WITH
TOMMY
TOMPKINS IN
KOREA

UNDERWOOD

1917

With Tommy Tompkins iri Korea

SOUTH STREET, SEOUL,,

With
Tommy Tompkins
In Korea

By
L. H. UNDERWOOD, M. D.

New York Chicago Toronto
Fleming H. Revell Company
London and Edinburgh

Copyright, 1905, by
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY

New York: 158 Fifth Avenue
Chicago: 125 North Wabash Ave.
Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W.
London: 21 Paternoster Square
Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street

Preface

HAVING been often asked to describe the
home and every-day life of Westerners living in
the far East, I have tried to depict faithfully some
of the real experiences of a real boy and his fam
ily and friends living in Korea. At the same
time I have woven in much of the home life of
the natives and descriptions of many of their
customs with regard to birth, death, marriage,
religion, holidays, etc., contrasting them with
ours. The family of whom I have written were per-
_^_haps more favoured than many, living as they
J3- did in the interesting capital of a most interest-
^ ing country, and their trials were few, and such
as they were have not been enlarged upon.
X Hoping this book may serve to show the con-
'° trast, between the family of a happy little western
CO boy, and the poor children born in the dark, so
- that the hearts of the readers may ask, " How
^> can this be changed ? " and " What can I do
v about it ? " it is given to the public.
^ Lillian H. Underwood.
p =*. Seoul, August, igoj.

Contents

I. The Boy's Arrival
II. What the Boy Found
III. Pon Gabe
IV. Korean Nursery Life
V. A Chapter of Presents
VI. Brown Eyes
VII. A Tour .
VIII. At the River
IX. The Rainy Season
X. Boy Husbands
XI. To Japan and China
XII. Housekeeping
XIII. The Boy's Christian Endeavour
Society 

n
3161 76
105134i55
i75
196
215236
270
298

List of Illustrations

South Street, Seoul .

Facing title page

Tommy Tompkins and

His

Korean Nurse

•

Facing page 21

How Women Carry Babies

in Korea .

.

» 84

Buddhist Monks

*

" 114

Buddhist Pagoda

,

" 114

Gutter Shop, Seoul .

.

" 136

South Gate, Seoul .

.

? " 150

The Korean Throne .

.

" 220

A Korean Lady in Full

Costume .
#
" " 2Q2
THE BOY'S ARRIVAL
The young American had just arrived in the
old country, and what a contrast there was in
ages ! He so very young, only two or three
hours in fact, and the country — well when nations
get to be as old as this, age is a delicate matter
to talk about as feelings might be hurt if guesses
fell too far short. So I will be a little indefinite,
as it is always as well to be, when dealing with
ticklish subjects, and simply say it was a hoary
old nation, well on in its thousands.
The way the young American came there was
this. He belonged to a race of people called
Anglo-Saxons, who can never be well contented
at home, but must go walking up and down on
the earth and to and fro in it. His ancestors had
left England, Holland and Scotland, and crossed
the Atlantic, to a new country, to gain religious
and civil liberty, two hundred years before, and
his father and mother, with a spark of the same
spirit quickening in their hearts, had crossed a
wider ocean, to bring that religion to enslaved
peoples. So Tommy Tompkins (for that is what
they disrespectfully called him) had decided to
come too. Not that he could be of much use,
n

12 The Boy's Arrival
you will say ; but not so fast my friend. A baby
carries a charm, an open sesame, to hearts and
homes, and a Holy family, whether in Egypt
like that one of which we read in the sweet old
story, or in Korea will shed an effulgence all
around it. And isn't any family holy, just to the
extent that Jesus is in its midst and rules its
thought and action ? Of course it isn't a family
at all, without a child. Tompkins' parents at any
rate thought a child was necessary to make a
family perfect, and they had adopted one before
this one came to them from God. Perhaps it
isn't fair to put it quite that way though, for sure
the other came from God too. When you, with
out knowing what is coming, stumble on a poor
little orphan child, and you have plenty of home,
food and love to spare, it is not fair to say that
God didn't send him, is it ?
Yet God sends so many such little creatures,
to so many people, who, one would think would
jump at the chance to complete their circle and
make themselves into a happy family, and they
just won't see it in that way. So I don't feel
sorry for them a bit, if they never get to be a
family, but keep on growing more and more two
separate, selfish entities, trying to be happy with
a half life. I want to branch off right here, and
tell about that first child that God sent, and then
took, before Tompkins came, but as I've com
menced about him now, Pon Gabe (that's the

A Difference in Time 13
other) must wait a little and come in by
and by.
So to return to Tompkins, I said he was only
two or three hours old, but ages are queer things.
He was born at two o'clock A. M., on the 6th of
September, in Korea, Asia, while another fellow
arrived at the home of his mother's friend in
Chicago, United States, at three o'clock P. M. on
the 5 th of September. Yet our hero came into
existence first. The sun tries to compensate
people who live in the far East for the privileges
they are deprived of by banishment from the
most glorious country in the world, and throws
in a few extra hours to their account. They
don't think much of it at first, but hours and
minutes are commodities whose value increases
as one grows older, or as our stock of them de
creases. They couldn't be bought for millions,
though many a king would have given millions
or even kingdoms for just one. I said he was
older, well to be exact, he really was not older,
don't you see, according to the calendars, for if
they were to be believed, — as he undoubtedly
came on Saturday morning and the other boy on
Friday afternoon — Tompkins was eleven hours
younger, and yet by actual fact, he arrived upon
this twirling old globe several hours before the
Chicago boy. Any of those meridian and
time-table people will bear me out in this as
sertion.

14 The Boy's Arrival
His baggage came a whole month before he
did. His grandfather and grandmother sent it
in a very large important looking packing-box,
most of the space in which was filled with a baby
carriage, all springs and cushions, and a great
parasol of lace and silk, and such an inexpressibly
delightful teeter, as soon as it was put together
a baby had to be borrowed to try how Tompkins
would look in it. He looked — just seraphic !
There was a bright halo all around him, as he
laughed, and clapped his hands and jumped in
that springing seat. Such a history as that car
riage had too. For thirteen years it did steady,
faithful service for nine babies, in five different
families, Tompkins first, and he passed it down.
But there was a smaller box inside the big one
with baby's wardrobe. Such delicate filmy robes,
such tiny dainty little caps, all lace and ruching
and ribbands. Such soft downy little jackets,
such luxurious little wrappers of pink, and white,
and blue wool, and white silk. Such shawls and
blankets, and down pillows, with embroidered
slips, and a carriage robe and an elegant cloak
for visiting, I suppose. But cunningest of all
were the little woven silk undervests no bigger
than a minute, that looked as if they ought to be
framed and hung up in the parlor. Two people
felt as if the family had been promoted, now
that the king was coming and his things really
there.

Korean Mothers ] 5
A glorious Presence seemed brooding over the
house. A holy awe that was all glowing with
joy filled their hearts. The things were all care
fully put away in a chest of drawers, and nearly
every day they made a little pilgrimage, hand in
hand, reverently opened the drawers, unfolded
and softly handled each littie article with loving
fingers, looked at each other with shining eyes,
kissed with a long sigh, cafefully closed the
drawer and went away. They were very foolish,
weren't they, so much so I'm almost ashamed to
tell about them, but they were very happy, so I
don't think they minded being foolish at all.
In Korea a mother doesn't have a name of her
own, she isn't even Mrs. " So-and-So " but she's
"the little pig's mother" (Toyagi Amonni) or
" Peach's mother " always known only as the
mother of such a one.
You see these ignorant and degraded Koreans
seem to think the greatest honour that can befall
a woman is to be the mother of somebody. There
is no doubt they are very uncivilized and need a
great deal of enlightenment.
But as our young American had come to live
in Korea I shall follow Korean custom and call
his mother Tompkins' Amonni, or mother (which
is the meaning of Amonni). She wouldn't mind
it I knOw, in fact she became so Koreanized that
I verily believe she'd be proud of it.
But I was going to say, that Tompkins' Amonni

1 6 The Boy's Arrival
was so hard to satisfy that she wasn't contented
with all those charming little articles that came
from America, but she wanted to make some
thing for his kingship, to be, herself, and sat all
day over entrancing patterns, cutting out the cun-
ningest tiny yokes and sleeves, and putting in the
daintiest stitches, and every time the needle went
in, it carried love, until the frail material was
quite heavy with it, and while she was working,
the most delightful little shivers came and went
down her back, and sometimes she was so happy
she had to stop and dream about it a little, and
once or twice her heart was so full, the joy welled
up and brimmed over, and went sparkling down
her cheeks. Such a simpleton ! There were two
baskets in the outfit, one full of mysterous things
for Tompkins' toilet, all pink silk and ribbands
and white lace.
That stood in its own shrine in the coziest cor
ner of the room, and there was another of the
kind natives call " chirungs," which they use for
carrying fruit and vegetables. The missionaries
however used them for infants' cots, and that
was what this was for. A false bottom was fast
ened in, and it was lined with soft muslin and
trimmed with ruffles and valances of lawn, some
of the ridiculously small sheets, blankets and
down pillows were arranged in it, and then " the
Captain" (that was what she called Tompkins'
papa) would have it on his side of the bed.

The Captain's Bearing 17
The Captain it must be confessed was a little
inclined to be overbearing at times, and really
over this matter, there was almost a straining of
the relations between the powers. But he had
his own way. I suppose however that this came
about because they were in Korea, where the
people are, as I remarked before, only half civi
lized, and have strange customs and practices.
They actually believe a man ought to be the
ruler of his family — almost as antiquated as the
Bible you know — and that if he cannot have
his own way anywhere else he ought to have
. it there. That is why he was called Captain.
However, after Tompkins came, as he used to do
most of the floor walking, and administering of
colic remedies, and always proved more than
willing to shoulder all the burdens which accom
panied this great privilege, including the baby
himself, I think he deserved some concessions,
don't you ?
There was an attendant too in waiting for His
Royal Highness. A little, thin Korean woman
not five feet high, all dressed in white, with tiny
little white stockinged feet that never made a bit
of noise (you know Koreans leave their shoes
outside the door) and with a pale, meek face that
wore an honest, faithful look. Tompkins' mother
paid her two dollars and a half gold a month,
that is five yen and that meant at that time 600
of those queer, little, brass, five cash pieces, made

18 The Boy's Arrival
with holes in the centre. They are all strung
together and very heavy, so she had to get her
husband to come and carry it home. For of
course she lived at home, if such a dark little hut
could be called that, and receiving such a mag
nificent stipend, found her own meals. She was
now a person of wealth and importance and sup
ported her own family.
Well as I began so long ago to say, Tomp
kins had just come an hour or so since, every
thing was quiet, everybody contented but the
Captain. He knew that nothing could be right,
and his duty not done to the waiting continent
on the other side of that old hypocrite misnamed
the Pacific, until they were informed of events of
importance transpiring in Asia.
So he with a devotion worthy of the cause,
sallied forth long before daylight, routed out the
poor, sleepy, telegraph officials, and sent quiver
ing through the Yellow Sea, over the trackless
steppes of Siberia across Europe and afar through
the tumultuous heart of the Atlantic, the old sweet
message of sacred writ ; the message which wher
ever it comes to a family or nation is the sweetest
and richest in promise.
" Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given."
The Koreans are fond of babies, and no one
ever hears of little ones, either boys or girls being
killed in that land. They are often called Pig

If Tompkins Were a Korean 19
or Stick or Sorrow and other equally ugly names,
so as not to attract the attention of envious
spirits who might harm them, but all who come,
seem to be more than welcome and are as a rule
petted and spoiled to any extent.
If Tompkins had been a native the precise mo
ment of his advent would have been ascertained
with the greatest care, so that the astrologers
could draw his horoscope and foretell his future.
The house doors and compound gates would
have been closed and none but members of the
family would have been allowed to pass. His
mother would rise on the third day and leave her
room on the seventh. Great rejoicings would
take place on the event of the fourteenth and
twenty-first birthdays, and when he was 100 days
old a feast would have been given, with a peculiar
kind of bread and cakes made for such occasions,
of fine rice flour.
But alas ! Tompkins was only an American
boy a " wayin " and nothing of all this splendour
of stately ceremony came to pass.
Had he, been a Korean his father would have
looked forward to the time when in his place he
should worship at the ancestral tablets, keep up
the family traditions, keep green his father's
memory, and attend to his needs in the spirit
world. But none of these great responsibilities
were hanging over Tommy Tompkins, nothing
but the " White Man's Burden " of which much

20 The Boy's Arrival
has been said, but which if 'it means anything
I think must be something like that which
was carried by the Man of Sorrows on the way
to Calvary and which when he fainted 'neath its
weight he shared with a black brother they say.
Not the same burden. Oh, no, that was never
borne but once, and by only One, but of that
kind. The sorrows, the wrongs, the sins of hu
manity ! Ay, baby, that burden and responsibil
ity was waiting at your cradle. You will not feel
it yet, not yet, it will wait, it will be patient, but
some day, you cannot escape it, Tompkins, it will
meet you in some dark valley, in the shadowy
border of some solitude of sorrow, and there hav
ing entered the fellowship of suffering, you will
bend and receive it and go forth bravely and
bearing it gladly if you are to be the kind of man
we believe you must be.
But now, the little American having only just
come, couldn't know what was waiting, what that
awful but sublime fellowship could be which he
was to join some day with all who are to wear
crowns, bear palms, sing the new song, and be
priests and kings with a white stone inscribed
with a secret name. He had no inkling of it, but
just cuddled down in his little nest and slept and
slept. Although Tompkins came to such an out of
• the way place, don't think he hadn't a trained
nurse. It's doubtful whether he would have con-

TOMMY TOMPKINS AND HIS KOREAN NURSE

Luxuries of the West 21
descended to stay if he had not had one. It
would be too much to expect of any right-minded
American child to forego what is the privilege of
all in these days. One of these ministering an
gels was there. She was called a missionary but
that didn't spoil her a bit. When his majesty
was made comfortable she went home, but she
came every day and ducked him to his great de
light, until his mamma was able to play with her
new doll herself, and when that time came, no
one, no not the Queen of England, or the Czarina
of Russia, though they had begged the privilege
on bended knees, should have been allowed to
give Tompkins his morning dip.
When his elaborate toilet was made, and he
had partaken of a slight repast, for which he was
by that time clamouring in a way that struck ter
ror to the hearts of his minions, he was placed in
his carriage, the umbrella dipped to just the right
angle, and he was taken to the garden for his
airing. Sometimes on these occasions the Cap
tain was present, and if so, his overbearingness
invariably showed itself quite unpleasantly, in in
sisting on pushing the carriage. I'm willing to
leave it to any one if it isn't eminently proper
that a mother should push her own baby's car
riage, and whether it doesn't look foolish and
womanish and weak-minded for a man to do it,
altogether unmanly in fact? And yet that ab
surd Captain was so selfish, willful and determined

22 The Boy's Arrival
to have his own way, he would do it. He posi
tively seemed, in fact, to think that Tompkins
belonged as much to him as to Tompkins'
Amonni (a manifestly ridiculous hypothesis as all
mothers will allow) and when he was prancing
along (no man can push a carriage like a woman)
with the baby in the small vehicle in front of him,
and the mamma at his side, you would think
(you really could not help it) that he was actually
proud and lifted up on account of it. Simpleton
number two !
The young American was called Tompkins as
I said, but that was just for fun, because he had
such a solemn little countenance, and by the time
he was two months old, such a demure little fash
ion of trying not to laugh. But he was also in
vested with a proper American name, after his
papa and his grandpapa, which name was writ
ten down in the great books in the American
Legation in Seoul. He had a Korean name too,
for all foreigners must have a name which can be
represented by a Chinese character, in which na
tive names are written, and which can be pro
nounced and read by natives, as foreign ones
cannot. This country being on the underside of the
earth everybody and of course nearly every cus
tom is upside down, so in writing or speaking,
people's surnames come first and given names
last. In a letter addressed to

Topsy Turvey 23
Mr. John Brown,
No. tfpj Thirty-second St.,
New York,
U. S. A.,
they would write it thus :
The United States of America,
New York,
Thirty-second St.,
495th number,
Brown John Mr.
The fact that the letter is going to the United
States is the first thing to be ascertained by the
first postmaster who handles it, New York the
second and so on in their order, so that were it
not that it differs so radically from our own cus
tom, we might almost think it a sensible plan,
but these eastern nations are so darkened and so
ridiculous in all their practices it is of course quite
unworthy of our consideration.
But I commenced to talk about Tompkins'
Korean name and here I've been wandering all
the way back to New York again like a homing
pigeon. His father's Korean name was Mr. Wun, and
General Cho Peungsa a Korean friend, advised
the baby should be called Han Kyungi Han
(nara hancha) which means that the character
which stands for that kind of Han signifies Korea,
and that taking all three of his characters into
account Wun Han Kyung, it signified either

24 The Boy's Arrival
" the blessing of Korea " or " the blessing which
came to his parents in Korea." So fervently
hoping both might be true of him, the name was
solemnly adopted.
A Korean boy is given an "ai myeng" or
child name, like Stick, Pig, Tip-top, Trouble or
First-born, by which he continues to be called
until his hair is put up, and all the important
ceremonies, marriage generally included, con
nected with his celebration of manhood, take
place. This name is then laid aside, except by
his parents perhaps, and his new common name
or " Chu," given for all ordinary occasions and his
dignified and formal name or Kwan myeng, only
worn as " best bib and tucker " for official, busi
ness and state purposes, is also at that time be
stowed. This latter official name is chosen with
great care in accordance with certain set official
rules, in the case of boys of good family ; and
part of it, is almost as much as the surname, even
before he is born. At certain periods after a cer
tain cycle of years, heads of families belonging
to the same tribe or clan, descended from the
same ancestors, meet and arrange the order the
official names shall follow. Each generation of
this clan has the same distinctive name repre
sented by a Chinese character. Perhaps referring
to one of the five elements as Koreans distin
guish them; that- is metal, wood, water, fire,
earth. Should metal be the one chosen the

Family Names 25
Chinese root character for metal must be part of
this name. One generation therefore having
taken metal, the next must use some other, say
wood. In the family whose surname is Min, the char
acter distinguishing one generation in each
household is Ho, and it is placed last, so that
we have an entire circle of cousins called Min
Tai Ho, or Min Chu Ho, or Min Che Ho, etc.
In the next generation the character representing
Yang might be chosen and this, in order to al
ternate, would by arrangement be placed first, so
that this younger circle of cousins would be
known as Min Yang Chun, Min Yang Whan,
Min Yang Ik, etc. For the next generation
another character would be chosen and again its
location in the name settled by mutual agree
ment. By this method, any one at all acquainted
with the family would know at once on hearing
the name, to which branch and generation he
belongs. These names are to be inscribed on
family tablet stones and repeated hundreds of
times in the prayers of future generations. The
Chu or common name, given at the same time
must also be made up with a Chinese character,
which corresponds in meaning, or fits suitably
with the official cognomen.
In addition, men following their own fancy at
times take some special name, let their friends
know and are addressed accordingly. This cus-

26 The Boy's Arrival
tom throws light on the Lord's promise to His
own peculiar friends, to reveal to them His new
name, showing the nearer and more intimate re
lation to His chosen ones.
The Koreans are a much named people, for
still further nearly every man has a nickname
by which he is known by all acquaintances, some
times with reference to character, looks, deeds, or
some town or county where he has lived or dis
tinguished himself. It is quite evident they
would never agree with Shakespeare that a name
signifies little, and if he were to ask them his
hackneyed old question, they would probably
write him even a longer chapter than I have on
the subject.
Surnames are extremely few in Korea, not one
/ hundred different ones among ten mil-
_P-J lions of people. The commonest of
•'/J these are Yi, Min, Yun, Yon Hong
^ . Kim No, Saw Won Paik, Pil and a few
/\/— others.
j_^_ But to return to Tompkins, and his
i Korean name, if it were written out in
s~l Korean letters it would look a little like
O this. I say a little like this because the
natives write so precisely and neatly with their
water color brushes and India ink, that my pen
scratches look like the scrawl of a baby. But
if it were written in Chinese which it certainly
would be on his cards, or whenever formality

The Alphabet 27
was required, it would be like this. It is a great
pity that it is human nature, to go forever adopt
ing some absurd, ungainly, incon
venient, inefficient custom of for
eigners and neglect or despise its
own, simpler and far more useful.
Josephine perchance prefers a^-- 
bankrupt French count with a long  > Q
string of titles to her own, sturdy, / ^-f~
honest, homespun, farmer lover, /
and these foolish Koreans who ^? ;/^ z
have a wonderful alphabet of ~7?.
twenty-six letters which has not its » | »
peer in the East, hardly in the' f
world, an alphabet which is the wonder of savants
and which with the constitutional monarchy sets
her far above her haughty neighbours, China and
Japan, yet despises her chief glory, considers the
Ernmun as it is called unfit for scholars and gen
tlemen, relegates it to the common and vulgar and
writes its official documents, its gentlemanly
calling cards, and its scholarly books all in indefi
nite, difficult, sight-ruining Chinese.
A Korean gentleman would scorn to read a
book, or write a letter in any character but Chi
nese, but since missionaries have come they have
printed the New Testament and the hymns that
the people love in the Ernmun and are trying to
teach them what a jewel they have hidden away
there in the dust.

28 The Boy's Arrival
And now our little man, having been thor
oughly named according to both American and
Korean ideas, with a childish ai-myeng, Tomp
kins, a formal American name in the Legation
books and later in Grove Church, N. J., sessional
records, and a formal Chinese three character
name, began his career, all three of him, Intel
lect, Affections and Will. They were each of
him, very small as yet, and centred chiefly round
his bottle, for howled he never so loudly intellect
knew in an instant the light sound of the step
that was bringing it, and when it came the taste
and look of it without a doubt. A vigorous will
made itself heard in most unmistakable terms,
when said bottle was desired, and the loving little
grunt with which it was clasped and caressed,
plainly indicated where the affections were thus
far located.
Which reminds me, Korean babies never have
bottles, or never did, till we westerners came and
taught them our higher civilization. The re
markable fact is that Koreans do not use milk at
all. Their cattle are simply beasts of burden,
carrying great loads to market, or dragging the
unwieldly ox-carts, or clumsy plows. No milk,
no butter, no cheese, buttermilk, whipped cream,
charlottes, ice cream, cream gravies, the mind
runs over an endless list of delicious articles of
food and tries with dismay to think how a whole
nation can exist without them. It seems passing

Milking a Korean Cow 29
strange when one looks at the poverty of the
people, that this nourishing food is utterly un
used, and yet it may be that there is wisdom in
it, born of ancient experience.
When one reads the reports of the New York
Health Commissions, and that during one sum
mer one baby out of every four which was fed
on the ordinary dairy milk died, and that milk
is the most dangerous medium for bacteria, who
would have the temerity to urge these people,
who have no health boards, know nothing of
sanitation, and have no means or laws for en
forcing it, who I say would be bold enough to
urge them to use milk?
These great cattle give very scanty supplies of
it at best. Seven quarts of milk a day would be
exceptional, and such an undertaking, to extract
it from the indignant and insulted animal !
The cow's legs must be tied, her calf right at
hand (indeed he must start the performance), and
then her head and avenging tail must be held by
attendants, with another of course for her off
spring. She has never been subjected to such an
indignity before, and is altogether suspicious of
the whole performance.
Korean babies who are so unhappy as to have
mothers who cannot feed them — or no, I mean
the mothers who are so unhappy as not to be
able to give it to their babies — hire a yuwmo or
foster mother, or else the poor litde one must

3°

The Boy's Arrival

die. I think Tompkins' mother fairly hated that
bottle, 'she was so bitterly jealous of it, but he
made such a terrible "yahdon," and gave no
body any peace, that at last, well, any one could
have seen how it would end.

II
WHAT THE BOY FOUND
Sometimes in the sweet, warm, autumn days
when Tompkins went out for his airing, luncheon
or tea would be served on the lawn, under the
old persimmon- tree, for his father and mother
both loved the garden and now his mother was
not quite well, but kept growing weaker and
weaker as Tompkins grew stronger, so the
Captain hoped the sweet fresh air would make
her better. It is my opinion that she was pining
with jealousy about that bottle and Tompkins'
affection for it. However, when they were all
out there together, round the little tea-table, they
looked as cozy and happy as they ought, and
added just the touch the garden needed to make
it quite lovely. I think the garden of Eden
itself, would have been a lonely place without
happy people in it, and perhaps, who knows, if
Eve had had a baby like Tompkins, she would
not have been idle and discontented, and ready
to listen to the serpent. I'm sure that garden
must have lost all its attraction when the sorrow
ful couple went away forever. The vines un-
pruned would grow all in a tangle of stems and
leaves, the wind would wail down the lonely
31

32 What the Boy Found
alleys, where they used to walk, trees would
toss their arms and sigh, their fruit uneaten,
drop decaying to the ground, and the. flowers
unseen, would Wither on their stems. I shouldn't
wonder if the angels themselves deserted it. I'm
sure the Wons' garden, with them in it, was much
pleasanter. The house and garden to which this baby
came, were very old. The house, at least part
of it, was built over three hundred years ago.
Its walls, like those of all native houses, were
made of a sort of basket work of twigs with mud
plastered on very thickly on both sides. Later
it was cased in brick.
In order to keep these mud walls from wash
ing down when it rains (and it does rain in
Korea, sometimes ten weeks at a time), the roof,
which was peaked, dropped very low over the
walls, with extremely wide eaves, like a Korean
gentleman's wide brimmed hat. If you have
seen pictures of Japanese temples, you know
just how that roof was shaped, with a coquettish
little upward curl at the corners, quite giddy for
a roof you know. The one on Tompkins' roof
was covered with tiles of dark-gray clay, but the
cottages of the poorer classes are covered with
thatch, which answers very well, only it needs
often to be replaced. The tiled houses, too, leak
often in the rainy season, and every year before
the rains begin, the Captain has to call in the

Korean Trade Unions

33

tile-men, a guild who do nothing else, to look
the roof over, and make needed repairs.
They are very arrogant, will not touch a bit of
mud or clay, or bring any of their own utensils,
and even if your house is leaking like a sieve,
they will not take the least pity on you, unless
their own coolies are there to help them. And
if you think their price is too high or their work
careless, and have a difference with them so to
speak, so that one set of men leave you in dis
pleasure, no others can you get, though you wait
till your parlour is a pond or your bedroom a
morass. The roofs rest on very heavy beams and
rafters, which in the larger houses are quite
picturesque. In the Captain's house the beams
were enormous, black with age, and so hard it
was very difficult to drive a nail into them.
This residence had belonged to a wealthy and
noble family, who for some reason had allowed it
to fall into partial decay, arid when the mission
aries came, they found they could buy it with the
dear old garden, for a small sum ; and could with
very little more, put it in good repair. It was
merely what is called a bungalow, a one-story
house, like all the native houses. Here again we
see the need of western enlightenment.
O poor Koreans ! If they could just once taste
the joy of living in a three-story and basement
house, with a dining-room under ground, the

34 What the Boy Found
nursery in the garret, all cozily in a " block " of
exactly similar dwellings, with a back yard
twenty-five feet by twenty-five, overlooked by
hundreds of neighbours ! Tompkins' Amonni
hadn't a single flight of stairs in her whole
house, and she had become so demoralized she
positively liked it ! The walls were not more
than eight or nine feet high, but in the middle of
the room the roof-tree lay at least eighteen feet
above the floor and looked even more. There
were great brick fireplaces in some of the rooms
that the Captain built in with his own hands, and
when the dry pine was crackling and blazing
(you see the poor things couldn't obtain gas logs
out there), no cozier or more cheerful picture
could be found. When the house was built, the
floors were nearly all what the Koreans call
Kangs ; that is they are made of stone and earth
with large flues built in, so that with a fire lit
from the outside, and a vent at the other side of
the house, the hot air, not one breath wasted,
circulates beneath or through the floor, till the
stones are thoroughly heated and the whole
room soon evenly warmed. These floors are
covered with a thick oiled paper, and over these
a few mats are laid.
When you are not having a fire every day, how
ever, as the natives usually do, even in spring and
summer, the floor becomes damp and unhealthy,
and one by one the Captain had them all removed.

The Captain's House 35
This wasn't a very imposing or sumptuous place
as you may imagine, but just cozy and homelike.
O how Tompkins' Amonni pitied the poor kings
and queens when she walked through some of
their palaces in Europe. Just to think of being
forced to live in those enormous lofty concert
hall sort of apartments or saloons (one would
never call them rooms) full of stiff unfriendly
great articles of furniture, with never a cozy
nook, or quiet corner, or the least hint of any
thing remotely like a home.
, But thank heaven, the Captain's house wasn't
that way. The floors were stained brown and
partly covered with rugs ; in the parlour were a
couple of divans and big armchairs, that the
owner made with his own hands, using his bed
springs for the seats.
I hardly know which was the pleasantest of all
the big low rooms. The bedroom was all baby
blue and silver, with pale blue silk curtains, that
came from her Majesty the queen, and furniture
that Tompkins' Amonni had brought from
America from her own old home, and there was
a wide low window that looked into a conserv
atory full of flowers.
The conservatory itself was the pleasantest of
all on a winter day, when Tompkins' carriage was
always wheeled out there that he might have a
sun bath.
There were people who belonged to the Cap-

36 What the Boy Found
tain and his wife, who would keep flinging con
servatories, furniture, knickknacks, and all sorts
of unnecessary but delightful things across the
Pacific at them, just as they sent Tompkins' lug
gage. And after Tompkins came ! O my ! the
packing boxes of toys, new clothes, etc., that
laboured their way over those tens of thousands
of miles !
I believe they loved the garden best of all. It
was about two acres in extent and was surrounded
by a mud wall, plastered over with yellow clay,
and covered with tiles to keep off the rain. In
some places this wall was covered thickly with
Virginia creeper. Masses of this beautiful vine
were draped all over it and the quaint gateway
so that it was a charming picture. Then there
was an old dead pine-tree just in front of the
study, whose gnarled and twisted trunks, and low
spreading branches were covered with white wis
teria which the Captain and his wife had brought
from Japan, before they knew that wisteria is
quite at home in Korea.
Indeed they brought over two wisterias and
some orchids and no end of ferns. They were like
people insane with delight in Nagasaki, where
flowers and ferns fairly riot, and prowled round
the hills with a trowel and basket digging up
just common old things by the roadside with ex
clamations of ecstasy. Then they went to the
florists and nearly bankrupted themselves in

The Garden 37
roses, azalias, Japanese lilies, chrysanthemums
and what not. The wisteria took kindly, no
wonder, to their garden, and soon flung its beau
tiful foliage all over that poor old deformed tree,
till not a bare black bough could be seen, noth
ing but a mass of the loveliest soft floating tender
green : and in May, oh ! then was its epiphany.
The tree was one mass of exquisite white blos
soms, from its highest branch to the ground
where they lay in the piodigal profusion, that
only God and His nature can display. Purple
wisterias had been planted by two bedroom win
dows near, and as the white threw its arms across
lovingly to them, and they reciprocally reached
out to it, they met, and mingled with a little help
from sympathetic human hands, forming a charm
ing bower by the study door.
Tompkins' Amonni had that for one of her pri
vate oratories, and there she used to drink in all
that exquisite beauty and let her spirit be lifted
up, up upon it to the God whose Spirit brooded
in those melting tints, delicate perfume and grace
ful forms, whose thought planned, whose finger
formed and whose love sent them to her. They
were to her a letter from Father, the expression
of His love, beauty and wisdom, and so here in
this oratory, decorated as no monarch's on earth
ever was, she worshipped and adored.
In April and May Korea is glorious. All the
environs of Seoul are sweet with the exquisite

38 What the Boy Found
fruit blossoms, peaches, apricots, plums, cherries
and pears.
Korean fruit itself, is not very nice (now I sup
pose I ought to stop and explain again) but the
blossoms are lovely and Tompkins' garden was
full of native peach, apricot and persimmon-trees,
as well as American fruit trees. Korean fruit is
rather hard and insipid, with fine flavour and in
stead of being acid is at times very acrid.
Their apples (except the little Siberian crab)
and pears are all woody, and fit only to be eaten
after having been cooked with a little vegetable
acid and sugar. They have however a kind of
white grape which is very nice, a very juicy an(?
pleasant red plum, and the best persimmons it.
the world. In addition to fruit tree blooms, thf
country fairly revels in blossom beauty in May
and June.
The hills are all ablush with rhododendrons,
and a dear little eglantine with the daintiest per
fume riots all along the roads and fences. There
is a virginal white honeysuckle that Tompkins'
Amonni loved best of all, I believe, because one
spring evening when it had been pouring rain
all day, and she had been shut in, just a little
lonely and homesick (that was when she lived
quite by herself and wasn't a family at all) just
about nine o'clock a great spray of this lovely
vine, all dripping with rain was handed in at her
door, with a note, which only said, " Compli-

Korean Blossoms 39
ments of the rain and Namsan" (South Mt).
It seemed as though the wind just softly pushed
the door and the spirit of the dear rain just
wafted it in. Because rain doesn't always mean
bitter tears, often just those that bring the
sweetest flowers to their best freshness and
beauty. The onty reason she didn't believe the rain
alone had all to do with it, was because the
handwriting was the Captain's. However that
didn't really spoil it.
But to return to the garden, from which we
seem to be continually straying. It was lovely
nearly all the year round. First of all in the
early spring were masses of yellow forsythia,
then violets, and some of the first fruit blos
soms, then flowering almonds and white lilacs,
wisterias, fluffy greenish white snowballs, and
two great bushes on either side of the front door
of yellow roses that recalled grandmother's
garden in dear America. In June came the
roses in the greatest hurry to be seen, and, well,
after that nobody could think of anything else.
There was a whole hedge of damask rose-
jbushes ; they were cut every day by hundreds,
every bowl, jar and vase in the house crammed
with them, they were sent to all the neighbours,
yet still they kept blossoming on and on never
tiring, and the family could never keep up with
them. And talk about busy bees ! You never

40 What the Boy Found
saw such busy bees as there were in the Cap
tain's garden. They were so overworked they
were in danger of neurasthenia and having to
be sent to the sanatorium, worse still ! Such a
humming you could hardly hear yourself think.
But the damask roses were not the only ones,
there were some dark red ones, and some climb
ing pink ones, and some that grew in lovely
little clusters of pink, white and deep rose
colour. There were Marshal Neils and tea roses
from America and pretty little Koreans.
There was a big bush of eglantine near the
gate, two or three glorious La Frances that
Tompkins' Amonni loved best and a big cab
bage rose that was magnificent.
These people loved to work in the garden and
everything the Captain looked at grew. Be
sides fruit trees, they had all sorts of small fruits
and vegetables, for such things cannot be bought
in Korea. The native vegetables were as poor
as their fruit, perhaps because there are no in
structed and educated farmers. The natives live
mainly on rice, the very poor use millet, and far
up in the mountains where rice will not grow,
potatoes are cultivated. Their kimchi or sauer
kraut is made of cabbages which are much
coarser and tougher than ours, and busy indeed
are the women in the season when it is " put
down " for the whole year.
First of all the red peppers which are in-

Native Vegetables 41
dispensable are picked, and the roofs are
brilliant with patches of them drying in the
sun, for two or three weeks at that season.
They seem to have gathered all the fire of the
fierce July sun and to have stored it up against
the cold time coming, as who should say
" Don't fear winter winds, frost and snow, I will
put July in you up to the nineties." Then too
there is a great washing of cabbages and tur
nips ; every little stream near the villages is
crowded with men and women and children,
washing hundreds and thousands of these
vegetables. The rosy country women carrying
great round baskets of cabbages on their heads,
with the fresh green leaves drooping all round
their faces, look charmingly picturesque.
After the ingredients are all cut up, they are
packed with much salt in great earthen jars,
where they remain out of doors all the year.
No Korean considers a meal complete without
kimchi and various are the recipes for its mak
ing, though the main articles are everywhere
the same, cabbage, turnip peppers and salt.
Their vegetables are limited mainly to these
already mentioned, with a coarse kind of lettuce,
onions, garlic, black beans, a very little coarse
corn, and in some sections tomatoes, celery and
a kind of wild asparagus. There is also a
variety oi squash which is not unlike our
pumpkins, and which Tompkins' Amonni found

42 What the Boy Found
made a fairly good basis for eggs, milk, spices,
etc., resulting in proper or almost proper Ameri
can pumpkin pies. Comparatively little wheat
and barley is raised, in the country one often
gets buckwheat as the only flour obtainable.
There is not a flour mill in Korea, except one
run by a foreigner in Chemulpo.
In truth there are no proper factories of any
kind. Silk raising and weaving is done in small
quantities in the homes, and so it is with cotton
cloth, shoes, hats, and other wares. Certain
localities are noted for producing particular
things, as brass which is largely made in the
north, near Anjou. Their paper has been made
from wood fibre for ages, and is very strong.
They possessed the art of making fine crockle
ware glaze on porcelain, but this has been lost.
Castor oil plants from which each family (in
the country villages) presses out its own oil, and
cotton and tobacco are raised in large crops.
Tompkins' Amonni however couldn't take much
interest in the garden that year. She grew weaker
and weaker, nothing could she eat, and became
so thin and wan that the doctors whose medicines
did no good began to look grave. I think she was
a little concerned about it too, for this was what
was written in her diary : " ' Let not your heart be
troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in Me.
In My Father's house are many mansions, if it
were not so I would have told you. I go to

Sickness at Home 43
prepare a place for you? Our Lord said 'let
not your heart be troubled about My death or
your own, do not imagine this dwelling is the
only one your Father and Mine has. This earth
is only one of these rooms in His house.' When
we say good-bye here we do not go out into a
cold and dark unknown, we go to one of these
other rooms which He has gone to prepare.
What peace comes with the thought ! And how
reasonable and natural that the Almighty should
not have exhausted His powers and resources in
this one world. Many mansions. Yes, there are
other places, full no doubt of happy glorious
beings, an innumerable company of angels, the
church of the first-born, made perfect and our
own home folks, dear familiar faces, not only
strange angels and lofty cherubs whom one has
never met. A place. Not indefinite, intangible
' somewhere in desolate mind swept space ' but
a place where resurrected bodies shall live in
endless delight.
"As for the present fate of the poor sick body
it would not be so bad to go back to dear mother
earth and become part of the flowers, grasses,
birds, glistening leaves, sunsets, rainbows 
And that seed of the new celestial body, God
will care for, and I know that my Lord who has
made this life so sweet has far better in store.
" He who gave me such noble human love here
is better than the creatures of His hand and since

44 What the Boy Found
all my life He has brought me through the dark
valleys I dreaded, and over the hard places so
easily, and made it all better than my hopes, not
to mention my fears, He surely will bring me
through the last trial of all triumphantly. To see
Him as He is will be beyond all else joy, will
check all tears, and carry me to the Seventh
heaven." But though Death came near and hovered
close for a while, the mother was not to go yet,
but they all had to take a sea trip to China ; the
Captain, Tompkins' Amonni, Tompkins and
Om. Om was the cook, but as he was a good-
natured, kindly fellow, they took him along to
help with Tompkins as it looked as if it would
take all the Captain's time to take care of the
mother. Om didn't begin very well however,
for at the first motion of the steamer he promptly
succumbed and was neither seen nor heard from
till all were ready to land in Chefoo.
But I am going ahead a great deal too fast, as
usual, so I must go back a little.
When all were ready they started from Seoul,
mother and baby in a sedan chair, carried by
four men, two in front, two behind. The Captain
was now on horseback, now on foot because most
ponies go too slowly for him, who didn't mind
swinging over forty miles a day. The trunks
and baby carriage jogged along on men's backs

A Fighting Pony 45
for the wonderful Korean "jim-kuns" can carry
almost any weight for long distances.
The Captain's horse was a terror, his one idea
being to fight any and every other pony.
While waiting at a little village for a sharp
storm of rain and hail to pass, his fiendship
broke his halter; there was barely time to get
mother and child out of harm's way when off
he tore down the road after a party of mounted
foreigners, who were followed by their Chinese
cook, on a shabby little native pony.
To their shame be it said, that glancing be
hind and seeing the snorting fury in their rear
they left the poor cook to his fate, dug spurs in
their foreign horses and fled for dear life, never
even drawing rein, when at a safe distance,
another glance showed the terror-stricken little
Chinaman on the ground and the fiend, fiend
ishly kicking the skinny pony, both of them
rending the air with unearthly squeals. This
brief inglorious victory led to the capture of the
assailant however.
Do not suppose that the Captain rejoiced in
the possession of such a creature as this. It was
only borrowed for the occasion and promptly
returned. The "half-way" house on the way to
the port was just a little Japanese bungalow with
three or four rooms and a shed for horses. Some
great and mighty foreign official, with a numer
ous train, had engaged it for the night, so the

46 What the Boy Found
Honourable Tompkins and his attendants con
tented themselves with a little shed-like room
which had been built on as an addition.
The Captain had sent a cot bed in advance for
his little sick wife, Tompkins reposed in his own
carriage, which no one would dream of leaving
behind, and, as for the father, it never mattered
to him where he lay if not too far from the others.
But the most surprising thing was the conduct
of Tompkins' Amonni. She had scarcely swal
lowed a morsel of any food for more than a week,
and yet when she reached this place after a twelve
mile ride in the pure fresh air, and saw her hus
band eating ham and eggs, ham which she had
neither seen nor tasted for nearly three years, she
yearned, she ventured, she ate, and those con
trary and rebellious internal members, which had
inhospitably refused to harbour a cracker or an
ounce of any harmless food, actually submitted
meekly, and with a few complaints to this very
objectionable and reprehensible article of diet.
And now the Captain was indeed light-
hearted. Sure, the home mother would be well
again ! So that night the tiny little room was
better than a palace or cathedral, for it was a
home, with father, mother and child, all bound
together by the purest and strongest ties on
earth. It was a church, for it was a place of devout
worship, humble gratitude and earnest love to

