a neat and 
 attractive appearance. But not so when we 
 drove out. 
 
 The village was built upon a hill, and was 
 approached by a road that circled around it. 
 As we drew near, we heard the bells in the 
 temple ringing at the opening of the eve- 
 
Beaten for Christ's Sake 221 
 
 ning worship, accompanied by the blasts of 
 conchs and the beating of a tom-tom, and 
 had to wait for the noise to cease before we 
 opened our service. No sooner had we begun 
 to sing than from all sides the men of the 
 village flocked to us in great curiosity; and 
 in less than ten minutes, we had a large con- 
 gregation, intent on learning the reason for 
 our sudden appearance. It was not long 
 before they were satisfied. 
 
 • The bells and the tom-tom had been used 
 to wake up the slumbering village idol, as 
 is done twice in twenty-four hours. We 
 thought of the address of the apostle Paul 
 on Mars' Hill, "Whom ... ye ignorantly 
 worship. Him declare I unto you." We oc- 
 cupied a similar position, and were address- 
 ing a people who were, like the Athenians, 
 "in all things . . . too superstitious." So 
 we announced our text, "He that keepeth 
 Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep," and 
 endeavored as tactfully as possible to lead 
 the people to see the absurdity of their ef- 
 fort to wake up with a daily clamor their 
 handmade idols of huge blocks of stone. 
 Then we pointed out to them the wonders 
 of creation, and that all these are the work 
 of the living God, who alone is worthy to 
 
222 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 be worshiped, and who has said, "Thou shalt 
 have no other gods before Me." 
 
 In the midst of our remarks, a high-caste 
 boy stepped forward suddenly, and in a most 
 commanding tone shouted, ''Buss! BussT 
 meaning, "Stop! Stop!" He said it with 
 all the venom of a heart full of sin. When 
 we did not buss, but proceeded with our re- 
 marks, the young commander again came 
 forward, and the shout of ''Buss! Buss!" 
 rang out on the twilight air. By this time, 
 the congregation had increased in size. To 
 add to the embarrassment of our position, 
 droves of buffaloes, cows, bullocks, and goats 
 were halloed through the main street directly 
 in front of us. There we stood, with hand 
 uplifted, talking to the angry multitudes on 
 the hillside. Clouds of dust rose from 
 thousands of feet, boys were shouting at 
 their flocks and herds; and no sooner had 
 the cattle passed in front of us than down 
 came a brick, which we escaped by stepping 
 back. 
 
 We hoped to persuade these people by 
 kindness, but the very devils seemed stirred 
 among them. Suddenly they rushed down 
 the hillside with stones, clubs, bricks, hand- 
 fuls of cow manure, and pelted us well with 
 
Beaten for Christ's Sake 22^ 
 
 whatever they could grasp. We saw no 
 reason for such a demonstration, and stood 
 our ground in the public highway, with the 
 hope of leading them to a better turn of 
 mind. But, no; the light had fallen upon 
 them that the gods they worshiped were only 
 gods of earth and stone, and they were 
 furious. Conscious that our lives were in 
 danger, we jumped into our carriage, and 
 drove away amid a storm of oaths and 
 missiles. 
 
 Our hearts melted within us in pity and 
 sympathy for these deluded souls; but they 
 would not receive us, so we had to leave 
 them. It is a pleasure to add that some time 
 later we visited that very town, and talked 
 to the people about Christ and His power 
 to save, and all we had with us was our 
 Bible, songbooks, and lantern. They did 
 not refer to their former treatment and our 
 rude reception in their village; and we were 
 careful not to mention it, nor in any way 
 to leave the impression that we were in the 
 least afraid of them. 
 
 On the evening of our second visit, we 
 gathered a company in their village rest- 
 house, and told them of the plan of salvation. 
 They listened till a late hour; then we de- 
 
 15 
 
224 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 cided to sleep there, and using our coats for 
 a cover and our books for a pillow, lay 
 down- without bed or blanket, and slept as 
 well as in bed at home. They knew who 
 and what we were, and seemed overcome by 
 our kindness. Since that time, that particu- 
 lar village has been open to the gospel. Some 
 determination was required on our part to 
 gain this village, but love conquered. Not a 
 bit more easy was it to gain admission into 
 other villages in that locality. One instance 
 will illustrate. 
 
 Desiring to bridge over, if possible, -the 
 wide chasm of national customs and color, 
 and wishing to become all things to all men, 
 if thus by any means we might save some, 
 two of us agreed that we would dress as na- 
 tives for a few days and go out among the 
 people, hoping thereby to get nearer to 
 them, and possibly make them feel that we 
 did not regard ourselves as better than they. 
 Two of our native Christian young men, 
 who served as schoolmasters in our mission, 
 accompanied us. 
 
 We planned a trip on foot that would last 
 for several days, and possibly weeks, and 
 therefore went equipped for such an absence. 
 Each carried over his shoulder a blanket. 
 
Beaten for Chrisfs Sake 
 
 225 
 
 neatly folded. We also had two lanterns, 
 and cloth bags containing rice, flour, and a 
 few other things. Great simplicity was our 
 aim; and although it meant discomfort and 
 self-denial on our part, we did not mind it 
 if we might thereby learn a better way of 
 approach to an indifferent and hostile people. 
 With this idea in mind, and in this simple 
 Eastern fashion, we four started out full 
 of hope and prayer. 
 
 The first day, we walked about ten miles 
 over dusty roads in the hot sun, and about 
 
 Bombay's Long-Horned Bull 
 
 Spread of horns — 5 feet, 11 inches 
 
 Length of horns — 3 feet, 4 inches 
 
226 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 four o'clock in the afternoon came to a 
 small village situated on the high banks of a 
 large river. After eating a light lunch for 
 our evening meal, we called the villagers to- 
 gether, and conducted a service. The chief 
 men of the town gathered for this meeting, 
 and every one seemed pleased. 
 
 We had thought of spending the night near 
 an old temple on the river bank; but as we 
 started to go, a tumult arose among the 
 people, and they became so excited that we 
 could not gather one distinct sentence uttered 
 by them. They stopped us by main force, 
 and said we must not leave their town that 
 night. For a few moments, we persisted; 
 but when we saw that trouble would result, 
 we planned to remain where we were. Then 
 they built a big fire in the middle of the 
 town for a light, brought a long spear and 
 several torches, and in great excitement 
 chattered away till midnight. 
 
 We pretended we were not concerned, and 
 lay down in the resthouse and tried to sleep. 
 Our ten-mile walk and the late service had 
 somewhat worn us, and we were exceedingly 
 weary. We could not tell what was in the 
 minds of the people; but one thing was cer- 
 
Beaten for Christ's Sake 227 
 
 tain, — they proposed to keep us shut up in 
 their village and in that resthouse that night. 
 
 Whenever we opened our eyes during the 
 night, we saw a watchman looking at us — and 
 it is not easy to fall asleep under such cir- 
 cumstances. Daylight the following morn- 
 ing was most welcome. We ate our food 
 and prepared to leave. But lest they should 
 misunderstand our mission, we again preached 
 to them, said "Salaam," and departed. That 
 day, we did not go many miles. We crossed 
 the river, and held services in a village on 
 the other side. Here we had a pleasant day. 
 For the first time, many came, and listened 
 to the glad tidings. It had been very hot 
 and sultry, and we were glad to wade nearly 
 up to our necks in water as we crossed the 
 river. On the banks of this river, we pre- 
 pared our evening meal, washed and dried 
 our dirty garments, and decided to spend 
 the night in a third village, a little farther 
 down the stream. 
 
 In going to this third place, we had to 
 pass by the one we had first visited. We 
 did not mind this, for we were in the public 
 highway, and on a government road. It was 
 about sundown. The roads were deep with 
 dust, so that whenever we stepped, our feet 
 
228 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 were buried almost out of sight. I have 
 never seen such roads anywhere else. No 
 sooner had we come in front of the village 
 where we had been detained the previous 
 night, than a company of men came out 
 with clubs, and commanded us in rough 
 tones to turn into their village again. We 
 said "No," and pursued our course up the 
 hill, walking single file, as the road was 
 narrow. It took a few moments for notice 
 to be given in the village; then about fifty 
 men, each armed with a club, came after us. 
 I first heard the whack ! whack ! of their sticks 
 as they beat the native masters who were in 
 the rear of the line, followed by the remon- 
 strance of my fellow missionary. Then I, 
 who was leading the line, felt several sharp 
 cuts of bamboo clubs on my back, arms, and 
 head. 
 
 Fearing lest we should be killed, we 
 yielded with as good grace as possible, and 
 turned back with them. But the angry mob 
 did not seem satisfied to beat us and drag 
 us carelessly; they persisted in tearing off 
 nearly all our clothing. They led us to the 
 resthouse where we had been detained the 
 previous night, and threw us in with a great 
 air of bravado. The legs of our poor na- 
 
Beaten for Clirisfs Sake 229 
 
 tive boys were bleeding, and we missionaries 
 were stiff and sore. But there was nothing 
 we could do; so with torn garments, dusty 
 bodies, and palpitating hearts, surrounded 
 by that angry mob, all yelling at the top 
 of their voices, we sat down on the mud 
 floor and silently looked at them. 
 
 The whole town heard the uproar, and in 
 a short time all turned out to see what the 
 excitement might be. No doubt some will 
 wonder how we felt, and if we kept our 
 patience under these circumstances. It was 
 no time to think of revenge; the angry na- 
 tives, in their state of frenzy, would have 
 made short work of us. So we kept as cool- 
 headed and quiet and pleasant as possible. 
 Personally, I wanted to live a while longer, 
 and I knew that the quieter I was, the 
 sooner they would become more sane. Some 
 pretended they were sorry, and asked if 
 they should get us water or milk to drink; 
 but we refused to accept anything, fearing 
 they might try to poison us. After such 
 rough treatment, it seemed the most inap- 
 propriate thing in the world to seek to en- 
 tertain us with oily tongues. 
 
 They set a watchman that night also, and 
 looked with wild and unsympathetic gaze 
 
230 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 upon us in our helplessness. We thought of 
 Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail, and 
 longed to conduct ourselves as wisely as 
 they. The previous night, we had slept but 
 little; and now with bleeding legs and swol- 
 len bodies, we slept less on the vermin- 
 infested mud floor of the native resthouse. 
 One old heathen stretched himself on a cot 
 to rest; and everj^ time he turned over in the 
 night, he called upon the name of his god 
 for help, shouting out, "Ram! Ram!" This 
 did not add slumber to our weary eyes. 
 
 With thankful hearts we beheld the light 
 of the next day. As soon as possible, we 
 dispatched one of our native masters, tell- 
 ing him, in English, to go straight home, 
 and have one of the missionaries return in a 
 carriage for us. Had the natives known our 
 plan, they would not have allowed the man 
 to go. Then we requested the head man of 
 the village to provide us with a bullock 
 cart, in which we might start for home; but 
 he paid no attention to our request. 
 
 One of the laws under British rule in In- 
 dia is that any European in need of a con- 
 veyance shall be provided the same, paying 
 a small sum for its use. We tried to im- 
 press this upon the mind of the head man. 
 
Beaten for Christ's Sake 231 
 
 but to no avail. We were too sore to walk, 
 and had little heart to undertake it after 
 the severe treatment of the night before. 
 Finally we made a bold effort, and lighten- 
 ing our burdens by leaving our foodstuffs 
 behind, we sauntered off, and up the hill 
 from which we had been so unceremoniously 
 dragged the day before. 
 
 Just before we left, however, four of the 
 chief men of the town departed in a cart 
 drawn by a fine pair of young bullocks — 
 an act suggesting trouble ahead of some sort. 
 We had reason to think that orders had been 
 given to keep us there, and to watch all 
 our movements. No sooner had we reached 
 the top of the hill than a large, powerful, 
 black native, with club in hand, came up and 
 demanded that we return to the village. A 
 few positive words expressed to him our 
 citizenship, and our determination to press 
 homeward; so he allowed us to pass on. 
 There were several villages on the way home, 
 and we felt sure those four men in the cart 
 ahead of us would, if possible, make trouble. 
 
 We had gone perhaps two miles or more 
 when we saw another village. With re- 
 pressed voices, we hurried on, hoping we 
 might pass unnoticed and unharmed. But, 
 
232 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 no; as soon as we came up fairly in front 
 of the place, out came three strong-bodied 
 mahars (low-caste fellows), each with a 
 stick in his hand, and catching us with a 
 jerk by the nape of the neck, pulled us 
 into the center of the town, and before a 
 large crowd of men seated in the chowdie, 
 or resthouse. Then they demanded to know 
 who and what we were. We kindly but 
 positively told them we were missionaries, 
 that we had molested no one, and that our 
 aim was to do the people good. They bade 
 us be seated. We asked why they had ar- 
 rested us in the public highway. To this 
 they made no response, so we said ''Salaam'^ 
 and departed. 
 
 With quick step we hastened homeward, 
 dreading the next village we had to pass, 
 and all the while longing for our missionary 
 friend to drive up with the carriage for which 
 we had sent. Presently we came to a clump 
 of shade trees and sat down to rest, thank- 
 ing God that our lives had been spared. 
 Soon our carriage came, and took us home, 
 and thus ended our anxiety. 
 
 Doubtless a query has arisen in the mind 
 of the reader as to the reason for all this 
 trouble, and the unfriendly attitude of the 
 
Beaten for Christ's Sake 233 
 
 villagers. Some might think it was due to 
 the native costumes we had worn, but that 
 was not the case. We afterward learned 
 that an old Hindu priest in the first village 
 had recognized us, and before our entrance, 
 had lied to the people about us. No matter 
 what we said or did, they believed the priest; 
 in fact, they as much as told us that the 
 reason they beat us was because they had 
 been told we were spies for a band of fifty 
 robbers hid away in the mountains. The 
 old priest well knew that we were the serv- 
 ants of Jesus Christ; and he feared that 
 his religion would be exposed, and perhaps 
 his gain lost, if the people received us. 
 Hence all our difficulty and suffering. 
 
 From this account, no one need think 
 that such treatment of missionaries by the 
 natives is common. The hand of British 
 rule in India does not allow that. The whole 
 affair came to the ears of the European su- 
 perintendent of the district police. He visited 
 us, and insisted on our taking several police- 
 men and arresting those villagers. He would 
 not let us off, claiming that if they were al- 
 lowed to treat missionaries in that way, it 
 would be but a short time before other 
 Europeans would be insulted, and such de- 
 
234 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 fiance of British rule would never do. We 
 readily saw the point, and consented to do as 
 he requested. 
 
 With a police force, we rode up to the 
 village, and they arrested about fifty men, 
 taking each name down very carefully, thus 
 frightening the natives well. Then we went 
 to the superintendent of police, and begged 
 him to drop the matter, promising that if 
 any disturbance occurred again, we would 
 report the matter to him. Of course, the 
 news spread throughout the district, and had 
 a salutary effect upon the minds of the na- 
 tives. Since then the gospel has been pro- 
 claimed in all those villages, and no one 
 has been molested; but that field is still con- 
 sidered one of the strongholds of Satan, 
 and the people are hard to move. 
 
 In closing, let me say that one does oc- 
 casionally read of missionaries being roughly 
 handled by native mobs in different parts, 
 and once in a while one is killed. In one 
 instance in my own experience, poison was 
 placed in a beverage served me by the na- 
 tives, because I had discovered some of their 
 wrongdoing. But usually the lives of mis- 
 sionaries are as safe in India as in the 
 homeland. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 A Free Camel Ride 
 
 ^ HOUSANDS of men in America do 
 not wish to have the gospel preached 
 to them; and if they could have their 
 way, all the churches would be closed. 
 This only reveals their sinful condi- 
 
 tion. Of such as these the Saviour said 
 "Ye will not come to Me, that ye might 
 have life," and, "Men loved darkness rather 
 than light, because their deeds were evil." 
 Conditions in some lands are quite different 
 from this, and many souls really long for 
 preachers and teachers. They have had their 
 own way long enough, and are heartily sick 
 and tired of it. 
 
 Many instances might be given of earnest 
 requests to come and preach Christ in India. 
 The following is one of these, but as yet no 
 one has accepted the invitation: 
 
 Some years ago a young high-caste Hindu, 
 Tazaram Rai Budahamal, attended a mission 
 school in North India. He did not become 
 a Christian, however, although he was con- 
 vinced of the superiority of the religion of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. Tazaram was an 
 
 (235) 
 
236 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 exceptionally intelligent young fellow, and 
 not only made a thorough success of all his 
 studies in the English language, but after 
 leaving school succeeded in obtaining a high 
 position in the India service of the British 
 government. He set his heart upon the ac- 
 cumulation of earthly treasure, and secured 
 the object of his effort. 
 
 Not long afterward, however, a great ca- 
 lamity befell Tazaram, illustrating in a prac- 
 tical way the lesson of the parable of the 
 man who built his house upon the sand. 
 When the winds blew, and the floods came, 
 the house fell, and great was the fall thereof. 
 For it was a flood, so common in some parts 
 of India, that swept away all of Tazaram's 
 earthly store. With his wife and nephew, 
 he escaped, a downhearted but much wiser 
 man. 
 
 Discouraged and downcast, he turned his 
 attention in another direction, and hoping to 
 make another fortune, went to Southwestern 
 India, the land of Goa. At the end of a 
 year, however, the tide of circumstances 
 proved to be against him still.' About this 
 -time, a friend in the Forest Department of 
 the government suggested a new scheme. 
 Ready for a third venture, Tazaram applied 
 
A Free Camel Bide 
 
 237 
 
 to the government, and secured a large tract 
 of land about one hundred and sixty miles 
 from an English railroad. 
 
 A CALL FOR HELP 
 
 In the hope of getting cheap labor, Taza- 
 ram corresponded with a missionary who had 
 a number of famine refugees and native 
 Christians in his charge, and who lived about 
 
 On Camel Back 
 
238 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 sixty miles from Tazaram's village. Tazaram 
 begged the mission to send workers among 
 the ignorant heathen in that locality, and 
 promised that poor native Christians could 
 get employment on his large estate. I be- 
 lieve he went so far as to offer land to the 
 mission if they would only heed the call. 
 
 There are no good roads, no post offices, 
 and no markets in those parts. A cliowke 
 (police station) visited once a week by a 
 native sepoy, or police, is the only boast of 
 the town. "Bittergaon" was the Indian name 
 of the town where Tazaram settled. He 
 soon changed the name to "Bettergaon" ; so 
 instead of Bittertown, the name would sig- 
 nify Bettertown. This illustrates his pro- 
 gressive spirit. 
 
 Not long after Tazaram's request for help 
 was received, a missionary accompanied by 
 a large squad of native converts paid a visit 
 to Bettergaon, and were entertained by Taza- 
 ram. They were greatly pleased with him, 
 his offer, and the whole country. Had he 
 been a Christian man, no doubt many native 
 Christians would gladly have accepted his 
 proposal ; but having been made free through 
 Christ, they would not become entangled 
 
A Free Camel Ride 239 
 
 again in a yoke of heathen bondage, by 
 serving under a Hindu gentleman. 
 
 So the missionary and his men searched 
 on several miles farther into the jungles till 
 they found a vacant place that suited them 
 much better. Application was made to the 
 government, and a large tract of land was 
 secured on certain conditions. The govern- 
 ment also granted these people a loan of 
 money, cattle, and carts. When these mat- 
 ters were satisfactorily adjusted, about one 
 hundred men and women, among the poorest 
 on earth, moved to their new home in the 
 wild forest. They called their village Tharan- 
 poor, or Salvationtown. 
 
 Several times a year the missionary visits 
 this native Christian village. During the 
 heavy rains, however, this is quite impossible, 
 as there are no roads, and the jungles are 
 overgrown with tall grass and reeds. The 
 missionary usually carries his gun, and suc- 
 ceeds in killing several wild animals. On 
 each trip to the village, he visits Tazaram, 
 who, although disappointed not to have all 
 these people under him, still rejoices that his 
 efforts to help civilize his fellows in those 
 parts have not been altogether in vain. 
 
 16 
 
240 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 This missionary casually mentioned my 
 name to Tazaram, and said that I was much 
 interested in just such undertakings. To my 
 surprise, I received a most cordial and urgent 
 invitation from Tazaram to visit him at 
 Bettergaon, and I began to plan at once 
 how I could make the journey. 
 
 TRAVELING BY THE SHIP OF THE DESERT 
 
 My home was about seventy miles from 
 Tazaram's village, in a state known as "The 
 Nisam's Dominions." (The Nisam is a 
 prosperous Mohammedan ruler in Central 
 India.) The roads were very bad; and with 
 no traveling conveniences, I wondered how 
 I could best cross rivers and mountains, and 
 penetrate dense jungles. Finally I con- 
 cluded that camels would be the most practi- 
 cal means of travel. I consulted with Cap- 
 tain Farrell, who lived in the same town as 
 I, and he kindly offered two camels to me 
 for their feed. A camel lives on jungle 
 leaves and a small quantity of soaked grain 
 twice a day. 
 
 As I had never driven a camel, and these 
 beasts are often ugly and unruly. Captain 
 Farrell appointed a day to teach me how 
 to drive. The camel he chose was a huge 
 
(241) 
 
242 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 young fellow, full of life. The driVer 
 strapped on a double saddle, and we were 
 ready for a trial. Just as the captain was 
 mounting, the creature leaped up with an 
 ugly grunt; and soon the captain was roll- 
 ing down an embankment. For a moment, 
 my spirits were dampened, and I questioned 
 the wisdom of learning to drive on that fel- 
 low's back. But when we found that no 
 injuries were sustained, we took courage 
 and mounted together. 
 
 READY FOR THE JOURNEY 
 
 The simple method of guiding the camel 
 by a little rope tied to a ring in one side of 
 the animal's nose, was soon explained; and 
 after one or two turns about, I felt pre- 
 pared for the future with my camel, and in 
 two days I was ready for the long trip. I 
 had a large pith sun hat for protection 
 against the sun, wore a white drill suit, took 
 a lunch basket of rice, flour, salt, onions, 
 butter, etc., also a blanket for a bed. I 
 might have taken more, for the camel easily 
 carries a very heavy load on his back. 
 
 The captain thought best for me to take 
 two men and two camels, so I consented. 
 It was intensely interesting to my family 
 
(243) 
 
244 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 circle, especially to my little boy and girls, 
 to see the two huge camels kneeling at 
 the door while my basket and dress suit 
 case were tied to their backs. Then came 
 the handshake, the "God bless you," and the 
 good-by kiss. When I mounted into the 
 saddle, the camel grunted as if angry, and 
 preferred to lie still and chew his cud a 
 while longer; but a gentle jerk of the rope 
 informed him he must obey his new master 
 and be off. The children screamed with 
 delight to see me rise so high in the air, 
 and soon we disappeared from view, passing 
 through the town, and then turning off 
 toward the jungles and Bettertown. 
 
 How strange this method of travel seemed 
 — so ancient in style, yet to us so novel and 
 interesting! The air felt clearer than usual, 
 the view was more enchanting, and the 
 strength of the huge fellow added a certain 
 feeling of secin-ity. But you must know 
 that the motion of the camel is very different 
 from that of the horse or the elephant. He 
 does not step like these animals, but has a 
 peculiar method all his own. The fore and 
 hind feet on the same side are thrust for- 
 ward, then the two feet on the other side, 
 so that first the rider gets a jerk on one 
 
A Free Camel Ride 245 
 
 side, then a jerk on the other; and no matter 
 which way he sits or how he adjusts his 
 body, he soon arrives at the conckision that 
 it is impossible to exist under such torture 
 of all his muscles. One or two miles is suf- 
 ficient, he thinks; but as he proceeds, his en- 
 tire body aches. He becomes numb and 
 sore and heartily sick of it, and actually 
 feels as if the flesh all over his body were 
 being pulled from the bones. Muscles that 
 seldom if ever have had exercise before are 
 now brought into use. They work and work, 
 and swell, and get sore, and remain so until 
 they lose all sensation, and finally go to 
 sleep, wake up, and get sore again, until at 
 the end of twenty miles the sufferer scarcely 
 knows whether he is half dead or unusually 
 alive. 
 
 NEW EXPERIENCES 
 
 Cautiously the traveler makes the camel 
 sit down, and pulling his feet from the 
 stirrups, he tumbles off like a football. Then 
 he stands up, almost afraid to move his tired 
 body. Finally he lies down on the ground, 
 and stretches out, preferring oblivion to any- 
 thing else in the world. But, repeating this 
 experience several times, one gets accus- 
 
246 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 tomed to it, and finally can really enjoy a 
 camel ride. 
 
 The camel will walk or trot in the road, 
 go in a footpath, step over brush heaps, 
 rocks, and mud puddles, enter gates, and 
 go in and about almost any place big enough 
 for him, and seems afraid of nothing but a 
 stick. If you hit him, he will whine like a 
 big, lazy schoolboy. It's a joke to make him 
 think you will hit him. He really seems ten- 
 der-hearted, yet wise. His wisdom makes 
 him pretend you are cruel to him, even when 
 you compel him to kneel to mount. 
 
 The sensation of the rider when his camel 
 gets up, is that he will first pitch forwarJ, 
 headlong, and then backward, and that his 
 backbone will snap in two. 
 
 My camel came to a stream of water, and 
 stretching out his long neck, drank up all 
 he wanted; then he waded in and marched 
 to the other side, and forward tirelessly, up 
 hills, through valleys, and over dusty roads. 
 Camels sometimes travel eighty miles in a 
 day, and once at work, are ready for any 
 amount of it. 
 
 We ]iassed town after town and village 
 after village. The cultivated fields of cotton, 
 sugar cane, and corn, as well as the fruit 
 
Native Drawing Sap for Making Toddy 
 
 (247) 
 
248 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 orchards, were beautiful to look upon from 
 such an exalted position. We rode through 
 the towns, made inquiries, asked for water 
 at the village wells where people were filling 
 waterpots, and greeted everybody we saw 
 with the "Salaam" of all Eastern lands. We 
 saw the natives climbing the palm trees by 
 hundreds, and catching the sap as it dripped 
 into little black earthen jugs to be made into 
 toddy, the native liquor of the country. The 
 dogs growled in the roads as we disturbed 
 their peaceful slumbers, while herds of goats, 
 sheep, buffaloes, and cattle stood with fixed 
 gaze until we came too near, then turned 
 tail, and ran for dear life in all directions — 
 a most amusing sight, although the owners 
 of the cattle were quite disconcerted. 
 
 Now and then the camels would stretch 
 out their long necks, and break off the ten- 
 der, tempting twigs of the trees. It was 
 most interesting to watch them as we drove 
 beside the mango trees, which were laden 
 with green fruit that looked like huge apples 
 but was very acid to the taste. Casting wist- 
 ful glances, my camel came nearer and 
 nearer, and finally stopped and sampled these 
 mangoes, crunching them down with a relish, 
 the frothy juice oozing out both sides of his 
 
A Free Camel Ride 249 
 
 mouth. A few times, I willingly gave the 
 good fellow his liberty, and greatly to his 
 satisfaction, allowed him to eat greedily. 
 