Off for Chefoo 47
God, and faith in Him ; and it was a taber
nacle, for He was there whom we all worship and
adore. Next morning they set forth again, and in a
few hours were embarked in a little Japanese
steamer bound for China. It sounds like a trip
round the world, but is, from Korea, really no
further than from New York to Charleston.
Tompkins' carriage, deprived of its wheels, made
a convenient and steady berth, and " steady " was
the word, for it did not apply to the ship in any
degree whatever.
From the time she left port, her gyrations and
gymnastics were such as to excite the wonder,
but not the admiration, of her passengers, or
even of her hardened crew. It was " the tail end
of a typhoon " they said, and the Wons opined,
that probably typhoons like scorpions, carry their
worst stings in their tails. At any rate they were
quite sure that with anything worse than the
lashings of that tail, the little craft and all on
board could never have seen land again. A
thirty-six hour trip was lengthened to seventy-
two, and for many hours the vessel hove to,
hardly holding her own. No food could be pre
pared or fires lit in the galley, but this was a
matter of the least concern to most of the pas
sengers, who were all in bed, or the officers and
crew, who were all too busy. But there was one
to whom it was of vast importance. His Majesty

48 What the Boy Found
slept placidly through all the tumult, but waked
regularly every two hours and demanded his
bottle, got it, and calmly disposed himself to
slumber again.
O for the calm trust of the little child, like
that of the Master who lay asleep in the hinder
part of the vessel when the storm raged on
Galilee. The tumult was terrific, the awful roar of wind
and wave like nothing else, and which only
those who have experienced such a sea, can ap
preciate. The thundering of the great waves which
seemed bent on the destruction of the gallant
litde ship, the rattling, creaking and straining of
the vessel as she battled for her life, or shivered
after a fearful blow, the rushing, trampling feet of
the crew, and the hoarse shouts of command,
mingled with the bellowing, growling, shrieking,
moaning of the wind, made up a combination of
fiendish noises, which all the furies at their worst
could never have rivalled.
All this is not a desirable thing to experience
and the helpless landsman is inclined to feel that
he is swinging by only too frail a thread over
the fathomless abyss which is reaching up with
foaming maw to receive him — even as though
he were a mouse dangled over the open mouth
of a hungry tiger.
Though the mother began to mend after the

Chosen or Tai Han 49
ham and eggs, and still more after the sea trip,
she was so weak that she must be carried up and
down-stairs for many days, and could scarcely
walk even a few steps, but the Captain was
trained nurse, doctor, lady's maid, caterer and
amusement committee for the party, and when
his manifold duties were all done, he read
Dickens to the family, Tompkins rippled out as
uncontrollable and contagious ha ha's, when the
jokes came in, as the rest. His mother unblush-
ingly asserted it was because he heard them
laugh, and supposed that was in order, but the
Captain stoutly held it was an evidence of the
superior intelligence of the baby, who began by
saying " Dad " the day he was born, and con
tinued very properly, by appreciating Dickens at
two months of age.
They spent the bright November days on the
sands at Chef 00, watching the glorious surf and
drinking in the bracing salt air and in a little
while the fear had- quite passed for that time,
and back again they all sailed for their own little
" Chosen " land. They always thought it a most
suitable name for that country, which though it
only meant " Morning Calm " to Koreans, meant
English " Chosen," to them. The place God had
chosen to send them, as He sent Abraham, and
the place He had chosen for them, the land He
had chosen to bless, the chosen or choicest of all
eastern lands, and mission fields, the people He

50 What the Boy Found
had chosen as His own forever, and so on indefi
nitely, delightfully, with a blessing in every facet
of the name that spelled Korea. They were sorry
enough when ten or fifteen years later the rulers
grew vainglorious and called the dear little
country " Tai Han " (meaning Great Nation)
suiting it about as well as the Captain's garments
would have fitted Tompkins, and the cruel irony
of which in view of its utter helplessness could
only at best provoke a sigh of regret.
Now I suppose you will at once ask its size
and population, so I must wander off again, into
eternally recurring explanations. It has an area
equal to the combined areas of New York, Penn
sylvania and New Jersey, and a population of
from ten to fourteen millions.
In taking census, the government only reck
ons houses and reckons five people (children and
adults) to a house, which is not an overestimate.
For many years China claimed suzerainty over
them and received a small tribute each year, but
since the Japan-China War, up to the present writ
ing, Korea has been nominally independent,
though alternately under the actual protectorate
of either Russia or Japan, and now lies a helpless
bone of contention between the two, who like a
couple of hungry dogs lie watching it, snarling at
each other, each ready to spring and devour it.
Poor little " Great Han " can do nothing but hope
that some other great Power will come to the

Tompkins' Descent 51
rescue, while foreigners of other nationalities who
come to prey upon her, openly aver she is " only
a sponge to be squeezed and thrown away."
Such are the breed of cormorants made up of only
pockets and stomachs, who flock to the East to en
rich themselves, at no matter what cost to the poor
natives. But before these lines are read Korea's
fate will probably have been decided, so I will
write no more on the subject, but return to
Tompkins who was becoming more and more
bewitching every day, and was the dearest little
dimpled, dumpling darling of a baby, with a cun
ning little double chin, and the jolliest little laugh
you ever heard.
It is perhaps a question to what the credit for
all these attractions is due, for his father, though
an American citizen, was English by birth, his
mamma was an American, some of whose ances
tors' names were written in Dutch in the quaint
old records of the oldest Dutch Reformed Church
in New York, and some in the passenger list of
the Mayflower. But Tompkins was born in
Korea and when he was older and went to
America the second time the boys called him
" Chinky Chinky Chinaman " and said he could
never be President, which was galling.
But we will hope that some of the good steady
going qualities and dogged persistence of old
John Bull, and the life, energy, brilliance and in
dependence of the New World, and the patience

$2 What the Boy Found
and calm of the East, may all have been be
stowed upon him by these great fairy godmothers.
But as I was about to say Christmas time was
approaching, and it was decided in family con
clave, at which he of course assisted, that he
must have a Christmas tree though he was only
four months old, and that all the babies and little
folks belonging to Americans and Europeans, in
the town, should be invited. But it is no easy
matter here, in Korea, to get trees.
The poor around the city, where trees are quite
scarce, cut them down so fast for fuel that the
cutting of trees has been forbidden by law, and,
unless one can be had from some one's own land,
we must do without. Four days before Christ
mas and yet no tree ; then three days ; at last on
the second day it arrived. I'm afraid some of
our American boys would have called it a "two
for a cent" one, but it was large enough for the
low rooms, and with it came large bunches of the
beautiful mystic mistletoe so prized by our Eng
lish cousins, and long branches of evergreens.
Tompkins' tree had been gaining in interest and
importance for several days before its arrival, and
no less than three other engagements had been
made for it, to serve expectant little hearts.
A tree which bears such variety of fruits as a
Christmas tree, is usually not expected to yield a
full harvest on three or four successive days, yet
this is what the extraordinarily good little tree

A Christmas Party 53
did. First, on Christmas Eve, a band of funny,
cunning little Korean schoolgirls joined with
their teachers, and circled round it, looking with
wondering eyes at the bright lights and glitter
ing trimmings. Then they sat down on the
floor, Korean fashion, and received their gifts,
had their little feast of Christmas dainties, and
were sent home greatly perplexed how to carry
away all the goodies that had been given to
them. The next day Tompkins' tree had his
toilet carefully remade, new presents were
fastened to his prickly old arms, new candles
lighted to brighten his dark dress, and a lot of
mischievous, bright, rollicking, long-haired, gaily
attired little Korean boys came eagerly peering
among its branches. They, too, received gifts,
were feasted with goodies, and entertained with
stories and pictures and sent away rejoicing
While the tree had been entertaining all these
litde Koreans at the house of one of our friends,
Tompkins, through his private secretary, that is,
mamma, you know, had been sending notes
something like this :
" Master Henry Augustus Won presents his
compliments to Master John Brown and begs
that he may have the pleasure of his company
on Friday, December 26, 1890, at four o'clock.
" Small and Early.
" Chaperons cordially welcome."
These little notes were given in charge of a

54 What the Boy Found
Korean servant with what is called a "chit-
book," which is simply a blank book, with the
names of those persons who are to receive letters
or packages written opposite a space in which
they sign their own names in token of having
received such a letter. In reply came any num
ber of gay little acceptances.
The cook put on his big apron and went
diligently to work making tarts, kisses, cookies,
pattie cakes, sandwiches, lemonade, etc.
The family made the candy, which was great
fun, especially as Tompkins presided. Beyond a
doubt, Christmas joys seemed to be doubled and
sweetened in this performance. Bottled lemon
drops and nauseous Japanese candies were the
only things then to be had for money in that be
nighted land, where, think of it ! the people have
no sugar ! Fancy what that means ! No jams,
jellies, cakes, pies, tarts or puddings; of course
no ice cream or cream sodas. No sugar on
their morning rice and no proper candy. They
do have one kind, however ; a sort of substitute
for molasses candy, pulled quite white and often
full of little nuts, which is quite palatable.
The rich people buy Chinese preserves and
candied fruits, and they have delicious buck
wheat honey, so that they are not entirely with
out sweets. Foreigners however do not pat
ronize the native candy sellers very much, for
when we look at the dirty fingers that make it,

Trimming the Tree 55
and the dirty places where it is manufactured we
lose our appetite, and ask to be excused.
So the Wons set their wits and fingers to
work and made some fancy candies. Chocolate
creams, caramels, pink sugar creams, cocoanuts,
sugared walnuts, candied oranges and figs, so
that there was quite a nice variety which looked
like Huyler's best. The tree was put in the
study and made gorgeous with silver bells,
paper angels, tin rubies and emeralds, cobwebs
of gold and silver tinsel, red bags of candy, and
lots of candles, all of which, with the presents,
had crossed seas from America, England and
China to adorn the occasion. The presents
were then placed on, in, under or near the
tree. You see there was a movable partition be
tween the study and parlour, such as all native
houses have, made of a light framework of wood
covered with paper, a sliding door arrangement
which can be entirely and easily removed.
Then this was all closed so no one would
know there was a tree in the house.
Even when the Captain was a bachelor he al
ways had a Christmas party for the children, and
when Pon Gabe came of course there must be a
party for him, and that reminds me — but, well,
never mind now, we mustn't wander away from
the tree.
A great blazing fire was lighted in the big

56 What the Boy Found
brick fireplace in the parlour, for what would
Christmas be without that, to dance, laugh, sing,
clap hands and bid all welcome? The room
was all decorated with Christmas greens and
mistletoe, and everything looked quite like a
real Christian Christmas, as indeed it was
though in a poor dark heathen land where no
joyous light sends its starry rays through the
night of ignorance, sin and sorrow, to brighten
the lives of young or old. Almost before they
could finish decorating the rooms, gay little
voices were heard and the children came troop
ing along. Tompkins was dressed in his best
and lay back in his little carriage smiling be
nignly on every one. Such a queer little com
pany. Little Americans from the missionary
homes, little English from" the consulate, little
Russians, little chubby Japanese from the lega
tion, little German Americans, Canadians, one
Korean and the very cunningest litde Chinese
baby you ever did see, all wadded up in such an
amazing number of gay quilted coats he could
roll one way as well as another, and could roll
all day without hurting himself, and oh ! such a
splendid red cap all decorated with gold beads,
enough to delight the heart of the most exacting
baby in the world. You may be sure Tompkins
was glad to see that Chinese baby.
Well, they played "oats, pease, beans," "hide
the thimble," etc., till supper time, and then all ad-

Something for Every One 57
journed to the dining-room. Tompkins sat up
at the table with Myrtle and Henry, and little
China baby, but Catherine, who was really quite
old (more than two years) was obliged to cry,
she felt so insulted at being placed among the
babies, and really it was very inconsiderate to do
such a thing, so they apologized and gave her a
place among the old ones of five and eight at
another table. While Tompkins was entertain
ing his friends at supper, the partitions had been
removed between parlour and study, the candles
lighted, and there stood the tree all blazing and
glittering. Such a clapping of hands, such shin
ing eyes ! Each of the babies had a rattle, each
of the boys some trumpet or musical instrument,
and soon the racket was all that a boy could de
sire, or Christmas time-honoured customs demand.
Tompkins, who is very particular, evidently
felt quite satisfied that it was all right, for he
went fast asleep in the midst of it all, and lam
sorry to say did not waken in time to bid his
guests adieu.
But Tompkins' tree had not yet completed his
mission. More than a year ago some large
hearted ladies in Missouri had sent a generous
gift of money to the orphanage boys, and now it
had been used to provide them such a splendid
Christmas as they never had before. Warm
worsted scarfs, knives, guns, swords, pocket hand
kerchiefs, towels, oranges, etc.

58 What the Boy Found
The boys were all invited to come to Tomp
kins' house to tea. They had rearranged the
tree, and made it very pretty, and locked it in
the study as before. In the supper room were
long low tables for the little boys to take their
supper on, or their "chenyak" as they call their
evening meal, and on the dinner wagon and
larger tables were large trays of bread, sweet
crackers, cookies, cakes, tarts, etc., etc. At the
appointed time one, the very smallest boy in the
orphanage, came timidly in and inquired if the
proper time had arrived for them to come ; on
learning that it had he ran quickly down to the
gate to inform his companions who were waiting
all together to learn the result of his inquiries.
In a few moments they had all entered, dropped
their wooden shoes in the hall and were making
their most humble bows, in their very best style.
Speaking of shoes, don't imagine wooden ones
are the only kind Koreans wear. They are only
for mud and bad weather and while they are a
little clumsy to get around in and very noisy, they
protect the feet finely from wet and mud, and
protect skirts too for they lift the wearer nearly
'two inches off the ground. In addition to these
however there are straw shoes, used by working
people, string shoes very neat and light, and
used most commonly of all, and leather ones,
which are according to taste yellow, white or
red, with considerable decoration, and with very

Playing Games 59
thick heavy soles studded with large nail heads.
These are used by people of high rank or those
who have a good deal of money. All shoes are
laid aside on entering the house, and the neat
little feet in pretty white stockings look very
nice. The stockings are cut from muslin cloth,
and fitted to the foot. For very cold weather
they are wadded, making everybody look as if
they had badly swollen feet and ankles.
But these boys' feet if swollen certainly didn't
seem in the least crippled ; quite the opposite.
Such a lively and brilliant little company, coats
of cherry, blue, green, purple, red, white, with
bright ribbons fastening their long braids. The
Wons soon taught them some of our American
games which they seemed to enjoy very much,
and after romping about for awhile they were
taken in to supper ; and when they had finished
they were allowed, true Korean style, to put the
remainder of the cakes and goodies into their
capacious sleeves, to be enjoyed later.
When we adjourned to the other room and
found the tree waiting in all its glory, when the
penknives, etc., had been appropriated by their
joyful little owners, excitement was at its height.
They sat speechless with pleasure. The boys
couldn't remain long after that. They were ach
ing to return and enjoy their gifts, so they soon
made their bows and farewells, the lights were
extinguished, we all went to bed and to sleep, the

60 What the Boy Found
tree stood there alone and in the dark all night.
Early in the morning. a dishonest servant robbed
him even of his tinsel and paper finery. The
master came and said he had served his day,
and now he must be removed. So he was carried
away and cut to pieces for fire-wood. But even
then he blazed up merrily and made a delightful,
warm, cheery fire, and even his ashes were used
to brighten up the andirons till they shone as
never before. Let us hope the life of the tree
may be "typical" of Tompkins' life.
Perhaps you expect me to say " that was the
end of Tompkins' tree," but it wasn't; there never
will be any end. That is the beauty of it. The
brightness and joy of it will go on forever. Good
deeds, kind actions, sunshine, cheer and Christ
mas trees live forever.

Ill
PON GABE
I'VE been wishing to tell you about Pon Gabe,
all along without being able to find a place for
him, but now the Wons are safely home, Christ
mas over and we can take time to go back a
ways, and begin at the beginning.
The Captain had started a home and school
for orphan boys some time before, and quite a
number of little waifs were gathered in ; among
them, tiniest of all, Pon Gabe.
He was not six years old, Korean count. His
father who was a nobleman of high rank had
been banished for some political offense, and his
mother was supposed to be dead. I said Korean
count because in that country ages are counted
in quite a different way from ours.
You are at once, as soon as born, one year old,
and if you happen to be born on the last day of
the year, the next day being the first of the New
Year, you are two years old. Then you are no
older on your birthday than you were a month
before, unless a new year has begun in the
meantime. You see, one is just as old as the number of
years, during any part of which, one has lived,
61

62 Pon Gabe
and a baby, born on the thirty-first of December,
would, one year and a day later, on the first of
January, be three years old.
So poor Pon Gabe was really not more than
four proper, honest, American years of age, when
first introduced to Pastor Won, by his uncle who
brought him to the school.
Now the institution was very primitive, barely es
tablished, and there were no proper arrangements
as yet for taking care of such litde bits of fel
lows, who cannot even wash their own faces, or
braid their own little pigtails. So he was only
allowed to remain a few days, rather under pro
test, when his uncle was sent for, and told he
must take him away, and take care of him. Now
I'm afraid the wicked uncle's one idea was to
get rid of the poor little troublesome fellow. At
any rate, some time later, news came that the
child was dangerously sick, and without ordinary
comforts ; so although he was himself too sick to
walk, Mr. Won hired a chair, and armed with
some medicine, condensed milk, etc., went to see
the boy.
He found a forlorn little waif, wailing in a
pitiful weak voice for food, lying on a mat on
the floor, too weak to lift his head. When he
saw the tin of condensed milk, he tried to bite it
open with his teeth, and had been trying to tear
off and eat the paper on the wall. It looked
darkly probable that the uncle was intending to

Will He Live 63
starve the child to death, rather than bear the
trouble and expense of his support.
So Pastor Won decided to take him to his
own home and try to save that feeble, flickering
little flame of vitality that still glimmered in its
frail vessel.
Many others advised against this, when they
heard of it, and saw the child. " He is too feeble
and sick, he will surely die ; then the natives will
accuse us of his death, and drive us out of the
country," was their argument, and a forceful one,
for as yet Europeans were not at all sure of their
footing, in a country so recently and reluctantly
opened. But Pastor Won felt he couldn't listen to these
words of counsel, nor think of results where the
path of duty seemed so plain, so he opened wide
his heart and home, and took in the poor little
lost lamb "faint and hungry and ready to die."
But it was a long pull for poor Pon Gabe.
For days and weeks, life trembled in the balance.
Faithfully his foreign friend cared for, and
watched him. Though all the doctors de
spaired, his love never did, and at length, little
by little, he began to crawl back to life.
About all we could see when looking at him,
was just a pair of great liquid, pathetic, black
eyes, and the poor little skeleton frame of a tiny
child. But with kindness and food, children soon

64 Pon Gabe
prosper, and ere long he was as happy, plump
and bright a little fellow as could be seen any
where. He learned English with surprising
quickness, speaking it like any foreign child,
and this made him very helpful at times,' espe
cially after Pastor Won's marriage, for Mrs.
Won, who could not yet speak Korean well,
used him as interpreter in telling the women the
sweet and comforting words the Lord Jesus
spoke for them.
I'm sure these blessed truths must have gone
home with much more power from the lips of a
little child, of their own nation, than if they had
fallen halting from the mouth of a foreigner.
Sure God uses weak things to confound the
mighty, and foolish to confound the wise, and
does not despise small things.
So they two, the little boy and the foreign
woman, never thought what a hopeless task it
looked, beginning to save a nation of ten mil
lions or more, but with just their poor little bas
ketful, only five loaves and a few small fishes,
began feeding the multitude.
Probably it was done in much weakness of the
flesh, and most likely at times half heartedly, but
so it was, Pon Gabe began to be a blessing.
And when Tompkins came, how delighted was
the little Korean, and as soon as baby could
notice anything, how charmed he was with his
little black-eyed native playmate, and into what

Becoming Americanized 65
fits of laughter he Went when Pon Gabe jumped,
clapped his hands, turned somersaults, or played
any of the innumerable antics he was adept in for
the entertainment of the newcomer.
He had now become quite an American, and
talked about "going home to the United States,"
like the missionaries, and spoke of certain things,
by association taking him " right back to Amer
ica," of which he had only heard.
He, however, never lost his ideas of caste, and
was quite haughty, or else loftily condescending
with the little coolie boys in the orphanage, for
which he had to be sternly reproved by Pastor
Won, on more than one occasion.
One rule, always adhered to, and most happy
in its results with Pon Gabe, and later with
Tompkins, was never to punish while angry, and
never under any circumstances to deceive or mis
lead the child.
They were never told bad medicine was good,
or that teeth pulling would not hurt, or promised
what was not intended to be given. They knew
that the parental word was " yea and amen "
without fail.
Adherence to these rules simplified things,
made them more submissive under chastisement,
and taught truthfulness in the best way, by
example. I believe the Wons were as ambitious of win
ning the respect of these little ones, if not more

66 Pon Gabe
so, than that of all the world beside, and it cer
tainly meant much for all concerned.
While the Wons were away for two years in
America, Pon Gabe was left in school under the
especial oversight of one of the missionaries ; but
his relations who had been willing to cast him off
in his helpless infancy, now that he knew the
desirable English so well, and had served the
missionaries as interpreter, in an important
official interview, and thus proved he could be
useful and profitable, spirited him away.
About a year after the return of the Wons, and
when he had grown old enough to control his
own actions, he visited them, to their and his
mutual delight.. He was now attending govern
ment school and supporting himself in part, by
copying and other odd jobs.
He seemed as earnest a Christian as ever, and
had grown a fine manly little fellow He now
regularly spent his Sabbaths and holidays with
his old friends, when "litde married man" often
came too, and both were admired and revered
by Tompkins. Of "little married man '; more
anon. After leaving school Pon Gabe obtained a
lucrative" position of trust in a printing-office, but
still lived frugally, worked hard and remained
true to his faith.
Later he went to America with three other young
Koreans, and there with assistance from Christian

Fannie the Fox Terrier 6-7
people, worked his way through college and
graduated the third in his class, with high
honours. Such in brief is the story of Pon Gabe. Just
one piece of money lost and found, one stray
lamb reserved from death. It was worth while,
was it not, and I am sure if our ears were keener
we should hear the echo of the joyous refrain of
the angels over a ransomed soul.
Before Tompkins arrived there was, besides
Pon Gabe, another member of the Won house
hold. " Family," I was going to say, for Fannie
the fox terrier was almost a personage. I'm
afraid she was rather fickle, for while , she had
been the Captain's faithful slave till there was a
prospect of a Mrs. Won, at that moment she
transferred her allegiance to the future queen of
the household.
She brought much gibing, persecution, and
unseemly mockery on the heads of the afflicted
couple, by haunting the residence of her future
mistress, where she lay for hours on the street
door mat, thus publishing abroad what was in
tended to be hid from the public, for a time at
least. She was known far and near by the na
tives and foreigners as the pastor's dog, so there
was no doubt about the significance of her
actions. There were then, and are even now, very few
foreign dogs in Korea, and they are correspond-

68 Pon Gabe
inglv valued. The native dog is fed on a poor
kind of rice, never petted or allowed to enter the
living, rooms, and almost never does such an un
heard of thing as to follow his master or show
signs of affection for him.
They appear to be quite lacking in any of the
marks of civilization, shown by their Western
cousins, and as a rule are cowardly and currish.
They bark loudly and show their teeth, but
slink away with incurling tail if an enemy, human
or brute, comes too near. Some of them bear a
strong resemblance to the spitz, and again there
are many that carry all the marks of Scotch
collies, and who it seems to the writer, must be
the degenerate descendants of those clever and
attractive animals. They have thick curly hair,
bushy tails and sharp muzzles, with a look of
sagacity, and when well fed, and well treated,
they have proved to be useful, intelligent and
affectionate. The puppies are the cunningest and most en
ticing little furry balls ever seen. And now I
must divulge a sad fact. Mo§t of the dogs are
bred and kept only to be eaten. A certain season
in the fall is the usual time set for slaughter, and
then there is a tragedy in every neighbourhood,
and an awful fate for thousands of poor dogs.
They are dragged away by the dog butcher
screaming and resisting, with terror in their eyes,
and — well, let us draw a veil

The Use of Korean Dogs 69
What a grand motto for a Society of Preven
tion of Cruelty to Animals lies in that nineteenth
verse of the eighth of Romans, " The earnest
expectation of the creature waitetk for the mani
festation of the Sons of God." I never look into
meek, patient animal eyes, with that pathetic, ap
peal which most of them have, without thinking
of it.
Nothing can be more touching than to realize
that they are dumbly, patiently, looking for the
day, when men who control their fate so largely,
who alas are often more beastly and animal than
they, shall become manifestly the Sons of God,
and they and we, all be delivered together, from
the bondage in which we all groan. But neither
they nor we alone, for with us is He who is
touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and
that blessed Spirit agonizing unutterably.
It seems easier when one thinks one's own little
smart is part of the great whole, and that our
poor lower brothers, the brute creation, and our
great Elder Brother are all " touched by the feel
ing of our infirmities."
Because best of all we know that there is a
sublime Eternal Purpose in it, that is not, or need
not be in vain.
" That not a moth with vain desire is shrivelled in a fruitless fire
Or but subserves another gain."
How wonderfully those verses in that eighth of

70 Pon Gabe
Romans deal with the whole problem of suffering
in all created things, how simple, how satisfying 1
"The sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory that shall
follow." " The creatttre was made subject to van
ity not willingly but by reason of Him who hath
subjected the same in hope, because the creature
also shall be delivered from the bondage of corrup
tion into the glorious liberty of the children of
God." For canines in Korea, there are no laws of any
kind so far as I am able to discover. Many mad
dogs run the streets biting men and animals ; and
many dogs not really so, are doubtiess chased to
madness by alarmed crowds and stoned to death.
Even while these lines were writing, four Euro
peans, and several Koreans, were bitten by rabid
dogs during one week. Muzzles although used
for cattle and horses are unknown for dogs,
pounds and licenses unheard of, and the only
check therefore to the dog nuisance is the slaugh
ter I have referred to. On the other hand pup
pies are rarely drowned or killed as they are too
young to eat, and to destroy them would be
wasting so much food, so dogs abound to a far
greater extent than cleanliness, comfort or safety
would allow. No Korean family is without at
least one.
But Fannie was an animal of quite another type
than these poor creatures, with all the spirit and

A Fire-Cracker Diet 71
sagacity of her brilliant ancestors. She owned
an affectionate heart, and a good strong will too,
for, from the day when she attached herself to
Mrs. Won, till her untimely death, she never
could by persuasions, threats or force, be induced
to leave the house if her mistress were in it, or to
remain there when that lady went forth.
She was a plucky little creature, and when fire
crackers were set off in celebration of the Fourth
of July, no doubt supposing them to be from their
insolent yapping, some kind of " Kwesin " (evil
spirits), she flew at them and taking a blazing
string of them, while still exploding, in her brave
little jaws, shook them like so many rats.
Thereafter her mistress, terrified for the safety
of the creature, had her held during the further
exhibitions, but this was no easy matter, for fran
tic were her efforts to reach and destroy the en
emy. She no doubt felt that the family for whose
safety she was responsible were in terrible dan
ger, and that she must meet and battle with this
one at all costs. She was a faithful little friend,
and they all appreciated her devotion.
So at length you have been made acquainted
with the Won household. Master, mistress, chil
dren, nurse, cook, and even the dog, as well as the
house and garden.
And now, in spite of the joy the little son
brought, a Shadow began to lengthen again in
the home. Sickness and Pain walked in unin-

72 Pon Gabe
vited. Fever sapped the strength of Tompkins'
Amonni and pain held her every day in his grip,
that would not loosen. What was worse he said
he had come to stay. He whispered in the night
in so loud a whisper, that she thought it might
be heard through the whole house, that she should
always be crippled, and never again be free from
his company, never be strong or well, and always
need to lean on others for aid.
The Captain was away when the hard words
went whistling like knives through the night air,
or he would have hushed them, or made the
woman forget them with his cheery presence.
As it was she almost forgot them ; taking care of
Tompkins, and singing to the baby, kept her
own heart from failing altogether.
She often felt too that she could well afford to
suffer when her pain was like a musician, that
with wondrous skill touched the keys of other
hearts and drew forth divine strains of love,
sympathy, tenderness, helpfulness and unselfish
ness, so that through and because of it, the
whole household, and circle of friends were more
heavenly and Christlike.
Pastor Won had been obliged to go away on
important mission business, before his wife grew
so very ill, and was forced to be gone a long
time, it seemed ages to her, it was three infinite
weeks. For you see even time can be infinite,
in height and depth, if not in length.

Captain's Return 73
Every few days a telegram came and some
times a letter, but absence was hard to bear
especially at a time like this.
When it was time for the husband to return in
the insane little Japanese steamer, along the
most dangerous coast in the world, where sub
merged rocks, narrow channels, treacherous
currents, high tides, and blinding fogs, combine
to destroy the traveller, the March winds
shrieked for three days, sweeping in fury over
land and sea.
Tompkins' Amonni never slept those nights;
her heart was tossing about on the sea with that
little steamer. Far out to the black, roaring
ocean the sailor turned his boat, right into the
raging deep whose billows were safer far than
the treacherous rocky coast, and all through
the storm God held the frail little bark and
its inmates safe.
Safely back to port they came, and when Mrs.
Won's Captain opened the door, and walked in,
hearty, ruddy, smiling, a perfect reservoir of
good cheer, strength and hope, she came to
port too, with small delay, and once there, felt
that all the storms in the world could not dis
turb her calm.
Yet even so, disease was not to be ousted, or
pain driven away, and therefore, at length
reluctantly, these people came to realize they
must obey the doctor, leave their work and

74 Pon Gabe
adopted country, and return across the great
ocean to the home land, if perchance life might
be saved. And then how the kindness welled
up and overflowed ! Everybody helped. Gar
ments, curtains, bedding, linen, carpets, must be
wrapped up with camphor, insect powder,
tobacco and red pepper, and packed in zinc
lined boxes. Mattresses must be swung from
beams in the ceiling, to keep off rats, china
must be nailed up with care in boxes, and stores
of canned milk, butter, meats, vegetables, fruits,
etc., must be sold.
Warm travelling things must be made for
Tompkins and his Amonni, who now could do
nothing but try to suffer patiently. Those who
looked at the emanciated form and sunken,
ghastly features, never thought to see her again,
and did not even believe she would reach Japan,
but God's plans were different.
Little by little under the reviving influence of
pure ocean air, and constant care, the pain and
fever relaxed a little, and she began slowly to
amend. Reaching America how dear and beautiful the
look of the veriest hovel, that belonged to home
landl The unseemly outskirts of the city, the
very wharves seemed to wear a peculiar and
special grace, for be it ever so humble, there's
no place like home.
No familiar face as yet greeted them, no loved

Back to America 75
voice blessed the ear, but it was enough just at
first, all they could bear, perhaps, surely all they
needed, to see a whole town, full of white people,
real Americans, their own dear compatriots, and
to hear the familiar accents of their own native
tongue. They lingered awhile, near the Golden Gate
for Tompkins' Amonni to gain more strength
for the long overland journey, and then slowly
made their way eastward, to meet the inexpress
ible joy of reunion with those who were left in
heart throes of anguish years ago. It seems a
litde odd, that to reach western countries from
Korea, Japan and China, we usually travel east,
but that is what the Wons had been doing for
more than a month. Pastor Won was sent for
hither and yon to tell Americans about the in
teresting people and the open door in Korea, so
sometimes it was in the south, sometimes in the
far west, sometimes on the Atlantic seaboard,
that Tompkins' Amonni and he journeyed, and
it was not long before the little boy's assortment
of nurses was quite large.
After a long stay in America Mrs. Won was
sufficiently improved to return to Korea ; though
not entirely well she hoped she might even yet
be of some use in helping Korean women up to
the light. So they started back this time by
way of the Adantic, Europe, the Suez Canal and
so round to Japan and Korea.

IV
KOREAN NURSERY LIFE
Arrived in Nagasaki our friends, the Wons,
found themselves nearly out of money, as
travellers are not unapt to be after all the unex
pected extras everybody meets when taking long
tours. They were forced to wait some days in
Nagasaki and knew well the contents of their
slender pocketbook would never satisfy the hotel-
keepers. But they need have felt no anxiety.
The Methodist Cornells accidentally coming
down to the steamer received them with open
arms, took them to their own home, where they
loaded them with kindness, and sent them on
their way rejoicing.
They reached Seoul at last, finding a party of
friends at the landing with a warm welcome, and
a crowd of Korean Christians as well surged
around them, each eager to be first with a joyful
greeting to the " Moxa." How good the look of
the familiar white garments, how welcome the
sound of the soft liquid speech, how dear the
smiling faces of their flock.
They always seemed so like sheep to Pastor
Won and his wife, so ignorant, so helpless, so
without resources, so unsheltered, surrounded by
76

At Work Again 77
political, physical and spiritual enemies, and so
sorely needing shepherding and folding.
And when in the dusk, under the quiet stars,
they all flocked out of church and down the road,
before the pastor, their white garments dimly
gleaming in the dark, especially the women with
their white aprons over their heads, they looked
not unlike a flock of sheep trotting leisurely fold-
ward. Now that they had returned from such wide
wanderings to their adopted country, their people,
their work, and their friends, Korea seemed much
more than before, like home. The Captain
plunged into work, preaching, organizing, plan
ning, writing, translating, itinerating, urging and
encouraging the native Christians, for there were
millions of people living without God and with
out hope and going down to death unsaved.
Nothing; no condition could be worse than
that, since to be without God and without hope
is the very cause and essence of hell. Burdened,
heavy laden with toil, sorrow, and sin, with none
to help and no ray on the dark way, millions of
people, our brothers, are existing thus, blindly
struggling on.
The missionaries were still very few, just a
little handful of people, almost overwhelmed
with what they saw, and the problems and
responsibilities of the work before them.
As for poor Tompkins he was having a hard

78 Korean Nursery Life
fight for existence. Whether he had a peculiarly
cranky little digestive apparatus, or whether, as
was more likely, the milk, which the Chinaman
extracted from his ill-fed and ill-kept cows was
unwholesome, the child could not manage his
food, grew thin, pale and feverish, and was for
months such a poor, pitiful, starved little creature
that it made your heart ache. His prepared
canned food gave out too, no more could be had
from China or Japan, and weary was the waiting
for the ship that was to bring life. There were
long, awful nights of watching, when the weak
pulse flickered like a tiny candle in too fierce a
gale, but God shielded the precious little flame,
so that it did not go out.
Tompkins' Amonni tells in her diary of a
little hymn, which he had learned to say, which
was quite symbolic of his own life. He could not
pronounce the sounds at all well, as you will see,
saying " hyip" for ship, etc.
" A little hyip wath on the sea
It wath a pretty hyight,
It hyailed along so pleasantly
And all was calm and bright.
When lo a torm began to wise,
The wind blew loud and stwong ;
It drew the cloudth akwoss the skies,
It blew the waveth along,
And all but One were sore afraid of
sinking in the deep."
But the Master rebuked the winds and the waves

Hardy Native Babies 79
" and quelled them with a word," and the small
ship weathered the storm at last, but it was a
very pale and weak little boy, who was carried
out in the fresh air that fall, in his mamma's
sedan chair. Many a time as Tompkins'
Amonni looked at the hardy native babies, of two
and three years, eating melons and cucumbers,
rind and all, carried about in the cold autumn
or even winter weather with scant wraps or none,
her heart ached for her frail little blossom.
Either these babies are all very hardy, or it is
a case of the survival of the fittest, for they are
exposed in such a multitude of ways, the wonder
is, the race is perpetuated at all.
Smallpox is their worst foe, though according
to the mandates of superstition the spirit god
who, as they believe, makes it a specialty, and
distributes it around so impartially and gener
ously, is treated as an honoured guest and propi
tiated in every way possible.
On the twelfth day of his stay, the heads of
the family thus visited, after washing their whole
bodies with pure water and with hands perfectly
clean, bring a bowl of the purest water to be had,
fresh from the spring, and pray before it to " the
distinguished highness," that he will kindly de
part, without working any evil to the little
patient. Sorcerers are called in, a feast is made,
and sacrifices offered, literally, to speed the
parting guest. If the family are poor, thev

80 Korean Nursery Life
make a small horse and bowl of straw, and fill
ing the latter with food, fasten it on the back of
the horse and have it carried some distance
for the use of the spirit, who it is hoped will take
this broad hint, and depart with his provender.
To make his journey easier a small paper um
brella is also sent with the horse, to shield his
godship from the heat of the sun or the wetness
of the rain. As when a friend of high distinction
comes, the ordinary business is laid aside, and
ordinary comers are dismissed unseen. The house
is closed and a dignified quiet attends on the
presence. After the disease is safely over, the
scales which have fallen from the sores are care
fully collected and carried to some temple or
shrine and there burned as a most acceptable
sacrifice. Should the little victim die, it must not be
buried till "the friend" has entirely left the neigh
bourhood, but is left above ground to remind the
demon that he has taken his quota from that
family, lest in a fit of forgetiulness, he should
carry away another child.
When a well beloved little prince was attacked
with this disease, the palace gates were closed, all
business therein came to a standstill, and hun
dreds of thousands of yen were spent in mollify
ing the smallpox deity. The sorcerers went into
a trance condition, and told the royal family the
wishes of "his Highness, the Sonim" (guest).

The Smallpox God 81
Money was thrown to crowds of poor in the
streets, night after night, so that the child might
have their prayers. When the god still lingered,
it was learned that he yearned for an escort to
Weeju on the northern frontier, and that when
that was handsomely provided he would depart.
Accordingly a train of horses loaded with food
and valuable presents (attended of course by the
sorcerers) were sent from Seoul to the north, and
by the time they had reached the border, the little
prince was convalescent.
Natives are now, however, very generally ad
mitting the benefits of vaccine, and are glad to
Use it. Among them, children are the only ones
attacked, for the good reason that all living
adults have had it, at least once. Few precau
tions are taken to prevent exposure, in fact they
do not know how. Children are not counted, till
they have had it, every one dreads and fears it,
nor will they call a doctor or give medicine for it.
At the Wons', they discovered one day, that the
gateman's child had been sick with it for some
time, and he coming into their dining-room every
morning to prayers ! Again, the cook one day
informed Mrs. Won that her — the cook's — baby,
or rather the baby of the concubine she had kindly
provided for her husband, had the smallpox, she
having slept in the room every night, and calmly
come forth each day, to prepare the food for
Tompkins and his parents.