 At sundown, we usually halted at the vil- 
 lage inn, or cJiowdie, a mud hut about twelve 
 or fifteen feet square, thatched with grass 
 or cotton stalks, and only high enough in 
 the center to allow us to stand erect. These 
 chowdies have no windows, and are open on 
 one side. My old man, the camel driver, 
 called the head man, or Parteih of the village, 
 and bought grass and grain, also buttermilk 
 or curds for ourselves. It was impossible to 
 get a bath in such surroundings, although it 
 would have been refreshing, to say the least. 
 The natives generally take their daily bath 
 on their front doorsteps, but we had not 
 learned their ways. 
 
 PITIFUL^ UNWORKED FIELDS 
 
 Thus day by day we pursued our journey. 
 From the tops of the hills, we gained excel- 
 lent views of the surrounding country. At 
 one place, I counted about twenty villages, — 
 villages containing thousands of human 
 beings, but no schools, hospitals, courts of 
 law, or other marks of civilization. Thou- 
 sands here live and die, and never see a white 
 
250 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 man, never learn to read, do not even know 
 their own age. Lost in the darkness of 
 heathenism, they work, eat, and sleep, suffer 
 and die, with no knowledge of the light of 
 the gospel. Their lives are full of sin and 
 bitter toil; little children herd cattle and 
 grind grain, growing up like the flocks in 
 the fields, to pass some day into the grave, 
 with no knowledge of a Saviour or a here- 
 after. 
 
 I talked with many whom I met, and tried 
 to make them feel that I cared for them 
 and was interested in them. I have always 
 found such people susceptible to human af- 
 fection and true kindness, but the few 
 heralds cannot penetrate every corner of the 
 field. 
 
 Finally we reached Bettergaon, where 
 Tazaram, dressed in European costume, wel- 
 comed me, and insisted that I have a glass 
 of hot milk to drink. Seating me in a com- 
 fortable chair in a shady spot, he gave me 
 a fan, provided a wash of cool water, ordered 
 dinner for me and my camel driver, and gave 
 the camels their provender. Education and 
 good society had made Tazaram another 
 man. I felt at home with him at once. He 
 treated me as kindly as any Christian man 
 
A Free Camel Bide 251 
 
 could have done. As he is a Hindu of 
 high-caste birth, he could not allow me to 
 eat with him or touch his food or water. 
 
 I saw his many fields of plantain trees, 
 cotton, saffron, and other crops; but what 
 most concerned him was the problem of 
 helping his neighbors to a better life. He 
 hoped to get missionaries willing to live 
 among his people at Bettergaon, and open 
 schools and do medical and evangelistic work. 
 Although not a Christian himself, he seems 
 not far from the kingdom of God, and evi- 
 dently has more faith in missionaries than 
 in any one else. He offered me several acres 
 of land and any assistance if I would but 
 move my family there and begin work. 
 Really I desired to accept the offer; but I 
 was in duty bound to other work, and hence 
 had to refuse. 
 
 From this place, I visited Salvationtown, 
 eight miles farther on, in the wild jungles. 
 On my way thither, I saw trees that had been 
 barked by tigers sharpening their claws on 
 the trunks; I also saw blue bulls large as 
 moose, wild deer, and wild boar. We reached 
 the village about dark, but visited the great 
 Sussarkund, or waterfalls, before we went 
 into our quarters. These falls are sixty feet 
 
252 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 high, and the walls of the river at this point 
 are eighty feet high. A huge tiger den can 
 be seen just below the falls, on the river 
 banks. Wild pigeons and stately cranes flew 
 about over the stream. The buffaloes and 
 cattle are often destroyed by the crocodiles 
 and large fish so plentiful there, as they go 
 down to the river's brink to drink. 
 
 Turning toward the village proper, we 
 startled a large flock of peacocks roosting in 
 a big tree, and they flew past our heads with 
 wild screams, displaying their beautiful 
 feathers in their flight. A huge mud house, 
 with a double grass roof, had been erected 
 in the village, for missionaries, and here we 
 halted for the night. The missionary in 
 charge of the village was there, which made 
 it all the more pleasant for us. 
 
 A CHRISTIAN VILLAGE 
 
 The native Christians in this little town 
 are very poor; and until they had harvested 
 their first crop, life was hard for them. 
 After a plain but tasty repast consisting of 
 fried onions and wheat cakes, called chipat- 
 ties, a number of men collected on the open 
 veranda of the house, and we held evening 
 prayer with them, and retired for the night. 
 
A Free Camel Ride 253 
 
 Our slumbers were disturbed only a few 
 times, and then by the howling of wild ani- 
 mals in the jungle about us. 
 
 Among the men were a schoolmaster and 
 a preacher, also a carpenter and a shoemaker. 
 They told us they were very poor, and we 
 promised to send every man a coat. This was 
 done a few weeks later; and after that, we 
 sent them two lots of secondhand clothes, 
 which they seemed to appreciate. 
 
 Before we said good-by, they wanted us to 
 accept a live chicken; but we thanked them 
 and gave it back. They told us they were 
 greatly bothered by the invasions of wild 
 animals, which destroyed their stock and 
 watchdogs. They go a distance of twelve 
 miles for the mail and provisions; and should 
 they need a doctor, they must go twenty 
 miles. 
 
 When the time came for us to leave the 
 place, we mounted our camels and set forth, 
 in the same fashion that Abraham followed 
 thousands of years ago. Some of the friends 
 accompanied us a distance out of town; and 
 before the final "salaams" were said, the mis- 
 sionary shot a deer, which would furnish 
 fresh meat for them for several days. 
 
254 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 The path was the same as that by which 
 we came, but we saw many new sights and 
 met new faces. It took seven days to make 
 ,the trip of one hundred and twenty-five miles, 
 and two weeks of rest to regain our normal 
 condition physically; but we had gathered 
 practical information that we could have ob- 
 tained in on other way. Between our mis- 
 sion home and Salvationtown, save Mr. 
 Tazaram, we did not see one single mark of 
 civilization or Christianity. We passed hun- 
 dreds of villages that had never heard of 
 Christ, and thousands of men and women 
 who will have died before the gospel can 
 come to them. Cholera, plague, smallpox, 
 and famine are sweeping them off the earth 
 faster than all the missionaries can preach. 
 Who is responsible? "The harvest truly is 
 great, but the laborers are few." 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 Work at Kopergaon 
 
 OR several years, native preachers had 
 labored for the Master at Koper- 
 gaon, a typical Hindu village not far 
 from the city of Ahmednaggar, and 
 lying in a fertile valley covered with 
 fruit orchards and well cultivated fields of 
 cotton, corn, wheat, and pulse. 
 
 Kopergaon was evidently built by the 
 Marathas, who, for protection from their 
 Mohammedan foes, built high walls around 
 their towns and villages. Some of these walls 
 are composed of huge blocks of cut stone, 
 placed side by side without cement or mor- 
 tar, and many of them are from twenty to 
 forty feet high, with several circular towers 
 at the corners and along the sides. These 
 towers are reached by long flights of stone 
 steps on the inside of the wall, and in olden 
 times were used by the military and police 
 forces. In some of these walls, which are 
 from twenty to fifty feet thick, are rooms for 
 ammunition and barracks. The tops of the 
 walls are made flat, and topped with a sort 
 
 (255) 
 17 
 
256 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 of crown work full of holes, through which 
 guns may be aimed at an enemy. 
 
 Each of these walled towns is entered by 
 two enormous gateways directly opposite each 
 other. The gates are made of heavy planks 
 and crudely wrought iron, and the strength 
 of several able-bodied men is required to open 
 and close their heavy leaves. They are bolted 
 at night on the inside by long beams, held 
 in iron sockets. The wall above the gates is 
 finished as an arch. 
 
 Just inside the gates, and on either side, 
 are open rooms about three feet from the 
 road, the floors of which are made of large, 
 flat rocks. In these rooms are always found 
 the elders of the town, accompanied by in- 
 spectors and watchmen, so that no one may 
 come in or go out unobserved. Here, too, 
 all the gossip of the day is carried on. 
 
 In form, the town of Kopergaon is square, 
 with one long main street perhaps twenty feet 
 wide running through the center. All its 
 streets are swept every day by hand; so, on 
 the whole, it presents rather a neat appear- 
 ance. The town is divided into sections, the 
 more influential and higher castes living in 
 well built houses near the front gate, and the 
 artisans and lower classes occupying less 
 
(257) 
 
258 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 prominent places and those near the rear gate. 
 Shoemakers, outcasts, and scavengers are 
 not allowed to live within the town walls, 
 but have their own quarters outside. 
 
 Not far from the center of town, on 
 the main street, the daily market is held. 
 From about seven a. m. to eleven a. m., fresh 
 vegetables, fruits, etc., are exposed for sale, 
 and again from three p. m. till sunset. 
 Kopergaon contains several deep wells; but 
 most of the water used by the people is taken 
 from the Godavari River, on whose banks 
 the town stands. 
 
 Large droves of water buffaloes, cattle, 
 goats, and sheep, which are cared for during 
 the day by low-caste boys, are housed in 
 Kopergaon every night. During the heat 
 of the day, the cattle graze along the sides 
 of the river, or browse in the babul forests 
 and jungles. It is interesting to see large 
 droves of these buffaloes lying on the sand 
 bars of the river, and rolling about in the 
 water. 
 
 Kopergaon is a sacred spot to the Hindu; 
 and each year, thousands of pilgrims visit it 
 to worship at some of the many shrines and 
 temples erected on the river banks or out in 
 the bed of the stream. A number of Brah- 
 
Work at Kopergaon 259 
 
 man priests make a good income from these 
 deluded pilgrims, every one of whom must 
 pay a small sum to one of them for his 
 services. The priest says prayers for the 
 pilgrim, shaves his head and beard, daubs 
 a little vermilion or a few "sacred ashes" over 
 him, and sends him forth to another place of 
 deception. Thus many weary souls wander 
 from place to place, frequently until they 
 have spent large sums of money. 
 
 We w^elcomed the orders that sent us to 
 work at Kopergaon. While living there, we 
 made our residence part of the time in the 
 public resthouse outside the walls, and part 
 of the time in a tent. My stay of several 
 months was a very busy time. Usually I 
 arose about six a. m., and after a light break- 
 fast, visited our village school, conducted by a 
 native Christian master. Those who attended 
 this school were from the lower castes, and 
 consequently not permitted to attend the 
 government school. 
 
 A native Christian medical man was placed 
 in Kopergaon to care for the sick, and I also 
 gave some time and attention to this work 
 daily'. One day, a man called me to his door, 
 and said, "Sir, please look at my wife's eyes." 
 I did so, and found her totally blind. Then 
 
260 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 he wanted to know if I could cure them; and 
 when told there was no cure for blind eyes, 
 he said: "If that is so, I do not want her for 
 my wife. I want a wife who can see, and 
 shall get me another." Of course, I re- 
 monstrated with him, and tried to show him 
 how necessary it was that he love her the 
 more, and protect her; but he did not look 
 at it that way. However, he did not put 
 her away while I was there. 
 
 Many were badly afflicted with itch, due to 
 their unclean habits of living; but I found 
 that if they would take a daily bath in the 
 river, using common laundry soap, they could 
 get rid of this trouble. 
 
 IGNORANCE AND DEGRADATION 
 
 Many low-caste and out-caste fathers and 
 mothers pleaded with me to take their chil- 
 dren and put them in school. Some of these 
 children scarcely ever had a full meal to 
 eat, and often begged me to provide work 
 for them. They seemed ready and willing to 
 do almost anything if only I would help 
 them to a better condition. Often I was at 
 a loss to know what to say to these needy 
 people, who seemed to look to me for help, 
 and who could not understand why their lot 
 
Work at Kopergaon 
 
 261 
 
 was so hard, when others had education and 
 the common comforts of life. They had be- 
 come so used to deprivation and poverty, as 
 well as to insult and unkind treatment by 
 the upper classes among their fellow na- 
 tives, that they would merely say, "It's our 
 naslieeh [fate], and cannot be helped." I 
 endeavored to help them to see that if they 
 would begin to pray to the true God in the 
 name of Jesus Christ, and forsake all sin 
 and idolatry. He would hear their cry, and 
 in His own wise way send relief; but it 
 seemed hard for such a degraded class to 
 believe. False systems of religion have held 
 
 The Barber 
 
 The "Bheesty," or Water 
 Carrier 
 
262 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 millions of human beings in ignorance, and 
 led them into such wrongdoing as is al- 
 most impossible to imagine. 
 
 While at Kopergaon, I had the use of a 
 small horse and carriage; and with this con- 
 venience, the native preacher and I were 
 able to visit the surrounding villages. The 
 roads were crooked and unkept, many of 
 them being mere cart paths through the 
 grainfields. Often they led over jagged 
 rocks and through the sandy or muddy river 
 bottoms. Still the horse and carriage saved 
 our strength; and in the hot sun, it was 
 always easier as well as safer to ride than 
 to walk. But whenever it rained very hard, 
 and the river was swollen, we had to post- 
 pone our visits to the outlying towns until 
 the river fell again. In some of these small 
 places, we gathered large congregations of 
 eager listeners, and found it a pleasure to 
 tell them of Bible truths. 
 
 A TYPICAL SERVICE 
 
 In one part of Kopergaon, we managed 
 to win the confidence of a considerable num- 
 ber of people; and when we discovered their 
 receptive attitude toward our message, we 
 put forth an extra effort in their behalf. 
 
Work at Kopergaon 263 
 
 Early in the morning, we called on them, and 
 requested that they gather that evening at 
 the resthouse. Just after sundown, we began 
 the meeting. 
 