82 Korean Nursery Life
Again while holding a women's meeting in a
street chapel Mrs. Won saw a woman holding a
baby, very closely wrapped, which she found was
sick with smallpox well developed.
Pastor Won and his wife both seemed to be
immune, and had no fear but for their Tompkins.
Foreigners in Korea are so constandy liable to
contagion and in such a variety of ways, with so
few cases of the disease, that it is a wonderful
vindication of the claims of vaccine.
During seventeen years there were only seven
cases of smallpox among all the foreigners in the
country. Of these, four died, three of them being
missionaries. Four at least of the seven had
never been vaccinated, and in the other three
cases evidence that their vaccination had taken
was either uncertain, or it had been administered
many years previous to exposure.
Scarlet fever, measles, whooping cough and
diphtheria are sown through whole villages with
the same carelessness and ignorance displayed in
the treatment of all disease. Dysentery, cholera
infantum, and blindness claim thousands of vic
tims. One instance will illustrate how childish
the people are. A little one suffering with a
malignant and acute eye disease was brought to
the dispensary at a stage when by active and
prompt measures, a cure was still possible. The
baby, for it was only two or three years old, was
afraid of the foreign doctor and when an attempt

Little Nurses 83
was made to treat the eyes it was met with furi
ous resistance and the wildest outcries. The
mother was then told to hold the child firmly so
that medicine could be applied, but in vain. She
could not bear to hear the child cry.
The situation and the danger were explained
but with no effect; the childish parent preferred
to risk the child's blindness, to resisting its strug
gles and screams, and carried it away to its
fate. Babies when not six weeks old are often tied
on another child's back and carried about thus for
hours. Poor litde tots, not more than six or
seven, and looking only three or four, go tod
dling about, baby ridden, hardly able to carry
their heavy burden, yet they rarely complain.
Their hands being free, they play almost as vig
orously as the unshackled, the babies' heads bob
bing round in a way certain to bring an Ameri
can parent's heart into her mouth with consterna
tion, but viewed with perfect sang-froid by the
Koreans. The little nurses often seem quite proud of
the responsibility, and appear very fond of little
brother or sister.
The children of the rich have plenty of gaily-
coloured and well-padded garments, but the poor
are extremely thinly clad in the sharpest weather.
I have seen little boys with only one thin cotton
jacket, unlined, in freezing temperature, while in

84 Korean Nursery Life
summer, many boys under six go altogether
unattired. Tompkins' Amonni one day saw quite a pic
turesque litde chain of several such tiny boys,
with laughing eyes and shining skin, dancing
down the street side by side, each carrying a
graceful lotus-leaf sunshade to shield his brown
little body from the sun ; and from their minia
ture little pigtails to their tiny toes, not a gar
ment, not a thread interfered with their untram
melled freedom. Mrs. Won had two natures
which strove mightily within her at times. The
one was shocked, the other delighted. The one
rejoiced in the picture with its unique eastern
setting, in the childish grace, beauty of form,
harmony of colour and infantile innocence and
freedom, the other thought of the ignorance and
vice in which these litde ones were born, and
which surrounded them like an atmosphere, saw
the disease misery and filth that overshadowed
them and a whole population, and wept.
But as usual I have run far ahead of my poor
little story which, do its best, can never keep up,
and gets rather discouraged trying to be a story
at all under such harrowing circumstances ; and
no wonder, for between you and me, no story,
much less such a little one, can compare to the
interest that lies in such a queer old nation as
Korea. Ever since Tompkins began on the first
page he has had to hang back in the shade and

HOW WOMEN CARRY BABIES IN KOREA

The Sound of War 85
give place to the country, and it's evidently go
ing to be that way to the end. It isn't so bad
either when a boy or a man can lose himself
completely for a country or a cause.
When I digressed he had been very sick and
was just getting out. But even before that the
Japan-China War had begun. There wasn't
any real fighting in Seoul where Tompkins was,
only once they heard the sound of guns, and
that was when one July morning the Japanese
came and took the city and the palace without
bloodshed. But through the long, hot months
of that awful summer, on account of the war,
foreigners were confined within the city, which
lies in a valley, shut in on all sides by mountains
and overhung with miasma, which few cooling
or purifying winds could reach. Its loathsome
ditches filled the air with sickening odours intensi
fied by masses of decaying fruit and vegetables,
which lay rotting everywhere. The palace was
unconsciously nearing the terrible tragedy which
was to end the story of the doomed queen. Many
of the people had fled to the country on the first
arrival of the army, hundreds of shops were
closed, the streets seemed deserted ; an awesome
calm, like that in the centre of a whirlwind, lay
over the whole city.
Sickness attacked the foreigners crowded to
gether in that humid atmosphere. Scarcely a
family escaped ; dysentery and fevers were com-

86 Korean Nursery Life
mon ; and not only Tompkins, but the Captain,
who seldom succumbed, was now sick. About
a mile outside the wall, on a breezy hillside, was
a native house with bushes and shade trees, but
best of all pure fresh air, and this had been
bought as a shelter for sick, outcast Koreans,
many of whom used to bs turned out to die, by
cruel masters. But there were none there now,
the war having frightened so many away, and
thither the Won family were carried every morn
ing, and there they stayed till nightfall, trying to
lay in large stores of pure air. Other mission
aries, too, sought that shelter for themselves and
their little ones. More than one short grave was
dug in the cemetery that summer, and many
were the parents who clutched their little ones to
their bosoms, not knowing how soon the Reaper
would come their way, many the watchers who
hardly dared hope morning would find all
there. But with the fall came cool and bracing air,
the rains stopped and the sick began to creep
out, pale and wan enough no doubt.
Before he could sit up in bed Tompkins had
a birthday. Of course birthdays were never
snubbed in such a sentimental family. On the
contrary they were looked forward to for weeks,
prepared for with great pains, and celebrated
with all possible honour. So at this time the
little invalid was carried into a sunny room full

Tompkins' Birthday 87
of August lilies smiling and nodding at him
from all sides, so it really looked like a
bower. The perfume and sunshine kissed Tompkins
the moment the door was opened, and wished
him many happy returns. He knew it perfectly
well, though they didn't speak English or Korean
either. But that wasn't all, some one had wound
up the music-box (one of the things grandmother
had sent) and there the gayest, sweetest little
tune was rippling out, all laughter and love. It
mingled in the friendliest way with the perfume
and sunlight, till it was hard to tell, in the general
harmony, which was which. I suspect they were
all really one, having one Source.
Right in plain view on the music-box were a
lot of gay little soldiers and other toys. He was
an easily pleased little boy, and this would have
been quite enough, but his Amonni was hard
to satisfy. She wanted a party, and would have
it. It was as the laws of the Medes and the Per
sians that there must be a party at least on
Christmases and birthdays. Poor Tompkins
could only eat patented, prepared invalid's food,
but he wanted to see his little friends eating
something nice ; so there was ice cream, a birth
day cake, lemonade, sandwiches, etc., all on a ta
ble close by the bed. Candles could not be
bought or borrowed for love or money. Mrs.
Won found she had only three. So two were cut

88 Korean Nursery Life
in half for the four years, and one nice one in the
centre served for the life candle.
When the little fellow was propped up on pil
lows and some of his best friends, not too many,
came in softly, not to tire him, and ate the birth
day feast, he was supremely content. Each
brought some little gift, some of their own books
or toys, and ever so much love, and his heart was
overflowing with joy, though he never tasted any
mortal food but somebody's patent milk.
" Oleduster," his way of pronouncing Augusta,
a beautiful little girl, five or six years older than
he, was his Dulciana, and she came and sat by
his side, kissed him, ate his cake and ice cream
and bestowed upon him one of her favourite
toys. Could greater bliss be asked? And Harry
and Maurice, his two heroes, big boys of eight
and nine, came too. They were Tompkins'
ideals, the wholesome kind-hearted sort of "big"
boys who do not despise or overreach little ones,
and instead of snubbing or patronizing them
treat them as equals. " Maurice," said his mother
one day, "how did you know it would please
Tompkins to be treated like a big boy?" "Ah,
mother," said he, "Mr. T. treated me that way
one day, and I know just how good it felt."
This party, I am sure, was the best medicine
Tompkins had, for he improved very fast after
that. About this time, no one knew why, he be
gan to resent his nickname perhaps because so

Dapple Grey 89
many people laughed at it. His objections were
so decided, it had to be dropped, and so he was
sometimes called Harry, but very often Brown
Eyes, for with his pale transparent little face, the
great clear beautiful brown eyes seemed almost
all there was of him.
Brown Eyes and Dapple Grey were now four
years old. The former had just come into the
glory of his first trousers and pockets, and Dap
ple Grey had his first ornaments in the form of
three large, magnificent red rosettes, one under
each of his elegant long ears, and one on his
intellectual forehead. He had a gay little red
saddle cloth, too, and when Brown Eyes was
mounted on his back, and they went ambling
along, the child singing his favourite song, "Joy-
shall, joyshall, joyshall wazh the day, when first
I thaw the burden of my heart rolled away," and
Dapple Grey flapped his short tail and long ears
contentedly, they made a pretty little picture and
an amusing one to the natives, who were accus
tomed to see only dignified personages of dis
tinction ride on donkeys, so they began calling
him the "cheugen taiin" or "little great man."
The friendly people seemed greatly pleased,
and everywhere the little couple were followed by
laughter, exclamations of applause and looks of
amused surprise.
Dapple Grey was very small, Brown Eyes not
very large, and the Korean who led the donkey,

qo Korean Nursery Life
looked bigger than both of them together, and
had to take a great many jokes from the by
standers on the subject, or as they would say, he
had to eat a good deal of "yok" which means
ridicule. It doesn't sound unlike "joke" you
see, and doubtless is its second cousin. Koreans
are fond of children, fond of jokes or "yok" —
when they do not have to "eat it" themselves, —
fond of anything, in fact, that will make them
laugh, and forget their hard dull lives, so that
Brown Eyes and Dapple Grey were almost as
entertaining as a circus for them.
What they will say to a real circus when it
comes, and I'm told one is really on the way
(this old world spins so fast), there is no telling.
They sometimes have rope dancers and acrobats
who are very clever fellows, and quite often the
young Buddhist priests go about, performing, and
dancing, flinging long ribbands about in such a
skillful way, and with such wonderful rapidity,
that they take certain shapes the players wish,
whirling above their heads in the air.
Koreans have no public places of amusement,
no theatres, concerts, lectures, ball games, boat
races, or any public meetings or gatherings.
Missionaries have introduced religious services,
and during the last year or two, Japanese have
introduced a theatre ; and the Independence Club,
started under the auspices of European trained
natives, about six or seven years ago, organized

Chinese Theatres

91

the first public political gatherings; but these
proved dangerous, and were stopped. Chinese
play actors are sometimes employed by very
wealthy private individuals, and their exhibitions
are something truly wonderful. They do not talk,
but sing their parts, in a blood-curdling, teeth-
on-edge-setting high falsetto, pretend to mount
their fiery steeds by leaping high in the air, and
then prancing round the stage on imaginary
barbs, like children at play, cut off each others'
heads in turn, and at once leap up again in an
other character. This goes on for hours and
days. Tompkins' Amonni was once invited to
the Chinese legation to see one of these displays,
and sat from two till six, only to find that the
first part of one play was not half finished, and
all the time the monotonous wailing Chinese
music (?) was going on with praiseworthy per
severance. She made her adieus and left, but
heard afterwards that the play kept on till
twelve that night, began the next morning and
continued all that day.
The actors, she concluded, must all be athletes
of no common order, to go through such violent
exercise, such a continuous series of leaps,
violent deaths, and fearful contests, with such a
trying strain of throat and lung power, for so
many hours and not succumb. It is certainly
wearisome beyond description to a foreigner to
behold.

92 Korean Nursery Life
Dapple Grey was one of Brown Eyes' birth
day presents, though at that time it was not
certain whether he would ever be able to ride
his little servant. About thirty thousand cash
were paid for the donkey, though all together
they did not amount to quite ten of your gold
dollars. I hardly believe that cash will ever be
spent for another donkey, in Seoul, at least ; for
now since foreigners have been suggesting so
many changes, silver money and nickels have
been almost entirely substituted for cash, in the
capital at any rate, and it is very nice indeed to
be able to carry a little change about, without
hiring a man to take it on his back as before.
Not much use were dainty little American purses
in those days; one would scarcely hold one
cent's worth, and for five hundred dollars you
would need a train of ponies. But Dapple Grey
was worth his salt and his cash, too, and when
Brown Eyes grew well enough, they two went
down to the river Han four miles from their city
home, for now the authorities had decreed it to
be safe to leave the legation and the guards.
Brown Eyes lived there in an odd little native
house with his father and mother for several
weeks. Dapple Grey stood outside and brayed
so hard and kicked up his little heels so much,
that none of the Korean neighbours would take
him to board ; so a little shed had to be fixed up
by the house where his master was, and quite

Tompkins' Playmates 93
often at night he would give a friendly call at
the door to let them know he was there and wide
awake. It wasn't at all necessary to sleep at
night because he could easily take a nap any
time while jogging along with Brown Eyes.
The village boys all thought the little Ameri
can great fun. They never saw a child dressed
so differently from themselves before, or one
with such a delicate fair skin. They were much
pleased to find he knew a few words of their
language, and would run after him in troops,
asking over and over how old he was (though
they had been told repeatedly) just to make him
talk. Little doubt American boys would have just
as much curiosity about one of these Korean
boys if he were suddenly to appear on the
streets in one of their villages, and it is to be
feared that they might not be as considerate in
satisfying their curiosity as these heathen boys
were. Every one of them wore his hair parted
in the middle, and braided in a long pigtail,
which hung down his back. At holiday times
these braids are tied with fine new ribbands,
which are made for the purpose, just the right
length, and covered with bright gilt Chinese
characters, meaning long life, happiness, riches,
good luck, etc. They wore little jackets of
muslin or grass cloth, called "chogeries."
Among the well-to-do, these are often made

94 Korean Nursery Life
of silk and very brightly coloured, preferably
red, but often green or yellow, while for very
little folks the sleeves are made of strips of
every bright colour there is, and all so neatly
pieced, that they look as though they were
woven that way. In very cold weather the
jackets are padded with cotton wool, nice and
warm, and usually there is, besides, a touramachy
or padded coat of gorgeous red. Sometimes I
wonder if these little gay jackets are not de
scendants of Joseph's coat of many colours. At
any rate, every boy is almost sure to have one
for New Year's day, for his brother's or sister's
weddings, and such state occasions.
The padgies or long, full baggy trousers, are
also padded for winter. They are white, shiny
and glossy, from much pounding — not on the
boy — more of which might do him good, but on
a smooth stone or piece of hard wood. These
trousers are fastened in with neat anklets and
tied there with fancy ribbons for special occasions.
Padded white muslin stockings and a pair of
straw or string shoes complete the costume.
But these country boys whom Brown Eyes
knew, wore, almost up to Christmas, only two
garments ; a thin grass cloth jacket, a pair of
very coarse trousers of the same material, and
straw shoes.
They were funny, merry, hardy little fellows,
with faces and bodies tanned dark brown by

Korean Boys' Work 95
constant exposure. Most of them had to work
all the time, though like all boys, and especially
those in the East, they managed to take things
fairly easy, and to squeeze in a sufficient mod
icum of rest and fun. Some drove the little pack
ponies, with their loads of wood, vegetables,
manure, etc., to market, riding back, sitting side
ways on the uncomfortable pack saddles, one boy
often managing two or even three of these can
tankerous, biting, kicking, fighting, balking little
beasts. Sometimes with their handy " nat," a kind of
sickle, they may be seen clearing all the road
sides, for far and near, of every weed, twig and
bit of dried grass, or brush for winter fires.
Sometimes they are busy for days watching the
crops of rice and millet, driving off the maraud
ing birds, with threatening arms and loud out
cries. Many are the devices to which people
resort to keep off these thieves. Little booths
are built on hillocks, and points of vantage,
whence, sheltered from the sun they can watch
and dart forth to the attack. Regular spider-
webs of long strings stretched in all directions
are arranged, to entangle their wings, and pre
vent their flight. Scarecrows are frequently
posted, or dead birds hung in full view as an
awful warning to sinners.
Some of the boys are candy sellers. In nut
ting season, at every corner are little nut mer-

96 Korean Nursery Life
chants with their charcoal fires and hot chestnuts.
Some learn early to carry a little jicky, managing
quite heavy loads ; many work in the fields,
helping sow, weed and gather in the crops ; and
some carry the baby around all day, until it is
nearly big enough to carry the next one.
They have their games and fun, too, and per
haps enjoy them more, because there is so much
work. They will toss up a shuttle-cock, made of a
piece of cash wrapped in paper, more deftly,
with the side of the heel, than you or I would do
it with a bat, and they will keep it flying, from
one to the other, never letting it touch the ground
once, for twenty minutes at least, often sending
it ten or fifteen feet high in the air and never
touching it with their hands. They fly kites in
a wonderful way and have real battles in the
sky ; one boy often will capture several in an
hour, cutting it down with the saw-like cord of
his own, which is stiffened with a mixture con
taining sand, or ground glass, held together by
glue. The kite strings are only made like this
for a few yards at the kite end. They have a
game almost exactly like " French and English/'
they play "blind man's buff," in just the way-
Harry's American cousins do, and often play
soldier, like all boys the world over.
As for the girls, they wear their hair just like
the boys, and wear a very similar " chogerie,"

What the Girls Do 97
but have instead of trousers, divided skirts,
covered with a very wide-banded, full long apron
of red, blue or white, which really takes the place
of a skirt. Sometimes they wear two of these,
and two chogeries, but they do not have the long
overcoat. Their mothers often use one, putting
it over their head and drawing it close round the
face, the sleeves flapping down on either side,
but the little girls wear only their aprons over
their heads when they go anywhere, which isn't
often. Most of them are very much shut in and must
learn early to sew, prepare rice, pound the
washed clothes smooth, and do other house
work, but they teeter, swing, play "cats-cradle,"
tell stories of tigers, tock gabies — brownies or
goblins — and " queeshins " (ghosts and spirits).
They have a good many nursery and Mother
Goose stories. See now if you can recognize an
old acquaintance in Korean dress, as it was told
to Brown Eyes by a native woman.
A good little saxie who lived in the country
started out one day, with her " see amonni's "
(mother-in-law's) permission to pay a visit to her
mother who lived three miles distant across the
mountain. She wore her white " hankachima "
or apron over her head almost covering her face,
but bright eyes and cherry lips were now and
then " to be beheld things," in spite of all she
could do. On her head she carried a neatly tied

98 Korean Nursery Life
parcel of delicious, freshly made "dock," as a
present to her highly honoured mother.
Before she had gone far, barely out of sight of
her see amonni's chip (house), forth from the
mountains came a terrible great tiger. With as
friendly an aspect, as it was possible for such a
ferocious beast to assume, he approached her,
asking in growling accents, that tried to be
gentle and insinuating, but which really were
blood curdling and almost made her poor little
heart stop beating with terror, " Where are you
going, pretty little one?" Now it is not the
custom for saxies to reply, so she only hung her
head and hurried along. But the tiger stepped
along too, and nothing discouraged, ventured
another question.
" What are you carrying there so carefully, my
dear?" "A loaf of bread for my dear mother,
your Highness," whispered the girl, for this time
his glance was so fierce and his tone so fearful,
she dared not keep silence.
"May I go with you?" said the tiger. "Do
according to your own mind, your Highness,"
murmured she, well knowing that was what he
always did. So they walked and walked for
awhile, when the tiger said, " My stomach is very
empty, can you not give me just a little of that
delicious bread, which you are carrying ? " " Alas,
your Highness, it is for my mother," said the poor
little girl. She was in fact only fourteen and did

Korean Red Riding Hood 99
not look eleven. Upon this the tiger looked so
terrible, his eyes glared so fiercely, his hot breath
like a furnace blast, fell on her cheek, and his
cruel claws looked so threatening that the trem
bling girl dared no longer resist supplications en
forced with such arguments, and reluctantly un
fastened her package, her unwelcome attendant
looking on with greedy eyes, and gave him a
third part of the beautiful loaf she was carrying
to her mother.
They then proceeded amicably nearly a mile
further, but his tigerish appetite was very great,
and not nearly satisfied, so again he begged for
a portion of the dock. " I go I1 my Lord, but how
can I take so small a portion to my honoured
mother, who is a widow and seldom has dainties?
Permit me to refuse your Excellency this time."
But the tiger was not to be quieted or refused.
He was so powerfully insistent, that again the
bread had to be divided, and the despondent
saxie with sinking heart, saw it disappear down
the awful red gulf, that served for his throat.
Still he seemed only half satisfied, and long ere
they had completed the third mile, in fact ere
they came to the brow of the hill, he demanded
and obtained the third portion, so that now
poor Pock Sungie2 had nothing to offer her
mother as a proof of her love. Now it was un
avoidable that, in reaching up and taking down
1 Exclamation commonly used. * Peach.

100 Korean Nursery Life
her bundle, untying, retying and replacing it three
distinct times, the chima 1 should not have been
displaced and disarranged and that the tiger
should not have seen the great beauty of the
little saxie. Her well oiled, combed, and braided
hair, her delicate eyebrows, smooth skin, shining
almond eyes, above all her dimples, her dainty
little hands, and pretty rounded arms did not es
cape him, and now that the bread was all gone,
and his appetite rather sharpened than in the
least satisfied, as they would soon come to the
brow of the mountain whence they would descend
and be seen perhaps by those in the valley below,
and as the little girl's home was now not far off, he
decided to delay no longer, so with a horrible
growl he sprang upon poor Peach Blossom and
devoured her in a moment. He then put her
pretty red skirt over his head, and trying to mince
along like a young girl made his way to her
mother's cottage. If any one had seen him they
would never have supposed it was poor Pock
Sungie, with those terrible hairy legs and cruel
claws, striding, and slouching crookedly along
below the girl's dress. But no one did see him,
I'm sorry to say. He reached the cottage door,
and roared " mun yere chusio." " Please open
the door." " Who are you ? " was the reply. " 'Tis
I, your Pock Sungie come with a fine loaf of fresh
bread to see my dear mother ; are you alone?" said
1 Apron over her head.

Korean Boys at School 101
the tiger. " Yes, but why are you so hoarse, my
daughter ? " "I have taken cold in the moun
tain," said the tiger. " Well, pull the string and
the latch will fly up ; hasten in, dear child." So
pulling up the string, he entered, pounced on the
poor mother and devoured her also. But while
still engaged in this bloody work, some wood
cutters who heard the poor woman's shrieks,
rushed in and put an end to this greedy old
beast Many similar stories are told from parent to
child, and some are written in the people's books.
Very few however of the poor can read. There
are native private schools in nearly all the towns
though, where Chinese is taught, and sometimes
the Korean character. All are seated on the
floor, together, and each boy shouts aloud, from
his own book, the Korean words for the particu
lar set of Chinese characters he is learning.
The boys begin with a few simple characters,
and later take up combination characters, learn
ing certain maxims of Confucius, and so on, until
they have memorized thousands.
Rich men's sons often study from eight in the
morning, till five or six at night, seven days in
the week and all the year round, with the excep
tion of about two weeks at their New Year, and
on a few other occasional holidays. They do not
learn to speak Chinese, only to translate the writ
ten character, which is used as well in Japan, so

102 Korean Nursery Life
that a Korean student can make his wants known
in either of these countries by writing, but cannot
understand a word he hears.
All this is splendid training for the memory,
but the reasoning faculties have little if any ex
ercise. It is considered a liberal education for a
man to be able to read and write Chinese, and to
have read the maxims of Confucius. There are
no professions which are considered part of a
man's education. Doctoring is learned as a sort
of a trade, and there are neither lawyers nor
clergymen. In fact there are very few callings
by which a gentleman who does not wish to learn
a trade, and do manual labour can earn a living.
The mission schools have opened up western
ideas of education, and follow the curriculum of
American schools, always, however, teaching a
portion of the Bible each day, and giving a fair
amount of Chinese, so that the pupils may not
be at a disadvantage among their own country
men. The first schools started on this plan in
Korea were the orphanage, before referred to,
the "Paji Hakting" and Ewa Haktung, boys'
and girls' schools under the Methodist mission,
a school for future medical students at the gov
ernment hospital, and a government school, the
two latter under the patronage of the king.
There have been ever since that time one or
more schools for boys under government patron
age with American, English, French and Russian

The Hope for the Girls 103
teachers, and it was the intention of the queen to
establish one for girls also, a purpose frustrated
by her death.
Besides the schools in the large mission sta
tions, under the direct superintendence of foreign
ers, nearly every large Christian village has its
large Christian day school, supported partly or
entirely by the natives, and in many cases these
are so excellent and thorough, that heathen
neighbours ask the privilege of sending their
children. The Bible, catechism and western
learning are taught to some extent in all these
little country schools.
The natives, too, are coming more and more
to wish to educate their girls as well as the boys.
Most boys, even the poor peasants' and farmers'
sons, are engaged by the time they are twelve or
fourteen years of age. Tompkins' brother — but
that is a different story, and must wait
At that age, if they are well to do boys, that is
if their father has sixty or seventy dollars a yeai,
or even less, their hair is fastened up in a top
knot, they put on fine new clothes, with a long
touramachy, or coat, and friends are invited to a
feast, and congratulate the boy on assuming the
heavy responsibilities of life.
He wears a straw hat, much the shape of the
black ones, till he is actually married. The tying
up of the hair is a very solemn ceremony, when
soothsayers and astrologers are again called in,

104 Korean Nursery Life
to advise and oversee the performance. It is the
great turning point in his life. Very poor boys
also put up their hair, but much later, and with
little or no ceremony, according to their means,
or the possibility of borrowing. But do not for
one moment suppose that getting married or en
gaged means at all what it does to us. O, no,
not a bit, nothing at all like that in Korea. If
you are a Korean of eleven or twelve, very likely
your mother has just given your sister, aged fif
teen, in marriage to another family, and needs a
handy little maid to help about the house with
sewing, ironing, rice cooking, dish washing, fire
lighting, weaving, spinning, etc. So she calls in
a go-between or marriage broker, and consults her
as to available saxies, as young girls are called.
After much dickering and going back and forth,
the arrangements are all settled between the two
families, probably a specified number of bags of
rice are paid for the girl, the ceremony is per
formed, and then for the first time the boy sees
his bride.

V
A CHAPTER OF PRESENTS
There is a good deal to be said about Korean
weddings, but that must come in by and by, and
now we will return to the village boys. Most of
them are quite small for their age, though some
times a tall strapping fellow is seen. Perhaps
sleeping on hot floors and eating nothing but rice
has something to do with that.
These brown, healthy youngsters were de
lighted with Brown Eyes, and oh, the excitement
and " yahdon " when he and Dapple Grey went
out together. All the boys wanted to lead the
donkey, but those who could not, ran shouting
before and behind, sometimes rather frightening
the litde boy who didn't like being so closely be
sieged by such a noisy crowd, although accord
ing to Korean ideas, the more retainers a man
has, and the more noise they make, the greater
the glory. This idea is purely Korean and un
known elsewhere. The boys all thought Brown
Eyes a rare toy, and did their best to entertain
him. They built houses in the sand, skipped
stones along the water, made little images of
clay, whitded toys of wood, and made wonderful
slings of long pieces of stout bark, with which

106 A Chapter of Presents
they would throw three or four stones at once a
very long distance.
Brown Eyes was delighted with the sort of
camping life in the funny little house. It had
only two rooms separated by a kind of covered-
in piazza, and a little shed lean-to kitchen. One
room was occupied by the house boy, and the
two chair coolies, who brought his mother there,
and one was used by his father, mother and him
self, for sleeping, dining and sitting- room, yes,
drawing-room and study, too. It was a kind of
magic apartment, you see, and you had only to
rub a ring, a lamp, or some such thing, wish, and
presto, change, it accommodated itself to the needs
of the hour, and what more perfect house does any
body want ? If the secret could only be learned,
I'm sure we'd all have one. No common house
will provide it ; on the contrary some rooms seem
made to look at, and not to use at all You are
afraid to sit here, or walk there, or touch that, till
you feel you really want to creep out as quickly
and quietly as possible. And some houses aren't
even good to look at, much less to use. But with
this little brownie house it was quite different, yes,
indeed. The rooms were each only seven feet
wide by eleven long, and about seven feet high
in the middle where the roof tree was hung, but
much lower at the sides ; so low that Tompkins'
Amonni, who was a little woman, could easily
reach up under the eaves, where a swallow's nest

Brown Eyes' Cottage 107
hung right over the maru, and fondle the baby
birds when their mother had gone for worms.
By the way, no Korean bad boy ever interferes
with the swallows' nests and families. They are
sacred, though the little sparrows are caught,
dyed gay colours, tied to long strings, and teased
and killed. But there I go wandering away
again. This house had the kang floor, of which
you have heard, warmed by a fire lit right under
the house. A sure way to set it all burning you
would say, but don't you see it was a fairy house,
and nothing came to pass except a warm room
and dinner. Did you clap your hands and wish
for a bedroom, as you certainly would, after tear
ing about all day in the bracing fresh air, a slave
of the ring would appear, in other words the
house boy, with a great pile of clean straw
which was laid on the warm floor in thick layers.
On it were spread comforters and blankets, the
outer shutter windows were closed, and the inner
sliding ones were drawn, a tiny wick in a saucer
of oil on a brass lamp stand (the one you rub, for
a charm) was lit, and behold the bedroom ! Then
in the morning, after they had dressed and wanted
a dining-room, blankets, etc., were all removed
to be aired and disposed of, windows were opened
wide for an airing, the room was swept in a jiffy,
while they went out for a few minutes to say
good-morning to the glorious great tree, the
placid river and the donkey. When they re-

108 A Chapter of Presents
turned they found their trunk had been trans=
formed into a table, a delicious breakfast was
served and there was a cozy dining-room. Break
fast had been cooked over a great black earthen
bowl full of glowing charcoal, and often consisted
of Korean beans, pheasants, rice, eggs and great
luscious persimmons. Beautiful pheasants, such
as are rarely if ever seen in America, were this
little boy's daily food, bought for ten cents apiece
from the Korean hunter, who with his old-fash
ioned match-lock gun, went out every day and
came back with a bag full. Mother pheasants
with their brood used to saunter all over the
Wons' grounds, and roost in their trees, but no
one dreamed of touching them. *
How happy the little family were in the little
house ! It had only two rooms, but there was all
outdoors, with the blue sky bending over them,
dear earth beneath, and the river, birds, trees and
mountains all for companions and friends. Es
pecially they delighted in realizing that it was
all of it full of their God who made it, and that
it is His life in every leaf, every whisper of the
wind, every shining star' or sunbeam making
everything rich and sweet with ' holy import.
How dead everything would be without Him !
The Captain had to be away in the city part
of the time, but when he was with them he was
always busy, translating mostly, sometimes build
ing an ice house for next summer, or starting a

The Comfort of Rest 109
garden, or trimming and transplanting trees.
The other two were never far away, the litde one
playing in the sweet warm grass, the mother gaz
ing, dreaming, content, so blissfully so, that she
could gladly have remained there forever, never
knowing it was eternity, so fast the golden sands
slipped by.
There is great comfort for a weary woman, to
be found in a house without a single picture,
ornament, bit of delicate drapery or even a rug.
Such restfulness there is in bare walls 1 Such
freedom from the irritation of small things, con
stantly though dumbly demanding attention, care,
approval or the opposite, pressing as it were their
annoying claims upon you.
When there are so many pictures, ornaments,
draperies, etc., of nature's incomparable handi
work out of doors, which demand no thought or
care, why fill our houses with imitations ?
In winter when one is shut in, and in a city at
that, where all is bleak, bare and ugly out of
doors, then little articles of virtu, souvenirs of
travel or of friends far away, or precious heir
looms, cluster about one like friends, if there are
not too many at once. So it happened that Mrs
Won never brought any of those things to their
summer home, built later at the river. However,
we left the family at breakfast a long while ago,
and while they .are lingering over it, I will tell
vou a litde more about their Korean neighbours.

no A Chapter of Presents
Do not suppose that they live as the Wons did
in the cottage. For instance, at night the village
boys and poor people lie right down on the coarse
straw mats on the floor, with a wooden block for
a pillow, and never trouble about anything else
In cold weather they cuddle up as close as possi
ble to each other on the warmest part of the floor,
with a well padded quilt over them. Grand
father and grandmother have the warmest place,
if they are a well-behaved family, and the chil
dren and servants on the outskirts, except the
baby, who of course is cuddled close to grand
mother. In summer the men often lie out on the
ground in front of the house, and the women on
the maru or porch. If they are rich they may
have two or even three sleeping rooms, and if
they are very great people indeed, they have
several little one-roomed huts for servants, at the
gate, along the wall, and a fine sarang for the
men of the family and their guests, as well as
one for male servants. If they are very poor,
they often dig a deep hole in the ground, thatch
it with straw, and in the coldest weather, work
and sleep there, close to the warm heart of old
Mother Earth. Rich Koreans do have low beds
(used chiefly in summer), and nice padded mat
tresses about two inches thick, covered with silk,
or even with felt heavily embroidered with storks,
dragons, trees and flowers.
While I am telling you about the Koreans'

How the Natives Eat 1 1 1
houses and clothing, I suppose I might as well
go on and tell about their food, too. It is served
on little tables, by their mothers, sisters or wives,
who usually stand and serve while the " men
folks" eat. Each person has one of the little ta
bles, which are about a foot high and a foot in
diameter, and on them are placed the bowl of
rice, the kimchi or " sauer kraut," also a hot sauce
something like Worcestershire, perhaps a little
prepared seaweed, a few tiny slices of cold meat
or chicken, or dried fish, or maybe some coarse
vegetable. Everything except the rice is called
the pancheon. If the family is rich, there may
be kuksu or vermicelli soup, eggs, boiled chest
nuts or woody Korean pears. But very few even
of the rich have such luxuries as those every day.
When the men have finished or are well served,
the women help themselves. " Dock " is another
delicacy, variously made, which the foreigners
have translated bread, but which if it does really
belong to that old and honoured family, is a very
distant cousin, and a poor relation at that.
It is made in different ways ; one very common
one is rice flower and oil, pounded together un
til it is as tough as India rubber. Sometimes the
flower and oil are steamed, sometimes eaten raw,
but in all cases it is disastrously indigestible.
It is bewildering to a foreigner to behold na
tives eat kuksu. Lowering the head in as close
proximity to the bowl as the use of chop-sticks

112 A Chapter of Presents
will admit, they begin lifting long masses of the
vermicelli to their mouths. With agility gained
only by long practice, they keep the uphill stream
flowing, so that there is an unbroken stream of
vermicelli from vessel to mouth till the last rem
nant has disappeared. It is a work of art in one
sense. Kuksu as they prepare it for themselves
is quite agreeable, but half warm, and much
sweetened, as some of them think right to serve
it to foreigners, it is, — well, — never mind.
Game is very plentiful in Korea though I am
afraid it will disappear before the onward march
of civilization (?). A couple of foreigners went
out recently and after two or three days, returned
with over 500 pounds of various kinds of game
birds, which you and I consider cruel slaughter,
wicked and wasteful. Besides pheasants, there
are snipe, pidgeons, wild geese and ducks in
greatest abundance, and even wild turkeys. The
latter, however, are rather scarce, and would you
believe it, there are no tame turkeys at all, and
no cranberries ! Just imagine Thanksgiving
without turkeys and cranberries.
Perhaps it's because the poor Koreans don't
know anything about Thanksgiving in our sense
of the word, and have no regular Thanksgiving
day, though sometimes the king appoints a day
for the people to thank their Honourable Heavens
or Hannanim as they call their head god, for
averting a famine or sending rain.

Korean Idea of Eating 113
Perhaps it is a good lesson to Americans, when
they have to go without, to remind them that
after all, Thanksgiving is not expressed mainly
in feasting themselves, or even others, upon tur
key, cranberries, mince and pumpkin pies, etc.,
but that it means heartfelt gratitude and worship
of God, who has blessed us.
Brown Eyes' Amonni used to say, it seemed to
her to savour a good deal of old heathen ideas
and customs, and a good deal too much after the
notions of our brute brothers, that most of our
rejoicings must be celebrated with enormous
meals, the greater the joy apparently, the greater
the gormandizing. With the Koreans, in fact
this idea of eating goes into every custom of life.
A deaf man has "eaten his ears," a thief, or
cheat, " eats money," a man who is ridiculed
" eats yok," or insult, a hard creditor " eats wid
ows' houses" clothes " eat starch," a repentant
sinner " eats a new mind," and I might continue
an almost endless string of these examples, show
ing how large a place in their poor empty shal
low lives eating takes up. But for us, who feed
on angels' food, who have bread to eat that they
know not of, Mrs. Won used to say, the more
quietly and unostentatiously we performed that
necessary, but not elevating function, which Mr.
Dickens called " coaling " the more our good taste
would be in evidence.
Notwithstanding and nevertheless, for the sake

114 A Chapter of Presents
of two dear old arbiters, Use and Wont, because
it brought back dear old associations, and seemed
to put them in touch with home land and home
folks, the Wons tried every year to get a wild
turkey and some canned cranberries for Thanks
giving day.
Korean boys do not have as many or as long
holidays as we. To begin with there are no Sat
urdays or Sundays (think of that !), but worse is
to come, there is no Thanksgiving, Fourth offuly
or Christmas ; but what is more dreadful still,
they know nothing of what these holidays stand
for, the sweet, glorious, awful facts of the incarna
tion of an Almighty Redeemer and Saviour of
the whole world in the form of a litde child, is
something they never even heard of; so how
could they have a merry Christmas if they tried ?
If some of the people who are working so hard
for it, could only take our Jesus away, all the
presents, dinners and Christmas-trees might be
flung in the depths of the sea, we wouldn't care
for them It is the Christmas church bells that
make all the rest of Christmas doings glad, it is
the Christ-child on top of the Christmas-tree that
makes the candles blaze so, and the trimmings
glitter. Do you know a lady once dressed a
Christmas-tree for the Korean royal family, but
it wasn't at all a success ? It was all covered
with candles, glass balls and stars, but, it seemed
a foolish thing, there in the palace, it was plain

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Korean Holidays 115
they couldn't understand its use, or enter into the
spirit of it. As for the Fourth of July, they do
not know the meaning of national freedom and
independence, but as they wouldn't know how to
use it without Christ, that is a small thing com
pared with the ignorance of Him, and in fact all
Christians know that nothing is worth having
without Him, as our dear Whittier has said,
" Apart from Him all gain is loss, all labour vainly done,
The solemn shadow of His cross is better than the sun."
But in the place of our holidays they have
some others. There is New Year's, the longest
and chief of all. The birthday of Buddha, about
whom very few of them know anything definite,
the birthdays of the members of the royal family,
their own and their parents', the anniversary of
Kija's death, and the spring and fall decoration
days. The New Year festival comes at the time
which they believe to be the opening of the
spring, and it is to celebrate this reawakening
life of all nature that the great holidays of China,
Korea, and Japan are held. As they are regu
lated by the moon, this festival comes a little
later in some years, and a little earlier in others,
usually about the middle of February. At that
time nearly everybody has new clothes, all dyed
the brightest colours, and new hair and ankle
ribbons ; the women are busy for weeks before,

1 1 6 A Chapter of Presents
preparing new clothes for all the family, or if not
new, at least newly-dyed and ironed. Feasts are
in order, not only at home, but as one goes round
calling on relatives and friends, one is " taichap
haoed " (or fed on dainties).
Quantities of dock and other festival foods are
in readiness. One of these is a little, a very
little, after the fashion of our plum pudding. It
is filled with spices, fruit and nuts, but with so
much oil that to us, who are accustomed to suet
or butter (which of course is not grease), it 'is
quite offensive.
At that time presents are in order, of all sorts
of things, new rice bowls, shoes, kites, braces of
pheasants, strings of eggs, sticks of dried per
simmons, bags of nuts, boxes of Japanese oranges.
The king sends the high officials great quantities
of food and often used to favour the missionaries
in the same way.
The people keep holiday at that time any
where from two days to two weeks, according to
their station or wealth.
There are many interesting customs in con
nection with these New Year's holidays, but I
shall leave some more learned writer to describe
them in detail, and will only mention one or
two. From the last day of the old year to the third
or fourth of the new, Koreans call on their
relatives and superiors, and the heads of their

New Year's Customs 117
families. In the country the calling is sometimes
kept up — even to the tenth day. At each house,
of course, they are offered dainties, and some
times, even a boy, will eat during an afternoon,
twenty-five large pieces of dock. Before break
fast, on the first day of the year, sacrifices are
offered to dead parents and ancestors, and their
graves are visited on the first day, if possible, or
at least before the fifth.
On the fifteenth day, many burn their hair
combings, as a sacrifice to the god of colds and
influenza, and he is so pleased with the offering,
or displeased with the odour, that he keeps away,
it is said, for the rest of the year. I'm sure I
don't wonder, do you ?
Straw babies with a few cash in their bodies,
are thrown out on the street by those who have
received the ill-will of the stars — in the hope that
others less superstitious will pick up their troubles
with the dolls for the sake of the cash and carry
them off. Here is a faint glimmering of the idea
of vicarious sacrifice.
Others make small moons of pieces of paper,
which they put on the house-top, and at the time
of the full moon bow and prostrate themselves
before it.
On the evening of the fifteenth, poor boys go
from door to door begging money, and well-to-do
households have small, gaily coloured baskets in
which a few coins are placed, and these are

1 1 8 A Chapter of Presents
handed out, and with them the very generous
donors suppose they are giving away their dis
eases and misfortunes to the recipients.
On the fifteenth of the New Year, in the city
of Seoul, it is the custom to walk over all the
many bridges which cross the great open sewers,
in order to prevent corns or any foot disease
during the year.
On the shortest day in the year — in many
houses, bean gruel is eaten, and blood is sprinkled
on the lintel and the sides of the house door, or
in the absence of blood, red water from the boil
ing beans is used to keep away the spirits who
bring death, these spirits being dull fellows, who
are easily cheated into taking coloured bean
water for blood.
The festival of Buddha's birthday is the same
as that which is kept in Japan and China, of
which my readers need no information.
The anniversary of Kija's death is also kept.
Kija was a noted historical character, the founder
of Korea as a nation, and it was during his
reign that Korea's alphabet was created. On
this day Koreans have their cold rice feast,
which is eaten and prepared, startlingly like the
Jews' feast of unleavened bread.
The fifth of the fifth moon is the summer
festival, known in China as the dragon boat
feast, and as it is not largely regarded in the
country, but is celebrated mainly in the capital

Summer Festival

119

where people have come in contact frequently
with Chinese, I am inclined to regard it as
merely borrowed.
It is mainly a woman's holiday and many of
them, of course, lower and middle class women,
of safe matronly years, take their rice and other
food, and go to the country to the woods,
picnicking in delightful discomfort, so much like
Americans, it does one's heart good to see
them. At these functions like the Presbyterian meet
ings, " Of women there seemed an innumerable
throng, but the men I could count as I passed
along." Swings are erected in various places,
and boys and girls do their swinging for the year
on that and the following day, making a charm
ing picture, in the groves on the hillsides, with
their gaily coloured garments as though great
masses of exotic flowers had suddenly burst into
gorgeous bloom there.
The birthdays of the royal family are of course
always public holidays, and at such times, it is
the custom of their majesties to send fans,
honey water or presents of game, eggs, etc.,
according to season, to high officials and
foreign friends.
In every family, birthdays are regarded much
as with us, some more, some less, and feasts,
invited guests and presents are often in order.
When an aged couple reach the sixtieth anni-

120 A Chapter of Presents
versary of their marriage, a great feast is given,
all the descendants are invited, their eldest sons
and daughters are then dressed in infants' attire,
and everything possible is done in a jocular way
to recall the early married days. It is a great
occasion, not a whit less important than our
golden weddings.
Koreans have two cemetery decoration days.
One about the seventh of April, or one hundred
and fifteen days after the shortest day of the
year, the other in the fall on the fifteenth day of
the eighth Korean moon ; this is the mid-autumn
festival. On these occasions it is the custom for whole
families to repair to the cemeteries, where they
look to the good order of the grounds, offer
sacrifices, decorate the graves at times with
flowers, and weep over the dead.
They, however, manage to combine pleasure
with business and mourning, take a nice lunch
eon, and make an outing out of it.
These are the only occasions I know of, when
Korean men and the women of their families go
anywhere in company for pleasure ; and even
here, the young saxies between twelve and
twenty, and even the older ladies of high
families do not participate, or even leave their
apartments except in tightly closed chairs.
In this connection I would say that the
Koreans have no proper cemeteries, but graves

Korean Cemeteries 121
are scattered everywhere on the hillsides, to
their great disfigurement.
Not a fine site, not a wooded hillside where
pure air and good view are to be had but there
are to be found graves, and it is a serious
matter indeed to move one of them under the
jealous protection of the spirits of the dead,
whose main business seems to be waiting a
chance to pour the vials of awful spiritual wrath
on their unlucky descendants, for the slightest
breach of the reverence and duty owed to them
selves. When the Captain bought the place at
the river — but that will come in later — first we
must finish paying our respects to the dead.
Korean funerals are held at night, a not un
fitting custom it seems to me, in the solemn
hush, when the world with its cold curious gaze,
and its loud business and pleasure has all re
tired. Night with her soothing quiet and
sheltering shadows veils the mourner's grief,
seems to sympathize, in fact, and undisturbed
and uncriticised, the broken-hearted can go forth
alone with his dead. With the Koreans there
may be another reason. They believe that
sorrow and death are sent as a punishment for
some crime of the bereaved, therefore he puts on
the garb of shame, wears an immense wide-
brimmed, low-dipping hat, which with a small
hand screen, entirely hides his features, puts on
garments of sackcloth with a rope for a girdle,

122 A Chapter of Presents
and is not seen at gatherings of friends or at the
palace. When a bereaved son, at a distance
from home, hears of his father's death, he takes
down his hair, in token of grief and shame, and,
dressed in sackcloth, returns in a very poorly
made chair covered with white, the mourning
colour, to his home. At the funeral, the dead
is placed in a box covered with rich drapery if
they are wealthy, and preceded by official
lanterns and banners which relate his virtues.
If poor, the body is simply wrapped in straw
and carried on a bier. It is only the lowest and
most needy class of coolies who are willing to
act as carriers for the dead, so the missionaries
felt all the more the love of the native Chris
tians, who though scholars and men of the
upper middle classes, on several occasions in
sisted on themselves bearing the remains of
dead missionaries to their graves, several miles
distant from Seoul. There are only two of the
city gates through which native funerals pass,
for I forgot to say that no burials are permitted
within the walls, nor are any dead bodies per
mitted to be brought in, whether of foreigners
or natives. Arrived at the grave site, sacrifices
and prayers are offered, often food and various
utensils are placed in the grave, and the remains
are covered with a round, high mound, which
stands in front of a semicircular embankment,
somewhat higher than the graves at the back,

A Difficult Purchase 123
sloping to the level of the ground in front. If it
can be afforded, stone images of sheep and
stone lantern stands are placed on either side,
and the whole flanked by a stately grove of
pine-trees,, which in a minor key, eternally
murmur the melancholy dirge of the loved and
lost. And now for the grave story ; it is not ghastly,
so you need not shudder.
When the Captain found that it was so un
healthy in the city during the hot wet summers,
he began looking about for a place not too far
away from his sheep, where he could take his
family during the trying season, and after much
hunting discovered a bluff on the river, not five
miles from Seoul, covered with a fine grove of
trees, and open to healthful winds on all sides
with no dangerous rice-fields near. But alas, it
had two very important looking graves on it !
However the Captain was never very easily dis
couraged, and he at once, in a careful way, set
about making inquiries. It soon transpired that
the graves in question had belonged to a Korean
yangban, or gentleman of good family, who did
no credit to his forebears, but spent his time in
gambling and drinking. Now we have heard of
people drinking many strange things ; Cleopatra
drank pearls, and the French revolutionists drank
blood, but I doubt whether it was ever heard be
fore of a man drinking his ancestors' graves.

124 -^ Chapter of Presents
This feat was successfully accomplished by this
profligate. The natives consider a man has fallen low in
deed, and is degenerate beyond expression who
will do such a thing ; he might starve his parents
and neglect them, but to sell their graves is a
crime of infinitely greater degree.
The Korean, to whom he sold them in order to
get more money for his evil practices, was a poor
farmer, who dared not cut the trees, or farm much
of the land on account of the spirits, so he in turn
very gladly sold it to the Captain's agent.
But the worthy original owner found out that
his dear and honoured graves had passed into
the hands of a "vile and sacrilegious foreigner,"
whose conduct he could not guess nOr control ;
there was a yahdon, and the mischief to pay.
Of course he couldn't touch the Captain, directiy,
sheltered under the mighty folds of " Old Glory,"
but he knew quite well how he could touch him
sharply, indirectly, and at once through his
" quansai" or influence, and so threw the aged
father of the man who had sold the land into jail,
and threatened a beating which would soon have
ended his life.
The Captain's first intimation of this was the
appearance of a melancholy deputation of the
chief men of the village, where the farmer lived,
bringing the terrible news and imploring the
Captain to give back the deeds. In addition,

The Way Out 125
they said they dared not return home, as if they
failed to bring the papers, they would all be cast
into jail.
In reply, the Captain invited them all to pay
him a visit for a season in his sarang or guest
house, and taking his hat, he hurried to the
American Legation.
Fortunately for him, there was there an official
who was willing and ready to stand for the rights
of Americans to the last, and although realizing
that a struggle about graves was apt to be a
tough and long one, and though assured by Brit
ish officials of long experience in China, that the
man would be beaten in the end, he gallantly en
tered the lists, and the first act was of course to
insist to Korean officials, on the immediate re
lease of the old man. Poor old man, he was ar
rested again and again, and as often released.
Deputations from the village spent days and
weeks at the aforesaid sarang.
The tide was disputed, and proved to be sounder
than a dollar (I don't mean a silver one), but a
really, truly, honest, good, American, gold dollar.
Then it was represented that the property was
too near the grave site of the highest Korean of
ficial, and that the residence of foreigners so near
would contaminate the sacred ground. When it
was found against whom he was pitted, the Cap
tain was advised and implored to give up. He
was told on all sides that he was in a losing bat-

126 A Chapter of Presents
tie, and the only thing to do was to yield with
good grace while he could.
Even the American minister told him that no
doubt restrictions of one sort or another would
probably be contrived to make his residence there
impossible, even if he succeeded in keeping the
deeds. But Mrs. Won had not nicknamed her
husband " Captain " for nothing. He had re
ceived from his British forebears a certain bulldog
tenacity in his undertakings, and from his Amer
ican training, he had lost neither that nor a gal
lant determination to defend his rights to the
death, no more to be moved than a rock.
So he only replied that if his excellency would
stand by him, he would hold the property till the
day of his death, if he never put one piece of
timber on top of another.
The High and Mighty Korean then offered to
exchange with the Captain for some other site
equally good, but at a safer distance from his
graves. This was acceded to, but it was soon
evident that the offer was not made in good faith,
for no sites that were practicable were offered.
The Captain now commenced building his
house, and this he placed, so as not to overlook
the valued graves of the profligate who had
prized them so highly as to sell them for drink,
and made every effort to regard all the wishes
and restrictions of this man, who hung about the
place, objecting in haughty terms to nearly every-

The Wons Win the Case 127
thing that was done. He was to be permitted, it
will be remembered, to keep them there, and they
were treated with the same respect which the
Wons, who w*ere decent folk in the main, would
have shown to the graves of any one. Children
were not allowed to play upon them, nor any in
dignities of any kind allowed.
But the now very solicitous kinsman would
not be satisfied, and finally sent word through
some high official that he would never allow the
man who had sold the property to foreigners to
live in peace in his home, but would drive him
and his family out of the neighbourhood.
This was the last, straw, so the Captain went
to a Korean judge and presented the case. This
man found that the graves had been dug on a
Keumsan, or sacred land prohibited as a grave
site, and that, being unlawful there, they must be
removed. There was no resource possible to the enemy
after that. The Captain paid for a new site and
the proper removal of the bodies, and thenceforth
had no more trouble, but this fight had continued
nearly two years ; and while the three or four
acres had cost only seventy-five dollars in money,
tissue, nervous and muscular had been expended
to many times that value.
Brown Eyes and Dapple Grey, with father and
mother, stayed at the river until they were all
quite better, and all the bad effects of the sum-

128 A Chapter of Presents
mer had passed off, then they went back to the
city again. And here the paths of Brown Eyes
and his donkey had to part forever. For some
very kind Korean friends in the country, not
knowing he had a Dapple Grey at all, sent him
another. Now the new one and the old, for some reason,
did not get on at all well ; probably the old
friend was jealous, and besides the Captain
couldn't well afford to keep two such animals,
and felt it would be a discourtesy to send away
the one which had been presented by the Kore
ans, and disliked to hurt their feelings. There
fore it was decreed that Dapple Grey should be
lent to a missionary who had five or six litde
ones to enjoy him. So he was led away and
soon found himself in a happy family. The chil
dren petted him as if he had been a dog, and
though they all tried to ride him at once, he never
minded in the least. They pulled his ears and
tail, and tumbled about under his feet ; but he
was more gentle than a kitten and seemed to
realize that he must be careful of them.
In return they treated him to the best they had,
and made him welcome wherever they went, so
much so, that one day when their mamma, hear
ing more noise than usual, went to see what was
the matter, she found the donkey in the bedroom,
quite as much at home apparently as in the
courtyard. At last, however, to the great grief

Brown Eyes' Conscience 129
of everybody, no doubt his own most of all, he
was stolen away, and there was an end of his
good times.
As the war between Japan and China had
been going on all this while, as I have said,
Brown Eyes and all the little foreign boys in
Korea were very fond of playing soldier, and full of
warlike ideas. They knew nothing of the horrors
of war, only thinking it a fine thing to stalk about
with toy guns and swords and talk about killing
and shooting.
Brown Eyes said he was going on his donkey
to " Pling An " to help the Yapanese hight the
Chinese, but he prayed God every night to
"please take care of the king and queen and not
let them be killed."
The war play was very absorbing, and it was
very hard to stop entirely one day, in seven ; but
Brown Eyes had very carefully been taught to
keep the Sabbath, though often he found it a
trial. One Sunday, his mother, who was sitting in
the dining-room reading, heard him as he paced
up and down the hall, just outside the closed
doors, talking to himself.
" Harry," the little voice began, in tones of
solemn rebuke, " Harry, you know you ought
not to play with your gun on Sunday."
In stout self-defense, the other boy who lived
behind the clear brown eyes, replied, " But I'm

130 A Chapter of Presents
not playing with it at all, I'm only holding it
while I walk up and down."
" Harry " (severely and sadly), " you know
you are playing, and you know you ought not
to do it."
The voices of denial and self-defense upon this
were hushed, and the small prisoner at the bar
of conscience stood proven guilty and condemned
to put away the gun.
However, next best to playing with that
dangerous weapon, was the joy of listening to
the story of his beloved hero David, or of the
magnificent faith and moral courage of Daniel or
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
But David was the prime favourite, so brave,
so beautiful, so young, so generous and victor
ious, for who does not love youth, beauty, courage
and success.
So he laid aside his arms almost cheerfully, to
listen to Bible stories, and to pore over Bible
pictures. He never tired of the stories, and did
not forget them, and sometimes brought to the
surface queer little thoughts, which showed how
this reading had impressed his infant mind.
Once as he trotted around after his Amonni
while she did her housewifely duties, she asked
with a loving smile that told him she was only
teasing, why he followed her like that all day ?
" 'Cause I want to be where you are, mamma ; "
and after a few minutes' quiet, " Mamma, wasn't

A Boyish Faith 131
that a pretty poetry that Ruth said to her
mamma, ' Where thou goest I wilst go, and
wherever thy diest I wilst die ' ? "
During the winter the little fellow suffered
much with severe neuralgic pains, especially at
night. After rubbing a long time with witch
hazel and ointment, he fell asleep, and seemed
much better next morning.
Forgetting how near heaven a child lives,
and how real to him are the eternal verities,
his mother thoughtlessly remarked, " I guess
it was those nice hot flannels made you bet
ter." " No, mamma, it wasn't the flannels." She
saw a serious little face and knew, but longing to
hear all, continued, " Then it was Hammamelis ? ''
" No, mamma, it wasn't the Hammamelis ; you
put that on a great many times and it didn't
help me, it was Jesus made me better," and one
day seeing her weep over her poor little patient
sufferer, he said, " What makes you cry, mamma,
why don't you go and tell Jesus and ask Him to
make me better ? "
His devotion and loyalty were unfailing. One
day, having been refused sugar on his bread, he
remarked poutingly, " I'm mad." "What ! mad
at mamma ! " said she.
Throwing his little arm round her neck and
patting her cheek the little fellow whispered,
"I'm mad just round the other way, because I

132 A Chapter of Presents
haven't got enough mammas like you. I wish
you were twenty mammas, and had twenty heads,
so you could be kissing me all' the time with
every one of them."
Here is another extract rom the diary of this
sentimental mother :
" On Friday he had the long desired oppor
tunity to go on the river in a boat for a sail with
some friends.
" He was delighted and started off in great
glee, but came all the way back, after a few
moments, to me who, afflicted with a severe
headache, could not go.
" Rushing to me and putting his little arms
round my neck he murmured, ' I want to tell you
somesing, mamma ; iss I go away would you be
lonely ? '
" ' Well a little, but I want you to go and
have a good time.' 'Well, mamma, iss you
would be just a small bit lonely, I won't go.'
I had to urge the little fellow off though it
was his chief glory to ride in a boat on the
water. " Again  Last Sunday I was going to a
native meeting and was trying with lame hands
to gather up several large books. Brown Eyes
saw, and running to the rescue, said, 'No,
mamma, you mustn't lift those books. I'll take
them,' and with great effort, the little fellow
clambered down the steps with them, almost

The Boy Helps

»33

more than he could manage, and brought them
to my sedan chair for me."
So ran the course of the true love of Brown
Eyes and his Amonni.

VI
BROWN EYES
One day a very high Korean lady asked his
mamma to bring him to her palace, for the
Korean ladies are very fond of children, and en
joy the little Americans very much.
So he was dressed in his best and carried with
his mother, by four stout coolies in a sedan
chair to pay this visit.
Though only a little more than four years old
at this time, the child had ridden in a great
many kinds of strange vehicles in various
countries. He had been carried in Chinese sedan chairs
on the tops of men's shoulders, and whisked
along at a marvelous rate in jinrickishas, those
funny baby carriages which everybody uses in
Japan, and before that, in the no less odd little
garrys in Singapore.
He had rattled along London streets in cabs
and omnibuses, and in a two penny tube far
under the same city, shot through American
thoroughfares in electric street cars, bowled
along quiet country roads in his grandpapa's
easy basket carriage, and sped over thousands
of miles of iron roads in palace cars and in those
*34

Some of Brown Eyes' Rides j 35"
little boxes called carriages on English roads,
and on the Continent, and years later, he rode
in two story street cars in Paris.
He even, I am ashamed to say, rode once in a
wicked automobile at a murderous speed. He
bestrode a donkey in Joppa, and was carried in
a tall Arab's arms in Jerusalem, and once in
Korea he rode in a jickay, once in China in a
schenza or mule litter, and once in Vladivostok
rattled along break-neck in a Russian droschky,
and sped on a bicycle when he grew older of course.
But very few little foreign boys have ever
ridden in the sort of chair in which Brown Eyes
rode to the palace, for that was a queen's chair
covered with velvet, and lined with silk and had
been used by her Majesty who had sent it as a
present to his mamma.
He peeped out of the little glass windows, and
chattered all the way, as they wound along the
narrow muddy streets, filled with long lines of
great oxen carrying loads of fuel to the city, or
little tinkling pack ponies ridden by noisy un
kempt Korean boys, with here and there a candy
merchant, or a fruit peddlar, a yangban riding
in his chair or his donkey, preceded and followed
by trains of hangers on making a great shouting
to people to get out of the way of this great
man. There were plenty of loungers staring
about with nothing to do, and doing it to per
fection.

136 Brown Eyes
There were little shops in plenty driving a
brisk business. I think the brass shops pleased
Brown Eyes most of all, and I am sure they
would delight the hearts of American ladies,
who nowadays seem to take great pleasure in
everything that is brass or coppen The Korean
brass is really a sort of bell metal with a fine
ring, the art of making which is confined to the
natives. -These shops are full of all sorts of
shining bowls and cups, with covers, which
serve as saucers, too, spoons, chop-sticks,
candlesticks, lamp stands, — such unique tall
graceful things — and little bells, each with a
quaint looking fish hanging from it with a
chain, so that when hung from the roof of your
house, the wind will set the fish moving, and
the bell gently tinkling. There is a famous
great bell in the centre of the city which is not
rung with a clapper, but by striking it with a
heavy club, when it gives out an extremely
sweet low sound, which at the same time must
be penetrating, for it is heard all over the city.
When the gates are to be shut at night or
opened in the morning this bell rings.
There is a sad legend that when it was cast it
would not give the right ring until a little child
was flung into the liquid metal.
Its last plaintive cry Amonni, Amonni, is, they
say, exactly reproduced, whenever the bell is
struck.

GUTTER SHOP, SEOUL.

Visiting a King 137
Soon Brown Eyes and his mamma were
carried under great stone arched gates, and past
guards who presented arms, and saluted greatly
to the delight of the little one, and then on and
on through many more gates and bridges, and
winding roads past more soldiers who all saluted
as they continued passing round and round,
through one wall after another.
There was a fine lotus pond, where the ice
was like glass in winter, but where the lovely
pink flowers bloom in summer, and in the centre
of the pond such a lovely little summer-house,
and everywhere, on all sides, ever and ever so
many houses, large and small. One feels quite
in a maze, winding in and out among them all.
At last the chair is put down and a Korean
gentieman lifts Brown Eyes out and hands him
over to a lady, who has orders to bring him in
without delay.
This palace consisted of several large, one
story buildings, each with several small rooms,
the floors of which were covered with the best
and thickest oiled paper, which shone like
highly polished wood. The rafters and beams
supporting them were of splendid great logs of
highly polished timber. The lamps, fire pots
and other brass utensils all glittered with much
rubbing. On the floors were mats, much em
broidered cushions, and standing against the
wall were quaint and elegant cabinets, some

138 Brown Eyes
inlaid with pearl, some heavily ornamented
with brass hinges, locks, etc. Here and there
might be seen a bit of foreign furniture, such as
a clock or a chair, but there were no pictures,
no drapery, no bric-a-brac. A few large tubs
with blossoming plants stood in one of the outer
rooms, and these are quite common in the homes
of all the Korean nobility.
The details of this visit have been told before.
Harry was petted and feasted far more than was
good for him, and proved to be here, as often
before, a very convenient litde key to many
hearts, for the like of which mission boards
should be duly thankful. On their return, as
they jogged through all the labyrinthine wind
ing ways, while grateful for the kindness shown
them, they were very glad indeed, for their part,
that they were just plain Americans, and could
live quietly, simply and cozily in their own
modest home, their own lives free to come and
go, without always being in the glare of the
world's great stage, the target for thousands of
eyes and tongues, too. The mountain peaks
are lonely as well as cold and much exposed;
there is much slippery walking, bad going,
and terrible great yawning depths of horror be
low. Not many would care to build their homes
on the peaks of this world's greatness, if they
realized it.
When Brown Eyes reached home he found

Two Magicians 139
many trays and bowls of goodies had arrived
there before him. He knew quite well he could
not eat them, but he enjoyed giving them to his
little native friends, as much or more than hav
ing them himself.
But though he could not eat many dainties,
you may be sure there were folks who did their
best to make it up to the little fellow, and to see
that he had a happy holiday season. First and
foremost, there were the grandparents and
aunts and uncles in far off America, who were
not so far off after all, for this is no mistake a
fairy wOrld, all full of enchantments, no matter
what the infidels and the gradgrinds and all the
rest of them say. There is a magician called
Love, who with one stroke of his wand wipes out
time and space, and behold ! The globe which
used to be so big, becomes quite small.
Then there is another almost as great called
Faith, who has ordained that "To him that be-
lieveth all things are possible," and when those
two join hands, America is only just round the
corner from Korea, and it's no trick at all to send
big Christmas boxes over ten thousand miles of
prairies and ocean. The cars, the steamers, the
shipping agents, great burly railroad porters, the
sampans, the lighters, and last of all the great
Korean ox-carts and their drivers were all the
slaves of love and faith. They work with a will
for these masters, even when they themselves

140 Brown Eyes
don't know it ; in fact, you know, through these
two the great Ruler keeps the world itself spin
ning right.
So the big packing boxes were nearly always
on hand before Christmas eve for Brown Eyes.
Not but there were hitches sometimes, for
there are evil powers, too, that occasionally
made the boxes late, or sent them astray, but
Love made it all up, for then he had two good
times, one the really, truly, dear Christmas, and
one with the presents that came all perfumed
with Christmas messages, good wishes, and tlie
very atmosphere of American Christmas even in
the wrappers and the labels.
Why it was allowed that one child's Christmas
box came quite empty, after having been robbed
by sacrilegious hands, and one came with pack
ages for everybody in the community except the
one to whom it was addressed, I'm sure I don't
know. There are a few things none of us know
or understand, no matter how wise we may pre
tend to be. There is no use trying to explain,
we just don't know, and the best thing for us to
do is to say so frankly.
It is a comfort, though, whether the mystery
be a ravaged Christmas box or a world appar
ently out of tune, to believe that there is One
above who knows it all, and makes it all work for
good, the best and highest good, of those who
love Him. Still, for the present, it is not joyous

The Christmas Stockings 141
but very grievous to have a Christmas box go
astray, or pass along a Jericho road to Korea,
and I don't wish to talk about it at present, but
return to Brown Eyes' happy Christmas.
Well, then, the evening before, the box with
the nails all drawn but not a cover lifted by any
body, no not for the world, was carried into
papa's study and placed on a big sheet near the
fireplace. Not a soul in the house would have
peeped for any consideration, and oh, what de
licious mystery enshrined that rough looking old
box, what might it not contain !
I have often thought that Santa Claus was
a very honest and considerate old fellow, but
being the true gentleman he is, he would of
course never think of prying, and besides being
so busy, he wouldn't have time. And how hur
ried and busy he is now he has begun making
a trip around the world every holiday sea
son ! Brown Eyes' stocking was rather small
the first few Christmases, so mamma's was usu
ally hung there. The study chimney was gener
ally chosen, probably because it wasn't far from
the bedroom, and partly because it was such a
fine big one, and easier for Santa to come down
with a large pack, and for some reason he always
brought a very large pack to Brown Eyes. Per
haps he had found out how patiently he always
did without cakes and sweetmeats, and wanted
to show his appreciation, too, of such a good

142 Brown Eyes
child. Well, the first thing in the morning, quite
a good deal earlier than was well for them, the
family woke up. It was the dearest object on
earth to each of these three, to say " Merry
Christmas " first to the other two. Brown Eyes
was usually the winner in this contest.
Then the Captain got into his woollen kimono
in short order and fairly ran (don't tell, for he
wouldn't like it to be known that he was so un
dignified) into the study and lit the fire, which
had been laid hours before with a grand old back
log, which was soon blazing, roaring and crack
ling, "Merry Christmas" over and over, to be
sure to be the first with Brown Eyes.
In the meantime Brown Eyes and Amonni had
been getting on their kimonos and slippers, too,
and it didn't take long, either, and were right on
the spot. And first of all the stocking ! There
it hung, all delightful humps and tuberosities.
You could see from the outside, here a square
package — there a long one — above that some
thing round, while out at the top stuck whips,
guns, swords, trumpets or canes.
Everything had to be shown to father and
mother and talked over and admired by them.
And then the box ! Who can begin to de
scribe the joys of the box, new clothes, new
toys, new books, all round. Loving messages
sweetening them all. " For Harry with Aunty
H's love and Merry Christmas," " for Harry with

Opening the Box 143
Uncle J's love and Merry Christmas," and so on
all round the family, till the people were nearly
waist deep in wrapping papers, presents piled
on all the chairs and tables in distracting con
fusion, breakfast on and nobody ready for it, or
any appetite, and notes and packages begin
ning to arrive from the other foreigners to be
answered — oh, dear — how was anybody ever to
get dressed. And then as soon as they could
scramble into their garments there were baskets
and boxes and bags to be sent all round the
community. Everything had been wrapped and
tied the day before, and each package had a
spray of mistietoe or holly.
Even before the packages were sent off a lot
of poor people, the servants and all the members
of their families were called in and had their
Christmas gifts. As Harry was an only child,
his parents were very much afraid he would
grow selfish, so they tried to plan things so he
should have his pleasures in common with others,
and it was not the least happy part of his day,
helping to make these others happy.
They always had their Christmas Church serv
ice with the Korean Christians, Christmas eve.
The little church was gay with lanterns and
dressed up with mistletoe and evergreen, and
gayest of all with the bright garments of the
little children and young saxies, for at least on
that occasion, nearly all the saxies, so jealously

144 Brown Eyes
guarded during the rest of the year, are allowed
to come to church. How brilliant the assembly
looked, all reds, yellows, greens, the freshest
and brightest. The Christmas carols were sung,
Christmas services read, the dear old sweet story
of the Babe and the Angels and the Star, the
Christmas prayer of joy and praise offered, then
everybody beamed on everybody else, and every
body else wished everybody a " blessed Christ
mas," which we have Carlyle's authority for
saying is better than a happy or merry one, and
the Koreans went off in little parties to enjoy
their dear dock and other indigestibles together,
and the Wons, to help Santa, and settle their
brains for a long winter nap. Christmas night,
the Wons always had as many of the old pioneer
missionaries as they could arrange for, to dinner
at their house.
These old cronies who had gone through a
good many experiences together, were just as
much at home with each other as brothers and
sisters, and usually had a jolly time, laughing at
each others' old jokes, interested in each others'
old stories, and arguing over each others' old
points of difference. Our Mrs. Won asked them
to come prepared to tell the most interesting
and exciting incident which ever happened in
his or her life.
So when dinner was over, they all gathered
around the fire, and such a string of tales!

A Christmas Party 145
People who have crossed continents and oceans
several times, and lived in lands like Korea have
some queer experiences. I wish I could tell you
all those stories now, but perhaps some time I
may if you are good and listen to this
well. A day or two after Christmas there was always
a Christmas-tree and party for all the foreign
children. That was an institution as old as the
house, and besides what little boy would want a
tree all to his lone self. Who ever heard of a
one child tree, or a selfish tree, that was any
good, and so all the little foreigners were in
vited. Once there were forty. Mercy, you
couldn't hear yourself think ! Then some time
during the holidays the Korean Christians in
Pastor Won's church were all invited in for an
evening's fun, and on New Year's day, every
body, foreigners and natives, came to call.
That was rather a trying function, for some of
the natives who came, didn't know foreign cus
toms, and threw orange skins, etc., on the floors,
and some of the high men who came couldn't be
received in the same room with the low men,
and some of the natives stayed too long, when
so many were waiting to be seen, and some
wouldn't talk, and Mrs. Won's brains were in a
bad way with the cudgelling they received to
make them evolve subjects of conversation, so
that when the day was over there wasn't much

146 Brown Eyes
left of her, especially as there never had been
very much to begin with.
But perhaps you will think from all this that
the life of a missionary is a very gay one, quite
full of parties, suppers and other social entertain
ments. But if I caused any such impressions by
these tales of Christmas doings I have misrepre
sented matters quite considerably.
No matter how inspiring the main object of the
work may be, or how devoted and enthusiastic
the missionary, any work that amounts to any
thing, means a great deal of wearisome drudgery,
and takes obedient faithfulness, from moment to
moment — and many, many moments when there
is no applauding crowd looking on, nothing in
the detail itself to inspire or reward, when people
have nothing to support them but God's Spirit,
urging obedience and faithfulness. To tell of all
that is not entertaining and you would never
bother to read it, even if a publisher could be
found to print it. One day just like another,
mixing medicines, listening to revolting stories
of people's pains and aches, trying to be sympa
thetic and helpful, teaching stupid children
arithmetic and geography, translating English
into Korean books, jogging along weary miles
in the country, sleeping in dirty inns, trying to
overcome the deadening indifference of heathen
ism, struggling to be patient and forbearing with
dishonest, lazy and dirty servants, there is noth-

The Daily Grind 147
ing interesting in it at all, yet it must go on, and
much more like it, day in and day out, month
after month and year after year. Just the com
mon every-day work that anybody with a con
science does anywhere. Nothing great or good
or noble or interesting about it. They couldn't
even feel they were great or heroic or in any
way uncommon, or that what they were doing
was remarkable in results. They just knew for
their comfort, and it was all that sustained them,
that they were where God had sent them, trying
with more or less faithfulness to obey His com
mands and follow His guiding hand, and with
out seeing much, left results to Him, and always
the vision of the coming of the Kingdom and the
King, put life into humdrum detail.
So as I said, I'm afraid the tale of the daily
doings of the Wons and their fellows would not
make at all an interesting book. I am trying to
cull out the bright bits in order to give it suffi
cient attraction for you.
All the year round Pastor Won did about so
much literary work every day, and that means
translating Bible, hymns, tracts, preparing news
paper articles, Sunday-school articles, etc. Then
he did about so much personal work each day,
with his helpers, writing a letter to this little
group, sending some wise Christian to these,
overseeing colporteurs, listening to reports from
distant localities, meeting natives, believers and

148 Brown Eyes
otherwise, who had come likely miles to see him,
meeting in committees with other missionaries,
holding training classes of leaders of country
work, teaching in the boys' school, preaching,
exhorting, guiding in the native church in Seoul,
receiving the visits of high native gentlemen and
returning them, and doing ever so many things
besides, from six in the morning, often till long
past bedtime.
The Bible translating was considered one of
the most important parts of Pastor Won's work,
and that went right on, nearly all the time.
Perhaps you wonder why it takes so long?
Well, look in on them and see what it is like.
First of all, each man took the especial part he
had been given to do, and worked over it alone
with his literary helper. He read the original
Hebrew or Greek, very carefully, the Revised
Version and the best commentaries in order to
glean the exact meaning of the Holy Spirit. He
also studied the Chinese version, the Latin and
often the German, French and Spanish, in order
to profit by the views of the translators of those
copies, and having arrived at what seemed the
plain, clear intent of the original, his next task
by no means an easy one, was to convey it to
the brain of the Korean literary helper on whom
he must depend, to express it, in pure and idio
matic Korean. But as most of these ideas are en
tirely new to these men, it often took hours,

Bible Translation 149
trying by symbols, illustrations, parallels, to
make it possible for them to grasp and appre
ciate them. Then, and it was no less difficult,
came the effort to find words to express these
abstract ideas.
The native would roll off, with great satisfac
tion, some stately and scholarly sentence, full of
words of Chinese derivation, which the poor
women and farmer folks could no more under
stand than so much English, besides it lost its
finer shades of meaning. " No, that won't do,"
says Mr. Missionary; "it must be simpler, and
you haven't entirely grasped the idea." The na
tive is obstinate or stupid, or both, argues about
it, cannot express it differently, he says. But the
missionary is determined ; he does not let it go
till it is right ; so they struggle on. When Mat
thew or Romans or whatever it is, is finished,
then the whole committee meet and go over that
one man's work, for one man alone may not be
trusted, will not trust himself, to put a translation
of the Bible in the people's hands. Now there
are differences of judgment, and they argue and
study more hours still, till some agreement is
reached, and a " tentative " version is put before
the natives. That means they do not consider it
fit for a permanent place in the use of the Church,
but in order that it may be well tried, criticised,
by missionaries and Korean Christians, and after
several years of trial again revised, they publish

150 Brown Eyes
it though imperfect. Sometimes the average of
translation for months was not more than three
verses a day, never more than from seven to
twenty verses, in four hours. Only the strongest
of them, without great mental exhaustion and
strain could stand more than four hours at a
stretch of this work. So they were more than
ten years getting out a tentative version of the
New Testament, and congratulated themselves
on having done it so quickly. But all this was
no play ; there was little in the play line in Korea
for the missionaries. The Wons and some
others discovered, through sad experience, how
ever, that nature and nerves rebel against all
work and no play, all the time, so they kept the
holidays with vigour and mirth quite religiously ;
birthdays, too (Washington's of course), even the
wedding anniversary, and Fourth of July. When
the mail arrived that was an event ; sometimes
people, Americans or foreigners were born or
died, which was an event, or a new foreigner
came, or once in a long time there was even a
wedding. Every year Pastor Won made at least one
long trip to the country to Christian groups, two
or three hundred miles away from Seoul, and
then there were other shorter visits to villages
nearer. I am sure that this which is called evangelistic
work was what he enjoyed most ; preaching the

The Annual Trip 151
gospel to sinners, guiding and instructing the
country Christians, examining and receiving into
the fold the applicants for baptism, training the
leaders and shepherding the flock.
He nearly always walked on these trips. The
Korean ponies couldn't go fast enough to suit
him, and he was too impatient to like the tire
some little jog-jog.
Mamma Won went in a native pokyo, or
carrying chair, and so did Brown Eyes and his
Amah, who used to go together in one chair.
She had to go to cook their food and attend to
the youngster while his Amonni was talking and
singing with the women.
As he grew older he rebelled against the chair
very often, and soon walked several miles each
day. When not quite seven, he walked and
played along the road ten miles in a day, without
seeming at all tired ; quite happy and delighted
to be there away off in the wilds, among the
mountains and woods with his " Dearests."
Some of the country they travelled over was
beautiful, the air was exhilarating, the atmos
phere positively brilliant and they were all a little
of the Bohemian cut, and loved this out-of-door
life. They used to say they never felt so near
heaven as when in their plainest, roughest garb,
they left the world, even the very small, unim-
posing, and dull world, of the Korean capital be
hind, and lived for weeks with the simple-minded,

152 Brown Eyes
earnest, sincere, country Christians, nature and
nature's God. They saw and heard Him in the
faces and voices of His dear people, and they
felt Him in the lonely mountain passes, in the
solemn woods, the blue skies, and " nearer than
breathing and thinking" embracing them al
ways. As for the Captain, he was in his element,
closeted for hours with his leaders, chatting with
the children, listening to all the questions and
difficulties of everybody ; none could come too
near or stay too long. He fairly froze to the
people, and they to him, and yet that is not quite
the figure to use, for there was never much
freezing in the locality of the Captain. Brown
Eyes, or I think I shall have to call him Harry
now he is growing so, looked a funny little fellow
in his overalls, trotting along by his father's side
which was never very far from his mother's chair.
There were goodies in that chair besides mamma.
There were sandwiches, bits of simple Korean
candy, dried persimmons, and sometimes choco
late. There were tracts, too, and a hymn-book,
and when the chair was set down for the bearers
to rest, and a crowd of women and children gath
ered, while his Amonni was singing and talking
to the people, he would often take some tracts
and pass them shyly around. Often the people
were too curious to listen to the talking, they
wanted to comment on the foreigners and their

Music Hath Charms 153
clothes, but they were never too curious to listen
to the singing, for that was stranger and more
interesting than anything.
Think of it, they had never heard a woman
sing a real song with a sweet tune.
They have a few little songs, with just a few
tunes (I do not suppose a half dozen in the whole
country), and the women hardly ever sing even
these, As the party passed along, the Captain, whose
eyes nothing escaped; always spied the first
spring wild flower, or the last bloom of depart
ing summer, then with great care that mamma
Won should not see, he would pick it and give
it to Harry to present. But she knew, well where
it came from, and that flower carried a double
share of perfume and glowed with a double por
tion of beauty.
Mrs. Won loved flowers, and when they came
by the hand of her little son, from the hand of
her husband, from the hand of the Father, it
was, well — indescribable.
As she jogged along in her chair it spoke a
parable after this fashion. " As the husband is
back of the child's gift, so back of all the love,
every beauty, every blessing, every joy, stands
the great Beauty, the Love, the Joy of the Uni
verse, the Father, the first Cause."
Speaking of country roads, perhaps my reader
has a vision of New York or Wisconsin, and wide

154 Brown Eyes
roadways with fences of Virginia, rail fashion or
barbed wire.
Nothing of that sort in Korea, where wood is,
except in the inland northern provinces, very
scarce, and barbed wire unknown. For miles
upon miles no fences at all divide the fields from
each other, or the roads, which are, with the excep
tion of the near vicinity to large towns, mere foot
paths, crossing each other in bewildering fashion.
You are directed to take the main or great road ;
you hunt in vain for it, and learn at length it is
only the great road because it is the main road,
and only the main road because it leads from one
large centre to another. Sometimes it leads over
paddy fields, being barely wide enough for the
traveller with great circumspection to pick his
way along, for it is slippery with clay mud.
When Mrs. Won's chair coolies, tired with a
long day's service, slipped and stumbled along,
jumping at times over wide intervening ditches,
when everything depended on jumping together
and jumping true, she would have much pre
ferred to walk, if she could. But when the even
ing shades had fallen, and the only ray shed on
their path was that of a feeble Korean lantern
which was like the ghost of a light that had died
of anaemia centuries before, the situation was
really past a joke ; still such small annoyances
did not really count, and these outings were
better than play to the whole family.

VII
A TOUR
Not long after the return from the river and
the passing of the Christmas holidays, the Won
family started on one of their long trips to Whang
Hai Do, the Yellow Sea Province, where lay so
large a part of their field of work. There weren't
any trains, or as I have said, any roads to speak
of but footpaths. They were as happy as chil
dren let out of school. They were expecting to
be out of doors travelling all day long, for days
and days in the finest climate in the world, and
in one of the most beautiful parts of a fair land,
and all together, and they were going among
simple-hearted, kindly, humble farmer folk, whom
they loved, and many of whom loved them. That
was enough to make any family happy, but the
chief reason was different, and it was more than
all the rest. They knew they were going to
carry a light to people who never had seen or
only through a glass darkly, and they were on
the King's business, the thought of which alone
gives dignity and joy.
As they pushed along, they laughed and chat
ted, passed the compliments of the day with the
people they met, sometimes stopping to try an
iS5

156 A Tour
echo, or to drink from a clear, cold spring, or to
have a little friendly talk at some farmhouse.
The Captain had his gun, and now and then
shot a pheasant or a pigeon or a wild goose.
Often they came to some shallow stream, but
the coolies unwrapped their bandaged feet, and
splashed indifferently across. Once they came
to a river, unusually wide and swollen for that
time of year. In the rainy season of course they
take down the bridges, for they are all " knock
down" you know, like the furniture that comes
out to the East, and have the same sad tendency
to knock down unbidden, at unauspicious mo
ments, and so the river would carry them all
away, if the thrifty builders didn't remove them.
Like nearly all of its kind, the bridge in question
was simply a footway of one or two planks, laid
on very slight wooden supports and covered
with sod. It extended about one hundred and
fifty feet from one bank to the other. Mrs. Won
was nervous about these bridges, or anything
that looked a little uncertain, and though rather
lame, she insisted upon leaving the pokyo. The
Captain warned her she was almost sure to be
dizzy on that narrow footway with nothing to
hold by ; but dizzy or no she dared not trust the
chair. Dizzy was the word, where the bridge
was highest and narrowest, and the river swiftest
and noisiest, but by not looking down, and cling
ing like a leach to the Captain, she had managed

A Dangerous Bridge 157
to pass safely over two-thirds of it when lo ! right
before them, the whole footpath had been broken
away, the boards lying loosely, partly in the
water, partly on the lower end of the rude sup
ports. Now indeed the Wons were glad she had not
remained in that chair, for on that narrow place,
the coolies could neither turn, nor had they room
to set the chair down safely on the bridge. As
it was the Captain managed with the help of
loose boards, to find enough foothold to clamber
to the other side, and reaching a hand to her, to
help his fellow traveller safely across. As for the
coolies, the empty chair being quite light, they
managed dexterously, somehow, as they always
do, and all were soon safely on the further shore.
The ox-carts usually flounder through the fords,
no one knows just how, I'm sure they do not
themselves, but in the worst floods, they do not
attempt it; while chair coolies take to the
bridges, when they exist, and at other times
there are usually ferryboats within call at the
main points of travel. The ferrymen are a very
interesting and entertaining class when one isn't
raking one's larynx, and wearing out one's pa
tience, shouting in vain on the wrong side of the
river for them to come.
Arrived at one of the farm villages where
there were a company of believers, the whole
town came out to meet our missionary party,

158 A Tour
and were lined up on either side of the road,
staring at the foreigners, with eyes in which it
was easy to read contempt, dislike, curiosity and
a polite but vain attempt to conceal amusement
at the ridiculous attire and general appearance
of these "wayinduli."
They, the Wons, felt themselves anything but
an admirable spectacle, weary, dusty, in camping
attire, they were not proud. But lo ! forth before
the assembled body of their scoffing neighbours,
came the little handful of Christians, just two
families, and met the missionaries with as joyous
and cordial a welcome as though they had been
lords, and conducted them almost with reverence,
certainly with devotion and respect into their
humble dwellings.
It would not ordinarily have been an easy
thing for any one to do, thus to receive and wel
come the ridiculous foreigners, and at the same
time before their whole world reaffirm themselves
believers in the strange new doctrines, renegades
to the faith of their fathers, and to the spirits of.
their ancestors.
" Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before
men, him shall I also confess before My Father
who is in heaven," were the words that floated
through Mrs. Won's mind, for she realized that
it called for considerable moral courage, and firm
devotion to the cause, to enable these poor peas
ants to brave public sentiment. A little later

Sufferings of a Christian Bride 159
they learned that the first Christian who came to
the village was a young bride.
Now the position of a bride is not under any
circumstances an easy one. A very young girl,
usually a perfect stranger to her mother-in-law,
as well as her husband and his entire family, she
is at the beck and call of all, and general maid
of all work. She is to obey without reply, she is
not expected to speak even when spoken to, ex
cept by prompt and meek acquiescence. One
of her duties is to prepare the sacrifices for an
cestral worship, and to join in the devotions.
How then is a meek and frightened young girl
to preach a strange religion to her superiors,
how is she to avoid labouring at ironing, wash
ing, sewing, etc., on Sundays, how to escape the
preparations for idolatrous worship, and partici
pation in these forbidden rites ?
And yet all this dared this one little saxie,
alone many miles from friends and supporters,
many miles from a church or teachers, in a whole
village full of heathen people.
Her surprised and enraged family protested,
scolded and beat her. She was covered with
revilings, reproaches and ridicule, and finally
threatened with the greatest disgrace that can
befall a woman, that of being flung back upon
her parents, scorned, deserted, unfit for her hus
band's house.
It would be difficult to picture, or for any of

160 A Tour
us to realize, the misery of that young girl's con
dition, while she stood alone for months, witness
ing a good confession.
"The noble army of martyrs" has a grand di
vision in Korea, and many a little shrinking girl
will be found written in its books. One whom I
know was indeed cast out and is now dying of a
broken heart from the shame and sorrow, be
cause she steadily refused to give up her faith.
But here, at last, instead of being sent away,
her husband yielded to the influence of her life
and example, they two stood together, and ere
long the father, then the mother, and so little by
little the whole family put away their old idols
and superstitions, and led by the youngest,
joined in the worship of the One True
God. Then, little by little, the family living next that
one, also, came to believe, and these were the
people whom the Wons came to encourage,
teach and receive into the visible Church.
When the people came to be baptized this was
the usual way they were questioned, and the
way some replied.
Q. Do you love Jesus ?
A. He is beautiful to me.
Q. Have you anything in your house that
you worship? (meaning of course fetishes, idols
or tablets).
A. Yes, the Lord Jesus.