 It would tax the patience of some Ameri- 
 can preachers to conduct a service amid 
 such surroundings. In all directions, old 
 men were squatted about; little groups of 
 women chatted among themselves in sub- 
 dued tones; from a dozen to twenty naked 
 urchins, some of them with sore eyes black 
 with flies, were playing, crying, eating corn 
 bread, or rolling in the dust on the ground. 
 Two or three dogs with litters of puppies 
 were moving here and there; goats, buffaloes, 
 and bullocks were tethered close by; and a 
 number of green parrots were screeching in 
 their small iron cages suspended from the 
 low eaves of the thatched houses. Xow and 
 then some stranger entered the court, sur- 
 prised to find such a company assembled, 
 and a sahib (European), clad in a clean 
 white suit, addressing them in their own 
 tongue. 
 
 When a dog became too familiar, perhaps 
 some old man would poke it with his staff, 
 and with a yelp it would go limping off. 
 In the course of an hour, a dozen similar in- 
 
264 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 teiTuptions might occur. At times, the mis- 
 sionary is tempted to think he cannot en- 
 dure it; again, that work carried on against 
 such odds does not pay, and that the effort 
 will prove fruitless. But after a few weeks 
 of such work in that one town, I was sur- 
 prised to find a number of persons who had 
 absorbed more of the teaching than I had 
 supposed possible. Of their own accord, they 
 desired to give up Hinduism, and accept 
 the gospel. Such results always buoy one 
 up, and stimulate to further effort. 
 
 After some weeks of patient effort at 
 Kopergaon, it was my duty to ask how many 
 would take a public stand for Christ. To 
 my surprise, about thirty-five came forward, 
 and confessed that they saw the light of 
 gospel truth as we had presented it, and were 
 ready to break caste and be baptized. 
 
 After more careful examination and a 
 public call to the river banks, I baptized this 
 little company. Just above the spot we had 
 chosen were several huge idols in the river, 
 and the Hindus were bowing down to them. 
 Where we stood, there were no idols, but a 
 little group of humble men and women with 
 faith in the one true and living God and 
 His Son Jesus Christ. That river which 
 
Work at Kopergaon 
 
 265 
 
 the Hindus worshiped became the watery 
 baptismal grave of a number of souls that 
 day. 
 
 The contrast in the two groups and in the 
 object of their meeting was marked. Many 
 witnessed a baptismal scene for the first time^* 
 in their lives, and went away in all directions 
 to tell what strange things they had heard 
 and seen, and of the Christian missionary 
 teaching the people who were accepting 
 Christ and taking upon themselves the public 
 sign of that acceptance. 
 
 •^■--•-i. ^'"'^SHI^H 
 
 |B^j^ 
 
 EzzizzzrJ^ -"^"^^I^^SPj 
 
 ^ffl^. 
 
 m^^^ 
 
 vv 
 
 
 J^^^m^"^- 
 
 HQ^Q 
 
 ^ 
 
 Paul, "Our Bheesty," or Water Carrier, at the Kalyan 
 
 Mission House, and the Water Buffalo with the 
 
 MussuK ON His Back Filled with Water 
 
266 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 The news spread like a prairie fire, not 
 only to the near-by villages, but also to 
 the large market places all over that dis- 
 trict, creating a deep sensation. From among 
 that baptized group, we received one young 
 man who became an active worker among 
 his own people, and whose whole aim was to 
 lead them into the light of the gospel. Such 
 work requires much labor, wisdom, and forti- 
 tude. Time also is an element in the develop- 
 ment of Christian character. The personal 
 responsibility of the missionary becomes 
 greater when some accept Christ; for if these 
 sheep are not properly fed and cared for, 
 many die or are devoured by wolves. 
 
 CALLING FOR PROTESTANT MISSIONARIES 
 
 One sultry afternoon, I sat in my small 
 room at the Kopergaon resthouse, when a 
 native stranger came to the door, and re- 
 spectfully presented me with a chit, or letter, 
 written in the vernacular. I read it carefully, 
 and found it was a hearty invitation to cross 
 the Godavari, and come a distance of seven- 
 teen miles to a village down the river, where 
 a company of men were calling for a Protes- 
 tant missionary. I asked the bearer of the 
 note to come in and tell me all about his 
 
Work at Kopergaon 267 
 
 people, his village, etc. He did so, and I 
 found it an interesting story. 
 
 He said a man had come to their village 
 and reported that I was teaching the people 
 at Kopergaon, and that many were accept- 
 ing the gospel and being baptized. He also 
 said that for a long time, many of his people 
 had known a little about Christ. One day 
 a man in a long robe came to them, saying 
 he would make Christians of them, and would 
 give them books and a school. Their ex- 
 pectations were aroused, and they thought 
 they saw a way to benefit themselves and 
 their little ones. Believing that after they 
 had been properly instructed, they would be 
 free from the yoke of caste and of Hinduism, 
 and knowing no difference between Protes- 
 tant and Catholic missionaries, they walked 
 into the net spread for their feet. Some of 
 their friends had told them that Christianity 
 was much better than heathenism; so, after a 
 certain amount of instruction in the cate- 
 chism, and learning certain prayers and signs, 
 they were sprinkled. 
 
 But they had no Bible to read; and when 
 I put one into the hand of the stranger who 
 brought the letter to me, he said, "That is 
 God's book; no one but the 'father' may read 
 
268 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 that." I assured him that the Bible is for all 
 to read. Then he told me that his people 
 were not baptized as I was baptizing at 
 Kopergaon. The man in the long gown had 
 first rubbed oil on their chests and backs, and 
 then put salt in their mouths; after that, he 
 made the sign of the cross on their foreheads, 
 and they were called to the confessional once 
 a week. He further stated that unless the 
 women went to confession, the "father" would 
 beat their hands with a stick; if the men did 
 not come and say their prayers, they must 
 each pay a fine of from four to eight annas. 
 This was harder than Hinduism, he thought. 
 
 In their former religion, no man had a 
 right to talk alone to their women; and to 
 them, the confessional for women looked very 
 much out of place, and they could not keep 
 up such a custom. Neither had they been 
 fined, as Hindus, if they did not say their 
 prayers. They had hoped to be bettered by 
 Christianity, but now they felt they were 
 worse off than before. The letter requested 
 me to visit them, and help them if possible. 
 I could not leave my post alone, so sent my 
 salaams, and promised to visit them very soon. 
 
 The bearer of the letter remained at 
 Kopergaon only one night, and then started 
 
Work at Kopergaon 269 
 
 home on foot. I could not help following 
 him in my thoughts those seventeen miles, 
 and purposed to visit that village as soon as 
 I could; but as I had all I could do at home, 
 my plans could not be immediately carried 
 out. 
 
 It was not long, however, before a company 
 of seventeen men, determined upon the ac- 
 complishment of their purpose, came to 
 Kopergaon to see me themselves. Matters 
 now assumed a serious aspect, and I began 
 to correspond with other missionaries about 
 the opening. These anxious men promised 
 me land, and buildings in which to live and 
 conduct schools, also a good well of water, if 
 I would but come to their village. The offer 
 was a tempting one, and I greatly desired to 
 accept the invitation and make the most of 
 the opportunity. But I was in duty bound 
 to receive instructions from the superintend- 
 ent of the mission before I could under- 
 take any new work. He was carefully in- 
 formed of the new developments in my field, 
 and replied that on a certain date, four of 
 us should meet for a conference at Koper- 
 gaon, and then the matter would be con- 
 sidered. 
 
270 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 At this conference, several more men from 
 that village presented themselves, anxiously 
 waiting for a hopeful promise. When the 
 superintendent asked me what I thought best 
 to do, I promptly said, "Go to them at once, 
 give them Bibles, teach them, and as soon 
 as we can, baptize them again, and accept 
 them into the fold." 
 
 Here matters took another turn; for the 
 superintendent gave me positively to un- 
 derstand that the last ruling of the bishop 
 had been that as the Catholics baptized men 
 into the name of the Trinity, we could do 
 no more, and therefore we must not rebaptize 
 those from Catholicism. 
 
 I confess I did not agree with the bishop, 
 and I still longed to leave Kopergaon, and 
 go down the river to that flock of sheep in 
 the wilderness who were calling for a shep- 
 herd. These people had refused to follow 
 the priest. As I must not disobey orders, I 
 did not go to them ; and so far as I know, no 
 Protestant missionarj^ has ever visited them. 
 
 In a few days, I received a postal card 
 and also a telegram urging me to come; but 
 my hands were bound by rules that I could 
 not disobey. I sent my final salaam and 
 declined their offer. Whenever I think of 
 
Work at Kopergaon 271 
 
 that opening, and those poor people, my 
 heart yearns over them. The work still went 
 on at Kopergaon; and when I was sent else- 
 where, another man took my place and taught 
 the people. 
 
 Up to the time I left, only the men of 
 Kopergaon had received my instruction, save 
 the little that one poorly qualified woman 
 had done in house visiting. The station 
 master was a bigoted caste man; and if our 
 native preacher attempted so much as to go 
 on the railroad platform, even to meet the 
 missionary at the train, he was sure to get 
 a bill, fining him three or four cents. This 
 was a plan to keep low-caste men out of 
 the way of the high-caste. As Kopergaon 
 was a holy bathing place, caste rules were 
 enforced more rigidly than where European 
 influence was more largely felt. 
 
 There are still many "diamonds in the 
 rough" at Kopergaon, and in all its sur- 
 rounding villages and hamlets. 
 
 18 
 
^ft. 
 
 *t 
 
 ■ 
 
 ^:;j;;, ^ 1 ,, ^:, 
 
 
 Hii^H^^^Hil^ite^ 
 
 A Young Wife Loaded with Silver Jewels 
 (272) 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 The Famine 
 
 NDIA has three distinct seasons, — 
 the cold, the hot, and the wet, or 
 "monsoon." Of course, a country ex- 
 tending over thirty degrees of lati- 
 tude, possessing such vast chains of 
 lofty mountains, and washed on two sides by 
 the sea, must possess a variety of climate. 
 "Such is India, varying from 'furnace heat' 
 in May and June at Agra, to intense cold on 
 the high plateaus. The average summer 
 temperature in some places is ninety-five de- 
 grees in the shade; and at places like Jacoba- 
 bad in the northwest, it rises as high as 115 
 degrees in the shade; while in many places, 
 during the hot months, the thermometer 
 registers 150 and even 160 degrees in the sun. 
 "In estimating the climate of India, four 
 conditions must be kept in view; namely, 
 the latitude, the altitude, nearness to the 
 desert, and nearness to the sea. The slopes 
 of the Himalayas have a cool climate. At 
 Utakamand, in the Nilgiri, the elevation and 
 the sea breezes keep the summer tempera- 
 ture down to sixty degrees. The country 
 
 (273) 
 
274 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 south of .the Satpura Mountains is cooler 
 than the valleys of the Indus and the Ganges, 
 and the east coast is hotter than the west. 
 
 "The hot season lasts from March to 
 June; the wet season from June to October; 
 and the cold season from October to March. 
 The rainfall in parts of India is greater 
 than any other place on the globe. The water 
 brought up from the sea by the southwest 
 monsoon, or periodical wind blowing off the 
 Arabian Sea, from July to October is enor- 
 mous. On the Malabar coast, the annual 
 rainfall sometimes amounts to 480 inches; 
 while in Assam, as nmch as 600 inches have 
 fallen in a single year. 
 
 "The rainy season does not occur at the 
 same time all over India. The failure of the 
 monsoon is followed by the awful famines 
 w^hich from time to time visit the country, 
 their severity and extent depending upon the 
 lightness or entire suppression of the annual 
 rainfall, which in turn is governed by the 
 periodical winds which bring the moisture 
 in from the sea." 
 
 It is said that India has a famine about 
 every twenty years, sometimes severe, some- 
 times slight. History has recorded these sad 
 calamities upon this particular country. Dur- 
 
The Famine 
 
 275 
 
 ing the year 1900, very little rain fell in 
 India, and the outlook was forbidding. Cot- 
 ton, corn, and other crops had been planted 
 as usual. These came up but a few inches, 
 only to be scorched in the hot sun. The grass 
 grew but a little and withered. The farmers 
 and herdsmen all over the country, who are 
 entirely dependent on the annual moisture of 
 the monsoon rains, were downcast while they 
 discussed the gloomy outlook for that year. 
 Many of those brawny old Hindu farmers 
 actually wept as they looked upon their vast 
 fields of blasted grain. 
 
 A Band of Hungry Boys 
 
276 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 The Bible says that "hope deferred maketh 
 the heart sick," and indeed these poor men 
 were heartsick. The previous year, the rain- 
 fall was abundant, and corn had been sold 
 at the rate of one hundred and twenty 
 pounds for the rui^ee, or thirty-three and 
 one third cents. The poorer classes had 
 sufficient, and few begged their daily bread. 
 But soon prices began to rise, and all food- 
 stuffs became very expensive. 
 
 In Central India, during the famine, corn 
 was sold at the rate of sixteen pounds for 
 thirty-three and one third cents. Large 
 quantities of grain were stored away in pits 
 all over the country, and the Hindu grain 
 merchants seized the opportunity to make 
 this misfortune their gain. There was no 
 established law to regulate prices; thus many 
 millions were at the mercy of a few, who had 
 it in their power to consider the poor and 
 lend to the Lord, or to oppress the poor. 
 They chose the latter and more natural in- 
 clination of their selfish hearts. 
 