A Converted Prize-Fighter 161
Q. (To a little boy). Are you sure your sins
are all forgiven?
A. (Hesitating). Ye-es, only just a tiny bit
left over.
Q. Where is Jesus now?
A. In His Capital.
Q. What has become of all your past sins?
A. Jesus will take care as to them.
The people seemed so full of faith and simple
heroism, without the faintest idea that they were
glorious, that there were many the hem of whose
robes Mrs. Won felt she was not fit to kiss. .
In one of the first villages visited, the chief
man of the place had formerly been a prize
fighter, and one evening when, all were telling
their experiences (for they love to get together
and tell what God has done for them), old Mr.
Yu, who now with his entire family, even his
married grandchildren, has been a firm believer
for several years, told his story.
He said he had heard reports of a new religion
which foreigners were introducing, but had paid
little attention, supposing it was only accepted by
the lowest and most worthless of the Koreans,
but one evening on returning to his home, from
a long distance, more or less tipsy as usual, he
found that a highly respected and well-to-do
friend of his, the chief man of another village,
had through the entire day been making the
rounds of his township from house to house, with

162 A Tour
a jickey load of Christian books on his back,
which he and his ladylike wife had been per
suading all the neighbours to buy.
This was astounding news ! First, that a man
of quality should condescend to carry a jickey.
Second, that he should go peddling Christian
books ! Third, that his wife should leave the
privacy of her home and accompany him.
He was dazed and confounded. What could
it mean? He began to feel as though the foun
dations of all his old ideas and prejudices were
shaking under him. This Christian religion
must be something quite different from what he
had thought, if it could lead a man like the Hon.
Mr. Ko to give up his pride, and go forth thus to
sell books, and still more, could it lead a woman
of Mrs. Ko's standing, to give up her conserva
tive ideas, for women are always the slowest and
last to give up old customs and prejudices.
There was another peculiarity about Mr. Ko's
conduct which both annoyed and irritated Mr.
Yu. He had left no books at his own house.
How was this ? Had he, Yu, sunk so low, was
he considered such a hopeless prizefighter,
gambler and drunkard that he was not fit to be
taught this despised religion? Had they con
sidered him unworthy even to be offered one of
these books ?
He raged round his house - in a half-drunken
fury, and vowed he would not be thus ignored ;

Yu and His Book 163
he too would have one of these books, and that
too as soon as he had eaten his supper.
Forth then he went, found Mr. Ko, and claimed
his right to a book, reproaching his old friend for
his neglect.
The omission was soon and gladly enough
rectified, and now Mr. Yu proceeded to " study
the doctrine." The book which he had first
bought was a simple beginner's catechism, which
he quickly read through and then others fol
lowed. He was soon completely convinced in
tellectually, loudly proclaiming himself a Chris
tian, though he had experienced no change of
heart, and still kept on drinking, often to excess.
About this time one of the butchers, the most
despised of all classes, who had become a Chris
tian long ago, called upon him, hearing of his
professions, and claimed brotherhood. " This is
great," said Mr. Blank ; " now we will meet and
worship, sometimes at your place, sometimes at
mine." " Not a bit of it," said his very frigid
brother, who had no mind to consort with low
butchers, even if they were Christians. " Not at
all, sir ; please keep your place ; you may worship
in your own house, I in mine ; we will have no
intercourse with butchers."
The butcher who had been looking about him,
however, remarked, " That pleases me, too, for I
see you have not destroyed your objects of
worship or put away heathen customs, so we

164 A Tour
cannot be brothers," whereupon he took his
leave. Scorned by a butcher ! To be scorned by one
that he scorned ! Things were certainly coming
to a strange pass. And then through his tipsy
mind flashed the thought that he had not really
become a Christian in anything but loud and
empty professions. No wonder this low man
despised him ; he had not put away his idols, the
first thing every catechumen and beginner in the
faith always does.
This man never did anything by halves. He
had gambled, drank and fought with his might,
and now, with the added heat of liquor in his
great throbbing veins, he not only pulled down
the bunch of tawdry bits supposed to be the resi
dence of the household spirits and burned it up,
but in spite of the protests of his alarmed wife
and family who considered him demented, he
proceeded to ruthlessly destroy all the family
ancestral tablets, containing the records and
genealogies of the whole clan of which he was
the chief.
Wide-spread was the consternation and fury.
The news spread, and the outraged clansmen
took a vow to come and burn and pull down his
house over his sacrilegious ears.
He was now resolved to make a clean sweep
of everything. Nothing should be left that
was not yielded, and so he determined that

Forced Prayer 165
his whole family willy nilly, should become be
lievers. His wife, however, had a mind of her own, and
would not be forced into the kingdom of heaven
which her violent husband seemed resolved to
take by force ; she was shocked and horrified by
this vandalism and destruction of all the old ob
jects of her reverence and awe.
She recoiled from this sudden turning to new
ideas of which she knew nothing, and regarded
it as a drunken and insane freak of her husband,
who had sorely tried her patience for many a
long year, but never as sorely as now. Korean
women are long-suffering, and endure much, but
they are also obstinate and very conservative, and
there are some things they cannot be forced into
doing. So now when her lord had bade her "be
lieve 1 " she very positively, plainly, concisely and
briefly told him she wouldn't.
She had never defied him before, and this was
not only unbelievable, but unbearable. " Pray ! "
shouted he at the top of his lungs, but not one
whit budged she.
Something must be done and at once ; so
gripping her by the back of the neck with his
mighty fist, he forced her to the attitude of devo
tion, and more loudly than ever reiterated
" Pray ! "
The obstinate woman, however, would utter no

166 A Tour
word of prayer, so Yu felt himself obliged to pray
for her.
Few and brief were his words, uttered, it is to
be feared, in no spirit of true prayer, or with as yet
a mere glimmering of knowledge of the God he
was ignorantly worshipping, not knowing what
manner of spirit he was of, as also some of us
who suppose ourselves more enlightened.
" O Lord send Thy Holy Spirit and convert
this wicked wife of mine, Amen," holding her
firmly down all the time till he had finished.
Such were the beginnings of this strange man's
religion ; but gradually the light dawned upon
his own soul, his eyes were opened wide, and he
learned that not in loud professions, in keeping
certain laws, or in mere intellectual acceptance of
truth, did the essence of true Christianity consist,
but in the Spirit of the Master, of which these
were no more than some of the outward forms.
He began to see that love was more than whole
burnt-offerings and sacrifies.
Our Friend, our Brother, and our Lord
What may Thy service be ?
Nor name, nor form, nor ritual word
But simply following Thee.
We bring no ghastly holocaust
We pile no graven stone
He serves Thee best who loveth most
His brothers and Thy own.
Thy litanies sweet offices of love and gratitude
Thy sacramental liturgies
The joy of doing good.

Travelling Accommodations 167
So when the spirit of the Little Child had en
tered Mr. Yu's heart, he became quite a changed
man, and meekly went over to the neighbouring
town and paid a visit to his humble neighbour,
the butcher. I don't know what they said, but
they had a happy time together, and it was then
arranged that services should be held in each of
their homes on alternate Sundays. Of course
with this sort of Christianity in the man's heart,
his wife and whole family now became truly con
verted ; from being the terror of the whole vicin
ity he has become the Christian leader, and has
for years been respected and honoured wherever
he is known.
In most of the little communities visited, there
were only the poorest and humblest little straw-
thatched huts, and the quarters occupied by the
missionaries were neither spacious nor even clean,
quite the contrary commonly.
One evening having arrived at such a village,
they were shown into a room belonging to the
church which was more than usually small.
Mrs. Won looked round in dismay. Where
could even two camp beds be stretched ? It was
hardly larger than a good sized pantry. A door
leading into an adjoining room stood partly
open. She peeped in. It was larger, sunny,
clean looking. Why could they not go in there?
This was the question she asked her husband
without delay. He gave some evasive answer,

168 A Tour
and put the matter away as past consideration.
But Mrs. Won was not convinced, as a good
wife should have been, being one of those
troublesome persons who always want to know
the reasons of things. She had not learned that
it was hers not to reason why,

Hers not to make reply,
Hers but to do and die.

You see the Captain was to a blameworthy ex
tent, lax in the discipline of his family.
So his wife returned again to the attack and
was again put off. But this would not do ; why
indeed should they suffocate in that little oven ?
Thus pressed, the Captain had nothing for it but
to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth. In the coveted room, was a coffin con
taining the remains of a woman who had died oj
typhus fever nearly four months ago !
Poor Mrs. Won was aghast. She would open
Bluebeard's closet and this was what she got.
" And we sleeping in the next room ! " was her
first horrified comment. There had been an
epidemic of typhus the preceding summer in
that locality, and several had died. Nearly
every house in the little Christian community
had been infected. Of course nobody ever
dreams of such a thing as disinfection, or would
know how to accomplish it if they did ; wells are

Keeping the Dead 169
carelessly dealt with, and in every way possible,
every law of hygiene is outraged.
The dead are frequently kept months after
death before burial, especially in the homes of
the rich and great, where it is the custom to con
sult the soothsayers as to the auspicious time
and place. They often change their oracular
minds, and postpone from time to time, not of
course with a view of getting more fees, far from
it, that is only incidental, of course. Spirits, it
seems, are not like popes, infallible, and often
alter their instructions repeatedly.
This was the case, in setting the day and ap
pointing the locality of the grave of Her Majesty
the late Queen, and after she had at length been
laid to rest, and quietly reposed some two or
three years, in the place selected by the spiritual
powers, His Majesty was informed that the grave
site must again be changed, and the poor Queen
go forth in further quest of a resting-place.
In the case of our poor farmer country Chris
tians and their typhus fever corpse, there were
entirely different reasons for delay. The weather
was hot and very wet, the rainy season being on,
the casket and its carriers must have travelled
far in a drenching rain ; and so after embalming
the remains and sealing the casket of wood as
well as they knew how, they put it in the little
church to wait a proper time of interment. After
the rains crops must be gathered, for there had

170 A Tour
been a terrible two years' famine in all that
region and nothing must be risked. When the
harvests were all gathered in, then Death's har
vest should be laid away in his garner, too.
Speaking of crops makes me think of another
incident which occurred at this place. Pastor
Won's stay in any of these little neighbourhoods
was sadly brief, as there were many waiting their
turn, and he must return only too soon at a fixed
date to Bible translating at Seoul. So there was
only one night for the little village.
Word had been sent before that all applicants
for baptism might be on hand when he came, for
only one night could he be with them. So in the
afternoon of his arrival all were called in, one at
a time and examined.
Directly after supper a solemn service of bap
tism and partaking of the sacred feast, the Lord's
Supper. Only once or twice a year, at the
oftenest, was this blessed privilege possible to
this poor flock, and highly indeed did they value
it, sacred and precious the occasion.
Just before the service was over, an elderly
woman came in, whom all welcomed as a sister
believer. Though nothing particular regarding
her was learned by the Wons that night, next
morning at daybreak the pastor saw her about
to start back home, and learned she had come
ten miles, after her field work was done, the night
before, in order to be baptized, and arrived too

A Heroic Woman 171
late. "But why did you not come earlier?" said
he. She replied that she was in charge of some
fields belonging to rich people from a distance ;
they had come to receive their crops, and she
could not leave till it was too dark to work more,
and now she must hasten back in order to begin
the day's work as early as possible. She had
been a believer for over three years, but living
so far from the other Christian groups, and the
stopping places of the missionaries, had never
been able to reach the centre where one was
staying, in time to be baptized, or partake with
her brethren of the blessed feast.
Never mind, dear sister, there is the General
Assembly and Church of the first-born to which
you belong, and you shall sit down at the Mar
riage Supper of the Lamb, and your name is
written in the book that Angels keep, and He
shall give you a white stone with your new name,
and the Father and the Son shall come in and
sup with you and you with them, and though
you are disappointed and feel left out now, there
will be no mistakes and no leaving out there.
Pastor Won would have baptized her then and
there, could she have waited, but it was already
late, she must hurry away ; and so the dear soul
is still waiting outside the visible though a
patient member of the invisible Church.
The Korean women prize highly their new
names. They are never formally named as the

172 A Tour
men are, and as has been said before, are only
called Somebody's mother or Somebody's wife,
but when baptized it is necessary for their enroll
ment and, to prevent mistakes, that each shall be
named, so they are called Mercy, Faith, Love,
Patience, etc., with a Chinese character which
agrees with their husband's name. It is amusing
and a little pathetic to see how highly they cher
ish these Christian names, the first they ever had.
Harry, although such a little fellow, took a
great interest already in the Christians, and es
pecially in one elderly man who had tramped
miles over the country preaching the gospel, and
was one of the most useful of all the native
leaders and helpers. "Mamma will not know
Mr. Saw when we get to heaven," said he. "She
will see a gentlemanly old foreigner come in, and
never guess that it is he." " Foreigner," of
course meaning in the child's mind, American,
and Mrs. Won began to suspect that she too had
been unconsciously assuming that everybody in
heaven would be Americans or Europeans, and
by the time they reached there, with enlightened
eyes, no doubt Presbyterians, her own beloved,
honoured sect, the best of them all ; and yet, now
she seemed to hear the echo of a noble rhyme,
" Our little systems have their day,
They have their day and cease to be ;
They are but broken lights of Thee,
And Thou, oh, Lord, art more than they,"

The Natives Play Halma 173
and again, still nobler and sweeter, the inspired
words, " We shall be like Him, when He shall
appear, for we shall see Him as He is," and she
was content.
The incidents told in this chapter illustrate the
sort of experiences the Wons usually met with
in their country travels. Harry took his school
books along, his camera, his paint-box and two
or three games. The natives went quite wild
over Halma, made themselves boards and men,
practiced it a few days, and then would give
Harry ten moves in advance and beat him quite
out of sight, though he was no mean player.
They were wonderfully keen in the game, twenty
questions, too, and would soon locate the most
insignificant objects, in the most unheard-of
places with unerring accuracy. He taught them
some of his outdoor games, too, not the least
appreciated of which, was leap-frog.
He learned to aim fairly with his bow and
arrow, and looked forward with impatience to
the time when he should shoulder a shotgun like
his father, and help supply the family larder.
They had a feeling no more should be killed
than they needed, and were sure the hunting was
markedly unsuccessful except on these occasions.
We cannot follow them through all their rounds
on this trip, but let it suffice to say, that in less
than six weeks they found their way back to the
dear home, rather shabby, rather hungry for

l74

A Tour

home food, and longing for orderly home ways,
a little tired, but fresh, ruddy, sunburned, full of
stores of strength laid up during those weeks of
gipsy life, and full of new enthusiasm and inspi
ration, enkindled through close contact with the
simple, glowing faith of the country Christians,
and the long hours alone with God as they
travelled from place to place, and they thanked
Him that He had cast their lines in such pleas
ant places.

VIII
AT THE RIVER
WHEN Harry went to the river the following
July, with his parents, a summer cottage had
been built on the hill for them, above the little
native hut they enjoyed so much before, for
although that was very nice for cold fall days
and nights, it was rather stuffy, hot and un
healthy for long weeks of heat and rain.
I would like to show you that place at the
river which was such a refuge to the Wons, for
many summers, and not to them only, but to
others who fled with them from the heat, poison
ous vapours and diseases of the capital during
two or three very trying months each year. The
bluff which they had bought rose in three ter
races some fifty or sixty feet above the surface
of the river, which almost encircled its base,
curving around it lovingly crescent wise.
The bank was crowned on its topmost level
by a grove of noble pines, oaks and chestnuts.
Where its feet touched the water, were beautiful
white sands and great boulders where the chil
dren loved to play, for from four o'clock it was
in the shadow of the hill above it, and the cool
evening breeze brought its first whispers and
175

176 At the River
kisses here. That first summer not much had
been done, but if you could see it now ! Neither
Pastor Won nor his wife cared much for artifi
cially stiff grounds or gardens, but they loved
flowers, and here was plenty of room for any
thing. Little by little the house grew, a room
added here or a porch there, and now it has
wide verandas at the front and back and up-stairs,
too. The evening breeze comes up very cool from
the northwest, so at one of its north corners,
where it stands cheek by jowl with a dear old
pine, so close and friendly, that they had to cut
off a piece of one of the rooms, was built a cir
cular piazza, right round the tree, extending
twelve feet from it in width, so that the house,
as it were, threw a loving arm round the pine,
making it an inmate of the household and mem
ber of the family. So there, while round its
trunk the children play, the house mother sings
and all the busy happy home life hums about, it
reaches far above them all, and with arms stretch
ing heavenward, like some high priestly guard
ian, seems to be forever supplicating heaven for
the creatures of its care, murmuring unceasing
orisons, and bringing from above sweet, low
messages breathed by the spirits of the air.
People counselled the Wons to destroy that
tree. " It will pull down your house," said they.
" It will grow larger and crowd you out." But

The Wons' Favorite View 177
the Wons who were real tree lovers said, " No,
another house might be built, but not another
such tree, and if the dear old friend should grow
larger in girth with increasing years, and need
more room they would do with less house." The
tree was the genius of the place, no one could
spare him, so there he remained and received all
the family confidences, and through the long
winter months stood faithfully on guard.
Besides the tree there was a vine on the back
piazza too. It wreathed round the pillars and
confidingly threw its long graceful creepers in
side, adorning the ceiling with its cool, green
leaves. There was a view from "the deck," as
they called it, as there was from every side of the
house, but this was the most restful of all I think.
It looked over the back garden and the fair fields
in the river basin, to the beautiful green hills on
the other side of the valley. There was a peace
ful little village nestling on the side of the hill,
and just a glimpse of the river and the masts of
some of the junks and fishing craft lying at
anchor there. Winding up the hill was a road,
which passed between two grotesque old pine-
trees and then mysteriously disappeared. You
could imagine all sorts of things about that road.
Mrs. Won used to think it was very like the one
the Lady of Shallott saw in her mirror. Some
times a Korean chair came jogging along, some
times a woman with a bowl or a bundle of clothes

178 At the River
on her head, sometimes a jimkoon, his load on
his back, or an ox and his driver, or a long string
of pack ponies, with their saucy little riders.
But at any minute there might come a fairy
prince, or anything wonderful and unexpected
from between those uncommon trees, and a road
that went right into the sky like that.
Sometimes when you half closed your eyes,
you could see the whilom sleeping beauty lean
ing on her lover's arm,
" As far across the hills they went,
To that new world, which is the old.
Across the hills and far away
Beyond their utmost purple rim
And deep into the dying day
The happy princess followed him."
It was not at all hard to see, I assure you, and
that was where the road went, right across the
purple rim, deep into the dying day.
But best of all it was sweet to fancy it led right
into the Golden City, the gates being always
flung wide at eventide, and that perhaps some
day, the blessed Messenger would issue thence,
with the glory of the sun, the calm of the moon,
and the tenderness of the Lord, to take one by
the hand ; and quietly passing back leaning on
His arm, one would enter thus, through the
gates into the city, and so be forever with the.
Lord.

A Holy Calm 179
For all the sunsets were visible there in glory
of rose bloom, amber and gold, and when they
were gone, the young crescent moon would hang
for a while, in the sweet pale gloom, smiling
down on the house, the tree and the people, who
smiled back, and had large charity for the heathen
who once worshipped her. The Wons used to
bring their steamer chairs out on "the deck"
after supper and recline there enjoying the rest
ful beauty of it all and the cool caresses of the
ministering breeze, the angel of the sunset, who
came after the long hot day on his errand of
mercy. A holy calm enveloped all nature, on
which lay the benison and peace of God.
Down at their feet lay the garden. There was
a great bed of lilies of the valley, half in the
shadow of the bank and the grove. There were
grape-vines full of luscious promise, there was
thyme, sage and lavender, a long hedge of haw
thorn and there were raspberries, currants, and
rows and rows of vegetables.
On the low bank, separating the back from the
front garden was a thick grove of young trees,
and a few steps further on, the dear old grove.
The west wind had a grand sweep over the
valley, and sometimes when the monsoons were
on — oh, but they are the lords of creation, and
make themselves heard when they are about —
there was a commotion and no mistake. It was
a world of turmoil and topsy-turvy then, sure

180 At the River
enough. Mrs. Won used to say the surging,
swinging and swaying of tortured foliage was
like the raging of the ocean, and positively made
her seasick with its continuous sweep, rise and
fall. In front, on the first terrace above the river,
was more garden, with berries, fruit trees and
vegetables. Here was long feathery asparagus
with its red berries, here the sunflowers were al
lowed to riot, and just the loveliest double rose
hollyhocks ! There was a little spring that
trickled down here, and in its bed grew crisp,
cool water cresses.
On the next terrace stood the little native
house, now used by the servants and gardener,
and not far from it, in the prettiest nook, shaded
by a bower of trees was the well. A little above
this lay meadows bordered round with young
oaks and pines, and on the upper level, the
homes. Pastor Won had asked two friends who had
little ones, to share this place with him, and so
each brought a third, and their houses stood
there like three sisters, year by year. From the
front of the Wons' house, . especially the upper
floor, — not much could be seen from the lower
piazza, the house was so wreathed in vines and
embowered in young trees, which they were not
resolute enough to cut down — there was an en
chanting view.

The Mountain View 181
Down below, winding, curving among its high
banks, so as to remind one of the Italian lakes,
lay the river, sometimes a sheet of silver, some
times a sapphire jewel set on the broad bosom of
mother earth. On its surface floated gracefully
now and then the Korean fishing boats, with
their gorgeous ochre sails, adding the one touch
of brilliant colour to the subdued tones of the
landscape. Beyond lay more green hills, and
still beyond a long blue line of mountains.
These mountains never presented the same
aspect twice. In the morning sunshine they lay
in melting shades of green and blue, with soft
shadows lurking upon them. In the sunset glow
they "reposed in purple distance fair," or bathed
in silver moonlight they assumed a weird, mys
terious grandeur. In the wet season they were
more beautiful than ever, for then the nearer
were robed in an exquisite misty veil of French
gray, while those more distant, half revealed,
half hidden, melted into the arms of the low-
stooping clouds, and the passionate rain. Like
a beautiful woman, who though unshakenly faith
ful, yet wears a thousand changing moods, and
hides her love beneath a guise of fickleness and
coquetry, these mountains seemed more dear,
more beautiful with every change.
The steep banks of the bluff were overgrown
with a tangle of wild vines, wild flowers, bushes
of sweet syringa, azalias and young oak and

182 At the River
chestnut-trees. A path winds and climbs all
round this bank, between the stately trees ; and
just where the terrace falls to the river, under
the wide-spreading arms of a friendly tree, is a
bench, seated on which, in the grateful shade,
the branches framing the whole picture, one can
sit, unseen from the house or river, and feel one
self melt into it all.
Here could be watched the glow of the sun
set reflected on the yellow hill and sands to the
left of their bluff, the " purple in the distance,"
and the shimmering leaves. Here one could
listen to the gentle ripple of water, the occa
sional 'splash of oars, the humming of insects, the
chirping of birds, the distant laughter of children,
the soft rustling of foliage, the whisper of the
wind, and all the sweet music of the quietness.
There were two magnificent golden orioles,
the aristocrats of the garden, very shy and ex
clusive, but now and then they would conde
scend and favour the residents of the cottages,
with an outpouring of incomparable liquid music.
Then of course there would follow at once, im
pertinent whisperings, and tiptoeings for a peep
at the beautiful singers, and then a whirr of
indignant wings, with nothing left to prove it
was not an heavenly illusion but the swaying of
some light branch in the tree-top.
It was desecration, of course, to admit a horde
of Chinese coolies to such a place. Certainly, it

Painting the House 183
was agonizing, but ten or fifteen of the greasiest,
dirtiest, noisiest, most sacrilegious Chinamen had
to be let loose into all that beauty and holy
peace, among those hills, trees, birds and flowers.
Worse still, the Wons had to order it them
selves. The house must be painted. Pastor
Won was too busy, translating ; Mrs. Won was
sick on her couch and Harry was quite too
small, so there it was, nothing for it but call the
Chinamen. Pastor Won went off to the city to
his work, the mother had her long cane chair
and herself carried out to the grove where she
could not see them, and could less distinctly hear
their loud, rasping voices, their blood-curdling,
out-of-tune falsetto songs, and all the "yahdon."
And oh, such terrible work as they made of it
all ! The roof was to be rather a dull red, and
the house a subdued grayish green So they
climbed to the roof first, and daubed on the red
paint, which, too thinly mixed, dripped down the
walls, over the sweet fresh wisteria, rosebushes,
and white lilacs, and lay on the ground like the
ghastly results of some awful deed of blood.
It was cruel, shocking, but there was more to
come. They cooked their greasy food, and left
their greasy dinner pails in the fair wide porch,
leaving odours and stains unmentionable. With
rags they washed the walls with green paint,
which also trickled to the piazzas in little streams,
and though the west wall was the colour indi-

184 At the River
cated by the owner, the south side was a peacock
blue, the east an olive green and the north
another shade of greenish gray. This was har
rowing, but even this was not the end. When
the balconies were to be painted, and they were
left till the last, these men were told to paint
them also green to match the door and window
trimmings. This simple suggestion seemed dif
ficult for them to grasp, for an idea is elusive,
largely to that order of Chinamen. Moreover,
they spoke no English, the Wons, no Chinese ;
therefore through the medium of mixed pidgeon
English and badly mutilated Korean with the
aid of shouts, the two parties tried, respectively,
to elucidate and to apprehend what was desired.
About an hour later Harry was seen running
wildly to his mamma where she lay under the
pines, breathing perfume and unsuspicious of
disaster ; peacefully drinking in the harmonies
of tint and sound about her, he was crying
excitedly, " Mamma, mamma, they are painting
the roof green." Mrs. Won had not walked
more than a few steps at a time for weeks, but,
under the stimulus of these words, she rose,
dragged her unwilling limbs to a spot in full
view of the house, and beheld half the roof a
vivid green. It was of course only a trivial
thing, and had she been well she might have
laughed, but under the circumstances it assumed
the proportions of a calamity. Of course a mis-

Missionaries Are Yet Human 185
sionary ought to be above caring what colour
her roof may be, or mind whether her house is
defaced or her flowers injured, but poor Mrs.
Won was not at all a perfect missionary. She
loved the natives and her work, but yet she
loved beauty ; she had her ideals of how her
house ought to look ; she took a keen pleasure
in pretty ornaments, hats and dresses, etc., when
her mother or sisters sent them from America,
and I have seen her grieved over a piece of
broken glass or china. You may as well know
the truth about Mrs. Won ; she was very, very
human, and never made any pretense of being
otherwise. In fact she knew she was not nearly
so noble, wise or good as many quiet Christian
women whose only field is their home.
In fact most missionaries, as far as I know
them, are like most other Christians, sincere but
imperfect. All of them, as far as I could judge,
have gone to foreign lands under the deep and
overwhelming conviction that their duty lay
there, and some under a keen sense of sacrifice,
some with as keen a pleasure in anticipation of
inspiring work, have left more or less that was
dear and tempting to answer that call. But they
took with them human bodies and natures like
those of other men, very weak and frail. Satan
has a pass on every steamer and is very much
at home on the foreign field, so that while one
set. of allurements and temptations has been left

186 At the River
behind, his fertility in inventions for trying men's
souls has never failed, and the missionaries strug
gle along much like the rest of us, fighting,
stumbling, perhaps falling now and then, but up
and on again, with one aim, one hope, one joy,
the King and the coming of the kingdom. They
are beset with frailties, but like that other mis
sionary Paul, they forget what is behind, reach
forward to what is before, and press towards the
mark. I had to come down from the roof to explain
about Mrs. Won, for probably most of you noted
with pained surprise her solicitude about it. Yes,
the one whole half was green, the other red, which
meant a still longer visitation of the Chinese
while the mistake was repaired, more bloody
dye on vines and bushes, and still worse, trick
ling streams of red, down the sides of the green
house and piazzas.
" Ah, well, I've cared too much about earthly
things," thought she with accusing conscience ;
" this is a lesson to teach me patience and a
mind above little worldly affairs." Now when
she could " Find in loss a gain to match,
And reach a hand through time, to catch
The far off interest of tears,"
Mrs. Won always grew more content. It is a
kind of moral commercialism ; Tennyson scorns
it, but it is comforting at any rate.

A Sure Cure For Cholera 187
A fruitless grief, agony endured for naught
seemed to her the most terrific possibility of sor
row, great or small. So she became resigned to
her disappointment in the cottage itself, and
found her joy more and more in the life, in,
around and above it. After the Chinamen were
gone, nature gradually asserted her sway, and
mended things generally, as she always does
when allowed. New leaves budded where those
defaced and killed had been, vines grew lovingly
over the glaring paint, summer suns and rains
toned down all that was inharmonious, and like
all our childish trials and tears, the loving Hand
smoothed and wiped them all away. Many
things happened that first summer at the river.
First of all there was cholera all over the coun
try, but especially in the city, and the missionary
fathers and mothers, too, had to leave the little
ones with trusted caretakers, and spend days
and weeks in the town nursing the sick and
dying. There wasn't much cholera at the river because
the cat was there. What had the cat to do with
it, and what cat was it?
Well, cholera, of course, you know, is the rat
disease. You can feel the rats biting, and run
ning up your legs and arms if you have it, so
there is no doubt. Now the hill across the valley,
in which the pretty village nestled, was the cat.
I never could see that it looked like a cat, but

1 88 At the River
that was what it was, and had been for ages,
there was no disputing that, appearances to the
contrary, and no matter what anybody said. As
every one knows, rats won't go near a cat, so
there you have it ; of course there could be no
cholera in that neighbourhood.
Koreans have many strange superstitions re
garding certain hills and mountains. The moun
tain of which the Wons' bluff was one of the
lowest folds, was called the silk worm. Now to
keep this worm in good temper and condition,
and so insure the safety and good fortune of the
capital, it must be fed. Therefore just across the
river the government had planted and cultivated,
with great care, a large grove of mulberry-trees.
It may seem incredible, but it is nevertheless a
fact. Well, there was, as I said, that summer, the
cholera for one thing, and the whooping cough
for another. The little Appletons began it, but
no matter who, it went all round, and of course
Harry had it. He never skipped any fun going,
so his Amonni was in straits, for Harry not only
didn't skip things, but what he did, he did with
his might. He had whooping cough with all
the trimmings, and was a pretty sick little boy ;
for the worst of it was, the envious cough
wouldn't let him keep food long enough to get
any life to fight withal. " There go my ginger
snaps," wailed Willie A., with a howl of anguish,

Harry Has Whooping Cough 189
and there went Harry's bread and butter, and
beefsteak, too. What with that, and long con
vulsive fits of coughing every night when it
almost seemed as if life itself would be shaken
out of the little frame, the boy soon grew almost
transparent enough to see through, and very
languid and frail.
However, the little ship weathered this storm
too, the Master ever caring for it, and calming
the winds and waves.
To keep the interest going they had a crazy
man one summer, and a robber another. One
always wants some great attraction to make a
place popular, and if one cannot have a confer
ence or a midway, or a general assembly, or a
merry-go-round, why one must be content for
sooth with such poor substitutes as crazy men
and burglars.
For the crazy man he seemed harmless enough,
poor fellow, only that he made night hideous
with his awful shrieks. That seemed to be his
favourite time to wander abroad, and somewhere
between twelve and the earliest dawn after every
body had fought the good fight with mosquitoes
and sunk to blissful repose, they were startled
wide awake by such cries as only the insane and
sleep walkers can make, agonizing and terrify
ing. It was no matter that they had heard it be
fore, the women, at least never found that its
horror lessened, and even the men didn't really

190 At the River
like it. But the poor creature did not confine his
wanderings to the night hours.
He had an uncanny way of suddenly appear
ing on the piazzas among the women and chil
dren, demanding food and money. He claimed
to be a convert who had fallen from grace, and
would beg Pastor Won to pray for him, or insist
that Pastor Won and only he could cure his poor
head. In Korea, as in other lands where the Gospel
has only recently come, there are no hospitals or
asylums for the sick, blind, insane, homeless, or
orphans, except such as established by mission
aries, and supported by Western Christians.
This man's family, poor farmers themselves, tried
to guard and take care of him, but there are no
rooms in their poor huts where such a subject
could be securely confined. He therefore escaped
them continually, wandering about a terror and
nuisance to the whole vicinity, was daily stoned
and beaten by heartless natives, whose goods he
stole, or whose children he alarmed, and was ex
posed with scant clothing in all weather, to num
berless hardships. Mrs. Won used to think that
if some of those who carp at missions could live
in mission lands a few years, " before and after "
and see the pitiful condition of large classes of
sufferers, without the institutions of Christianity,
and later could see how gratefully those benefac
tions are received and adopted even by the un-

Comes A Robber 191
converted heathen, they might be convinced of
their mistake.
Then there was the robber. He, indeed, has
passed into history ; he looms greater and more
imposing every year. The older ones tell the
tale, in hushed whispers, to the younger, who
listen with delicious creeps, bated breath and up
rising hair. It is casually mentioned to young
lady visitors like the ghastly legends of ancient
houses to lend dignity to the estate, " a skeleton
awaiting at the feast, whereby their sinful pleas
ure is increased."
It began with the upper house, irreverently
called "the peanut gallery" because it stood on
the crest of the hill, head, shoulders and more
above the other two. At the Wons, the Captain
was lying in a dead stupor with a terrible fever.
Mrs. Won was watching, and Harry was lost in
dreams. In the little cottage below were the na
tive servants. To Harry's Amonni, it all began
with one piercing, blood-curdling shriek from the
upper house, which tore the dead stillness of mid
night, and seemed to freeze the very air of
August. Then awful silence as though the uni
verse had been murdered when that cry rang
forth. The suspense was terrible ; Mrs. Won
rushed out to the veranda, where she could dis
cern nothing but the servants, hurrying up the
hill with a lantern. Soon, there were more
screams, hurried calls, and signs that there were

192 At the River
at least some lively survivors still left in creation.
What had really happened was, that a young
lady visitor in the upper house had awakened to
find a great, repulsive looking Korean, standing
over her holding a horrible long knife, with which
he threatened to cut her throat instantly, if she
dared utter a sound. Upon which, with all a
woman's recklessness of consequences, she
shrieked the clarion like blast, which roused
everybody. The wretch fled ; there was a game
of hide and seek on the premises ; then while the
pursuers were in the grounds, the burglar again
invaded the house, and now threatened not only
to murder everybody in it, but to burn them and
it up together — inspired no doubt by a little vex
ation over the bother he was having — and pos
sessing himself of everything he could lay hands
on, he speedily decamped to the tune of a chorus
of screams from the women and children, hotly
pursued by Mr. Markham and the servants.
But he had slipped into the velvet blackness of
the night and utterly disappeared. The whole
neighbourhood, however, had learned a valuable
lesson, namely that American women cannot be
depended on to be quiet, when hushed with a
knife or revolver, and that their nerves are a
dangerous obstacle to the peaceful prosecution of
burglary. Mrs. Won felt rather neglected when she
found they were entirely left out, but excused it

Come Blind Men 193
on the ground that their house was two stories
high, the lower entrances securely barred, and
that they were known to have a shotgun on
hand. An amusing incident occurred on one of the
first nights of their occupancy of the house, which
had led them to take some extra care. They
were wakened in the middle of the night by soft
footfalls on their lower veranda, and the sound of
fingers tampering with the latches. The Captain
jumped up quickly, and looking down, beheld a
party of ten or twelve men on the lower veranda,
quietly walking about, feeling and examining the
windows and doors. They all carried long walk
ing sticks like blind men. "Who are you?"
cried he. " We are blind men," was the reply.
"What are you doing down there?" "We
have come for a ' kugung ' (sight-seeing), your
honour." "This is a strange noise for you to
make that you come at midnight to see my house.
What do you mean, what word is this you
speak?" "Sir, we are blind, night is all one
with us, as day ; we were passing and thought we
would look and see."
Now this was all very well ; and knowing the
nocturnal habits of the blind sorcerers, it was not
without some show of probability, but neverthe
less a- feeling of suspicion remained, especially as
these men themselves are a very disreputable
class ; so bidding them begone and henceforth

194 At the River
make their visits at seasonable hours, the master
of the house looked well to the fastenings and
guards. Nor was this all. There was a shrine far above
them, in a lonely, wild place, where there was a
little grove ; this, too, had an atmosphere of
mystery and danger. Bad men were said to be
often in hiding there and to come forth at night
to rob the villages and wayfarers. One night
Pastor Won, returning home after dark, met a
man near there, who had been badly cut, and
was covered with blood, and said he had been
met by thieves, who had robbed him of his pack
of merchandise. Besides, a servant, returning
one evening from the city through the woods,
with meat and other household supplies, came in
empty handed, ghastly white, almost fainting, and
declared he had been followed by a ghost, who
nevertheless seemed to be rather a materialistic
one, for he jumped on the man's back, knocked
him down, and made off with the food.
The natives believe very firmly in all sorts of
ghosts, spirits and demons, and stand in abject
terror of them all. They believe, too, that cer
tain houses and localities are haunted, and will
not go near them after dark. Robbers take ad
vantage of this superstition to haunt these places
themselves. They are usually very violent and
murderous, because, if caught, severe torture
and even death is the sure sentence. They have

Peace At Last 195
no mercy to hope for, and rather than risk the
chance of escape, show none. They usually go
in parties, armed with long knives and will ter
rorize whole villages, plundering the poor people
of everything worth carrying away.
After that summer the Wons and their neigh
bours were troubled no further, except by a few
slight pilferings, and little by little, as the village
people came to recognize them as friends and
learned that instead of oppressors, they had
found protectors, who helped mend their roads,
bought their wood, eggs and chickens at good
prices, gave medicine to their sick, respected
their grave sites, and prevented the lawless from
destroying their trees, they felt towards and
treated the foreigners as neighbours, the fruit and
vegetables unfenced, remained untouched, and
the women and children, undisturbed. So there
was peace and good fellowship at the river.