 In some parts of India, the famine had 
 really begun in 1897, and many had actually 
 starved to death; but in 1900, it had become 
 so widespread that the government was 
 scarcely prepared to meet it. In spite of all 
 
The Famine 
 
 277 
 
 the criticism that may be offered, the British 
 officials in every instance did their utmost 
 to provide employment for all classes in ac- 
 tual need, and those who were too weak to 
 work were freely provided with daily food. 
 It is said that millions of people always 
 live on the verge of starvation in India; and 
 any one who has been a resident of that 
 country even for a short time cannot doubt 
 the statement. The common day laborer 
 earns but eight cents a day if a man,' and four 
 cents a day if a woman. This is the usual 
 standard of wages when grain is at its normal 
 
 Making Cow Dung Cakes for Fuel 
 
278 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 value. Millions of people in India never save 
 a penny for a "rainy day," and actually live 
 "from hand to mouth" in the true sense of 
 the term. The majority are in debt to the 
 money lender, who receives high rates of in- 
 terest on his money; for in India, as every- 
 where else, "the love of money is the root of 
 all evil." 
 
 CATTLE COMMITTING SUICIDE 
 
 It was a sad sight when the downhearted 
 and discouraged farmers went into their fields 
 and pulled up the partly grown cornstalks by 
 the roots. It had grown but eight or ten 
 inches, and then died. Every one knew that 
 no more could be sown for at least twelve 
 months; so these tiny bundles of fodder were 
 carefully stored away for the many cattle de- 
 pendent on them. Water in all the wells 
 gradually grew lower, and after a while, dried 
 up altogether. Instances were observed 
 where cows in search of water walked re- 
 peatedly around these dry wells, bellowing as 
 they went; then, placing their forefeet upon 
 the curbing, plunged down headlong, and 
 were dashed to death at the bottom. 
 
 As grain became scarce and very ex- 
 pensive, the low-caste women were frequently 
 
The Famine 279 
 
 seen in the fields with baskets and brooms 
 sweeping up seeds of any kind that might 
 have fallen the previous year. After win- 
 nowing this grain out by hand, they would 
 grind it in their hand mills, finally making it 
 into bread. Cattle ate the leaves of the 
 banyan and babul trees. In fact, all the 
 trees that had any green leaves were hacked 
 to pieces to be fed to the starving cattle. 
 Many people boiled the leaves for food as 
 well, though surely it was not a very nutri- 
 tious diet. 
 
 Children from the lower castes collected 
 bones, and after crushing them with stones, 
 ate them. A carpenter's son gradually wasted 
 away. He had scarcely any clothing on his 
 emaciated body. Finally he tied a knot in a 
 rope, and placing the knot over his stomach, 
 tied the rope at his back, and thus went about 
 our town begging for food. One day, after 
 we refused to assist him, he sat down in 
 the middle of the public highway, and ac- 
 tually ate the dust of the street. We helped 
 him some, but could not provide for all 
 such cases. 
 
 Such pathetic sights are painful to witness, 
 and arouse all the sympathies of the human 
 heart. The government advised missionaries 
 
280 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 not to make a practice of giving out money 
 without something in retiu-n; but of coiu'se, 
 this rule could not be insisted upon in the 
 case of children. Government relief camps 
 were opened all over the country, and labor 
 was provided for all who were able to work. 
 Stones were gathered from the fields, and 
 broken into small pieces with hammers, to be 
 used in building roads. Thus millions of 
 men, women, and children found employ- 
 ment. The wages paid were but a trifle, 
 however, and in many instances scarcely 
 enough to keep them. Many were too weak 
 to work after reaching the relief camp, and 
 it was quite impossible for them to sit in the 
 hot sun and break stone all day; so large 
 numbers were compelled to give up, lie down 
 on the ground, and starve to death. 
 
 The people of India do not use glassware 
 and crockery as much as we do, but they 
 use brass and copper instead. These metals 
 are generally sold by weight, and may be 
 disposed of at any time. In their straitened 
 circumstances, the people exchanged all their 
 household utensils for bread. 
 
 Then, too, they are fond of jewelry, and 
 usually wear quantities of it; but now this 
 was also gladly sold. Those who were able 
 
The Famine 281 
 
 to purchase at such a time were sure to take 
 advantage of the dire need of the people, 
 whose goods were always sold at great sacri- 
 fice and loss. Clothing, cattle, farming im- 
 plements, and even their small holdings of 
 land were disposed of for bread. Frequently 
 children were sold. Thousands of discour- 
 aged souls left their homes, and wandered 
 wherever inclination led, in search of food 
 and water. 
 
 Gradually the police became responsible 
 for these people, and they were driven from 
 place to place, or herded together like 
 cattle. They were sick in mind and body, 
 and many of them became careless and indif- 
 ferent to all ties of home and kindred. Thus 
 they forsook one another, and families be- 
 came separated, never to be reunited. 
 
 In some cases, the weaker members of 
 the family were driven out to beg and shift 
 for themselves, while the stronger ones care- 
 fully preserved the little that remained for 
 their own needs, and so pulled through. The 
 temptation to steal was naturally great; and 
 scarcely anything was safe, even under lock 
 and key. The mission lost cattle, fowls, and 
 much valuable household stuff. In one in- 
 stance, thieves dug out the frame of the 
 
282 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 cookhouse window in the mission compound, 
 and stole several large copper kettles and 
 seventeen brass plates, the property of our 
 boys' orphanage. All day long these poor 
 people congregated about the mission house, 
 pleading for food and water. Many of 
 them lost all sense of fear, shame, and con- 
 sideration for others. In fact, they had little 
 or no hope of life, and seemed not to care 
 what became of them. 
 
 Water was not to be found even in the 
 deepest ravines in the jungles; and wild 
 animals prowled about our houses at night, 
 endeavoring to get a drink from our water 
 jars placed out in the wind to cool. As the 
 mission house windows had strong iron bars 
 in them, we felt perfectly safe inside. 
 
 The government excavated deep pits in the 
 river beds, and thus provided a limited supply 
 of water for us. These pits were all pro- 
 tected by police both day and night; and 
 what water we obtained by hauling it in 
 barrels was kept under lock and key, and 
 carefully given out to those under our care. 
 Not a drop was wasted. I^arge numbers of 
 people not only did not have water with 
 which to bathe, but for months at a time did 
 not even have enough to drink. Their cloth- 
 
The Famine 283 
 
 ing became filthy, and their bodies diseased 
 and alive with vermin. 
 
 Epidemics of cholera, plague, and other 
 diseases were the natural result. Many sick- 
 ened and died without care or medical at- 
 tendance. Government officials were not 
 anticipating anything so widespread, and 
 hence were unable to cope with it properly. 
 Were another famine soon to prevail over 
 such a vast area, past experience would en- 
 able officials to deal with it more promptly 
 and successfully. 
 
 Many of the educated natives were placed 
 in responsible positions, handling large sums 
 of charity funds. This became a source of 
 temptation; and in certain instances, much 
 was squandered that should have been dealt 
 out to the needy under their charge. Some 
 of these men were unfeeling and cruel, and 
 the people were wronged and oppressed by 
 them. 
 
 THE LABOR OF MISSIONARIES 
 
 Missionaries of all denominations endeav- 
 ored to gather as many orphans as they 
 could into their schools; but in some in- 
 stances, the high-caste Hindus declared they 
 preferred to see their children starve to death 
 
284 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 rather than become Christians. The world 
 was informed of the pressing need in India 
 at that time; and as fast as sympathizing 
 friends responded to the call, assistance was 
 rendered to all, without regard to color, caste, 
 age, or sex. Those who bore the responsi- 
 bilities of those famine days will never forget 
 their peculiarly trying experiences. 
 
 It was indeed a time of human helplessness, 
 and drove us constantly to seek wisdom and 
 help from above. Many missionaries not only 
 overworked, but denied themselves even the 
 necessities of life. It has been said that 
 "when virtue is overdone, it ceases to be a 
 virtue, and becomes a vice." But not until too 
 late did some learn that they had gone too 
 far in their labor of love, when they were 
 forced to lay down their lives, victims of 
 fever and general exhaustion. 
 
 Not only did human beings die, but cattle, 
 birds, and every living thing that could not 
 get water. One result of this condition was 
 great swarms of flies, which collected about 
 our dwellings until we could scarcely eat. 
 At mealtimes, we stationed two native boys 
 with napkins to drive the flies away. In one 
 instance, sixteen of our orphan boj^s could 
 not eat their rice, because of the flies. There 
 
The Famine 
 
 285 
 
 was so much decaying flesh on all sides, that 
 the fly became indeed a deadly pest. 
 
 One day, several orphan boys had been to 
 the jungles for firewood; and on their return, 
 they hastened to tell us they had seen a man 
 who evidently had starved by the roadside, 
 and whose body had been partly devoured 
 by jackals. Another time, our Hindu cook 
 started for his home in the village. The 
 night was dark, and he could with difficulty 
 see his way. Suddenly he was startled by 
 a moving object in his path. Halting to get 
 a clearer view, he discovered a baby girl. 
 
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 A Loaded Donkey 
 
286 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 which had been thrown out in the street to 
 die. The cook picked her up, and brought 
 her to the mission, where she was kindly cared 
 for. To-day she is a bright Christian young 
 woman in a mission school in Central India. 
 
 While out for a walk with several mission 
 children one day, we heard a pitiful cry, 
 which sounded as if it came from the ground. 
 Where could it be? Only a heap of thorn 
 brush was near. Again we listened, and at 
 last discovered a baby boy in a hole in the 
 ground, covered with cow manure and a 
 heap^ of thorns. Large black ants were 
 crawling over its naked body, and soon would 
 have begun to eat its flesh. How it came 
 there we never knew. It was taken to the 
 mission house, and as tenderly cared for as 
 if it had been our own. Thus in the provi- 
 dence of God, many lives were rescued; but 
 while the missionaries were saving all the 
 lives they could to educate and uplift, wicked 
 Mohammedans were collecting youths to 
 train for anything but good. 
 
 A cargo of American corn was sent to 
 India in the good ship "Quito," and I had 
 the privilege of distributing thousands of 
 pounds of it. A regular time was appointed 
 for the people to assemble in the public road, 
 
The Famine 287 
 
 and the corn was given out in teacupfuls. 
 We might have helped more people with 
 this corn; but as the cattle died off with 
 hunger and thirst, it was impossible to haul 
 it in bullock carts to our mission, a distance 
 of twenty-eight miles. 
 
 During the famine, we hired many to bring 
 stone, lime, and wood. At one station, we 
 thus employed nearly five hundred persons 
 for eight months; and after converting all 
 this building material into houses, we were 
 led to thank God for what had been accom- 
 plished. That eventful year, we gave out 
 for labor several thousand dollars, and re- 
 lieved much suffering. 
 
 Meetings were daily carried on for the 
 people in our charge; and before the year 
 closed, I had the pleasure of baptizing a 
 large number who had become Christians. 
 
 During the year 1900, and out of those 
 awful famine conditions, many acquired a 
 knowledge of the true God ; and we trust that 
 some of these will be among those who shall 
 finally be saved. 
 
 19 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 Susie and the Sugar Plum 
 
 S usual, we were very busy about the 
 mission. There had been no rain for 
 several months, famine stared us in 
 the face, and the natives on all sides 
 were downhearted and full of fear. 
 No wonder, for they always lived "from hand 
 to mouth," and had little or nothing laid by 
 to meet such an emergency. Many of the 
 older people had passed through more than 
 one famine, and the sad tales of poverty 
 and starvation they related to one another 
 were most pathetic. In times of drought 
 and scarcity, families had lost their worldly 
 possessions, and had been separated, never 
 to meet again. 
 
 Nearly every day, the poor natives came 
 to the mission house pleading for help, till 
 we were at our wit's end to know what to do. 
 In most instances, they wanted work; but we 
 had no work for them. Among others who 
 came into the mission compound was a thin 
 old kunbee, or Hindu farmer. A half-starved 
 little girl, wholly nude, slowly followed on 
 after the old man. She may have been four 
 
 (288) 
 
Susie and the Sugar Plum 289 
 
 years of age; but she looked like a little, 
 dried-iip old woman. 
 
 The man and the child were not so bold as 
 some, and did not venture very close to the 
 house, but sat down in the yard, flat on the 
 ground, in regular native fashion. The poor 
 old farmer looked tired, hungry, and worried. 
 He called to us, and asked if we gave work 
 to poor people, and if we had anything for 
 him to do. We said we sometimes helped 
 needy cases, but that we had no work to offer 
 any one just then. He looked quite disap- 
 pointed, then related his sad story of need. 
 
 A Typical Indian Boy 
 
 Susie 
 
^90 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 His wife was dead, he had no food in the 
 home, and he was about ready to lie down and 
 die. He had that one little girl; and with 
 a fond glance at her, and then a pleading look 
 at us, he said, "Will you take care of her if 
 I give her to you?" We gladly promised to 
 be as father and mother to the child. The 
 old man's heart was too sad for conversation. 
 He loosened his hold upon the bony little 
 thing, who had quietly slipped up close to 
 his side; then passing his hard, crooked 
 fingers over her little face and head, he 
 turned away to leave. 
 
 We saw that it was hard for him to part 
 with his poor little girl, even to leave her with 
 kind friends, and we pitied him. As he 
 started off, we called the child to us. Evi- 
 dently she was frightened, and had begun to 
 feel that her father was to leave her. She 
 gave a loud scream, and started toward him. 
 "I don't think she will stay with you," he 
 said. 
 
 "Oh, yes, she will," I said, and then I be- 
 gan in childish language to talk to her. Our 
 white faces were new to her, and she really 
 was afraid. We bade the father be seated, 
 and wait there a moment. We wanted this 
 child to train for Christ, and meant to get 
 
Susie and the Sugar Plum 291 
 
 her, as she was to be given away. We ran 
 into the house and brought out a big lump 
 of gool, or raw sugar. 
 