IX
THE RAINY SEASON
As has been already hinted in the previous
chapter, Korean punishments are very violent,
even for light offenses. Men are put in the
stocks or terribly beaten with long, flat, wooden
paddles, and decapitations and hangings often
take place on short notice. Occasionally men
are secretly murdered in prison when it is feared
that intercession by powerful friends, or some
thing unforeseen might avail to thwart the ends
of those concerned in getting rid of them.
According to the old regime, police sent to
make arrests, always expected to be paid by the
unfortunate for decent treatment, higher officials
at the jail in larger ratio, and finally, unless a
crime arousing the unpurchasable hate of some
great one was in question, a sufficient sum would
generally secure a favourable sentence, or largely
mitigate the severity of the punishment.
The blind sorcerers and Buddhist priests, al
ready referred to, are both somewhat dangerous
and suspected members of the community. The
latter are forbidden the capital, and rank next to
butchers, the lowest in the land. They belong to
the mendicant "ne'er do weel" class, and are
196

Priests and Priestesses 197
usually initiated, as friendless orphan children,
into their profession, at the temples where they
are received and fed, and in return are obliged to
beg, and ply the arts of the priest, attending very
likely to some rich man's shrine or grave site, or
performing servile duties and helping in any
way possible the little community of which they
have become members.
Both priests and priestesses wear their hair
shaved, dress alike, and can hardly be distin
guished apart. There is much superstition in
some very high quarters, and a great deal of
money passes through their hands, but of any
real religion or conscientious following of the
plainest teachings of Buddha, much less any
knowledge of his doctrines among the people, I
have seen nothing.
Ancestor worship, it appears to me, comes
nearer being a religion in Korea than anything
they have. However, trees, spirits and devils
are all worshipped, sacrificed to and feared, and
many conform to a large number of superstitious
rites. When in hot water, out of which they de
sire to escape with speed, it is a matter of small
concern who helps them, Satan, or the honour
able heaven ; to get out, and quickly, is the only
object. The sorcerers are called in even more fre
quently than the priests, and they trade of course
on the superstitions of the ignorant, to a fearful

198 The Rainy Season
extent. Blind children for whom there are of
course no institutions of mercy, are almost inva
riably condemned to this life of dishonesty, chi
canery, trickery, begging and shame. Like the
priests and dancing girls they are taught their
profession from early childhood, Satan recogniz
ing full that it is best to begin early to mould a
man in the shape he is to bear through eternity.
The sorcerers go into trances, practice hypnotism
and, I believe, telepathy, from what I have heard
of their remarkable accomplishments.
A few asylums for homeless and blind children
would soon, to a large extent, break up these
dens of iniquity and sources of danger to the
public, and would result in the rescue of thou
sands of pitiful little waifs, both boys and girls,
who fall into the clutches of these evil people, or
are sold into slavery, worse than death, at the
tenderest age, because there is no one to whom
they belong, or who is able to protect them.
If even in so-called Christian lands, thousands
of children suffer in unnumbered ways, in a
country where no institutions of mercy exist, the
terrible condition of things can scarcely be over
stated, and there is hardly a coolie but can buy
for a bag of rice some wretched little being as a
slave. But to return to the river, and the Wons, after
this rather long digression, in spite of the various
exciting little episodes which lent spice to ex-

In Swimming 199
istence there, they were extremely happy in their
river home. The pastor had one of his Korean
literary helpers there, and at early daylight was
at his literary work, the preparation of native
Christian books, which went on vastly better in
these quiet surroundings than amid the disturb
ances and interruptions of the city. About five
o'clock in the afternoon, however, work stopped,
and all adjourned to the river for a dip. The
little fellows soon learned to swim like ducks, and
looked forward all day to this as the sweetest
promise of existence. Then tea was served on
the bluff by one of the ladies, when all gathered
together after the heat of the day and its busi
ness for a pleasant time together. One of the
customs which they loved was the half hour
prayer-meeting. Everybody dropped his work
or play, came as they were, and united in song
and prayer. It began when their hearts were
heavy with anxiety for brothers in China, and
proved such a blessing that it became an insti
tution. But when the rains began and kept on and on,
for days and weeks, as they did some summers
for ten weeks, with only the briefest of intermis
sions ; oh, then, there was no swimming, no tea
on the bluff, no games among the trees, no cro
quet on the lawn, no anything, but trying to
keep dry and to stop up leaks. Boots and shoes
turned green and woolly with mould in a night,

200 The Rainy Season
garments mildewed almost while one was wear
ing them, bedding grew musty and wet, and the
river, oh, the river ! From being a calm, beauti
ful, placid stream, it suddenly became a dark,
muddy, evilly booming flood, which carried away
branches of trees, broken rafts, and demolished
houses. It spread over the plains where the mulberries
stood to the feet of the hills beyond, and rose,
little by little, till it crept into the Wons' lower
garden, half drowning the blackberries, who
found their best thorns of no avail to keep off
this invader. On the other side, it flooded the
valley between the Wons and the fairy road, so
that the fishing smacks and ferryboats came well
into view, and sometimes they had quite a fleet
almost at their back door.
The frogs croaked dismally, the wind wailed
and howled among the trees, the sun was under
a wet blanket for days, the mountains were
veiled in mist, but oh, how green, how deliciously
fresh and green, were the meadows and all the
foliage, the leaves fairly shining in their contin
ual bath. And how things grew ! This was the
time for setting slips, and transplanting bushes
and trees.
This was the time for reading delightful books,
making up arrears of correspondence, getting
fall sewing done, and this the time for the chil
dren to assemble on one of the well-sheltered

Hard Going 201
piazzas, and play games, read stories, practice
on the trapeze and regulate stamp collections
and scrap-books.
The first bright day, out went all the garments
and bedding on the upper veranda for a thor
ough airing and sunning, and then when an un
expected malicious cloud suddenly let down a
sheet of water, there were racings and chasings,
and a general scramble of the whole household
to the rescue. If anybody ventured forth, how
ever, at that season he must go prepared for
flooded roads, and terrible storms. Rubber
boots and mackintoshes are very well for ordi
nary rains, but it is an extraordinary mackintosh
which will long withstand such fierce downpours ;
no boots are sufficient for such floods, and more
than once had Mr. Won in his country trips been
forced to wade to his neck through streams whose
current was so strong he could only, with great
difficulty, keep his feet. More than once drenched
to the skin, his baggage soaked through, with
out a dry garment, he had sought for hours in
vain for an inn. That is the time of year when
the only news of the day is of leaks and floods.
When in the black midnight watches, Mrs. Won
lay awake listening half fascinated, half horrified,
to the sullen roar of the river, the howls of the
wind and the steady pounding of the rain, she
heard a dull thud somewhere, that meant great
lumps of ceiling were falling, or if it were merely

;c2 The Rainy Season
a cheerful little drip, drip, that was a new leak.
Only hoping it wasn't on books or other dam
ageable property, the two would make their ex
plorations, lay bath towels, floor cloths, water
proofs and sheets around door casings and win
dows, place all the kitchen utensils available
under the leaks, and go back to their damp beds
and clammy sheets for a short respite, until some
fresh disaster called for the exercise of their
sleepy energies.
Korean roofs are tiled or thatched, in either
case the fall must be steep to carry off all the
water in these terrific rains, and if the roof mend
ers, who are called in the spring are careless, if
a tile or two is left broken, badly placed, or with
out enough overlap, sorrow is sure to follow in
the rains. Or even when all has been well done,
the wind often tears off large parts of the thatch,
or loosens and displaces tiles. Water pours in
around the casements, and in all sorts of un-
imagined ways, finds jealous entrance if there
remains a single dry place in creation. The
whole atmosphere is so overloaded with moisture
that one's lungs seem unable to inhale the proper
quantity of ozone, and everybody is full of lassi
tude and weariness.
The river was a never failing source of interest
at this time. Great rafts of logs from the moun
tains' in the interior, flashed past every day on
their way to the port. Sometimes in the night

The Ferries 203
these would be torn from their moorings (for
they were always floated inshore out of the cur
rent, and anchored for the night) on broken or
submerged rocks, with the force of wind and
current Then the wreckers were abroad, and
making night hideous with excited yells, would
carry off a rich harvest of timber. It was excit
ing, too, to watch the ferries. The wide, flat-
bottomed, leaky boats, propelled and guided by
two or three men who stood paddling at prow
and stern, were loaded down almost to the
water's edge with oxen, ponies, travelling chairs
and jimkoons, all standing crowded together as
closely as possible.
To make the point desired on the opposite
shore they must paddle up in the quiet water and
get the back current on the Wons' side, a long
distance above the landing ; then boldly striking
across, still paddling up, fighting the current
desperately, they whirled down and across and
usually landed fairly near the point, opposite that
from which they started. The river was no
longer beautiful. It was brown with an ugly
foam like a maddened beast of prey, and many
a human life was sacrificed to its rage each year.
Here are some paragraphs from Mrs. Won's
diary written there one year. March 20, 19 — .
I have been very ill and cannot yet walk alone
across the room, but thinking the quiet, fresh air
and sunshine down here would hasten recovery,

2©4 The Rainy Season
they brought me here yesterday. Early this
morning I was wrapped in rugs and quilts, carried
out to the lawn on my long cane chair, and set
directly in the sun. How delicious the odours
of spring ! The birds are so busy. I saw a red
breast, and heard a lark sing. The yellow
forsythias are almost in bloom.
March 25th. It was very sweet all day long
in the sun, for when the shadows fall I am moved
to a sunny place, so sometimes I face the river,
sometimes the hills at the back so delightfully
green with the tender shades of infant
spring. April 15th. The canaries (as the Koreans call
forsythias) have been in bloom some time and
are gorgeous. There is a little arbour over the
path leading down to the river garden which is
covered with these golden blossoms.
Sometimes I wonder as I lie out there all day
in the heart of all that beauty, whether it is
sweeter than under the warm sod, not shut away
at all, but right near the very heart of all life, at
the beginnings of everything, where God works
in the dark out to the light. The dark that is so
soothing and restful, and clasps one so tenderly
and closely. There never can be any real dark
ness or death where He is. Only apart from
Him is coldness, darkness and death.
Sometimes the life in one shrinks and shudders
away from the change that is called death, life

In May-Time 205
here is so inexpressibly full and sweet, yet one
cannot live out in the resurrections of spring
where "every clod feels a stir of night," for
weeks, and fear the brief season of gloom.
There are the daintiest fleecy clouds, dancing
over the daintiest blue sky, all reflected in the
river, which lies asleep. There are new leaves
shining, fairly laughing with delight to have got
out at last, there is a gentle whispering in the
pines, there is the odour of balsam everywhere,
and the apricots, bush cherries and many others
are in full bloom.
May 20th. All the fruit blossoms are out.
The land is aglow with them, making patches of
delicious colour in the hillsides and in the valleys.
One can hardly bear the delight of it ; like the
fairy coachman one feels one's heart bands burst
ing with joy. The white lilacs are making the
whole garden sweet, and the first yellow roses
are beginning their reign in a burst of glory.
Harry is by the river all day, when not at
lessons, which it seems a cruel mockery to im
pose. In the midst of all this, who could think
of fractions, geography and grammar ; all nature
doing her best to hypnotize him ? I believe we
make our children study at too early an age, and
too many hours. I have planned that Harry
shall have an hour before breakfast, two between
nine and eleven, and one between two and three,
no more at all. It always seems to me that the

206 The Rainy Season
plea of the Lotus Eaters is a special plea for the
children. " Lo in the middle of the wood
The folded leaf is wooed from out the bud,
With winds upon the branch, and there
Grows green and broad and knows no care
Sun steeped at noon and in the moon nightly dew fed.
All things have rest, we only toil who are the first of things
And make perpetual moan,
Still from one labour to another thrown,
Nor ever fold our wings, or steep our brows in slumber's holy
balm
Nor hearken what the inner spirit sings."
June 20th. Chemulpo.
I have been worse and now we are to take a
little sea trip to Japan and Vladivostok.
We came down here so easily and delightfully.
They carried me down the hill to the river, and
there was a picturesque boat with a quaint old
boatman waiting on the sands. They placed me
in it, reclining chair and all, and then we slid down
the golden waters, tinted with sunset, sometimes
between green fields and busy, noisy villages,
sometimes between high rocks, covered with
foliage and decked with moss. Sometimes we
passed other craft, and the sailors peered curiously
at our party and wondered if I were dead and
being carried to some old family burial-place.
When we reached the little steamer I was
lifted on board and so came safely on.
July 2d. We have had our trip to Vladivostok,

At Vladivostok 207
and are on our way back. I was too ill to go on
shore there, but from the steamer it wears an un
gracious aspect, something like one of our raw
western towns. The whole harbour is bristling
in fortifications. There are no English hotels
or boarding-places there (1897), and the com
mercial agents who came up with us, returned in
dismay to the ship for meals, saying they could
get nothing but black bread, black bean soup,
raw ham and vodke at the Russian places.1
We were proud and delighted to see American
vessels lying in the harbour, with American rail
road iron, American nails, American flour. I
wanted to shake hands with that flour. We
were told that immense quantities of American
goods are imported there. It was a new and
decidedly pleasant experience, too, to see Amer
ican commercial travellers so far out there in the
East. We are told that the climate is remark
ably dry and bracing. The atmosphere is clear
as crystal. Still we were glad enough to get
away. July 1 2th. We are home again, and, thank
God, all well and happy and busy.
No one who has a garden can live an idle life,
and the Wons were kept busy, fighting enemies.
The ants and the birds were their allies, but for

1 Since then it is the custom for officials to force passengers to go
ashore and eat and sleep even though they stay only twenty-four
hours.

208 The Rainy Season
the rest they all seemed bent on the destruction
of everything beautiful or useful in nature. All
sorts of vermin attacked the trees, and borers
crawled into their hearts. When fruit ripened
even the birds turned traitors and helped the
great hornets to devour it. As for the grape
vines, from early spring till the last grape was
bagged, it was one battle for existence.
The roses, too, were attacked by aphides,
caterpillars, and worst of all cruel rose beetles
who waited till the bud was ready to burst into
glowing beauty, and then relentlessly ate out its
very heart. There was an old Korean installed
as gardener, who had been for years according
to his lights a faithful chair coolie, and now that
he was too old for that, the Wons had given him
a home in the cottage, and the duty of caring for
their garden. But the garden after the fashion
of such was exacting, and Kim was old and a
little lazy, so a great deal of help was needed,
and often the enemy got a long, long start. Kim
was not a Christian ; he was too fond of his jug
for that ; but he was an ardent upholder of the
cause, distributed tracts on occasion, and advised
the pastor that workers or teachers ought to be
sent to this or that locality, "since we have no
believers there." He had been heard to recom
mend Christianity, too, very zealously to non-
believers, and would no doubt have been an
ardent church member, had it been com-

Defending the Garden 209
patible with chicken stealing and deep pota
tions. However, the Wons liked him for never pre
tending to believe for the sake of gaining favour,
as I am sorry to say some servants do, and they
greatly appreciated his real devotion to them and
their interests. Like the cook he was regarded
by all, himself included, as a member of the
family, to be separated from them only by death.
His wages in addition to his house and field,
with wood from the place, were three dollars a
month. With this rather unreliable assistant, the
Wons carried on the war. They often wondered
to what purpose all these evil creatures existed,
and were strongly inclined to believe that since
their only aim was destruction of that which was
good, that they were of the devil, or at any rate
like disease, the result of sin. Nevertheless they
realized that God was using them to work out a
greater good, teaching His people industry, forti
tude and patience.
On one side of them, almost at their door, lay
ten or twenty acres of pine woods, through which
flowed a little brook, " which to the sleeping
woods all night sang its gentle tune."
Its banks were draped with ferns and wild
flowers, and after the rains it danced and brawled
along in a terribly noisy fashion. The Korean
women used to come here with their washing,
pounding it on stones in the crystal water, and

210 The Rainy Season
gossipping comfortably all the while. Here
Harry Won and the little Appletons and the
Markhams loved to play, wading in the water,
building dams, sailing tiny boats, playing Indian
and robbers among the trees, or house in some
shady, ferny retreat. There are few harmful
creatures in these woods for children to fear.
Most of the snakes are innocuous (poisonous
ones being extremely rare), and here and there
at long intervals are seen one or two centipedes,
otherwise I know of nothing worse than wasps
and hornets. Poor Harry plunged a hapless little
bare leg into a nest of these creatures one day,
and had to run for his life, screaming lustily all
the way, not escaping either, without severe
punishment from the furious insects. One year
when the family went to the river in July, they
found the hornets had utilized the space between
the parlour window and the outside wooden shut
ter for a hive. There from the inside they had a
grand chance to peep into their nursery and see
them feeding their babies and view all their private
household affairs. Afterwards the Koreans came
at night with torches and boldly tore down the
shutter, the blinded and crazed insects flying
directly into the blaze and destruction.
In another direction more than a mile away,
was a far wilder, and correspondingly more
delightful place. Here were great, silent, stately
pine woods, high hills on either side, great rocks

The Picnic Place 2 1 1
and boulders, and a larger and far more beautiful
stream, running on over the most tempting golden
sands. The trees threw their shadows across it,
and litde flecks of light caressed its bosom, like
jewels on the neck of a fair girl. In places, before
some barrier, it lay in cool, deep pools, where a
man could stand waist deep, and thence it poured,
over the mossy stones, with the most delightful
sound in the world to the ears of a child on a
summer day.
This was the favourite spot for picnics, but the
time was always too short, alas ! for as has often
been said, time is such a contrary old cur
mudgeon, he always hurries most when you
want him to dawdle ; but if you have a tooth
ache, dawdle isn't the word ; for it is my belief he
stands stock still at all such times.
When the rains were over, was the time for
picnics, and when the rains were over, if they
didn't stay too long, came Harry's birthday ;
when the rains were over, the red peppers began
to blaze in great scarlet patches on the house
tops ; when the rains were over, came the August
lilies. The Wons had masses of them every
where in their garden.
They belong to the moon, you know, and
stand all night offering incense at her altar. In
the morning they close their pure petals and
retire from the free gaze of the bold sun.
I believe nothing could be more beautiful than

2 1 2 The Rainy Season
those nights at The Firs when the moon and the
lilies were together. Below, lay the river more
lovely than ever, enchanted by her goddess into
a sheet of silver; beyond, were the hills and
mountains, here in soft but exquisite radiance,
there in mysterious shadows. Around the house
lay the garden, hushed, perfumed, its beauty en
hanced by the soft light that revealed only what
was charming and left in kind obscurity, all that
was defacing and unlovely. And the lilies, oh,
the lilies ! shining in so dazzling a whiteness, that
in contrast with the gloom, they were fairly
radiant, " as no fuller on earth can white them."
We never could look long, without turning
away a moment to catch our breath.
" And to think He made it all to please us ! "
"If this, so defaced by aeons of sin, and the
curse of evil, is so glorious, what will be the
' place' He has gone to prepare ? "
" Sure we must be immortal to bear more
beauty than this," were the thoughts that welled
up in our minds. The place seemed a lofty
sanctuary, and what was fitting but to praise and
adore the Almighty Creator ?
Sometimes, tempted by the children, they
would leave the lilies and the garden, and take a
Korean sailboat up the river on these glorious
nights ; everybody went, the very littlest were not
refused, and a basket of refreshments in some
form was the necessary concomitant, of course, gay

Saying Good-Bye 213
songs floated out on the air, and everybody voted
it a fine time. Yet when they were safely back
on the quiet veranda, under the quiet sky, with
the incense breathing lilies around them, they
looked at each other in wonder and said, " Why
did we go away, how could we do it?" No
one could answer, the problem remained un
solved. • When the bright, dry, sweet September days
were fully on, they knew they must say good
bye to the river, and go back to the dirty city,
and clean house in preparation for the annual
meeting of the mission. O how hard it was to
say good-bye. Harry often longed to lie down
on dear mother earth's bosom and kiss his fare
wells. He was (no wonder) born sentimental,
and never could love moderately, calmly and
sedately. The last fond adieu had to be said to every
thing, last of all down among the rocks at the
river, rapt in the glow, the purple veil, the still
ness, all that were God's signals and His voices,
and then back to a stern fight with sin, deceit,
disease and the devil, for ten long, strenuous
months. They had all played and rested quite
long enough, and sad though their farewells to
the river, eagerly they returned to the work,
and dear as the joys that nature's beauty brings,
there are dearer and higher, far nobler and more
inspiring, in opening the light of truth into the

214

The Rainy Season

dark, sad places. At least the elders thought so ;
but as for Harry he regretted the river all winter,
till it was time to begin to anticipate it for next
summer.

X
BOY HUSBANDS
SOON after they returned to the city after that
first summer, there was great excitement and
commotion in the poor little country called
Morning Calm.
Terrible things happened. The queen was
killed, and all her friends fled away, frightened,
as well they might be, except the king, who was
kept a prisoner by the party in power ; for in
Korean politics, to hold the king is something
like holding the queen in a game of chess, only
even more important. There was much going
back and forth to the palace of foreign ministers,
and of missionaries, who were sometimes asked
to interpret, and sometimes to watch with His
Majesty at night, for he was in the power of
cruel and treacherous men, and knew not what
might be done. So the Captain, who was just
as ready and glad to help a king, as any one
else, in any humble way in his power, was go
ing or coming in one or other of these capac
ities pretty often.
There were insurrections and riots, and upris
ings in the country, for nobody liked the bad
government, and unruly people took advantage
215

216 Boy Husbands
of it all, to make things as bad as possible every
where. By and by, after matters had gone on
from bad to worse for many months, the king
escaped to the Russian Legation, and then for a
little while there was still more trouble, for old
scores had to be paid, and the angry people
wanted at once to wreak vengeance on the bad
rulers, and proclaim their loyalty to the king.
So there were more furious mobs, more trials
and executions, more runnings away of people
who belonged to the wrong party. It was a
pitiful condition of things. More pitiful still was
the state of the poor country folks, who were op
pressed and robbed by every party, and insur
rectionists too, with no peace or safety in this
world, or hope in the world to come. But
through all the turmoil, the Wons were perfectly
safe under the protection of God who had further
use for them. The folds of dear Old Glory
waved majestically above them, and had a good
deal to do with their safety too, in a secondary
way. I can assure you that American boys in
the far East realize very fully what it means to
be an American, in very many ways, and every
day of their lives, as boys who never have left
home cannot possibly do. First of all they see
the contrast between their own country and these
eastern ones, in freedom, wise laws, just, strong
government, comfort and luxuries of life, protec
tion from diseases which are exceptional in

An Expatriated Boy 217
America, are here great epidemics, slaying their
thousands, and the blessings of inspiring re
ligion and enlightening education, compared
with the ignorance and hopelessness of the
East. Then they realize as at home they never can,
the power and dignity of that government whose
long arm reaches round the world and guards
its children, that government which other nations
fear, admire and respect.
And do you think they don't love her because
they were not born on her soil ? Better not tell
them so. Of the soil, one with every child born
there of American parents, they love it, I verily
believe, more fondly, more proudly, with a more
enlightened mind as to wherefore, and with more
wherefore, than most boys at home.
If you could have seen how Harry adored his
flag, how he kept the Fourth of July, how he
pored over the history of his country, how, be
fore he was twelve years old, he had gone
through a primary United States school history
twice, and advanced one thrice, another by a
different author twice, Abbot's "Lives of the
Presidents" thrice, "The Blue Jackets of 1812 "
and " Boys of '76 " each at least three times, and
I know not what host of other historical stories ;
if you had seen his scrap-book full of Spanish
War notes and pictures, if you had questioned
him and found how perfectly he knew every

218 Boy Husbands
warship, cruiser, gunboat and what not in the
navy, past and present, and how well he was in
formed as to the feats of every great general and
admiral, you would have seen that an American
boy in the far East was no less a patriot for
that, and I can assure you that Harry's patriot
ism was only a sample of what hundreds of other
American boys, similarly situated, feel. Yet
nearly every stranger who meets these boys on
their own shores, when it is discovered they have
been born abroad, at once taunts them with the
slur, "Then you never can be president."
This is thoughtless, unkind and untrue. Not
that most of them aspire to that high honour,
but it is casting a slight on their nationality, and
the perfect character of their citizenship, and it is
untrue, because a special law provides for and
guards the rights and privileges of the sons of
American foreign ministers, missionaries and
others, who are residing for an indefinite time in
foreign lands.
Master Harry claimed seven Revolutionary
soldiers as direct ancestors, and counted back
among the New York Hollanders on one side,
and the New England Puritans on the other, to
the Mayflower and the first settlement of the
country, and so it caused a throb of indignation
at his youthful heart to have either his patriotism
or his citizenship impeached.
When state affairs had quieted, and the

The Boy and the Emperor 219
emperor was again in his own palace, and his
mind at ease, he used often to send for Harry's
papa, as a friend tried and trusted, and on one
or two occasions asked that the boy might be
brought also.
Once (Harry was not yet six please remember
in excuse) when the emperor, as he had now be
come, with great condescension rose to greet
the missionary, and stood a moment with him,
the thoughtless little youngster ran and climbed
into the throne ! His horrified father snatched
him off in great shame, but the emperor, who is
all kindness, gentleness and generosity towards
his friends, would not allow the naughty fellow
to yield the chair, but stooped down before him,
petting, comforting and chatting with him for
some moments. He was too young to realize
how much this meant to Koreans ; but as he
grew older he used to say, with a laugh, that
though he could never be president, according
to some folk, he at least had occupied a throne.
This behaviour, which was really only igno
rance and innocence, was more than equalled by
the nine year old boy of another American, who
on the occasion of being at the palace through
invitation, was asked his age by the crown
prince. Now as I have said before, the endings
of Korean verbs are all important, and not only
special endings must be used for royalty and
people far above one, but entirely different words.

220 Boy Husbands
For instance one would ask a small child or a
person greatly inferior, his age, by the words,
"met sal inya?" to one barely an equal we
would say, "nahi metchio?" and to one still
higher they would say, "Younsay Elmasio?"
But a child should never ask a prince his age at
all, nor would most Americans of mature years
presume so far. But when the crown prince
asked this boy his age, he replied with guileless
simplicity, "Nine. How old are you?" using
" met sal inya 1 "
A dead silence followed. When the boy told
his mother, she asked him all aghast what the
prince did. " O he just turned round and
walked away, and never told me," was the
reply. Little did he realize that it was due to Old
Glory in part, as a result of the kindness and
good feeling of the royal family for Americans,
for that boy's father in particular, and in part
their fondness, and forbearance towards all chil
dren, that the young man was not consumed on
the spot.
Harry was invited to the palace on many oc
casions, but never repeated such mortifying
pranks, learning, as he grew older, to prize
highly the condescension shown him and the
kind friendship of the emperor. Sometimes
they were invited to skate on the royal lotus
pond, and sometimes permitted to picnic in the

A

T ¦ • -
77/ : •

KOREAN THRONE.
On Account of Old Glory 221
beautiful royal park ; sometimes tableaus and
mimes, centuries old, were enacted for the bene
fit of one or other of these American children, at
royal audiences.
Harry, however, was far prouder of a military
salute bestowed on his mamma and himself than
of all the royal audiences. One day when they
were returning from a distant part of the town
in a sedan chair, they found that every avenue
leading into their street which was also that of
the new palace, was closed by close ranks of
royal guards, to the number of several hundreds.
His Majesty was expected forth in a few mo-
merits, special earth had been scattered along
the road, no profane foot must tread there, no
other chair or person must be permitted in the
way. But it was late, the king might delay long;
scarcely hoping to be heard, they begged to be
permitted to proceed, promising to hurry and
be out of the way before the royal party should
appear. Very graciously the officer on guard
consented, all on account of Old Glory, and the
coolies fairly ran along the road, between the
long lines of soldiers, all, officers and men, salut
ing in proper military fashion as they passed.
All this ceremony for them was, to Harry, the
most signal honour of his life. It was a proud
day for the martially inclined little American.
Although Harry had a very delightful little

222 Boy Husbands
company of American, Canadian and English
playfellows, he had his Korean friends, too, and
among the schoolboys was one whom in his early
years, before he could yet pronounce plainly, he
called his brozher (brother), and whom the rest
of us called " the little married man."
Though twelve years old, he was not taller
than most boys in America of seven or eight,
but his hair was put up in a tight knot on top of
his head, the short hairs all neatly bound in a
mangam. He had not then yet donned the black hat like
all married men, but a great wide, heavy straw
one, which shielded his face. He wore, too, a
coat of grass cloth, with a rope around his waist,
for little married man had lost his father, when
the cholera raged so terribly the previous sum
mer, and he was in mourning.
This boy's father had been a Christian, a man
of gentlemanly birth, a teacher and literary
helper of Harry's father and an assistant in
translating religious literature into Korean.
When the cholera struck him down so sud
denly, he left a widow, this one boy and a little
daughter. So now poor " married man " had become the
head of the family, in name, though I have a
conviction that his Amonni was the real man in
resourcefulness, energy and ability to manage,
and was so even before her husband's death.

Little "Married Man" 223
Many a Korean woman does that, however, and
they are all quite used to it.
When his helper died, Harry's papa promised
to be a father to the little man, so far as he
could, so he had placed him in a mission school,
and nearly every day he came to visit Harry.
The latter had learned only a very little Korean
and though they understood very little of each
other's words they got on finely and compre
hended each other's meaning quite well.
But what a difference there was between them.
What an amount of matters that were every-day
affairs to Harry, which married man never
dreamed of, and on the other hand, what an old
man, ages old, was the Korean compared with
the little American ; his head crammed full of all
sorts of queer and foolish superstitions and fables,
hundreds of Chinese characters, and knowledge
of matters far beyond his years. Both born in
Korea, but one in the sunlight, and constantly
growing, unfolding, reaching up more and more
in it, the other in a dark and musty place, con
fined, shut in, away from the soul's sweet light
and air, so that his eyes were blind and his nature
narrow, shallow and weak.
Some time before his father died he had been
married' with ceremonies which to Americans are
quite unique.
Of course weddings in Korea differ according
to the class and means of the parties as much as

224 ^oy Husbands
anywhere else, and some of the poorest and low
est just announce their decision to be husband
and wife, to their acquaintances in a general way,
without any ceremony, except that the husband's
family must likely pay a few bags of rice for the
girl. But Mr. Yi's family were well to do, with an
income of at least five hundred yen a year (for
Mrs. Yi supplemented her husband's salary), so
there was quite a wedding.
First of all, for some time before, the family
had been getting the feast ready, and friends and
neighbours came in to help, and had bread making
bees, and sewing bees. Loaves and loaves of
dock were made, enough to fill a small room, and
were locked up in waiting for the occasion.
Many pounds of vermicelli were manufactured
on the spot with the aid of an old clumsy look
ing machine, and chickens, eggs, nuts, fruit and
various fancy dishes arranged for. The bride
groom, of course, and all the family, too, were
provided with fine new clothes.
At the bride's house they had been busy for
weeks getting her trousseau ready. For the
wedding day there was a long red skirt made of
the soft thin native silk, and a yellow silk jacket.
A woman whose business it is to arrange for
weddings, a regular go-between, had settled the
contract between the two families, and all the
arrangements for the wedding. If people are

The Bridal Attire 225
too poor to have their own things, she rents them
the necessary ornaments, the bride's chair, the
man's pony and court dress, and everything, in
short, that is needed.
On this occasion ever and ever so many large,
showy, and to our minds, absurd hairpins and
girdle ornaments were worn. The bride's hair
was oiled till it shone, parted and combed back
as tightly as possible, and was shaved a little
around the forehead to make a perfectly regular
outline. Her eyebrows, too, were shaved to the
finest line possible, and her face covered thickly
with a white paste which, when dry, gave her a
corpse-like pallour ghastly to behold, which was
rather enhanced than otherwise, by the vermilion,
thickly daubed on her lips and also on each
cheek, in a spot about the size of a silver quarter.
It is bad form for the hands to be seen and they
were covered with a piece of white silk draped
over them as she held them clasped in front of
her. Either on the day of the wedding or one day
before, servants are usually sent to the bride's
future home with her trousseau. When the time
for the ceremony was at hand, the bridegroom
who had hired for the occasion a court dress and
hat (such as only high officials wear at royal
audiences), mounted a pony with a queer, high,
old-fashioned saddle, accompanied by two men
in livery, one either side to hold him on his

226 Boy Husbands
uncertain seat ; a mapo or groom went before
leading the pony, and another attendant followed
carrying a gigantic umbrella on a long pole, to
shade the hero from the too fervent admiration
of the sun. Still others ran behind, constantly
repeating the cry " keroot-cheeroo" which is to
signify to all that this is a very great man and
every one must respectfully step aside. He was
on his way to bring home his wife.
Upon his arrival, she entered a native carrying-
chair, the finest and best that could be hired or
borrowed, and over it was thrown a leopard
skin. The chair was of course taken to the house,
and she entered it unseen. The procession then
proceeded to her new home. First of all walked
a man carrying a live goose, all tied up with
ribbands to insure long life and wedded bliss,
then servants carrying boxes of clothing and
food. Very often there are women servants in
these processions with enormous masses of false
hair, and sometimes there are little flower girls
and boys carrying huge bouquets bigger than
themselves of home-made paper flowers. I can
not aver they were present at this wedding, how
ever. The bridegroom followed next and last of
all the chair with the bride.
When they arrived at home, the bride had to
be helped, almost lifted from it, partly because it
is absolutely essential to good form that she

The Wedding Ceremony 227
shall be quite as inanimate, and as nearly like a
dead woman as she looks, and partly because her
skirts are so extremely long all round, her hands
so hampered, and her eyes so tightly closed that
she is absolutely helpless. Two women, near
relatives, grasped her arms, and moved her
along, step by step, to the centre of the room.
Opposite stood the bridegroom with a friend.
The girl's inert little figure was slightly bent for
ward by her attendants, making a low obeisance
several times ; then the bridegroom returned the
compliment, a cup of wine was then placed to the
lips of each, first to the groom, then the bride.
She, however, tasted nothing but terror and
confusion, for this is an awful ordeal for a Korean
child-wife, who has been secluded closely for
years. The couple then bowed, touching their
foreheads to the ground before his parents, and
after before hers if they were present, though
quite often the bride's mother, at least, is not.
A couple of the little low Korean tables piled
high with Korean dainties were then brought in,
for the newly married pair.
After this ceremony is performed and the bride
has retired for a little, the rest of the company
are fed with all that nature will admit, and it is
miraculous what nature can do at times under
stress of circumstances.
There is no doubt that Koreans, like the rest
of us, consider this the great gala day, the

228 Boy Husbands
crowning occasion of a man or woman's life.
For him, from the putting up of the hair, dates
his life as a man among men. Old things are
put away, all things are become new. His name
is changed, he has assumed manly dignity and
responsibility. As for the girl, as she immediately after sub
sides into maid of all work, and is not supposed
to be seen or heard of outside the family again,
it is certainly the one occasion when she is of
importance and brought into notice. Like the
night blooming cereus, she blooms out in glory
only for a single day ; towards this all her pre
vious life has been tending, back to it in all her
future days will memory turn.
So no wonder that for once the boy is allowed
to wear palace robes and go like a prince for his
bride, and no wonder she is decked out in all
that can be had.
The little wife is not expected to speak at all.
It is a queer notion of these strange people, that
it is more modest, womanly, and altogether de
sirable that a woman should be silent. This
notion is carried so far, that it is really next to
impossible to induce a girl to answer or speak a
word in the presence of a stranger or superior.
Young brides sometimes never utter a word
for months after their marriage. What little
married man's wife would have thought, if she
could have been made to comprehend, which I

The Fate of Brides 229
doubt, what the new woman is, or if she could
have gone to America and attended a women's
rights convention, or if she had been informed
how some young women of the western world
comport themselves in public, I do not pretend
to guess.
For her part she was learning early to get ac
customed to her mother-in-law, and because she
began early, she would learn it well. She would
soon come to love her and be a real daughter
instead of a foreign factor in the home. And
there is no small advantage in all this, either.
Think of it, young American matron, no Korean
husband can tell his wife, with implied regret and
reproach, how his mother used to cook this or
that, for she knows it all, and his mother's ways
will be the wife's, so that to the end of his life he
shall eat the same sodden pies, heavy biscuit and
other indigestibles, exactly as he ate them when
a boy. This little wife, however, claims no rights ; she
is there as a busy little helper with her hands and
her needle, and when many years hence she may
be blessed some day with woman's chief and
crowning glory, a child of her own, she will step
up in her little world, and begin to be a person
of importance.
It is not all bad, this woman's life in Koiea,
though its abuses are many. It is hard for a
little girl to leave her mother's side, to be totally,

230 Boy Husbands
irremediably under the heavy hand of a mother-
in-law, yet many a western girl goes to boarding
school no older ; the mother-in-law is sometimes
severe and cruel, but not commonly ; the girl is
terribly shut in, but I wonder if that is worse than
the unshielded, unguided publicity of the lives of
many of our girls.
The ignorance, the narrowness, the supersti
tion alas are unmitigated and terrible.
"Where no vision is the people die," and to
the Korean girl wife there is no vision, no future,
no life above the animal, no hope in this world
for aught but what the animals share in common
with men, warmth, food, offspring, shelter. This
is where the yoke is hard and the burden heavy.
No inspiration, no vision, no God who loves and
pities them, who has stooped to share their bur
dens, who offers peace, rest and glory beyond.
For this the smooth young faces are early
seamed, coarsened, hardened and furrowed.
Little married man's wife, however, had no
notion of the weary road before her yet. She
was just a dear, pretty child, with a soft, sweet,
oval face, red lips, gentle, dark eyes, and a
smooth, clear, olive skin that any Asiatic would
call very pretty indeed. She was treated like a
daughter and sister, and soon came to feel she
was one. Sometimes, once in two or three
months, perhaps, she went home to visit her
mother, after dark, with her apron all over her

Bad News 231
face and her mother-in-law or an old woman
servant by her side. Harry's Amonni went to
see them all, and came home full of praises for
the two pretty litde girls. Poor Harry listened
sadly ; to him it was a. strange, sad dispensation
of Providence that he had no real brothers or
sisters or wives or anything, while others were so
well supplied. Some time after, when very sick,
he talked out in the delirium of fever, some of
the troubles that worried his little brain, and was
heard to say in pathetic accents, " My brozher
has a wisch (wife) and a shister, but I hazh no
one but myselch."
One winter when Harry wasn't quite seven
years old, came a terrible letter from America.
Everybody in the East knows what such letters
are. Agony and loss stare from every line.
The dearest are smitten, or have gone, and all so
far, far off beyond those thousands of intermi
nable miles, over which only bad news can travel
fast enough.
Mamma was sorely needed by those who had
a sacred claim upon her, and her heart was al
most bursting with an agony of desire to go to
them, " but of course it was impossible." Little
by little, as they thought and prayed and con
sulted with Christian friends, the impossibilities
began to disappear. She might go, but it must
be alone. Often it happens thus in people's
lives that both duty and desire pull apparently

232 Boy Husbands
equally hard in opposite directions. Those who
have experienced that conflict over some matter
of life and death like this one, only, can guess
how torn was the heart of Mrs. Won.
To be of any use, she must go quickly ; at
once. But at once she could not bring her mind
to such a parting, so she went on, blindly pre
paring, " in case I should go." " In case," trunks
were packed and locked, tickets to Chemulpo
bought, and household affairs settled for several
months' absence ; but Harry's Amonni had not
yet decided to go ; oh, no indeed. Her heart was
a great deal heavier than lead, so heavy she
could scarcely carry it round, what with the
weight of the letter, and the weight of leaving the
Captain and Harry, I don't see how she could
carry it at all. Heavier and heavier, each mo
ment the weight increased, and oh, how time
flew ! At last the coolies stood at the door, and
they all went down to Chemulpo " in case," she
should at length conclude to go. It was a wild-
eyed, haggard woman who walked into the
Chinese hotel at Chemulpo. " Why Missis Won 1
how old and sick you look," said the old steward
who knew her well. But she hadn't decided to
go yet, oh, no. At length they told her the
steamer was in the bay and would sail in the
morning; tickets must be bought. Oh, how
heavy, how fearfully heavy grew that sickening
weight, as she paced back and forth, trying to see

Separation 233
her duty, wondering whether it was not a warped
vision of duty to leave the husband and young
child for months in a country where so many
dangers threatened.
Pastor Won had mission business in Fusan,
and he and Harry were going there, anyway, so
they all sailed together from Chemulpo, " in
case " Mrs. Won should fully decide at Fusan to
go to America.
Alas, it only took thirty brief hours to reach
Fusan, and then ! Then she knew, as she had
known all along, that she was going to cross the
Pacific, and the North American continent, leav
ing her husband and little delicate child on the
other side. She stood and saw the little boat con
taining the two who were as her own soul put off
for shore, and it was like rending asunder soul
and body. It seemed monstrous and impossible
that she should be whirling away further and fur
ther, leaving a widening gulf of black waters, be
tween them and her, who had never been parted.
Many a gay mother, who thinks nothing of leav
ing her children, while she flits to Europe for a
pleasure trip, will smile at this tale of over
strained and exaggerated emotion, for a mere
separation of a few months. But Harry's
Amonni had only that one lamb, and living in
that far-off heathen land, perhaps one cause ; the
little family had ever been as one heart, one soul,
and seemed bound together in a peculiar way.

234 B°y Husbands
The dangers from terrible disease were many,
and, well, probably the principal reason was that
Mrs. Won was a very foolish woman, which I
have never denied.
Now as she strained to see through her tears,
she beheld the little fellow put his head on his
father's shoulder and sob ; she saw the father
stoop and whisper something, she guessed well
enough what, for up came the brave little head, a
laugh broke through the tears, and gaily rang out
the good-byes that would tremble, and furiously
waved the little handkerchief heavy with tears.
Mamma must not see him cry, it would make it
harder for her, and so as long as mamma could
see, the two smiling faces were looking back, and
handkerchiefs waving ; at last those two, and the
boat could be distinguished no more, just a
dreary waste of cold, dark, sobbing waters, and a
dreary, desolate promontory. Was that a hand
kerchief fluttering up there, or only a sea bird ?
Then the promontory, too, faded away in mist
and night — very dark night — and the cruel
steamer was hurrying her body along, far, far
from the shore that kept her heart.
Poor Harry burst into violent sobs when it was
no longer necessary to cheer mamma, and
though kind friends were very kind, and though
he had many happy hours in play with his little
friends, he suffered much. Often they would
find the little fellow hidden behind the door, or

A Part of the Price 235
under some table with its screening cover silently
crying with loneliness for mother.
The mail, to be sure, brought a rapid succes
sion of letters and little gifts, pictures of ships,
pasteboard soldiers, valentines, Easter cards, and
pressed flowers. All well enough, but not mother.
One day on the first of April, the children
brought him a letter which they said was from
her ; how his little heart leaped, but it was only a
cruel April fool. That was very bitter and be
sides his father was away off in the country, preach
ing. Harry had to have the measles too, of
course, and altogether it was a long, dark, dreary
time in the child's experience.
But after a while mother came back, and they
prayed they need never be parted like that in
this world again. But it is not an exceptional
experience with missionaries. Families must be
divided, and tender little ones must be torn from
the mother's arms, just a part of the- price.
What a host of things Harry's Amonni brought
back with her ! A great packing case, besides a
whole trunkful that grandparents, tender aunts,
cousins and friends had sent to comfort him.
Clothes, books, toys, everything they could think
of. But " a man's life consisteth not in the abun
dance of the things that he possessed!," and
Harry's joy was that they were all together once
more in the home.