 The famished little waif grasped it with 
 delight, and then we asked her to come with 
 us for more. We told her we had clean 
 clothes, and plenty of food for her, too. She 
 looked up at us with a pleased glance, as 
 much as to say she almost believed what we 
 said; and without a moment's hesitation, she 
 gave me her hand, and came into the house 
 with me. Her sad-hearted parent never said 
 good-by, but slowly walked away in silence. 
 He glanced back several times to get a last 
 look at his child, and thus the tie was broken. 
 He had given away his all. 
 
 While we sympathized with him, we were 
 glad of our treasure. She came from a good 
 class of people, and her father had given her 
 to us of his own free choice. She wanted to 
 come, after she had received the sugar plum, 
 with a promise of more. The Hindus did 
 not want her; they would not spend a penny 
 on thousands of such. Little girls were too 
 plentiful in a nation of three hundred mil- 
 lions; they had many more than they knew 
 what to do with. But we saw grand possi- 
 bilities for that young life trained in the true 
 
292 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 faith, and educated in our mission schools, 
 and were glad to get her. We knew that 
 when some of the good people of America 
 heard of her and the other little waifs in our 
 care, they would gladly sacrifice for their 
 support; so in faith we welcomed this child 
 and many others to our family circle at the 
 mission in those days. 
 
 The child was now inside our big stone 
 house, sucking away at another piece of 
 sugar. We feared she might rim out, and 
 scream for her father; so we fed her well. 
 We asked her name; and she said, "Sukie." 
 This we changed a bit, and called her Susie. 
 
 She was dirty and uncouth, and one could 
 count all her ribs. We called a native woman 
 to clean her up, first removing several brass 
 rings from her ears, and one from her nose. 
 Then she was taken to the bathroom, and 
 given a "proper" wash in soapsuds. Her 
 hair had never been combed; and although 
 it was nearly black next to the head, the ends 
 were sunburned to a reddish brown. When 
 the attendants tried to comb her hair, they 
 found a large sore spot on the back of her 
 head, covered with a knotty, matted mass 
 of hair. In the sore were numbers of vermin 
 eating their way into the flesh, and making 
 
Susie and the Sugar Plum 293 
 
 it raw and painful. Again we thanked God 
 that Susie had fallen into our hands. Her 
 hair was all cut off, and her head properly 
 cleaned, and saturated with coconut oil. 
 After her warm bath, her whole body was 
 also well rubbed with oil. 
 
 Imagine how Susie must have felt to have 
 a clean white sardie, or dress, at four years 
 of age, after running nude all her lifetime. 
 A smile came over her thin little features — 
 and that smile was reward enough for all 
 our efforts to clean her up. A brown goat's 
 hair blanket was given her, and a tin cup and 
 plate. At night she slept on the floor among 
 a lot of other little girls who had been taken 
 in under similar conditions. A natural sym- 
 pathy existed between them, and they re- 
 spected and loved their white foster parents. 
 
 For some time, Susie was weak and deli- 
 cate; but good, warm buffaloes' milk, and 
 plenty of plain corn bread, soon made a 
 change in the thin little frame, and she be- 
 came well and plump. 
 
 As soon as she was strong enough, we as- 
 signed her to a class in school. At first, one 
 of her eyes was quite weak; but with care and 
 treatment, she came through all right. Susie 
 was fond of books, and soon learned to read 
 
294 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 very well. It was almost amusing to see 
 her seated on the hard stone floor, her legs 
 stretched out straight, and a Bible on her 
 knees — such a little girl, and such a big 
 book. In a few months after she entered the 
 mission school, you would scarcely have recog- 
 nized her as the same child. Instead of look- 
 ing older, she looked younger, only plump 
 and fat. 
 
 THE BLESSED FRUIT OF LABOR 
 
 It was not long till Susie learned the plan 
 of salvation, and was able to answer any 
 simple question put to her about the true 
 religion. Soon she began to pray, like our 
 other Christian girls; for our mission girls 
 are taught to pray even before they are con- 
 verted. We think it a good plan for them 
 to start on the right road at once. 
 
 Susie confessed her sins, and gave her 
 heart to Jesus; and her prayers and testi- 
 monies helped make oiu' meetings what they 
 were. She always wore a smile, and every 
 one loved her. When others gave in their 
 names as candidates for baptism, Susie gave 
 in hers also, and was baptized. Her faith 
 grew fast, and she had not been with us 
 long until everybody knew where she stood. 
 
Susie and the Sugar Plum 295 
 
 Several years have rolled by since then, 
 and Susie is a fine, healthy, Christian young 
 woman. She lives in a mission school in 
 Central India, and is doing good work. She 
 has learned to grind flour in the stone mill, 
 cook, wash, and sew. What a change in the 
 life of that heathen child! All her life, her 
 heart will swell with thanksgiving for what 
 God and His servants have done for her. 
 It would do your heart good to hear her 
 pray, speak, and sing in meeting. She is 
 one of our brightest daughters in the native 
 church in India. 
 
 From the moment we gave her the lump 
 of sugar, Susie has been detached from all 
 her past, and attached to the mission. Her 
 old father may have died in the famine from 
 which she was rescued. He has never been 
 to see her; and so far as we know, she has 
 never shed a tear for him or her people. The 
 years she has spent in school have fitted her 
 for a life of usefulness and service for Christ. 
 While these lines are being penned, this 
 young woman is better fitting herself for 
 the Lord's work among her native sisters. 
 
 Let any who may read these lines, always 
 remember that offerings contributed for such 
 work bring forth compound interest. 
 
C. V. Kalle and Family, One of Our Grown-up Boys 
 Who Is Now Compounder and Preacher 
 
 (296) 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 Answered Prayer 
 
 OD has given some wonderfully reas- 
 suring answers to the prayers of His 
 servants in foreign mission fields. To 
 them He has given a special call to 
 do a special work, and doubtless 
 He delights to encourage their hearts and 
 strengthen His cause intrusted to them. 
 
 We have already seen how Kasho, a young 
 native convert, spent three months in earnest 
 praj^er to the end that missionaries might be 
 sent to a certain town. The Lord answered 
 his prayer, sent the men, and established His 
 own work in that place. Souls have been 
 saved there, and the work of the Lord still 
 moves on. While living at that very sta- 
 tion, and laboring daily among the people, I 
 was constantly impressed to undertake a cer- 
 tain line of mission work. I consulted several 
 other workers upon the matter, but did not 
 secure their cooperation or approval. Feel- 
 ing that "in the multitude of counselors there 
 is safetj^" and that doubtless my own desire 
 actuated me more than the desire of the Lord, 
 I decided that perhaps it was best to drop 
 
 (297) 
 
298 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 the matter altogether. But I could not drop 
 it; for the plan was always in my mind, and 
 day by day the need for that special work 
 seemed greater. Still everything in the world 
 seemed against it. Would it not take money? 
 And I did not possess a cent for such a 
 purpose. 
 
 In order to test the matter, I wrote out in 
 detail the plan with which I had been im- 
 pressed, and literally obeyed the command 
 of the Lord, "Enter into thy closet, and when 
 thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father 
 which is in secret;" trusting the promise, 
 "And thy Father which seeth in secret shall 
 reward thee openly." Placing on a chair the 
 paper on which the plan was written, I made 
 the special request: "O Lord, if this is Thy 
 plan, and if we should take up this special 
 work, then be pleased to prove it to us by 
 sending the needed money, even if it takes 
 three months. If the money never comes, 
 then we shall be sure Thou dost not require 
 it of us." 
 
 There I left the whole matter, my heart 
 at rest in the peace of faith, content if the 
 answer came as a refusal, and went back to 
 my daily tasks without a concern as to the 
 matter. About three days after that, a cable- 
 
Answered Prayer 
 
 209 
 
 gram came, and with it an order for over 
 one thousand rupees, or about $325. 
 
 I was indeed thankful that this special re- 
 quest had been answered in a special way, 
 and that God had thus proved His willing- 
 ness to do "exceeding abundantly above all 
 that we ask or think." The way of duty now 
 seemed clear, and I undertook the work with- 
 out a doubt or a fear. And whatever of 
 difficulty was met in its prosecution, I was 
 always able to look up, and say, "Lord, 
 Thou didst give us this duty, the plan, the 
 
 On the Way to the Dispensary 
 
 {Carried in this manner thirteen miles, went 
 away smiling.) 
 
300 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 call, and the means." The cablegram was 
 evidently sent about the time we were plead- 
 ing with the Lord for clearer light and guid- 
 ance. "Before they call, I will answer; and 
 while they are yet speaking, I will hear." 
 
 BY PRAYER AND FASTING 
 
 At another time, one of our native Chris- 
 tian families had some personal difHculty in 
 their home, resulting in gossip, and finally in 
 a separation. This was sad indeed, and likely 
 to hinder greatly a revival that had just 
 begun among us. We knew that the heathen 
 would rejoice, and would ridicule this family 
 and the whole Christian community, and say 
 that we were no better than they, and that 
 it would be better not to become Christians. 
 Heathen men beat their wives and keep them 
 shut up, but Christian men may not lawfully 
 beat their wives. 
 
 I endeavored to settle the trouble by ad- 
 vising the distracted persons, but without 
 success; for they both had grievances, and 
 both preferred separation to constant trouble. 
 We knew that this state of things must not 
 continue, or the whole mission would suffer, 
 and the Spirit of God would be grieved 
 away from our work. The more we prayed, 
 
Answered Prayer 301 
 
 the more this scripture suggested itself to us: 
 "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and 
 fasting." We had never met just "this 
 kind" before; but our hearts responded to the 
 challenge, and if it meant fasting and prayer, 
 we were ready for it. So we set to work on 
 our knees to straighten out the trouble that 
 threatened our church, realizing that the 
 forces of evil were strong against us, and 
 that we were indeed in a battle. 
 
 But the Lord gave us His spirit of prayer, 
 and we were assured we should prevail. For 
 a week, we ate only enough to keep our 
 strength for the work; and at the end of 
 that time, feeling that "the iron was hot," so 
 to speak, and that we must "strike," we 
 quietly approached the contending parties, 
 and in a few cautious words showed them that 
 they were both wrong, and that they should 
 beg each other's pardon and make their 
 hearts right before God. Then we laid down 
 the burden; for we had pleaded with the 
 Lord, and were sure He was even more in- 
 terested in the outcome than we. At once, 
 without argument, they saw their wrong, 
 and, after prayer, agreed to consent to live 
 together as Christians. The wife made a 
 good supper, the father clasped his little boy 
 
302 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 in his arms with all the fondness of days 
 gone by, and so far as we know, that family 
 have lived together united and happy ever 
 since. God answers prayer. 
 
 PRAYER BROUGHT VICTORY 
 
 A native stonemason had been engaged to 
 do a certain piece of work for the mission; 
 but before he completed it, the monsoon 
 rains came, and in the middle of the night, 
 we were aroused by an awful crash. At 
 once we thought of the wall of the new 
 building; but the night was dark and wild, 
 and we did not go to see. In the morning, 
 we found that the wall of the building in 
 process of construction had fallen flat to 
 the ground. 
 
 Then we called the mason, and questioned 
 him about his work. He agreed to complete 
 the job, and leave it in good condition, but 
 asked for an advance of money. Very re- 
 luctantly we complied. Again, in the next 
 heavy shower, his work fell. Now we tested 
 his materials, and found that he had mixed 
 white clay with the lime. Of course, the ad- 
 hesive quality of clay was not equal to that 
 of lime, so the whole thing gave way when 
 it was tested by rain. 
 
Answered Prayer 303 
 
 Again we called the mason, and after re- 
 monstrating with him, refused to let him go 
 on with the work or to pay him. He was 
 angry, for he had been detected in his wrong- 
 doing. Had the rain not fallen just then, we 
 might not have discerned the defective work 
 until the roof of the building had been con- 
 structed, and an even greater loss sustained. 
 
 Soon a defiant letter came from the mason. 
 He tried to intimidate us by saying that if 
 the money he claimed was not immediately 
 forthcoming, he would prosecute us. What 
 money we had all belonged to the Lord, and 
 we were but His stewards. It was not worth 
 while to deal with that deceptive mason; so 
 I spread the matter before the Lord, and 
 especially asked Him to block every plan of 
 the enemy. We had no desire to parley with 
 him either in court or out of it. I confess 
 that my request seemed a bold one, but I 
 knew that my object was right. That season 
 of prayer brought the desired victory. The 
 mason never came to us, nor wrote us again, 
 until he came to apologize for his conduct, 
 and proved his sincerity by sending us a tray 
 full of delicious fruit. Thus again we proved 
 bending the knees before the God of prayer 
 
 20 
 
304 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 a better plan than trying to adjust matters 
 by litigation. 
 
 "Oh, what peace we often forfeit, 
 Oh, what needless pain we bear. 
 All because we do not carry 
 Everything to God in prayer!" 
 
 THAT WHICH IS LEAST 
 
 The mission owned a large herd of fine 
 buffalo cows, which supplied our mission 
 school with fresh milk for the children, and 
 curds for the older ones. A fine lot of butter 
 was also turned out twice a week, and sold 
 for grain. In India, the cattle must be con- 
 stantly watched, as the pasture is not fenced 
 or hedged in. One day while the gowlie, 
 or herdsman, was taking a noonday rest 
 under a shade tree, our cattle wandered off 
 into forbidden pastures. 
 
 The native sepoy, or police, are ever on 
 the alert for stray animals, whose depreda- 
 tions are among the most common annoy- 
 ances in a land where fences are seldom 
 erected; so when our cattle were discovered 
 out of place, they were driven off to the 
 pound, and it would cost more than the 
 month's wages of the herdsman to get them 
 out. Just as we were about to begin our 
 regular afternoon service, the gowlie came in, 
 
Answered Prayer 305 
 
 greatly excited, to tell us his troubles. We 
 replied that he was responsible for the care 
 of our cattle during the day, and for their 
 safe arrival at night; therefore he must re- 
 turn them by sundown. 
 
 We knew he had no money, but we also 
 knew that the mission could not afford to 
 pay for the negligence of its servants, and if 
 we excused him, we should have no end of 
 trouble all the year. A congregation were 
 waiting in the meetinghouse for service, and 
 the gotvlie waited at the door, not satisfied 
 with my reply. He wanted me to pay the 
 fine and free the herd. I was perplexed. 
 The cattle must be cared for and milked 
 that evening, and I had also to minister to 
 that waiting congregation. 
 
 Deliberately I took time to closet myself 
 in prayer, and said, "O Lord, if Thou canst 
 afford to pay for all these cattle now in the 
 pound, amen." There we rested the matter, 
 assured that all would be well. I went to 
 the meeting, and the Lord met with us and 
 blessed us. The cattle came home all right, 
 and the bill had been paid. The gowlie bor- 
 rowed the money himself, and paid for them. 
 But even in this little matter, I learned anew 
 to cast all my care upon Him, knowing that 
 
306 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 "He careth for us," and that in moments of 
 trial and testing, He hears, answers, and de- 
 livers. 
 
 Three of us missionaries agreed to buy, on 
 the installment plan, a certain property for 
 the Lord's work; and as rents were counted 
 on the principal, we felt quite safe. It took 
 three years to pay the first half of the price 
 asked for this property; and at the end of 
 the third year, the man who sold us the place 
 demanded the second half of the money within 
 three months' time. This demand seemed un- 
 reasonable; but we knew that if he chose, he 
 could foreclose, and we should lose all we had 
 paid, with many important improvements. 
 
 We had not a cent of mission money on 
 hand; but we began to pray, believing that 
 God would direct us, and were impressed 
 that we should trust Him, and not reply to 
 the letter until we could pay the last farthing. 
 We felt that we should test God and our- 
 selves, and follow our impressions in the mat- 
 ter, though it meant that we must raise as 
 much in three months as we had previously 
 raised in three years. Finally we argued that 
 it was not for us, but for the Lord and His 
 cause; and if He could meet the demand in 
 three months. He could meet it in one. So 
 
Answered Prayer 307 
 
 we laid the matter before the Lord, and left 
 it completely in His hands. 
 
 We agreed to pray daily at the family 
 altar for the full amount in a month, and 
 not a day passed but we did as we had 
 agreed. Then to help answer our own 
 prayers, each emptied his pocketbook into a 
 small box to start the fund. All together we 
 had two dollars in cash. We gladly gave 
 all we had, and trusted God for the rest. 
 
 That was a month of most importunate 
 prayer. Nearly every day, a little came in, 
 some of it in most unexpected ways and 
 from unlooked-for sources; and to the glory 
 of God, at the end of one month, we saw 
 that we had as much money as we had gained 
 before in three years. Not a cent had been 
 borrowed, neither had we written to our 
 friends for money. God, who knew our dire 
 need, and saw our faith, would not suffer us 
 to be defeated when it was for His glory and 
 the upbuilding of His work that our request 
 should be granted. 
 
 At the end of the month, we had a special 
 thanksgiving service together. Then we 
 wrote to our creditor, and said, "Please do 
 not wait three months, but come at once and 
 get the full amount due you on the property." 
 
308 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 One more instance: The heathen parents 
 of some of our children sent for their little 
 ones through the court. We had taken 
 these children in time of famine, and had 
 cared for them for several years, and it was 
 hard indeed to think of parting with them. 
 They had become Christians, and their rela- 
 tives were heathen. For them to quit our 
 school after the training we had given them, 
 and return to heathen homes and villages, 
 would be detrimental in every way, and our 
 labor would be practically lost. But what 
 could we do ? — Nothing but pray most 
 earnestly. We had a long and tedious 
 journey to make with these children to at- 
 tend court, — almost eighty miles in spring- 
 less bullock carts. 
 
 However, we made the trip; and on the 
 day appointed, and at the proper hour, we 
 were at the court with our little charges. 
 Not one of them wanted to leave the mission 
 school; and they, as well as we, had prayed 
 most earnestly. When we came before the 
 English judge in court, he called for the 
 parents who claimed the children. To the 
 surprise of all, not one of them was present to 
 press his claim. The judge very kindly ad- 
 vised us to take the children home with us. 
 
Ansmered Prayer 309 
 
 and not give them up without written orders 
 from the government. This was another 
 special answer to prayer. 
 
 jNIany other instances might be cited where 
 in sickness and danger the Lord looked upon 
 us in mercy, and delivered us in answer to 
 prayer. 
 
 "They who trust Him wholly, 
 Find Him wholly true." 
 
(310) 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 What It Means to Give India 
 the Gospel 
 
 T is not enough to send a few loyal 
 representatives of the message among 
 so vast a population as that of India; 
 neither is it sufficient to give out a 
 few books and tracts, and then look 
 for a great harvest of souls. The field is 
 immense, the work great, and time is an 
 element of success in all large undertakings. 
 While it is true that many of the heathen 
 in India desire help, and are ready to be 
 taught, there are many more who are quite 
 satisfied with their present condition, and are 
 always ready to cry out, like some of old: 
 "What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou 
 Son of God? art Thou come hither to tor- 
 ment us before the time?" 
 
 Many years ago the missionary did not 
 have free access to the people in India. Not 
 so to-day. Since the British government 
 practically controls the whole of India, every 
 door is open wide for the spread of Bible 
 truth. Thank God for this. But there are 
 still difficulties to be met, and these must 
 
 (311) 
 
312 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 not and cannot be overlooked. As we face 
 them, our hearts shoukl be drawn out in 
 2)rayer that God will go before His messen- 
 gers, and prepare the w^ay before them. Has 
 He not said, "I will go before thee"? 
 
 CASTES 
 
 Probabl}'' the first and greatest hindrance 
 to the spread of the gospel in India to-day 
 is the old and iron-bound caste system. The 
 word "caste" is used in such an indiscriminate 
 manner in America that it loses its true 
 meaning; whereas in India it is always used 
 in the exclusive sense, having a specific and 
 j)ositive force. ISFo other people on the face 
 of the earth are so bound about by caste 
 rides and prejudices as the benighted peoples 
 of India, particularly the Hindus. In Eu- 
 rope, America, and some other lands, society 
 is more or less divided into clans and cliques, 
 according to education, wealth, official posi- 
 tion, color, language, and attainments; but 
 these are not the constituent elements of that 
 seemingly impregnable system called zarth, 
 or caste, in Hindustan. 
 
 In our land, an individual belonging to a 
 very ordinary stratum of society to-day, may 
 to-morrow, })y his personal endeavors and 
 
What It Means 313 
 
 strength of character, be received into the 
 society of those he once did not, and perhaps 
 could not, associate with. Not so in India. 
 Caste in this pitiful land is altogether a ques- 
 tion of birth, and has nothing whatever to 
 do with wealth, education, position, or per- 
 sonal character. No w^onder that poor per- 
 sons in India are fatalists, and believe in 
 Nasheeh, or fate. JNIany of them desire to 
 rise; but it is their "luck," as they say, to be 
 born in that lower scale of human society, 
 from which, they are taught, there is no 
 escape. 
 
 It is true that the best classes of society 
 are usually found among the upper castes; 
 but if a man is born a fool in a high-caste 
 family, he is more honorable than a wise man, 
 no matter how great his attainments, in a 
 low-caste family. One frequently sees beg- 
 gars who are high-caste people and honored 
 by all, and rich low-caste men who are dis- 
 honored by all. 
 
 There are practically four great castes in 
 India: first, the sacred Brahman, includ- 
 ing the priests, or Brahmans, who are also 
 the philosophers and men of letters; second, 
 the military or protecting class, commonly 
 called the Kshatriya, or protectors from 
 
314 F?'uit from the Jungle 
 
 evil; third, Vaisya, which includes merchants, 
 tradesmen, husbandmen, etc., who are con- 
 sidered the nourishers of the state; fourth, 
 the Sudra, who, proceeding from the feet of 
 Brahma, are servants to the higher orders, 
 mechanics, etc. These four castes are said 
 to have sprung from the head, heart, thighs, 
 and feet of Brahma. Besides these orders, 
 which are divided into families under a great 
 variety of rules, there are a number of mixed 
 castes, occasioned by mixed marriages; and 
 lastly, the outcastes, who are held in utter 
 detestation by all. 
 
 Hindus sometimes say there are twelve and 
 one half castes, and each one of these twelve 
 and one half have twelve and one half castes 
 more; and so it goes, like an endless chain, 
 until there are actually hundreds of castes in 
 India, and scarcely anybody knows where 
 the system ends. 
 
 BONDAGE or CASTE 
 
 The Brahman is high and lifted up in his 
 pride, conceit, and self-esteem. He is a 
 god to all beneath him; and most pitiful of 
 all, the man of a lower caste, as well as the 
 high-caste man himself, believes this to be 
 actually so. The abuse to which this spirit 
 
(315) 
 
316 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 of self-esteem is carried is painful in the 
 extreme. For instance, the high-caste man 
 is very particular to take his daily bath, and 
 repeats his prayers all the while he is bath- 
 ing. This over, he at once hobbles on his 
 wooden sandals to his house for his morning 
 meal. If perchance the shadow of a low- 
 caste man should fall upon the high-caste 
 man, he must take a full bath all over again 
 before he eats, because that shadow has 
 defiled him. From this, one can readily see 
 with what contempt the high-caste man looks 
 upon one of an inferior caste. A low-caste 
 man must never go upon the housetop of a 
 high-caste man until the people have vacated 
 the house. Thus the people of India are ever 
 in absolute bondage to thousands of customs 
 and rules. Nothing but the grace of God in 
 their hearts will ever change these conditions. 
 One day a native Christian accidentally 
 touched a yoke of oxen pulling a cart con- 
 taining a barrel of water. The driver, a 
 high-caste man, became enraged, beat the 
 Christian, and according to caste rules, had 
 to empt}^ all that water out upon the ground. 
 Even the missionary must use great wisdom 
 and precaution in his associations with the 
 natives, not to cause ill feeling, and thus 
 
What It Means 317 
 
 hinder the work of the Lord. Sometmies 
 indiscretion has caused serious trouble. 
 
 How different is all this from the spirit 
 of our JNIaster, who said, "One is your 
 Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren." 
 "By this shall all men know that ye are 
 My disciples, if ye have love one to an- 
 other." Instead of being a sign of love, 
 which unites, the sign of Hinduism is caste, 
 which divides. Until this difficulty is over- 
 come, little progress can be made. I regret 
 to say that some have made a compromise by 
 tolerating caste in so-called Christian mis- 
 sions of India. In such circles, the Hindu 
 has kept his old creed, simply adopting a 
 new name. 
 
 The education of the higher and the lower 
 castes in the same lines of thought has a great 
 tendency to equalize the people. The medi- 
 cal missionary plays an active part in the 
 breaking down of caste prejudices. When a 
 high-caste man in great pain presents him- 
 self at the medical missionary dispensary for 
 treatment, it frequently happens that the 
 nurse or assistant who waits upon him is a 
 converted low-caste man. Thus little by 
 little, old-time prejudice vanishes, and the 
 way is opened for the gospel. 
 
318 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 For the purpose of submitting their rep- 
 resentation to the secretary of state for In- 
 dia through the proper authorities, a repre- 
 sentative meeting of the depressed classes of 
 the Dharwar District was convened in the 
 Bengeri Theater, Hubli, under the president- 
 ship of Mr. R. B. Rodd, the first unofficial 
 president of the District Board of Dharwar. 
 The chairman said the chief reason for con- 
 vening the meeting was to give the depressed 
 classes an opportunity of expressing their 
 views on the present political situation and of 
 bringing to the notice of government the 
 several disabilities under which they were ren- 
 dering honest services to the government and 
 the country at large. He earnestly solicited 
 the high castes, even among the depressed 
 classes, to give a helping hand to their low- 
 caste brethren. 
 
 The meeting considered a resolution, which 
 read: "This meeting prays the government of 
 India to pass an enactment that no caste dis- 
 tinctions should be observed in government 
 offices and public institutions, as the same 
 are against the declared British policy of 
 equality and justice." 
 
 The resolution was proposed by Mr. Sa- 
 dashiv Malkajee, Dhar railway guard, who 
 
What It Means 819 
 
 said the practice of regarding the depressed 
 classes as untouchables had crippled their 
 growth as a society, was detrimental to the 
 interests of the nation, and was a great 
 stumblingblock in their elevation. He was at 
 the same time glad to acknowledge that some 
 sympathetic officials were helping them a 
 good deal, but they were only a minority as 
 compared with the remaining number of 
 unsympathetic persons, who went on treating 
 them as untouchables. Mr. Gopal Bhivajee 
 Pal, a mahar contractor of Hubli, seconded 
 the resolution, which was passed. 
 
 It was also resolved "that this meeting begs 
 government to reserve sufficient number of 
 posts, in the government services, for mem- 
 bers of the depressed classes according to 
 their qualifications, as that privilege is at 
 present practically denied to them notwith- 
 standing that they have a population of five 
 crores and over, which is about fifteen per 
 cent of the whole population of India." 
 