XI
TO JAPAN AND CHINA
MANY people were very sick one year,
for new streets were being made in the city,
and old ones widened, the Koreans having
imbibed a spirit of " kaiwha," hundreds of
native houses were pulled down, the accu
mulations of centuries of disease and filth were
turned over, and stirred up, and the atmosphere
was full of poisonous dust, so that people who
didn't have a fever of some kind were not in
the fashion.
The Captain and little son were both in it very
deep. That was how it happened that the mis
sion voted the Wons should take a trip to Japan
or China, and find some place where they could
quickly gain the strength for the work that was
so pressing.
They started with a party of missionaries re
turning from the annual meeting in Seoul to
their homes in southern Korea, or to Inchun to
take the steamer to the North.
The little boat on its way down the river was
packed, I can tell you. The more the merrier,
236

A Mismanaged Hotel 237
they say, but especially so when it is a crowd of
missionaries, than whom a merrier lot of people
it would be hard to find, people who do not
know them to the contrary notwithstanding.
They are blue ? Yes, of course, but that is a
heavenly colour, you know, and haven't you
seen laughing skies? If not I'm afraid it is
because you cannot see.
At Inchun they were all huddled together in
one wretched hotel, kept well — not by West
erners. It was the second best, where the best,
which was full, was not by any means all that
could be desired. The manager (perhaps better
say keeper) was apparently so demoralized at
having such an unheard-of number of guests,
and all calling for fires, baths, drinking water,
tea, towels, soap or something equally unheard
of and absurd at once, that he lost his wits com
pletely and never hunted them up again. Hours
after supper time no signs of supper being forth
coming for the hungry crowd, and the children
who were getting momently sleepier as well as
more hungry, being in a state of mind which
boded no good to any one, two of the mission
aries invaded the dirty kitchen and took charge.
Supper, after a fashion, was the result. To be
sure there were not enough knives and forks,
and a table boy was caught washing some in a
bucket of muddy mop water in the hall, but these
were mere incidentals, and next morning saw

238 To Japan and China
our friends bidding a glad farewell to the hotel,
and starting on their various routes for Pyeng
Yang, Fusan, Taiku and Japan. Arriving at
Nagasaki, on making inquiries of friends there,
they learned that at a comparatively short dis
tance across the bay, there was a seashore vil
lage called Obama, and that in the mountains
above, was a famous group of sulphur springs,
the favourite resort of many foreigners from both
Japan and China, as well as of the native Japa
nese. Hither the party determined to go, breathe
the bracing mountain air, and try the famous
waters. The first stage of their journey was in
jinrikishas, from Nagasaki over the hills, and
through a mountain pass to a little fishing vil
lage called Moki, where the steamer was to be
had which was to take them across the bay.
How I wish all my readers could see and
enjoy all that our people saw in that ride. To
attempt to describe it all would be folly, and yet
what a vision ! First of all, with a great rattling
over the stony thoroughfares of the city, past
gay little shops, full of the most tempting things,
in carved ivory, tortoise shell, silk embroideries,
porcelain, crepes, rugs, etc., gay little children in
the most charming colours, picturesque coolies,
carrying flowers, vegetables, or other wares, on
and on, till the road begins to ascend, when one
hires a pusher, or gets out and walks. Up, up
it winds, the hills all around cultivated to the

A Road in Japan 239
very top, while the mountains lay smiling in
melting tints of blue. At the point where de
scent begins, one looks down on the one side
upon the busy city, with its harbour full of the
shipping of the world passing through the straits
of Shiminisaki to the beautiful Inland Sea, and
on the other upon as lovely a valley as the eye
would care to rest upon.
The road winds down through bamboo groves,
into the heart of the beautiful hills, overtopped
by more beautiful mountains which stood re
splendent in the glorious October sunshine and
the soft misty atmosphere. A charming brook
crosses the road continually, and is bordered
with a wealth of ferns, bewitching to a lover of
plants. Something over two hours' ride, drawn
by the fleet-footed Japanese brought them to the
rather dirty little village of Mokee where they
found that they must spend the night in a native
inn. Though there were several in the place,
there was not much to choose from ; all were in
this case equally uninviting. The thick mats
which in private homes do so nicely for beds,
were brought in, but in a hotel, especially an
Eastern one, the fastidious eye them with painful
suspicion. However, our weary travellers had
nothing for it but to spread their rugs and pil
lows, eschewing the much padded covers brought
by the hotel people, and lie down. Disrobing
was out of the question with Mrs. Won, who had

240 To Japan and China
prejudices ; for every now and then some male
or female servant came walking in through the
too conveniently sliding doors, which would
neither lock nor latch. It would not be of the
least use piling any number of articles of furni
ture if you had them (which you don't) against
such doors, which slide along with such untrust
worthy ease. In fact, at any moment your wall
may come apart anywhere, and the unknown
and undesired walk into your room.
Pastor Won liked to tell of his first visit to
Japan on his way to Korea, when quite alone,
with all his small worldly wealth he was forced to
sleep one night in such an inn. With his wallet
under his head, he tried to compose himself to
sleep, wondering if those heathen innkeepers
were to be trusted, and not reassured by the
fact that without his hearing a sound, a servant
entered the room and put out the light. But
after a little as he lay there in some disquiet, he
heard from the room above him the familiar
strains of dear old " Rock of Ages," and then
the accents of prayer, upon which he smiled and
fell asleep.
On the present occasion, Harry's mother was
not afraid of robbers or cutthroats, but she dis
liked guests after she had retired, and she
realized that she might expect them, both hu
man and otherwise. The three took turns guard
ing the doors for each other while ablutions were

Japanese Bedrooms 241
going on, but after that it was hopeless. Just
as Mrs. Won began to believe she could put
aside her doubts and fears, and assume the phleg
matic indifference which drowsiness kindly be
stows as a nightcap, a great water beetle, two
inches long, approached her with touching con
fidence that she would protect and warm him.
His mistake was manifest. Mrs. Won scrambled
to her feet with more agility than one would
have thought possible in a rheumatic ; everybody
jumped, a hunt was instituted, uselessly, of
course, and then madam announced her decision
of sitting up in a camp chair all night. To think
of lying down with the risk of having those
creatures crawl into one's ears or mouth was too
harrowing. She begged the Captain and Harry
to sit up, too, but to no effect. Too sleepy to care
what should crawl whither, her two companions
were soon unconscious.
As for her, poor, weary creature, she watched,
but saw nothing, though she watched long. She
knew, too, quite well, that it only meant the wily
enemy were only biding their time until she
should be again at their mercy. How fervently
under such harrowing circumstances a woman,
brought up in the midst of Anglo-Saxon purity
and comfort, longs for a proper bedroom and a
proper bed, words are totally inadequate to ex
press. At length weariness of the flesh could
hold out no longer. Hands and feet went to

242 To Japan and China
sleep whether or no. A camp chair does not
offer facilities for repose, when one's back aches,
and there is no place for the too heavy head ; in
a word, even nerves, of which Mrs. Won pos
sessed too plentiful a share, succumbed, and she
again sought the floor, and again was no sooner
landed, than forth came the enemy. But too
late to torment her much. A feeble resistance
was made, it is true, but not long.
Nature, compelling and kind, assumed her un
disputed sway, and before one o'clock even she
was sound asleep, in spite of alarms.
The next day they found themselves after a
short sail in the little port of Obama. This is
quite a favourite sea bathing place with the na
tives, but their method of enjoying it must needs
remain undescribed. Civilization has still much
to be accomplished in Japan. As visiting the
beach was out of the question, they decided not
to linger here, but made arrangements to ascend
to the sulphur baths at once.
In order to go up the mountain, one must ride
in tiny native carrying chairs proportioned to ac
commodate the small and light Japanese. They
are really not much more than a tray, with a cover
supported on four poles, and so low that only a
very small European woman can sit within, with
out stooping. When Mr. Won came to try one,
he found that very extensive folding of various
members was absolutely essential. These so-

The Land of Pictures 243
called chairs are slung slantwise across the
shoulders of two men, so that the pole which
rests on the first bearer's right shoulder, lies on
the left one of the man who walks behind. This
gives the rider a charming view of the scenery
back and forth, and on both sides. It was im
mensely well worth seeing. Japanese foliage is
redundant. An endless variety of beautiful trees,
bushes and ferns adorned the hillsides as far as
eye could reach. Lovely valleys lay in tempting
beauty below, magnificent mountains rose in-lofty
grandeur above, words fail, vocabularies become
exhausted, the picture defies description. The
Captain soon spurned the Konga, which he
would never have attempted had he been in
health, and walked until exhaustion made a re
sort to the little cage absolutely necessary.
Six or seven hours' climbing brought them at
length to the hot springs of Unzen. The moun
tain which was not probably more than two
thousand feet high was covered with beautiful
woods, but at its level, about eight or ten acres
in extent, where three or four hotels stood within
a stone's throw of each other, very little green
was to be seen. The ground was whitened
with various salts deposited by the water, and
the air almost suffocating with the fumes of
sulphur. Owing to the fact that the tourist season was
over, the party had the pick of the three or four

244 To Japan and China
nearly empty hotels, and were soon accommo
dated with a comfortable room, but decided
almost from the first glance at the environs that
it would never do to stay there. The house was
surrounded with pools of boiling water, bubbling
up continually from the ground, everywhere
warning signs were posted to visitors not to
venture here, or there, without a guide. Steam
issued from crevices almost anywhere, the earth
in the whole vicinity was hot and gave a hollow
sound when trodden upon, and wherever one
poked in an umbrella or stick at once issued a
fierce burst of sulphurous steam, and a pool of
boiling water. With the least inadvertence one
was liable at any misstep to plunge a foot ankle
deep into boiling water. How could children be
allowed to venture beyond the door sill into such
surroundings ? It looked desolate and evil, as if
it might be the very entrance to the abode of lost
souls, and wicked spirits.
Taking a little reconnoitring expedition, they
found this state of things existed over quite a
large extent of ground. They were amused and
interested to find that the natives in the vicinity
had utilized the hot earth by sinking large jars
close at their doors, which they filled with pure
water, and thus kept themselves supplied with
that necessity at boiling point day and night.
They also saw small bowls of food well covered,
partly sunk in the hot ground, in process of

Hot Springs 245
cooking for a labourer's noon meal. It was won
derful, curious, but grewsome and horrible. That
night in the wee, small hours, they were awak
ened by a low threatening rumble as of thunder
which grew louder and terrifying, while the earth,
the house and the Americans in their beds, were
shaken, not by the rocking of the ordinary earth
quake, but with an up and down pepper-box
motion, as though the source of convulsion was
directly underneath.
Mrs. Won piously vowed that if she lived till
morning she would flee that evil place ; so next
day, on a tour of discovery, they found a very
pleasant hotel about two miles away from the
main springs, with a lovely view of woods,
mountains and sea, and a safe place for children
to play. To be sure there were hot springs near
it, too, but smaller, out of sight, and not menac
ing the safety of little ones. Here they moved
bag and baggage at once. There was not only
a fine large garden, but a beautiful artificial pond
such as Japanese and children love, with an island
in the centre, dwarf trees and little bridges, and
full of gold fish, some of them nearly a yard long,
with the most wonderfully beautiful fins and tails.
Not far away was a dell where a brook leaped
down the mountain-side over great boulders,
rested a little in a lovely glassy pool shaded by
magnificent trees, and then fell sparkling on its
downward course to the valley and the sea.

246 To Japan and China
This pool was great sport. Here toy navies
could ride at anchor, here dams were built, here
children could splash about barefooted in the
water to their hearts' content, or give free vent to
the imprisoned monkey within, in climbing about
over the rocks at the risk of their necks, not to
mention their garments. For the rest there were
the ferns that nestled lovingly in every crack and
corner among the stones, the graceful vines and
the ever changing beauty of scenery. But for
all the beauty, nobody seemed to gain any
strength. Mamma Won's rheumatism grew
daily worse, and so they decided to try the
merits of a sea trip, returning to Korea via
Shanghai and Cheefoo, not on the rule that the
longest way round is the shortest way home, but
believing that the longest way round would bring
them home the fittest for work. So back they
went, down the mountain, Harry murmuring
much at not being allowed to box up the pool
and take it along, only carrying away pleasant
memories, a strong odour of sulphur, a few min
eral specimens and photos. At Nagasaki they
took one of the Japanese steamers bound for
Shanghai, and prepared for about thirty-six
hours of misery. The Yellow Sea is unpleasantly
notorious among travellers in the East, as the
most disagreeable body of water one ever is
compelled to become acquainted with. Here
typhoons play their wildest and most terrible

A Rough Voyage 247
antics, here are fogs, rocks, drifting currents,
high tides, and those choppy cross seas which
in a way all their own, toss up a steamer
and its passengers with a peculiarly evil dex
terity, almost invariably successfully sending
everybody to bed in the most awful throes of
violent seasickness. Proud and vain mortals
who boasted of crossing the Pacific or Atlantic
without a qualm, have succumbed on the trip
from Nagasaki to Fusan or Chemulpo. The
crossing from Shanghai to either of these ports
has an even more undesirable reputation.
Whether its yellow character has anything to
do with this is not certain, but I am inclined to
think it may. So our party, big and little, re
signed themselves to misery, as I said, but like
most earthly trials, it didn't last forever, and they
found themselves in Shanghai not much the
worse, hoping and believing as Mrs. Won always
insisted on doing, that they were in some way
much the better for the trial, either spiritually or
physically, perhaps both, since every difficulty
patiently and meekly endured, must brace and
strengthen the character, as the wild tempests of
winter strengthen the fibre of the tall trees that
are to serve in carrying the King's messengers
from continent to continent.
Shanghai ! What a metropolis, what a Vanity
Fair, what a collection of all that is desirable in
material things, what gaiety, what a breath of

248 To Japan and China
Europe to people just emerged from the depths
of Korea.
But arriving there fresh from San Francisco, or
London or New York, what a pitiful travesty of
a town, what an inextricable mixture of all the
races on the globe, what unsatisfactory imitations
of proper shops, what poor streets, how shut in,
how drearily Chinese, Eastern and heathen, with
just a sufficient varnish of the European to re
move the charm of the strange and the foreign.
Yet in some things Shanghai is always re
markable, unique and excellent. She is perhaps
the most cosmopolitan city in the world, and
.with a great native population, and town, purely
Chinese, in all its filth, misery, darkness and
degradation, it has a foreign concession, which
is a little republic in itself with its own laws and
officials, and which, for good order and cleanli
ness, might well be imitated by Western cities.
As for those tall, magnificent Sikh policemen,
Harry and Mrs. Won were simply fascinated.
They all wear such charmingly picturesque
turbans and sashes of gorgeous Eastern colours,
and stand as unmoved as stone statues, in the
midst of the awful crushing, jamming, confusion
and hurly-burly of Shanghai thoroughfares.
To our benighted travellers from the back
woods of Korea it was a wonderful and charming
city, full of delightful possibilities. First of all it
was like water to a desert-starved traveller to see

Shopping in Shanghai 249
so many Europeans and Americans. Then the
shops, what a chance to re-stock in all the thou
sand and one little things housekeepers in the
East unexpectedly run short of and cannot get
there. It is such a comfort to be able to pick
out shoes and stockings and hats and gloves for
oneself. They soon found the foreign shops were
not for them, where freight, duty, great shop
rents, and clerk hire, made the prices of very or
dinary articles, especially expressed in silver dol
lars, or yen, appalling. One experience was
enough for sister Won. She asked the price of
a small pressed glass ice jar, which she felt it
would be almost an affliction to see on her table,
intending to crucify the flesh by purchasing it,
instead of a nice one. Supposing the price
would not be more than twenty-five cents, she
was aghast to be placidly informed that she
might have it for nine dollars ! She fled the
spot as quickly as her fainting members would
transport her, and sought the native stores.
Here were real bargains, and here (remember
she had not shopped for years) she hung de
lighted over the counters for hours. You must
know that when Pastor Won reached Shanghai,
his first visit was paid to the bank, where he un
derstood that he had a small balance to his ac
count, fully realizing that he would need it all
now if ever. To his delight and surprise he was
informed that his balance amounted to several

250 To Japan and China
hundred yen more than he had expected, and he
took the liberty to meekly suggest that he feared
there was some mistake. The haughty clerk was
astounded at such effrontery, and in concise,
frigid and overwhelming tones gave the Captain
to understand that the bank made no mistakes.
He, of course, while humiliated, was nevertheless
not ill pleased to find that he had been so far in
the wrong, on the right side. The matter was
of some years standing ; he had kept a balance
there for convenience in trading in Shanghai;
there had been some oversight, but now, they
would do the town with an easy conscience.
They declared, when they saw real carriages,
landaus and victorias (a sight which had not
gladdened their eyes for years), with a degree of
extravagance and folly incomprehensible in mis
sionaries, that they meant to have a ride in a
carriage behind a pair of horses if it took the last
dollar they ever had. A hack much the worse
for wear, drawn by bony, unhappy looking
horses, and driven by a very evil looking China
man, was speedily brought to the door. The
one idea of these drivers seems to be that of get
ting to and from one point to another, at the
greatest possible speed, and they doubtless keep
a time record somewhere, and gamble on the
result. The Wons had noticed this, and so had
asked an American resident to teach them the
Chinese words meaning "drive slowly." These

Drive Slowly 251
they repeated to themselves a great number of
times, so as to be able to check the headlong
speed of their Jehus. Forth then they started,
into the narrow thoroughfares, most of which
have no sidewalks, crowded past description
with pedestrians very young, and very old, with
wheelbarrows, jinrikishas, equestrians, bicycles,
carriages and hacks like their own. In a moment
the driver, leaning forward, was lashing the un
happy horses, who were plunging frantically for
ward into the mass of humanity. Mrs. Won's
eyes dilated with horror; she grasped the seat
with both hands and braced herself to be shortly
either a victim or a murderer. The Captain, in
stentorian tones, shouted over and over the cab
alistic words supposed to mean "go slowly," but
nothing came to pass. Either they were not
pronounced properly, or were totally unheeded.
Away they went, like a party of drunken sailors
on a holiday, careering through the town at an
indecent pace ; nothing had any effect on their
reckless driver, until in swinging round a corner,
the thing which Mrs. Won had all along feared
actually happened ; they upset a jinrikisha, and
tumbled out a highly respectable old Chinaman,
who only escaped being ground under their
wheels by some miracle. During the delay oc
casioned by this episode, the Captain possessed
himself of the driver's whip, and thenceforth they
proceeded at the rate of a funeral on its way to

252 To Japan and China
the cemetery. This was infinitely better, how
ever, and Mrs. Won now consented to relax, lean
back, and enjoy the ride. There is only one
possible suburb to which one can escape from
the city of Shanghai, and that is the Bubbling
Wells road.
Perhaps because they had heard so much about
it, perhaps because there are such a multitude
of beautiful places outside of Seoul, the Wons
were greatly disappointed in this drive. That
most interesting in connection with it to them,
was the number of elegantly appointed convey
ances, and elegantly dressed ladies whom they
met taking their daily airing here. Certainly the
Shanghai world, native and foreign, were abroad
on that day.
This drive was their only experiment in the
livery stable line, but they felt it would last for a
long time. Far more than the drive, which we
have seen was not unmixed bliss, even more than
the shops and the people, the missionaries en
joyed the pretty park facing the harbour, and es
pecially at six o'clock when a real foreign band
played real music, when the fountains were going,
and when, best of all, the place was crowded with
lovely foreign children. What a joy it was to
their hungry eyes and hearts to see so many lit
tle ones. White, Caucasians, mostly English
and American, too, though there were German,
French, Portuguese, Italians, and I suppose

Jinrikisha Riding 253
specimens of nearly every nationality in Europe.
" And the streets of the city shall be full of chil
dren playing in the streets of the city." It seems
to me that it is one of the most delightful and
bewitching sidelights of description the Bible
throws on that city that is to be.
Harry was nearly beside himself with delight ;
he had never seen so many children in his life be
fore, and the park, the children, the music, the
fountains, the flowers and the games were a sort
of heaven to him.
Shanghai gives one the impression of an im
mensely busy place ; it is quite American in its
rush and bustle, everybody seems in a tearing
hurry, and one catches the infection immedi
ately. Distances being great, they had to patronize
the jinrikishas continually to their great regret,
for the coolies who pull them have become like
the cab drivers, possessed with the spirit of Jehu,
and nothing suffices to check their terrible head
long speed. Accidents of the most serious char
acter are of daily occurrence as might well be in
ferred at once, by any one viewing the crowds of
vehicles and people rushing madly in every di
rection. Harry's mamma always sat bolt upright,
her teeth clenched, her hands convulsively grasp
ing the sides of her perambulator, heart palpitat
ing somewhere about the rate of one hundred
and thirty to the minute, and in constant expecta-

254 T° JaPan and China
tion of instant death or mutilation. Though she
escaped any accident, one of her friends was not
so fortunate ; and a few days later, as they swung
round a corner at automobile speed, she was
flung to the ground with her baby in her arms.
Providentially the night was cold, they were
both bundled and wrapped, and so got off with a
few sprains and bruises. The 'rikisha man dis
appeared, well knowing he was liable to punish
ment. All these 'rikisha coolies are obliged to
buy licenses ; each vehicle is numbered, and fare
is regulated by law, the amount to be paid an
hour being plainly printed in each carriage, so
that there is really less difficulty in dealing with
these men here than anywhere else. Another
much used conveyance in Shanghai, both for
carrying goods and people, is the wheelbarrow.
This has often been described, and I need only
say, it is the most cumbrous, unwieldy, ugly, in
convenient and generally objectionable thing in
the way of a vehicle that in the writer's opinion
was ever invented, motor cars (in regard to speed
its exact opposite) only excepted. But its looks
and unpleasant way of blocking the road is noth
ing to the awful sounds which emanate there
from, to which the squealing of several stuck pigs
is blandest music in comparison. Any sound
more grating, rasping, cruelly agonizing to the
whole nervous system the writer has never heard ;
the very memory of it is torture, and the fact that

Going to Church 255
the Chinese can calmly endure this, even riding
for miles in these machines, proves, without a
doubt, the theory that they are less sensitive to
impressions of pain than Caucasians.
Mrs. Won, though a good Presbyterian by in
heritance and conviction, often found a peculiar
delight in the English Church, so here after at
tending the union service of her own and other
denominations in the morning, the Captain and
she visited the English Church in the evening.
She liked the beauty and order, the grand old
service when well read ; she liked to kneel and
stand in outward token of reverence and devo
tion, Puritan though she was, and she liked the
music. But here was an unusually fine pipe
organ, and an organist who knew how to use it,
and who had a soul for worship and for spiritual
things as well as the gift of a musician, and it
seemed to the woman who had been shut away
there so long, where no such heavenly ministra
tions were ever known, that her soul rose on the
wings of that music, and floated up in a rap
ture to the City, and was bathed in the harmonies
and blessedness of heaven.
But this was only too brief, and soon it was all
over, and yet the sweet memory and joy of it
lingered and she hoped perhaps in some way she
might be a better, nobler woman for it, as she
knew she was a deeply grateful one. And that
. organist who sat up there on his bench and

256 To Japan and China
served God with his gift will never know till
time is past what a blessing he conferred upon a
poor thirsty soul, in the ordinary course of duty
done joyfully as well as faithfully.
Of course, while in Shanghai, they visited the
missionaries, heard the fascinating tale of their
work, saw their fine schools, churches and hos
pitals, yes, and held converse with some of those
very men and women and little children who
were soon after to swell the noble army of
martyrs. But those who visit such a work as
that, in so necessarily hurried a way, cannot
speak of it in detail with accuracy and justice,
aside from the fact that a suitable report of mis
sion work in Shanghai would in itself be enough
to fill a large book. So I shall simply content
myself with saying that they gladly learned useful
lessons at the feet of these consecrated workers,
and came away with new inspiration and encour
agement. They had not come to Shanghai, however, in
tending to make any stay longer than was neces
sary to wait for a steamer going to Cheefoo and
Korea, so all too soon Mrs. Won and Harry
thought, and not a moment too soon thought
the man with the full account book and nearly
empty purse, they sailed for Cheefoo with its
fine bracing air and magnificent beach.
At the hotel in Cheefoo our young American
caused considerable amusement by his table talk •

Boy Statesmen 257
on politics and matters of world interest. On
coming into the breakfast room Harry would
ask his father, who was perhaps reading some
Shanghai paper, "What are the powers doing
now, papa?" with the air of a legation attache
at least.
One morning he and another small boy dis
cussed with much acerbity the action of Germany
in regard to the Greeks and the Turkish war,
Harry ending up with the remark, " If we only
decide to go into this matter, we could show
them what, couldn't we, Willie" (meaning, of
course, England and America). The German
consul who happened to be sitting at the next
table was of course greatly entertained at the
pomposity of the young American Eagle.
As the party were obliged to wait here at
least a week for their steamer to Korea, it was
decided to take a short trip inland to Tung
Chow, in order to see the famous schools of
the mission there. The Cheefoo missionaries
gladly offered to help them make arrangements,
and this was the more feasible, as a missionary
from that place was there in Cheefoo, for the
purpose of conducting a young couple just from
America to their appointed station. There were
usually only two ways to reach Tung Chow, one
by water (and no boats were now running), and
one by a schenza or mule litter.
The schenza is not a flowery bed of ease. It

258 To Japan and China
is carried by two mules, one in front and one
behind, on whose yokes its frame merely rests,
and remains by virtue of skillful balancing and
weight. In its lower part, made of ropes well
woven together, and bound to the frame, are
deposited one's baggage ; over these are rugs,
blankets, pillows and comforters, and on them
sits the victim, overshadowed by a canvas cover,
stretched over hoops, looking not unlike a prairie
colonizer's wagon. But the traveller must be
ware how he or she sits, and avoid putting too
much weight above the centre of gravity, or too
much on either side of it, or there will be sudden
and unexpected calamity. Usually only one per
son rides in these litters, though sometimes a
small American woman with a baby, and even a
Chinese nurse, well adjusted and much experi
enced, have managed it successfully together.
But the missionaries tell a sad tale of a very fat
couple, recently married, who insisted, in spite of
the protests of the experienced, in riding together
in one of these conveyances, and how even be
fore it left the compound, it yielded to the laws
of gravity, and relentlessly rolled off the mules
and dumped the portly couple on the ground.
The motions of the schenza are said by the
practiced to be three; one is the side to side
rocking of the cradle, one forward and back like
the fan, and one the up and down of the pepper
box.

Schenza Riding 259
The Cheefoo friends said they didn't believe
Mrs. Won, who, you will have seen by this time,
was not strong, and was moreover lame, could
stand this combination of joltings for twenty-four
hours of travel.
But she was very anxious to go, and the Cap
tain, as usual, found a way. Has any one ever
gone there in a sedan chair ? was his first ques
tion. " No," was the reply, in all the thirty years
work that has been carried on, no woman, how
ever delicate, has ever gone except in a schenza
or by steamer. It was doubtful, they said, if
coolies could be hired to go so far.
But the Captain believed in trying, and suc
cessfully contracted, at a very moderate rate, with
four chair coolies to carry the wife to Tung Chow,
while Harry and he and the other lady of the
party had a couple of schenzas and a donkey.
So Mrs. Won was the pioneer of sedan-chair
travel from Cheefoo to Tung Chow. The young
bride, Mrs. Cole, found the schenza very weary
ing, and was glad to accept an exchange for a
few hours with Harry's mother, who therefore
had a fair trial of this far-famed, and in China
much-used conveyance.
Harry, whose soft little joints had no pain in
them, and who was as elastic as a rubber ball,
quite enjoyed the jolting. I suppose it reminded
him of his baby days when he had been jumped,
trotted, rocked and generally shaken up by his

260 To Japan and China
innumerable nurse maids of various nations, who
each had her own special scheme of exercise and
unrest for infants ; at any rate he professed to
enjoy it, but with his Amonni it was very dif
ferent. Besides stiff joints, and a head that
jumped at any excuse to ache, she possessed,
as I have said before, an uncommonly irascible
set of nerves, which, like a skittish horse with
his ears always pricked up, were continually on
the lookout for causes of alarm, and ready to
shy at the first hint of anything of the sort. I'm
rather ashamed of Harry's Amonni as I have
stated before ; she was far from my ideal, but yet
this must be said, in her honest defense, I don't
think she ever shrank from any real or threatened
danger which she knew that for any good reason
it was right for her to meet. In fact I know that
more than once she walked calmly into very real
danger without the quiver of a nerve. Still, she
would scream when a June bug flew in her face,
and was extremely silly in all such little things.
So in the schenza, the bumping wasn't what
troubled her most, but first of all she realized
that any little aberration on the part of either of
the mules, as, one going forward and the other
stopping, would land her on the ground. She
next found that she had no way whatever of con
trolling the animals, neither whip nor rein, and
the sternest adjurations or the tenderest coaxings
had no effect whatever on their stony hearts.

Mules Will be Mules 261
She next discovered that it was not only impos
sible for her to get out of the contrivance, unless
the beasts were stopped and made to kneel down,
but also that she had no possible means of look
ing out at the side or back, without endangering
a tip-up of the whole affair, nor could she make
anybody hear. About this time, the road lead
ing along a rather high, rocky bluff, with broken
edges, where large blocks of earth and stone had
fallen away, the mules with pure malice afore
thought, deliberately and with awful slowness,
began walking as close to the ragged edge as
was possible, no doubt in serious contemplation
of suicide. Life isn't very dear to a schenza
mule, and he'd enjoy dying like Sampson, if he
could kill the Philistines at the same time. There
is always a schenza driver, a stolid Chinaman
with a long whip and a face of wood, who is
supposed to be in charge, to guide, direct, ex
hort and rebuke the mules, and make himself as
useful to the "foreign devil" who employs him
as consistent with his, the driver's, dignity,
pleasure and convenience. But on this occa
sion, his pleasure and convenience led him to
linger a quarter of a mile to the rear, confabbing
with another schenza man, and so, when Harry's
Amonni lifted up her voice, and screamed for
somebody to come and save her life, not only
did all the sound waves flow foward instead of
back from that speaking tube of a conveyance,

262 To Japan and China
but the man was so far away that he couldn't
hear, even if he wanted to, which, of course, he
didn't, and Pastor Won and the others who were
walking with Harry, had dropped far behind
and were deep in the discussion of mission prob
lems. So there was no help for it; Mrs. Won
found there was nothing but to trust the Lord, for
I'm afraid that like a good many others she only
fell back in His arms when there was nothing left
that she or anybody else could do. And yet she
was not all wrong even in this, for I suppose we
most of us believe that God " helps the man who
helps himself," and that He expects us to do our
best, always resting on the knowledge that He
is with and for us, and stands ready to help
where we fail.
Our danger is, that in the belief we must do
all we can, we sometimes are led to ignore God's
help, and to forget that where we seemed to suc
ceed, it was only because His strength lay back
of our weakness, and when we fail, to think only
in a despairing kind of way, that " there is noth
ing for it but to trust the Lord," as if in Him
were not the very first beginning of our hope
and surety. Of course nothing untoward hap
pened, except that Mrs. Won made such hasty
preparation for sudden death as the place and
circumstances would admit of, and tried to await
the end with becoming fortitude. When the
missionaries had finished one chapter of their

Desolate North China 263
discussion, they mounted their donkeys, caught
up with the schenza, and then there was an end
of trouble. No trouble ever lasted long, or
seemed unendurable to Harry's mother when
the Captain was at hand. The driver was
brought to time, and, by dextrously twisting
the hind mule's tail, the carriage was stopped,
though how it happened that the front animal
didn't go on, was never known. Both were then
made to lie down, and the tired woman was
helped out. She never repeated the experiment,
and from that day, the missionary itinerant
women of China have had her wondering re
spect, nay her reverence, with untold commisera
tion. Nor were the trials they so uncomplainingly
bear in travelling her only reason for this regard.
To work in a country which so far, at least, as
North China is concerned, has no features of
physical beauty, but is one great dreary, almost
treeless plain, swept by awful clouds of fine
poisonous dust, where flowers and vegetables
are with the greatest difficulty coaxed into a
feeble existence, where the masses of the people
hate the foreigner, and are ready at any mo
ment to mob them, must be a trial which only
the inspiration of the work and the peace of God
in the soul can overbalance. In many of the
small stations in interior cities the loneliness is
almost overpowering, and works havoc with the

264 To Japan and China
nerves of some women. One of them, a high-
strung, finely organized, delicate American
woman of wealth, who had left a home of lux
ury to go with her husband to carry gospel light
to China, told Mrs. Won that during five years
of such life her reason was almost wrecked.
There was only one other woman in the station,
about three miles distant at the opposite side of
the large Chinese city. There was no garden,
no place where she could walk, but from her bed
room, through the sitting-room to the kitchen
and back. It was not safe for her to go, even in
a chair, alone across the city to see her com
patriot or to visit Chinese, the work there having
only recently been started, and they entire stran
gers to the whole native community, who re
garded them with hate and suspicion. Her
husband was away weeks at a time, itinerating
in the country ; God had not blessed her with
little ones, and so as with rapid strides, she
paced her cage like an imprisoned animal, she
wondered how long reason would endure. It
was all the agony of solitary confinement, and at
length she was only saved by removal to a port
where some social intercourse and out-of-door
exercise were possible. But even where several
hours a day were spent in interesting work with
Chinese women, or where there are litde children
of one's own to interest and occupy one, the lack
of fresh air and exercise (for in many interior

Making the Best of It 265
towns it is not safe for foreign women on the
streets), the absolutely viewless prospect, the
want of social intercourse with equals, the need
of an occasional change of occupation and
thought, wears fearfully on American nerves.
Mrs. Won thanked God more than ever for
beautiful Korea, with its mountains and rivers,
her dear garden, and best of all, her dear friendly
people. Only part of their journey was made during
the first day, and night found them at a native
inn, which far exceeded in filth and discomfort
anything they had ever seen in Korea.
It seemed almost impossible to think of eating
in such a place, but it was too bitterly cold to
sup out of doors, and hunger prevailed over
fastidious qualms. After supper the Wons
washed their own dishes and put their food
carefully away, but the other party strolled out
to enjoy the moonlight and left their kit to
be looked after by a Chinese servant, who
dumped the dishes, etc., into a greasy pan of half
cold water, and wiped them carefully on his
skirt. They spread their rugs ruefully on a sort
of dirty, foul smelling shelf in the wall, and fell
asleep, as people will, even decent Americans, in
such an unseemly, loathsome place, after travel
ling all day long in the open air, in November.
Next morning the young missionary, who was
their guide, told them they must not wait for

266 To Japan and China
breakfast, but travel right on, in order to reach
their destination before dark that night, espe
cially as an early reception had been arranged
for them by all the missionaries of Tung Chow.
Mr. and Mrs. Won listened to their injunction
sorely ill-content. They were not of that variety
of, shall I say athletes, who rejoiced in walking,
working or doing anything else on empty stom
achs, but were extremely dependent on good and
regular supplies of provender, especially could
neither of them endure to begin the day fasting,
and any necessity compelling thereto, invariably
resulted in headache, nerves and unfitness for
work. But the fiat had gone forth, so the
Captain and his family only indulged in a
surreptitious cup of tea, and two or three crack
ers hastily unpacked and eaten as they went.
At noon, they stopped at an inn dirtier than the
former. A perfect catacomb of little black, air
less rooms, opening each into some other, but
none except the outer one opening to any fresh
air. Here generations of dirty natives of the
poorest class had slept, eaten and probably
died, without the place ever having been once
cleaned. Nature itself rebelled, the odours were too
overwhelming for American flesh to endure, and
finding a sunny spot out of doors, they took a
hasty lunch from their baskets and tin cans, and
hurried on their way. About six o'clock they

Genuinely Hungry 267
arrived at the gray town of Tung Chow, than
which a drearier, Mrs. Won thought she had
never beheld.
The city walls were of gray, the narrow streets
ran between walls eight or ten feet high, of cold,
gray brick, all the houses were gray brick after
one pattern, not a tree, not a hill, not a bit of
grass, or a hint of bright colour relieved the eye.
Mrs. Won wondered whether the sunsets were
gray brick, too ; but as the high walls hid this
indecorous exhibition of gayety in the skies, it
might as well have been gray as far as the
citizens of that town were concerned. They
were most kindly and cordially welcomed by the
good doctor and his family who had offered their
hospitality to the visitors, and sent at once to
their rooms to prepare for the reception to be
held at the girls' school. But the Wons were
hungry, famished, ravenous. No breakfast, a
hurried "pick-up-lunch," a long day in bracing
.November winds, had brought them to the point
where a good dinner was the chief end of man,
and the lack of it threatened being his last end ;
but nothing was said of dinner. And this re
ception, could it be possible they were expected
to stay their failing powers on refreshments ?
Gloomy visions of wafers and tea haunted their
hunger fevered brains. Go to. The prospect was
dark. It was now long'after six, alas ! However,
they at length found themselves in the pleasant

268 To Japan and China
parlours of the girls' school, receiving a warm
welcome, but no dinner. One little group and
another arrived, the room was filling fast, Mrs.
Won's spirits fell to zero. A dinner was im
possible for so many, it must be that merely re
freshments were intended ; and sure enough in a
few minutes napkins and plates were passed.
But anxiety was soon dispelled ; they were not
to be starved. Such delicious rolls and sand
wiches, cold meats, salads, tea, chocolate and
cake, in merciful abundance, were forced upon
them, that even the throes of such hunger as
theirs were appeased.
In the two or three days, which was all that they
had to spend, they enjoyed and learned much,
in hearing the experiences of the workers, study
ing their methods, and especially in looking into
their wonderful schools, conducted by such men
as Dr. Mateer and Dr. Hayes.
They returned to Cheefoo and Seoul wiser, as
well as fully recuperated, ready for the year's
work. But Mrs. Won never thought of Tung
Chow without a vision of those gloomy, dull,
gray brick houses and walls, with no vista, no
vision, no sunset, no sunshine, nothing but hard,
straight lines, dullness and gloom, and prayed
God to be merciful to His servants in China, and
bless them with a double portion of His joy.
Before they left Cheefoo, the Captain received a
letter from the bank in Shanghai, telling him

The Other Mr. Won

269

that they had made a mistake between his ac
count and that of another Mr. Won, a merchant
in North China, and that the money he had so
gleefully appropriated, at their bidding, was the
other man 's !
Some men in his circumstances would have
torn their hair and rent their garments at such
news as this; not so the Captain. It took a
great deal to distract his peace of mind, his
absolute trust in His Father's care for even the
smallest things, and the event always proved he
was right. In this instance, as usual, money
coming from an entirely unexpected source more
than covered the whole sum required, and every
thing was well as usual with the Wons.

XII
HOUSEKEEPING
In a very short time after their return from
Cheefoo, Harry and his folks started off for an
other long trip into the interior of Korea, to
visit the many little groups of native Christians,
the sheep who needed looking after, and those
other sheep not yet in the fold. This time a
young married couple, new missionaries, were
going with them to study methods of work, the
people and country.
This pair had only been in the country a very
littie while, and the little bride, who was barely
twenty, had to begin to learn some of the
difficulties of eastern life and housekeeping
very early.
In the first place, like the Wons, they left
America with the conviction that their only food
would be rice, and rice Mrs. Brown abhorred.
Some way, of course, would be found ; but
how she was to live on it she couldn't see ; so
when they reached Japan and found they could
buy raisins, she thought she might eat this
starchy article if sufficiently mixed with raisins
of which forthwith they bought a great many
pounds, and in the summer ! And not in sealed
270

Raisins and Crackers 271
tins ! For, alas, they had not learned that fruit
that comes through the tropics and across oceans
to Korea must all be in sealed tins in the summer.
Mrs. Won always sealed hers up in Mason's jars
as soon as it came, even in winter. So when
these raisins that took such a lot out of the little
salary arrived, they were in a dreadful way, and
poor little lady had a task almost like the poor
princess in the fairy tale to go over all those
thousands picking out all that was bad, cleaning
and separating, with patience. Such a weari
some work.
She didn't think to ask anybody what to do,
and didn't seal them up even then ; and a few
weeks later, lo they were worse than ever, and
had to be thrown away, mixed with tears.
Besides raisins, they bought in Japan two im
mense packing cases, at least three feet square
each ; but some rascally foreign trader cheated
them, and when the cases were opened in Korea
they turned out to be all green and mouldy,
quite entirely spoiled, and weren't even fit to
kindle fires. And the freight across from Japan
and up to Seoul, had cost almost as much as
the crackers !
They had bought a cook stove in Japan, and
a few pretty China things, a tea set, and plates
and dishes, with some kitchen utensils. Just as
few and simple as possible, and put them all into
the hands of an experienced English shipping

272 Housekeeping
agent to pack for them, they being so new and
inexperienced in such matters. He said he'd
pack them carefully, but when they reached
Korea not a whole dish was to be found in the
entire assortment of broken China, and even
the stove was in little bits.
Stoves always are that way though. I doubt
if there is a single unbroken kitchen stove
among all the mission homes in Korea. Packers
in America and otherwhere, seem to think that
freight is carried to the Orient on flowery beds
of ease, but when it reaches there, appearances
would warrant the conclusion that the last part
of the stanza would better describe the true
state of affairs : namely- that they " had fought
to win the prize and sailed through bloody
seas." The packers seem to have the common con
viction that it is a good thing for a stove to have
the covers, legs and other small loose articles
placed carelessly in the ovens, to rattle around
as lively as possible. They all do that and it is
universally successful in breaking the stove. If
it is in a condition which admits of mending, the
owner generally thinks himself lucky, but oh, if
he could only shy that stove back across the
Pacific at the packers ! Well, it wouldn't do, it
wouldn't be missionary, but I'm afraid there are
times when he'd like to do it if he could.
Those packers enjoy sending harmoniums

The Domestic Problem 273
and pianos, too. They often arrive in kindling
wood, but to return to Mrs. Brown.
They patched up their broken stove as well as
they could, and started out on their housekeep
ing experiences. Their cook was a very green
Korean young man, and their trials were many.
It wasn't so much his smoking and combing his
hair in the kitchen, and cooking vile smelling
messes of his own food. He would insist on
using all the soap for his own clothes and putting
the kitchen utensils away greasy. The potatoes,
eggs, and sweet milk disappeared with mar
vellous rapidity ; the family were frightened at
the amount they were consuming. One day the
little puin ' found him with the kitchen towel tied
round his head to keep off the dust, and once
(that was the time she had hysterics) she saw
him use the dish-cloth pocket handkerchief-wise.
She was silly, you say, but she saw it, and it was
her dish-cloth !
When she came in the sphere of his usefulness
and found him just eating some of the stew out
of the kettle, and when with his mouth full of
hot meat and potato, he couldn't answer her
charge, she had a slight revenge.
Then there was the jelly. She had never
made jelly before, but an old housekeeper told
her what to do, and some delicious looking
Korean red raspberries came, so she bought
' Lady.

274 Housekeeping
them all, a very large quantity, and with many
interruptions went through the stages of pre
paring the fruit, the sugar and the jelly bags,
boiled the strained juice, and then, the last
critical moment for adding the sugar came and
all was well. She had been told to try the syrup
after it had boiled three or four minutes with the
sugar, in a cup of cold water, which she sent her
cook running to the well to bring very cold.
Back came the enthusiastic neophite, with a
large quart dipper full, and without a moment's
delay, or losing one drop, poured it all into that
jelly !
Every housekeeper knows what that meant to
that poor young wife. Disaster, disappointment,
failure, loss, and after a long day's hard work 1
So Mrs. Won, to comfort her, told her some of
her early experiences. How, having invited some
high Korean officials to dinner, and this the first
time she ever tried to give a large dinner party,
right in the midst of preparations the cook said
his wife was very sick and he had to be allowed
to go home, and the boy (that's the housemaid)
asked to go off for his morning meal. No mat
ter what happens, if you are in the middle of
cleaning out the dining room, or there should be
an earthquake, or fire, or a death in the family,
the boy must be away from one to two hours
eating, between half-past ten and half-past twelve.
So there she was alone, struggling with the aid

A Disastrous Dinner 275
of a cook-book and unaccustomed hands, with
six or seven courses, when the door-bell rang,
and she had to leave everything with that per
verse disposition to ruin itself which all food on
the stove has, and open the door.
There stood one of the invited guests for that
evening. He politely asked to see Mr. Won,
and on being told that he was out, calmly walked
in, seated himself with dignity and deliberation,
and said he would pay his respects instead to
Mrs. Won. He regretted extremely not being
able to be present that evening at the dinner,
and so he had come now instead. Mrs. Won
wondered despairingly what was going on in the
kitchen, and tried to compose herself to treat him
with politeness and deference. After staying
near an hour he expressed a desire to see the
house, so he had to be conducted through every
room, and everything described and explained as
far as her defective Korean would go. Before it
was quite over, her knight errant came in and
took him off her hands. No irreparable damage
was done, an elaborate dinner was prepared ;
then quite tired out she dressed, prepared to
meet the guests who had all accepted, but who
never came. The dinner hour passed, they waited
another hour, still no arrivals, then they remem
bered the parable of the wedding, and sent for
the schoolboys who trooped joyously in without
any delay and ate with an appetite and an appre-

276 Housekeeping
ciation which made the Wons only delighted at
what had seemed so trying a result of their at
tempt to win the high class men. Next day
various excuses came, and they discovered that
to invite Korean nobles, who had not yet learned
rules of foreign etiquette, to dinner, was an act
of more than doubtful expediency, and never
again asked more than one or two at a time with
plenty of reliable foreigners as a standby.
Then there was the bread making experience ;
when it was all to be learned, and there wasn't
any yeast, and all the cook books told you to
start yeast with yeast, and when that was sur
mounted, the bread set at seven, before cook
left for home every night, would sour before he
came at six in the morning.
And then there was the time teaching them to
launder the clothes, which she never had learned
herself, and when with written directions they
had laboured through the whole day, and strug
gled through the mysteries of starch making,
and were just in the frightfully serious matter of
starching and blueing the table-cloths, which had
several indigo spots on them and had to be
rinsed again, foreign ladies came in to call, and
it was getting dark, and they might mildew (the
table-cloths), oh, it was comedy now, but it was
tragedy then !
Then there were other instances of jelly and
preserve making, in the very middle of which

A Glad Relief

277

crowds of Korean women came in, and things
had to be left in order to prescribe for dyspepsia
when " the food wouldn't go down and wouldn't
come up," or " a wind from the stomach arose
and made the eyes sore." Yes, there were plenty
of these reminiscences to assure Mrs. Brown that
her lot was the common lot of all beginners, that
every one could sympathize with her, and that
she might take heart again, seeing the footprints
of her older sisters in the sands of household ex
periences. But now they were going together for a long
country trip, and the Wons' good little cook
would prepare all the food, and they would be
for weeks in touch only with God and His handi
work, and honest sturdy country people.
They walked and rode all day in the delight
ful, stimulating, fresh air, except when in the
towns or large villages, where they, the women,
were shut in little dark rooms, and visited by
crowds of wildly curious Korean women, who
most of them cared a great deal more about
studying their clothes and wondering over their
looks, and asking all sorts of questions of the
most impertinent character, than about hearing
of a foreign religion. ,
Some of them had heard strange things of
this religion. " One must be careful. There
was witchcraft in it. If you read one of their
books through you had to believe, in spite of

278 Housekeeping
yourself, and there was a medicine, too, which if
you once tasted you were their victim."
"So one must be careful. It was truly, a
wonderful kugung to see the people with their
white faces that weren't powdered, and their
peculiar noses and eyes."
" It was dangerously fascinating, so many
strange, delightful things, and what soft hands
the women had ! " " They're all alike soft and
satiny just like baby's hands." " Those foreign
women looked respectable enough,, quiet and
modest, but of course that could hardly be,
travelling all around preaching like that."
When they caught a little of what was be
ing said it seemed so strange and beautiful
and tempting, they were frightened. " Come,
let's go," and like a flock of frightened pidgeons
they would all hurry out, before the charm could
work. But here and there a seed took root, a
sympathetic smile and hand pressure, a book, a
tract, a child healed, a song, just a little seed
here and there rooted, and in time sprang up.
How those American hearts yearned over the
poor women so near enfranchisement, light, hope,
glory, clinging to the filthy tattered remnants of
old dead faith, clinging to their fetters, loving
the darkness in which they had lived a half dead
life so long, turning their backs on happiness
and life. " Ye will not come unto Me that ye
might have life."