 "That this meeting solicits government to 
 create special electorates or introduce a sys- 
 tem of special nominations for the depressed 
 classes to enable them to send their repre- 
 sentatives to public bodies, viz., village pan- 
 chayats, town municipalities. Taluk and Dis- 
 
 21 
 
320 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 trict Lotal Boards, and the Provincial and 
 Imperial Councils, if they are fitted by edu- 
 cation and other qualifications; and this meet- 
 ing further assures government that a num- 
 ber of persons able to represent the depressed 
 classes, can be found among them even 
 to-day." 
 
 FALSE RELIGIONS 
 
 Perhaps the next greatest barrier to the 
 spread of the gospel is the system of false re- 
 ligions extant in India. We find not only- 
 the religion of the Hindus, with its thirty- 
 three million gods, teaching the transmigra- 
 tion of souls through eighty-five thousand 
 births for the elimination of sin from the 
 soul of man, but also the faith of Islam. The 
 Hindus are largely vegetarians, and hold all 
 life as sacred, even the life of an egg, Not 
 so with the Mohammedan, who even kills 
 and eats the sacred cow. While both these 
 false systems cater to all that is low and 
 degraded in the unregenerate human heart, 
 they live and thrive side by side. The Hindu 
 declares that all roads lead to the celestial 
 city, and the Christian religion is therefore 
 all right for the Christian, but that his own 
 will lead to the same end. The Mohammedan 
 
What It Means 321 
 
 says that "God is God, and Mohammed is 
 His prophet;" therefore all should become 
 Mohammedans. 
 
 Besides these already mentioned, we have 
 Zoroastrianism, or the religion of the fire 
 worshiper. The Parsi belongs to this class. 
 His religion consists in saying kind words, 
 thinking kind thoughts, and doing kind deeds. 
 He worships the sun, the moon, the stars, 
 fire, air, and water. 
 
 Again, thousands of scattered Jews are 
 to be found in India. Having lost sight 
 of Jehovah, they have copied many customs 
 from the Hindus, but still call themselves 
 "Yehudyloke." 
 
 The Eurasians, whose fathers were white 
 men and whose mothers were natives, usually 
 speak English, and follow English customs. 
 They form a class by themselves, and are 
 either Protestants or Catholics. 
 
 Many other classes might be mentioned, 
 but enough has been said to show the motley 
 mixture of religious beliefs with which the 
 missionary must battle in the spread of 
 Bible truth. 
 
 In facing a nation of three hundred and 
 fifteen millions, there is no hard and fast rule 
 of attack. One must look to God continually. 
 
322 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 and walk softly, feeling his way along a new 
 and untried path, and trusting God's Holy 
 Spirit to guide him. 
 
 LANGUAGES 
 
 The multitude of languages presents an 
 obstacle, it is true, but not so serious as those 
 already mentioned. To learn a language, or 
 even several of them, is not an impossible 
 task. By consecration, concentration, and 
 hard study, any language may be acquired 
 so accurately that the gospel may be clearly 
 proclaimed in it. Half the difficulty with 
 many who fail lies in the fact that their de- 
 sire to preach the truth to the heathen is not 
 strong enough. "Out of the abundance of 
 the heart the mouth speaketh;" and when 
 the heart is full of the love of God for lost 
 souls, and an opportunity is afforded of 
 learning a way to present that love, erelong 
 love will find words to express itself freely 
 and fully. 
 
 In America, we speak of easy methods and 
 short cuts in the acquisition of certain kinds 
 of knowledge; but there is no easy way to 
 learn a language in India. In fact, as one 
 sits beside his native pundit, or munshi, study- 
 ing those strange sounds, he is often tempted 
 
(323) 
 
324 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 to become discouraged. When he thinks he 
 is making rapid progress in certain lines, he 
 may wake up to the fact that he is all wrong, 
 and that he has not exactly caught the proper 
 accent after all. A certain lady wanted to 
 tell the servant that a wildcat was in the 
 cupboard, but she said a wild sheep was in the 
 cupboard. A slight mistake, it is true; but 
 such mistakes are often embarrassing in the 
 extreme, and a great hindrance to a timid 
 person. 
 
 Native methods of teaching are very dif- 
 ferent from Western methods, and the stu- 
 dent is often puzzled to understand what the 
 teacher is attempting. Sometimes the young 
 missionary finds that his teacher is learning 
 more of English than he himself is learning 
 of the Hindu dialect. Unexpected difficulties 
 arise; and after a while, each man maps out 
 a way of his own, and pursuing his own 
 method, soon gains marvelously, to the sur- 
 prise of teacher, missionary, and friends. 
 After one dialect has been acquired, the ac- 
 quiring of another, or even of several, is not 
 so difficult, if health and strength permit. 
 
 But until one dialect is thoroughly ac- 
 quired, no definite work can be done among 
 natives. Millions of them never learn to 
 
What It Means 325 
 
 speak our language; and if they ever have 
 Christ presented to them, we must speak to 
 them in their own tongue. They will not 
 burden themselves to learn our language; so 
 the responsibility, after all, rests upon us 
 who go to them. 
 
 By many, the climate of India is con- 
 sidered a hindrance to the preaching of the 
 gospel. But God made the people, and God 
 made the climate; and the same God, through 
 His Son, said, "Preach the gospel to every 
 creature." So when God calls and sends to 
 a certain field. He evidently intends to stand 
 by the one sent, until he faithfully delivers 
 the message. 
 
 During the last one hundred and fifty 
 years, missionaries of various creeds have 
 done much to solve many difficulties, and re- 
 cruits ma)^ learn valuable lessons from former 
 workers and those now in the field. Many of 
 the pioneers in this difficult field "loved not 
 their lives unto the death." To-day India is 
 advancing. British rule has brought many 
 blessings and great opportunities for the 
 peoples of this grand and beautiful country. 
 
 In the face of seeming difficulties, it is 
 always best to lift up the shield of faith and 
 proceed for victory. Caste may appear as 
 
326 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 immovable as the mighty rock of Gibraltar. 
 However, all things are possible with God 
 and to those who put their trust in Him. 
 Many have been won from all castes, and 
 to-day are found side by side at the Lord's 
 table. The old sj^stems of false philosophy 
 are crumbling; and where they have failed 
 to bring hope and comfort, there are many 
 ready to plant the cross of Jesus. The many 
 languages that present such a jargon of dis- 
 cordant sounds are gradually being modified 
 by Christian thought, and to-day many 
 tongues are learning of the one Jesus Christ, 
 and say. Hallelujah! Amen! 
 
 The apostle Paul said, "I can do all things 
 through Christ which strengtheneth me;" so 
 with the heaven-called and divinely equipped 
 missionary. He does not stop at caste 
 systems, false religions, strange languages, 
 trying climates, and insurmountable diffi- 
 culties, but he sees Jesus, "the Lamb of God, 
 which taketh away the sin of the world," and 
 ever hears the words that fell from His 
 gracious lips, "I, if I be lifted up from the 
 earth, will draw all men unto Me." To Him, 
 "faith laughs at impossibilities, and cries. It 
 shall be done." 
 
Healing in the Jungle 
 
 BY THE EDITOR 
 
 IJHE Bombay Presidency in western 
 India is a great and important mis- 
 sion field. The territory fronts on 
 the Arabian Sea one thousand miles, 
 with an average breadth of one hun- 
 dred miles. The population numbers twenty- 
 seven millions. Two principal languages are 
 spoken — the Marathi by eighteen million, 
 the Gujarati by nine million. 
 
 The largest city, and one of the finest and 
 cleanest, in India, is Bombay, with a popula- 
 tion of one million. This city is the western 
 gateway to India. It has many beautiful and 
 up-to-date buildings, broad, clean streets, 
 well kept and spacious parks, and generally 
 good sanitation. 
 
 Religiously, the people in this field embrace 
 twenty-one million Hindus, five million Mo- 
 hammedans, 500,000 Jains, 150,000 Roman 
 Catholics, 50,000 nominal Protestants, and 
 80,000 Zoroastrians, the descendants of the 
 old fire-worshiping Parsis from before the 
 days of Cj^rus the Great. In the center of a 
 beautiful park stand their "towers of silence," 
 
 (327) 
 
328 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 on the tops of which are placed their dead to 
 be devoured by vultures. 
 
 Bombay is the headquarters of oiu^ mission 
 work, where there is a growing native church. 
 
 Forty miles northeast of Bombay is our 
 Kalyan mission, in the midst of the deepest, 
 darkest heathenism. At the head of this mis- 
 sion — indeed, the beginners of this mission 
 — are Pastor and Mrs. M. D. Wood, the 
 latter of whom is a physician. This is the 
 first Christian mission established in Kalyan. 
 These devoted workers, with their helpers, 
 are taxed to the utmost. Dr. Wood conducts 
 "one of the largest and best medical dispen- 
 saries in all our mission fields." It was 
 opened in February, 1913. Here is a de- 
 scription of a morning at the mission, hy 
 Pastor Arthur G. Daniells, in 1915, two 
 years after its establishment: 
 
 "We reached Kalyan early enough in the 
 morning to see the w^ork of the day start. 
 There was a great crowd waiting for the 
 doors to open. Before beginning the medical 
 work of the day, the missionaries gathered 
 in the large waiting room. A native brother 
 connected with the mission then read a Scrip- 
 ture lesson, gave them a twenty-minute talk 
 about the gospel, and offered an earnest 
 
(329) 
 
330 Fruit from the Jungle 
 
 prayer for them. . . . Then the dispensary 
 work began. Between fifty and seventy-five 
 persons received attention that day. Some 
 were disposed of in a few minutes, while 
 others were in a serious condition, needing the 
 most thorough, skillful treatment." 
 
 A record is kept of the name, age, sex, re- 
 ligion, and ailment of every person passing 
 through the dispensary. In the year 1914 
 there were 16,421 patients treated, and 978 
 homes visited. These patients represented 85 
 villages. There were 312 minor surgical 
 cases. Diseases range from leprosy to simple 
 sore throat. In connection with this work 
 were given 312 gospel talks, 11,820 pages of 
 literature were distributed, $325 was ex- 
 pended, and $482 received. In 1915, the 
 treatments increased to 21,423. 
 
 The workers also carry healing and bless- 
 ing to villages far and near. In one town 
 sixty miles distant, a dispensary is conducted, 
 the railway authorities granting Dr. Wood a 
 free pass in a first-class compartment, in 
 recognition of her work. 
 
 Pastor Wood conducts two schools, with 
 an attendance of forty, and preaches in 
 Marathi to the people of many surrounding 
 villages. 
 
Healing in the Jungle 331 
 
 Another report of a visit to Kalyan, by 
 Pastor W. T. Knox, in 1917, indicates com- 
 mendable growth. While he looked on the 
 sick who came, one woman totally blind was 
 relieved of the cataracts that had robbed her 
 of sight. 
 
 Two miles from the dispensary is a tract 
 of nine acres belonging to the mission, on 
 which good buildings have been erected. 
 Here Pastor Wood was then conducting a 
 school of about thirty. These children live 
 within the compound, and are housed, fed, 
 and clothed at a cost of about five rupees 
 ($1.60) a month each, and are given what is 
 equivalent to about four grades of school 
 work. Those who give promise of develop- 
 ing into workers are passed on to the ad- 
 vanced school at Lucknow. 
 
 Here we leave them sowing beside all 
 waters, seeing some of that seed develop and 
 bear fruit to the glory of God and the re- 
 joicing of their own hearts. Seed in some 
 soils takes long to germinate and grow. But 
 this is left to God, whose word will not re- 
 turn void, but who will bring some fruitage 
 from the jungle sowing in His own good 
 time, that both sower and reaper "may re- 
 joice together." 
 
For the Quiet Hour 
 
 IN these times of change and uncertainty, such de- 
 votional and consolatory volumes as those de- 
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 or woman. They bring quietness and calmness, rest- 
 fulness to the heart, and at the same time inspire to 
 higher standards of living. 
 
 Alone with God 
 
 With the aid of many inspii-ational incidents, the author em- 
 phasizes the importance of secret prayer and communion with 
 God. Written in such a manner as to fire one with a determina- 
 tion to live "the life that counts." Beautifully printed on high 
 grade paper, contains 128 pages, and is in cloth binding. Costs 
 hut 60c. In Canada, 70c. 
 
 Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing 
 
 Some of the grandest and sweetest thoughts ever expressed 
 are to be found in this little volume. Every one of its 217 pages 
 is filled with encouragement and help. Chapter titles: "On the 
 Mountain Side," "The Lord's Prayer," "The Beatitudes," "The 
 Spirituality of the Law," "The True Motive in Service," "Not 
 Judging, but Doing." Price, cloth, 85c. In Canada, $1.00. 
 
 Steps to Christ 
 
 Its worth and popularity are attested by the fact that it is pub- 
 lished in twenty-three languages. Presents, in a simple and at- 
 tractive manner, the steps by which the sinner may find Christ 
 and be made complete in Him. Also a wealth of counsel and en- 
 couragement for those who have been long in the way. Beauti- 
 fully illustrated and bound. 144 pages. Cloth, 75c. In Canada, 85c. 
 
 In Touch with God 
 
 Prayer calms the mind, quiets the fears, subdues the passions, 
 conquers habits, mollifies feelings, and is a general tonic for 
 health and happiness. Did you ever look at it in just that way? 
 Of course, it is more than that, as is brought out in this re- 
 cently published book of 300 pages. Filled with helpful expe- 
 riences of the author, of whom it has been said, "The man who 
 wrote that book has been close to God." Cloth only, at $1.00. In 
 Canada, $1.10. 
 
 Prices quoted are postpaid. 
 
 Order through your tract society. 
 
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