A Real Welcome 279
But in places where the little groups of Chris
tians were found was always the same overjoyed,
almOst adoring welcome. By them, they seemed
to be regarded as almost more than human.
They were like angels who had come to them
with the news of that wonderful Hope that
opened out vistas of eternity and heavenly
glory. Mrs. Won always returned to Seoul in an ex
tremely low and humble state of mind. In vil
lage after village, woman after woman, taking
her hand in a bony grip like a vise, and looking
at her with a sorrowful gaze would say, " Alas,
how old you've grown since we last saw you ! "
or, " How sick and feeble you look." " How
grieved we are to see how sick and old you are
growing ! " or, " What trials you have endured
for us, how dried up you are ! " This is all to
show their affection and concern, and, as they
believe it has all come through the hardships
undergone to carry them the gospel, it is the
highest honour . and praise in their power to be
stow. Mrs. Won found, too, on this trip that
they talked in the same way to Mrs. Brown
who was twenty, and had never been sick and
was fresh as a daisy ; so she didn't take it to heart
so much any more. As for Harry, by the time
he was twelve they began asking if he was
married, why not, and when and to whom he
meant to be, in a way that was highly embar-

280 Housekeeping
rassing to the young man who had only very
recently and reluctantly given up the idea of
marrying his mother, whom he had insisted from
his third year should be his only wife.
He walked the streets with a following of at
least twenty-five to fifty boys, all eager to play
with him and to be his henchman to any extent.
The Christians were, of course, the favoured
parties, and the envy of all the rest. With them
there were games of prisoner's base, leap-frog,
tag, hide and seek, and all the other games
boys like.
One day the party divided. Pastor Won had
to go far off the road to a little hamlet up in the
mountains where there were only a little handful
of sheep, and no room for so many to sleep and
eat, only about three little huts altogether ; so he
went one way, and the Browns, Mrs. Won and
Harry, with all the chair coolies, pack ponies and
mapoos went another. Harry was on horseback
this time, when he wasn't trotting on his own
little legs ; Mr. Brown was walking, too, and
the two women were in chairs, jogged along
with a good deal of jolting before night, for the
road was rough and long. By and by the two
Christian helpers who were leading, came to
Mrs. Won and said they would hurry on and
see that rooms were warmed and rice prepared
and welcome ready, to which she gave assent,
and they hurried off, glad to be rid of the slow

A Dismal Outlook 281
going procession. On the men plodded, through
mud and mire, over hill and dale, across slippery
paddy-fields and through tangled bits of wood,
now with the frequent rests, uncomfortable mo
tion and discontented grumblings which showed
they were both hungry and tired.
At last, just when dusk was falling, and their
destination was only sim nee (three miles) away,
according to the last traveller questioned, there
was a discussion among the coolies, accusations
and recriminations, and it turned out that they
had lost the way among all the windings of the
network of little footpaths, had come a long
distance wrong, and were not at all sure how to
go right. To be lost on a wide plain with no
village in sight, just at dark, with a bitter night
in sharp late November, just closing down, no
fires, no shelter, no warm food, was not an
agreeable prospect. The coolies complained
loudly, but everybody intended to reach those
warm rooms and that hot rice that night, and
set about it with energy. But no matter how
many people they asked, it was always " sim
nee " to that village, no more, no less, although
they had gone several times " sim nee " as they
could all vouch.
At length they came to a place where two
ways parted, and here a whispered consultation
was held by the coolies, the import of which
Mrs. Won insisted on hearing.

282 Housekeeping
Faithful old Kim, who was her only servant
among the bearers, told her that there was now
a river to be crossed in a little while, and that
they had been discussing whether to cross over
the bridge which was near, or the ford which
was far, and that the tired chair coolies refused
to take the ford, since they could not then reach
the village before nine or ten o'clock. " But if
we go over the bridge, then our little son on his
pony would have to be separated from our party
and go by the ford would he not?" "Yes,
lady." " And is not that the bridge, the high,
long, very narrow one which was broken, and
which I had such trouble in crossing once be
fore in the daytime?" "Yes, lady." "And
now we have only one poor lantern, the night
is very black, my husband is far away, only this
newly come young gentleman with us, do you
think I will trust myself on that bridge, or allow
my little boy to be taken one road and I an
other, thus, at night, among what sort of natives
I do not know? What evil noise, what bad
work is this? Tell them I will not cross the
bridge." Hereupon arose loud and angry remonstrances
from the coolies. Some threw themselves on
the ground and declared they were dying, some
went further and solemnly asserted they had
died some time ago. "That is well," said
Mrs. Won ; " now the world will be more peace-

Cross Coolies 283
ful and blessed, and we shall not have you to
feed." But the dying and dead were sufficiently
obstinate for very much alive men, and proved
it by some very active metaphorical kicking.
They declared they were too hungry to travel,
and positively refused to stir unless consent to
the bridge was given. Now Mrs. Won knew
that bridge only too well. It was not more than
a foot wide, too narrow for any pony to cross,
and it was more than likely to be broken in the
middle, and even should she succeed, with much
danger and terror in crossing, her little one
would be wandering, how many hours she
knew not on the moors, with strange hired men,
and their bedding and food might not arrive all
night. So she, too, put her foot down and kept
it there, and with Mr. Brown who hadn't much
Korean, but plenty of firmness and good sense,
they carried their point against the angry coolies,
who having found out there was no help for it,
set to, with grumblings many and loud, and
trotted on through the dark to the ford. " Sim
nee " always, as on and on they went. All of
them hungry and more or less cross, and grow
ing momently more and more exhausted.
Harry had succumbed long ago, and was sound
asleep on his pony, and obliged to be held on,
at either side, his poor head bobbing about in a
pitiful way, there being no room in either of the
chairs, nor would the tired and cross coolies

284 Housekeeping
have listened for an instant to any proposal of
their carrying him as well as his mamma. The
Wons had thought to save mission itinerating
appropriation by bringing him on a pony
instead of a chair, which is nearly twice the ex
pense, but it was hard work that night. How
ever, at about ten o'clock the welcome lights of
Taiton appeared ; everybody did their best to
make them comfortable ; there were shining
faces of glad Christians, warm rooms and food,
and soon after peaceful rest on their own cots
and rugs. The Korean chair coolie is a quantity
to be counted with, not on every time. He is
the most independent creature in existence, and
the most greedy and voracious. He is never
satisfied, and you are never sure until you are
through with him that he will stick to his
bargain. He may have had no breakfast or no
dinner, and his family may be starving, but if
you give him one fifth of a cent less than he had
decided to extort, he will hand the whole amount
back, and walk off unpaid to give you a black
name among his kind. He will dicker for
hours, and go off at the last minute, leaving you
in the lurch. The Korean chair coolie is in
many respects the Irishman of the East, easy
going, good-natured, but ready for and enjoying
a fight, in which loud talk has its proper share,
prone to stop at every seiil shop, getting as
tipsy as his limited amount of cash will allow,

Coolie Nature 285
no idea of telling the truth where it is possible
to tell a lie, quickly touched by kindness and
sympathy, quite overwhelmed if you show in
terest in his troubles, commonly fond of a joke
or a good story, loving his wife and little ones
fondly, thoughtless of anything beyond to-day's
food and drink, he belongs to a happy-go-lucky
class of men, with no more thought or knowl
edge of the future alas than the leaves on the
trees. They all liked Pastor Won because he chatted
and joked with them, laughed at their stories,
abused them roundly, but treated them like
brothers. At one of the stopping places, among the ex
periences told by the Christians, was one related
by a converted drunkard. He said he had for
years made his living by gambling, had been a
confirmed drunkard, and engaged in every kind
of evil practice. One day as he was walking
through the streets of Song Do, he saw on one
of the main thoroughfares, standing in the
middle of a crowd, a blind preacher, who in
terrifying language was describing the wrath of
God against sinners and the fate that awaited
those who were unrepentant.
" His long arm was outstretched, his lean
finger pointed me out, and his sightless eyes
were fixed on my face," said the man. Smitten
to the heart, he made his way to the speaker

286 Housekeeping
and asked why he had singled him out from all
the crowd, by his words and gestures. " Be
cause you are the man ! " said the wise preacher.
" Now," said he, " the only thing is to go at once,
make confession, take Jesus as your Saviour and
begin to be a Christian." " But I must study
many books, and repent a long time first," said
the sinner. "No," said the old man, "nothing
of the kind, you must repent at once if you
would be saved and become a Christian now."
In implicit faith the man obeyed, felt his burden
of fear and sin gone, and became from that day
a changed man. He now began to preach the
gospel to everybody he knew, and first of all
went to his old mother who sternly rebuked
him. " What ! " said she, " have I borne with you so
long in all your wickedness, when you have
broken my heart over and again, and now you
come and ask me to tolerate and even join with
you in this crime of casting off our ancient
religion, and doing despite to our ancestors?
Never will I have anything to do with this
foreign religion."
Nevertheless, she saw her son had become a
changed man, and wondered at the power
which had wrought this miracle, and watching
day by day, saw nothing but good as its fruits.
At last a remarkable incident won her com
pletely.

A Useful Fall 287
The rainy season had commenced, and after a
long and terrible downpour, part of the wall of
their poor hut fell, one Sunday. The old woman
started to try to repair the damage in some
temporary fashion, but her son seizing her arm,
said, " No, mother, not on Sunday." She strug
gled to release herself, but he pulled her away
by main force, just as the roof fell, and barely
saving her life.
" That," said she, " was your God who saved
me against my will ; now I will worship only
Him and believe in Him always." So now
mother and son are both happy members of the
Methodist church.
At one of the Christian villages the pastor
was asked to perform a wedding ceremony.
They were poor people, and could not afford to
have all the fine clothes and abundance of
dainties I have described, and more they were
forced to hurry on the wedding because the
pastor could not wait for long preparations or
return that way as they had hoped. So every
thing was hastened. The neighbours helped,
and as the wedding was between an orphan
relative living in the house and the eldest son,
both the boy's and girl's wedding garments had
to be made in short order ; but the friendly
neighbours and relatives all took hold and
helped. Mrs. Won brought out her thimble and
helped, to show them she was one of them, and

288 Housekeeping
weave a little thread in the tie that bound them
together, although her lame fingers were of not
much use for neat and dextrous work. The
bride was a tall, rosy, wholesome looking coun
try girl, with that simple, honest, modest look so
many of the young peasant women have. The
boy was small for his age which was something
over twenty.
The missionaries will not marry the Christian
boys under eighteen, and the girls must be at
least sixteen. The people like the Christian
service, the vows of mutual devotion and the
ring much better than their old forms, and are
beginning to leave off the defacing white paste
and red paint which make a fair young face look
so hideous and ghastly.
This poor little bride had no ornaments, and
her dress was comparatively very plain, but it
was so much finer than her every-day attire, she
seemed to feel more than satisfied, and then it
was a great deal to be married by the pastor
himself. Before their trip was half over, they reached a
place in the interior where no chair coolies could
be hired, but here the Christians offered to carry
the chairs and the loads, and though unac
customed to such work, staggered along with the
best will in the world. Mrs. Won's heart over
flowed with gratitude and affection, to think of
these kind people undertaking such work, which

Kind But Rough 289
to the untrained is very severe, for her. If she
had not been lame and rather weak, she would
far rather have walked, and as it was, it was no
easy riding, with the chair tipping now this way
now that, now forward, now back, and shaking
worse than a schenza (as they didn't understand
keeping step), and then being bounced down on
the ground every few minutes when the tired
men could stand it no more. But when she
thought it was being done in love by those who
found it so hard, she felt it was worth all the
weariness it cost and much more.
In one of the little villages which they visited
there were only two Christians, a man and his
wife. As they were nearing the place, the leader,
who knew all the Christians in that district well,
told the missionary that this was a very devoted
couple who walked ten miles to church and back
every Sunday. They had both been turned out
of their father's house and cast off by all their
friends, and the man had been dragged by the
top-knot all through the town by his infuriated
neighbours and cruelly beaten. When they ar
rived they found a couple of young country
peasants, both looking wholesome, honest and
intelligent. The man was an especially fine
looking young fellow.
The usual questions were answered in a re
markably straightforward and satisfactory way,
both showing evidence of deep spiritual experi-

290 Housekeeping
«nce. At length the man was asked if he had
endured hardships or difficulties for Christ's
sake. "No," was the reply. "What," said the
surprised questioner, " have you not been a suf
ferer for Christ?" "No," was still the answer.
" But we have heard that you were cast off and
beaten and reviled." " How can I call that hard
ship or trial after what my Lord has borne for
me," was the low reply. The missionaries looked
on that lowly peasant with reverence, and felt
like taking off their shoes, for it seemed there
was a Holy Presence there. Here was a man
whose face was shining with inward peace, and
the continued presence of Jesus though all his
little world had cast him off, was dwelling under
the shadow of the Almighty in the secret place of
the Most High. His wife, a stout, plain country
body, said she wouldn't mind the rest if only
their parents would not disown them, but neither
of them seemed to have the least idea they were
in any way extraordinary. How surprised they
will be when they reach the golden city and find
they are given one of the highest seats, and are
crowned with the martyr's crown !
Heaven has already begun for them right in
the midst of persecution too, for Jesus is heaven,
and Jesus' presence is with them. He comes in
and sups with them, and they with Him.
On the way back, one freezing cold day in
November, the Wons had one of those little ex-

Out of a Pit 291
periences which lend spice, zest and variety to
a country trip.
After travelling all the morning, they found
that the village for which they were destined lay
on the other side of a ditch of slippery wet clay,
which was at least fifteen feet deep, nearly per
pendicular, and about thirty feet across. The
very high tides came a long distance inland, and
twice a day this was full of water, and one could
ferry across, but now without waiting hours in
the biting wind, with no shelter, dinnerless too,
one must manage some other way to cross.
Without bare feet and legs it was impossible
for any of the men to think of crossing. It was
at last planned that with her husband's help she
should climb part way down the bank, seat her
self in the chair, which the coolies held high
above the ooze in the bed, and be lifted across
by the men, slipping in the slime at every step,
and at the steepest part, climb up with her hus
band's help to the other side. This program was
carried out only in part, for the coolies, with a
sudden spring, supported and pushed by several
men at the back, in some miraculous way, clam
bered up the steep slimy bank with the chair on
their shoulders, at the imminent risk of spilling
the vainly protesting Mrs. Won back into the
wet clay and filth. When she looked back and
saw the pit whence she had escaped, she remem
bered the psalmist and felt she could now realize

292 Housekeeping
the force of his words of devout thanks. She,
too, had been brought up out of a horrible pit
and the miry clay, her feet set on a rock and her
goings established with a new song in her mouth.
It was a matter of very solemn and heart-felt re
joicing to her, though the tiresome Captain would
persist in laughing.
At Song Do, the Wons were entertained at the
house of a high Korean gentleman, who was a
great friend of Pastor Won.
They were shown into a room where the floor
was covered with the finest and heaviest oiled
paper, which shone like polished marble. Two
embroidered mattresses to sit or lie upon were
on the floor, brightly polished brass candlesticks
and other brass articles were on a little table
about ten inches high. There were sliding paper
windows opening into a little passageway lead
ing to other apartments. A clock on the wall,
and a couple of very heavy Chinese chairs, com
pleted the furniture.
Mrs. Won was invited to go to the women's
apartments to see the ladies of the house, as it
was contrary to their custom to leave those
rooms. In the large anpang, to which she was led by
the host himself, she found waiting her a tall,
handsome and graceful Korean woman, dressed
in white Chinese silk with no ornaments. She
was extremely self-possessed, cordial and talka-

A KOREAN LADY IN FULL COSTUME

Korean Gentlefolks 293
tive, and soon introduced her group of pretty
children, a girl of eighteen or nineteen who had
been married a year or so, a couple of boys, re
spectively twelve and eight, and a little orphaned
niece of her husband's of about fourteen years.
They were all except the orphan who was in
white, in bright coloured silks. There were rugs,
lamps, hand-basins and braziers, all of brass pol
ished and shining gorgeously.
After ceremonious greetings on both sides had
been finished, a plain, meek, sad looking elderly
woman of near sixty came in, and after some
time Mrs. Won was amazed to find that she was
Mr.  's first and rightful wife. Childless,
and therefore a mere pensioner on the bounty of
his concubine, who was really queen of the
establishment. It was she who gave the orders,
dispensed the hospitality, and ruled every
thing. The older woman seemed to recognize this as
the natural and proper condition, looked no dis
content, certainly there seemed to be perfect
friendliness between the two, the concubine treat
ing the other with a sort of contemptuous patron
age and good humour of the happy and victori
ous. And yet I should not have said that even she
was happy, for she did not hesitate to tell Mrs.
Won, stranger though she was, the Korean cus
toms were bad, women could only do as their

294 Housekeeping
husbands allowed, and never could control their
own actions or go and come as they liked.
Mrs. Won knew, too, that this woman could
not meet ladies, first wives of high men on a
footing of equality, that her children were not
fully legitimate, and their inheritance of their
father's property might be questioned? Mrs.
Won had noticed in the woman at the very first
a lack of that stately reserve and quiet dignity
which the real Korean lady always shows, and
that atmosphere of rank and refinement, but
supposed that it was perhaps the difference be
tween the provincial and the women of the
capital. But when the subdued and sad old
woman was made known, she at once understood
the reason. The concubines do not come from
the same rank as the first wives, and can almost
invariably be detected by the lack of that inex
pressible polish which the real Korean lady
nearly always possesses.
Mr.  possessed a very large establish
ment, and had a great many hangers-on, hench
men and servants. He held a very lucrative
and extremely responsible position, as the super
intendent of the imperial ginseng factory, the
only one in the country.
This root which is looked upon with almost
reverential awe and superstition as a specific foral-
most all human aliments by the Chinese, Japanese
and Koreans, is sold by the farmers in the raw state

Making Ginseng 295
for about eight dollars a pound. Nearly if not
all of the ginseng raised in the country is raised
on farms in the vicinity of Song Do. Each one
is registered, and the number of plants known,
and all must be sold to the government. The
young plants are of little value, only that of five
and six years' growth is brought to the govern
ment officials.
It is weighed as soon as received, and the
farmers paid a fair price. Each farmer is re
sponsible for a certain number of pounds. The
roots are at once washed, all out of doors, through
the whole process in fact, and packed tightly in
flat wicker baskets holding each thirty pounds.
These baskets are set in a cauldron full of boil
ing water, over a furnace, and kept at the most
furious heat, by attendants who watch them con
stantly. There are twelve of these furnaces kept
continually going day and night. The ginseng
is allowed to boil for two hours, when it is removed
and another basketful immediately takes its place.
Each basket after boiling yields about ten pounds.
It is then spread out to dry in the sun in flat
baskets, or rough tables, and locked up in a
strong room at night.
About thirty thousand pounds are prepared
each year. There are two kinds of which that
called the red ginseng is the most highly prized.
Korean ginseng brings a very high price in
both China and Japan. Forty dollars gold is

296 Housekeeping
not an unusual sum to be paid per pound for the
best. Great care is taken to prevent theft, and some
Japanese who were attempting to poach from one
of the farms were caught by Korean officers, and
in the fight which ensued one of the Japanese
was killed, for which the government was then
claiming indemnity and the punishment of the
Koreans. The plant is apparently very tender and needs
great care. The beds are shielded by wicker
covers, which are raised at the proper time to
allow enough sunlight, and lowered to prevent
too great heat. The farming of this is very
lucrative, and the people of Song Do are among
the most prosperous in the country. The women,
even to the middle classes, wear silks and furs,
and one sees more of all the evidences of pros
perity of all kinds than in other cities and
towns. The Southern Methodist mission have a station
there, and the Presbyterians have a small church
or two, and work in the villages throughout the
district and province.
Nothing more worth relating occurred on this
trip. Pastor Won held a class in one of the
towns where he taught five hours a day, held
street services for at least an hour, and every
night gathered all the Christians, men and women,
for an hour's Bible study and prayer. Harry got

Home to Seoul 297
some tracts and distributed them to the eager
boys and men who followed him, and they all
helped in the street service with the singing,
while the ladies patiently submitted, to daily in
spection by the sightseers to whom they were a
sort of a dime museum. It was worth while in
hope of some seed taking root, and besides there
was the teaching of the Christian women.
At last they started on their homeward road.
Two nights before entering Seoul, Mrs. Won,
who was walking with her husband, beheld, al
most at her feet, by the roadside, a dead hand
stretched out from beneath the sod, as though in
supplication. The poor body had been hastily
and only partly covered with earth, and the hand,
she couldn't help but think, seemed to be plead
ing in a pathetic way to the strong, the happy,
the enlightened and the free, for happiness, light
and freedom. A forlorn brother had mayhap
fallen along a Jericho road, dumbly appealing
to those who might but will not help the help
less and unhappy, the darkened and hopeless
nations.

XIII
THE BOY'S CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOUR SOCIETY
AND now a time had come when the Wons'
dear old home had to be sold, and they were
forced to find another house. Everybody knows
it takes other factors than brick and mortar,
wood and stone to make a home. Of course
"had to," and " forced," being interpreted mean,
that as a high price was offered to the mission
for it, and as for various reasons a removal
seemed to promise better for the work, the Wons
consented, nobody forcing them against their
will. The native officials could not at all under
stand this matter of the sale of American prop
erty. Years before, when a piece of ground was
desired, word was sent to the American minister
to order Mr.  to sell that land. Great was
the native astonishment when the reply came
that the all-powerful minister had no power to
give such an order ; but it was nothing to the
shock they experienced when having asked him
to cable to the President to order the sale, they
were told that even the President himself could
not compel an American to sell his property.
But though no minister, emperor or president,
or even the mission that owned the land com-
298

Selling the Home 299
pelled Pastor Won, " the King's business " did,
and they must all flit. The dear old homely
place had grown round them, and in some way,
mysterious and unexplainable, but certain, the
walls, the rafters, the floors, seemed almost as
much a part of them as fingers and toes, just the
hard outer shell, of that, of which the body was
the inner.
The trees, flowers and vines that had been
planted one by one, each with a history, each a
souvenir, of some dear old friend, some well
loved scene, some happy time, each loved almost
like a child, must all be uprooted and struggle
for life in some other soil.
Before the Wons left the new owners tore
down the charming old ivy covered gate and
wall at the back and ruthlessly cut down the
reverend crooked old pine, over which the
wisteria climbed. Mrs. Won chancing to pass
the window at the moment saw and heard the
blow, which seemed to cleave her own heart. It
appeared to her an act of vandalism, but perhaps
she had unconsciously begun to lapse into
heathenism, and was making idols and fetishes
of some of these things and needed to be
aroused. As for the house itself there was much that
endeared it to the family. Thither the pastor
had taken his wife after their wedding, where as
they stepped over the threshold together, and

300 The Boy's Christian Endeavour Society
realized that God had made them a family and
given them a home, it began to be sacred.
In yonder chamber Harry had been born —
there through long sickness, loved ones had
nursed, watched and prayed. Round the fire in
the parlour they sat reading and chatting to
gether Sunday afternoons when service was
done. In the dining-room many a friend native
and foreign had sat at their board, in the sitting-
room the native women's Bible classes had met
all those years, and the little commonplaces of the
household life had gone on. Here in the study
the Christmas tree always stood while the merry
children circled round with expectant eyes, and
near by at the wide chimney the stockings were
hung. Here the K's wedding took place, and
from hence was the beloved dead carried to her
rest. Many a children's party had made the
rafters ring, and they had heard the psalms of the
watch night service once every alternate year for
nineteen years.
What blessed meetings of prayer past count
ing had been held there, what long conferences
in planning for the growth and advance of the
work, as one and another new branch of labour,
new form of attack on the strongholds of evil
were undertaken. The Bible Committee, the
Tract Society, the Christian Endeavour, the
Y. M. C. A., the Home for Destitute Children, the
Young Men's Missionary Association, etc. In

The New House 301
that study the New Testament had been trans
lated, and what not else of hymns, tracts and
religious helps. In yonder guest room the
Korean refugees had found shelter, and many
dear ones to be seen on earth no more.
Love, joy, pain and sorrow, with one Holy
Presence, had hallowed the place and trans
muted even the most common and sordid parts
of it into something more precious than gold in
the opinions of the Wons. Harry had never
known any other home, and boy though he was,
ashamed of tears, on the unhappy day when they
left, his mother discovered him hidden away in
the dark, sobbing passionately.
A fine new healthy, breezy site had been found.
A new, better " much better house " was build
ing, and they were to go forth to become
aquainted with it, and to try to fit their angles
into its corners, their curves into its concavities.
It had to be furnished, too, I don't mean with
tables, chairs, pictures, etc., which is a compara
tively easy matter (for old ones can be moved
though they like it little, and look all wrong in a
new house), or new ones can be bought with
ordinary money, but the real furniture which
makes a richly furnished home and habitation
for people with souls, is not so easy to obtain.
Millions will not buy these things. Tender
memories, precious associations, love, hope,
blessed sorrow, sacrifice, service, victories over

302 The Boy's Christian Endeavour Society
self, sin forgiven, all have their place in making
the home beautiful, comfortable, livable; they
come very slowly and are bought only with the
costliest currency, of heart-beats and years. It
would be a long time, if ever, before the Wons'
new house would be as well furnished as the
old. It, the new one, was not ready yet, but was full
of clamour, dust, shavings, blue-coated, pig-tailed
Chinamen, white-coated, top-knotted Koreans
and spry little Japanese. The cold wind whistled
through unfinished windows and doors, there
was a combined sawing, pounding, cutting,
squeaking and groaning, the birth throes of a
house making loud complaint.
Harry could by no stretch of imagination see
how it could ever come to be a quiet, peaceful
home. It was very slow work, every bit of
moulding, nay every board cut from the log,
was painfully sawed, cut and grooved by hand
with clumsy native tools, and every two hours
the Chinamen all stopped for a twenty minutes'
smoke. While the Captain was still doing his
best to hurry it on and " hustie the East," some
thing happened. A peep at Mrs. Won's diary
will explain.
April 15 th, 19 — . A sentinel paces before our
gate, a guard are lodged in our sarang l and we
are of the unenviable few, who as princes or
1 Korean guest house.

The King Approaches 303
prisoners — much the same thing — are kept by
armed men, for royalty sleeps hard by !
Last night the palace burned down, and the
Emperor, not desiring to occupy either of the
other palaces so full of mournful and terrible as
sociations, took refuge with his family and suite
in the Imperial building which was erected a
few years before next door to our house.
Sentinels were posted all around us, and what
a rushing thither of high officials in chairs, what
a gathering of retainers, what a hurrying to and
fro of all sorts of menials, soldiers, police and
who not. What a change in our quiet neigh
bourhood !
The flames leaped high in their beautiful de
structive play for hours, but everything was quiet
and orderly ; no crowds gathered, a number of
Japanese troops were on hand to assist in any
way desired, but the headway gained was so
great that little could be done.
At about 2 A. M. when H  went out for
the last time to make sure there was no danger
of the further advance of the fire, he was met by
an officer bearing a note with the rather start
ling news that we and all the missionaries on
this compound must move that very day, the
date for handing over the property being over
due, and the Emperor and his officials being in
great need of all our dwellings and more. The
Captain at once hurried to our legation, and

304 The Boy's Christian Endeavour Society
respectfully but firmly stated the impossibility of
getting out on such short notice, but promised
to give up the house at the earliest possible mo
ment. The accumulations of twenty years are
not so easily disposed of, and I'm afraid we
have more things than are good for us. We
had no doubt, whatever, about it when we be
gan to move. And where, pray, were we to go ?
No lofts to be rented in which furniture could be
stored, no houses to be rented for ourselves. At
early dawn we and things began to jump. We
would live camping fashion in a Korean house
for awhile, and pack the belongings somewhere,
somehow in the new house. In an amazing
short time, curtains and pictures were down,
carpets up, great packing cases adorned the
rooms, piles of articles to be stored away lay on
chairs and tables, and bustle and hurry were the
order of the day. We stopped a little for break
fast and prayers, and the latter were perhaps
more fervent than usual and the former much
lighter. It seemed a long delay when there was
such a hurry, but we soon learned our mistake,
for at 9 A. M. a high official came to beg us, at
the Emperor's urgent request, not to move until
our own dwellings were ready. We were told
that the presence of Americans was considered a
protection, and the ruler of Korea was glad to
have the American flag (God bless her) and
American people at his door. So there we

Visited by the Prince 305
were to stay as long as we liked, but such a
mess !
Nevertheless, thankful indeed we were not to
be turned into the streets till our new house was
ready, so with smiles and hearts at rest we pro
ceeded to straighten our poor upset dwelling.
Long before the Wons were able to get their
boxes out of sight or the rugs and curtains re
placed, who should come paying a neighbourly
visit but the little Prince, the Emperor's youngest
and much petted child. He was only seven and
looked less, but he strode in with great dignity
— though he arrived on a man's back — and in
sisted on shaking hands all round, and in fol
lowing polite foreign custom so far as he was in
formed. He was, of course, surrounded by a crowd of
eunuchs, officials and palace women whom he
ordered about in a lordly way. Some of them
presumed on his presence, to intrude into the bed
rooms, kitchen, etc., for a kugung, * but were
sharply recalled and sternly reprimanded by the
little prince for such unseemly behaviour in the
house of a friend.
He was a sweet-faced little fellow, looking
much like his royal papa, and was really a very
bright boy, with a gentle, sympathetic and
generous nature.
He delighted in buying cakes and goodies
1 A sightseeing.

306 The Boy's Christian Endeavour Society
from the vendors, and having them distributed
to all the workmen and coolies, and there were
many whom the Emperor had already at work
on the place. And when the gateman's little
child fell in her play he sent an official running
in hot haste to inquire if she was hurt. Mrs.
Won managed to sprain her ankle one day, and
when he heard she was suffering, and that the
presence of his retainers at such a time might
disturb her rest, he allowed no one to enter, but
came several times each day to enquire, and sent
fruit and such dainties as his kind little heart
suggested might be appreciated.
On the first day, his first visit was a short one,
but in fifteen minutes there they were all back
again, and dinner had to be left chilling to enter
tain them. However, this royal call also was
brief, but it was evident the duties of his attend
ants were no sinecure, for he proved a very lively
young person indeed, and was in and out of the
house every half hour always with the same
formalities to be laboured through, always the
same crowd of followers as before.
The first day Harry was away, and Harry of
course was the person he most wished to inter
view, not having any foreign playmates, and
being consumed with curiosity as to his manners
and customs, dress, looks, etc. Early next morn
ing, therefore, before the young American was
awake, word came that the little Prince was wait-

A Royal Playfellow 307
ing at the door to see him, and the last thing at
night came a message from his Highness wish
ing him good-night.
This was all extremely kind and flattering, but
things began to have a sameness to Master Harry
after a few days, and to be called from work or
play every few minutes at the beck of a small
boy, with whom he had not a great deal in com
mon, began to pall, somewhat. In a word he
began to find it a little wearisome, but he was
nevertheless good-natured and affable, and as
nearly respectful as was possible, but when the
little royalty ordered him, Harry, an American,
to run up and down simply to amuse him, as he
would wind a mechanical toy forsooth and set it
going to see how it would work, Harry drew the
line, and simply but politely refused. "What,"
said the Prince, who at first could not believe his
ears, "what, will he not do it?" Then burst
forth a peal of uncontrollable delighted laughter.
It was so inexpressibly funny to think that there
really existed a being, and that a mere child who
could dare calmly and coolly to refuse to do his
bidding ! He was quite charmed with Harry ; he
was a great curiosity, and loved him more de
votedly than ever, though he issued no more com
mands to that young person. But though Harry
was not ordered about, everybody else was. One
of the officials near his small Highness, a man of
thirty or forty who, like all his attendants, was

308 The Boy's Christian Endeavour Society
robed in immaculate white silk garments of very
delicate texture, was imperiously ordered to climb
a tall persimmon-tree where Harry had seated
himself among the higher branches, and so thither
the unfortunate man was obliged to go, it need
scarcely be said to the great demoralization of
his flimsy and spotless robes. Another was or
dered to scale a mud wall with results pitiable to
behold, but evidently causing not the least con
cern to the little despot.
As I have said he was a bright little fellow, and
had made good progress already in his Chinese
studies, and withal seemed in every way such a
dear and promising little boy that Mrs. Won's
heart yearned over him, and she longed to snatch
him from the crowd of sycophants and flatterers
who constantly cajoled and deceived him and
whose fawning service choked his manliness,
energy and independence, fostered pride, in
dolence, selfishness, distrust and a host of faults
soon to become vices. To see him trained firmly
and lovingly, and taught what any common
American boy may know, Mrs. Won longed in
expressibly, but could only pray it might be
brought about, how she could not see.
The war, the terrible war that had been gath
ering its clouds so long, had broken over the
devoted little country some time before, but so
far as the Americans in the capital were con
cerned, it brought no trouble, scarce a ripple

War Days . 309
even of anxiety for themselves, though it cost
them many a pang for the country they loved
next their own, and sometimes they almost feared
the end of their work had begun.
To the boys I am afraid the war was almost
welcome. Soldiers arrived in goodly numbers
at the Russian, Japanese, French, Italian, Ger
man, English and American legations. Arms
bristled everywhere, uniforms of many nations
varied the almost universal white of the Korean
people ; there was marching and countermarch
ing, sentinels as thick as flies, roll calls on all
sides, for the Wons had the Russian legation on
one hand, the American on the other and the
French across the street, and when the King
came so near, Korean soldiers and officers
swarmed all around them. There were many
long rows of barracks all over the city, for the
Emperor had nearly ten thousand troops, and
when the Japanese army of thousands of sturdy,
grim, determined little men came pouring into
Seoul, bless you, you couldn't turn around with
out running into a regiment. Nevertheless it was
all remarkably orderly and quiet for a large city
full of the troops of many nations. Nobody had
any complaints to make of the Japanese soldiers,
and seldom were any of them seen drunk. It is
a pity as much could not be said of the Russians
who drank far too much of their terrible vodke
and other poisonous stuff, and ill-treated helpless,

o

l o The Boy's Christian Endeavour Society

unoffending natives in such shocking ways that
every woman in the country wished success to
the Japanese if for nothing but to be rid of the
Russians. " Mamma," said a six year old American friend
of Harry's, " mamma, why do you think God
made Russians ? " And a few minutes later, very
earnestly, " Do you think you would like to sit
next a Russian angel in heaven, mamma?"
But the Russians all left Seoul very soon, for
there was a great battle in Chemulpo, and every
body knows how it ended. It was a thrilling
and terrible thing as Harry and all the rest of
them thought, to hear the solemn, awful booming
of those guns like the tolling of a funeral knell,
thirty miles away, and know they told of men
agonizing and dying, of great ships being torn
and sunk, and that the fate of nations, countless
millions perhaps was hanging in the balance
and that God was working out His great plans
for the kingdom that is to come. They seemed
to hear in those awful thuaderings the echo of
the lofty words of the Battle Hymn
" Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord,
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are
stored,
He hath loosed the fateful lightening of His terrible swift sword,
His truth is marching on."
A few days after the battle, Harry and Wilber

Seeing War Sights 311
went down to the port and saw the poor battered
wrecks in the water, and thousands of Japanese
soldiers disembarking from the transports as fast
as they could be landed, all eager, joyful, proud,
to be going straight to long hardship ; hunger,
cold, weariness, toil, absence from the adored
home land, suffering, probably mutilation and
death, all for Japan. For a better country and a
glorious King shall Christians not gladly endure
hardship as good soldiers and count it all joy
when we fall into divers trials !
The boys thought almost as much of their visit
to the American warship in the harbour, and all
the wonders and glories thereof which they were
politely shown by an officer, as of all the other
sights put together, and they were not a few.
Such a busy scene ! Soldiers everywhere of
course, and people of all nationalities in their
peculiar dress, jostling each other on the crowded
streets. Coolies, pack ponies and hand carts,
loaded and overloaded with all sorts of things
armies need, hurrying hither and yon. Noise,
bustle and confusion everywhere, reporters and
correspondents of the great journals of the world,
some of them bearing famous names, standing
about taking mental notes, or hurrying along
making arrangements for going forward with
the army. Russian and Japanese army and navy
officers clanking about in (to the boys) fascinat
ing uniforms, vendors of all sorts of things,

312 The Boy's Christian Endeavour Society
especially photos of the wrecks in the harbour
and the battle, advertising their wares, most of
them lustily, and beggars in plenty piteously be
seeching you to " give them life," which being
interpreted, is a small fraction of a cent. Alas,
how little does life mean to more than these,
whose ideas of it are bounded by the dimensions
of a piece of money. .How many have yet to
learn from the great Teacher that a man's life
consisteth not in these.
The trains which run between Seoul and
Chemulpo are few and evil ; until quite lately it
took something over two hours to make the
twenty-seven odd miles, and the best time made
now is, I believe, one hour and forty-five minutes,
so the boys had to start back all too soon. They
were expected home by half-past six or at the
latest at eight, but alas when they reached the
office, they found that the time-tables had all
been upset to accommodate the army being
hurried up to the capital, and not a train would
now leave till half-past eight which meant not
getting home till eleven or after. Harry knew
that his mother for one, would be in "a state of
mind," so they went to the telegraph office and
thoughtfully sent a despatch, which would have
been a comfort had it arrived before the boys, but
as the army and navy happened to be overwork
ing the wires like everything else just then, no
message came to pass for hours. The little

Japanese Courtesy 313
party also discovered that not only were the
hours changed, but that all the trains going to
Seoul were reserved for Japanese soldiers and
they could only secure tickets at all through the
grace of a military official permit. So they hied
to the quarters of the gentleman who superin
tended that business, and were asked to wait a
few moments as he was in his bath. In a very
few moments an exceedingly kind and polite per
sonage appeared smiling and perspiring in his
kimono, undoubtedly just emerged, begging they
would excuse his Japanese dress, and with great
alacrity and good nature gave them the needed
pass which secured to them a roomy compart
ment quite to themselves, in a much over
crowded train.
Too much cannot be said in praise of the
courtesy and kindness of Japanese gentlemen,
and the order and discipline maintained in their
army, while, on the other hand, there is much to
be said in deprecation of the rudeness and dan
gerous character of many of their people who
seem to be colonizing Korea by thousands, and
who abound on the streets of the capital.
The soldiers piled into the train that night,
four stout little men each in a seat intended for
two, but the boys made the trip very com
fortably, thanks to the pass that the kind official
had given them. In the meanwhile telegrams
of anxious inquiry had been speeding from Seoul

314 The Boy's Christian Endeavour Society
to Chemulpo and journeys made to the depot
with the comforting information that the trains
were now utterly irregular, were sometimes run
on a siding to remain for hours or all night even,
to accommodate the military trains, and that
they could scarcely expect the boys that night.
Mrs. Won thought of railroad accidents so prob
able under such circumstances, and had visions
of the great waves in the treacherous bay that
have swallowed little boats at a gulp, and vowed
she could never sleep till her boy came home, and
though the Captain didn't say much he was not
at ease. However, a litde before eleven in
walked the truants quite all there.
In a day or so there was a crowd of newspaper
correspondents at the hotel, all in a hurry to be
off to the front, getting their outfits, interpreters,
ponies, guns, and round them at a safe and re
spectable distance, the boys circled in awed and
envious admiration, wishing, with all their foolish
little hearts, that they could go to the war and
witness all the exciting events that would soon
take place. Mrs. Won never could understand
why boys should like noise and a share in fierce
and cruel deeds, when men shoot and cut each
other down. However, when these same corre
spondents came sorrowfully back a few weeks
later, like the King of France who marched up a
hill and them marched down again, or Mary's
little lamb, whom the teacher turned out of

American Soldiers 315
school, the boys realized that even a war re
porter's path is not all roses. At least their lan
guage did not indicate that they thought so.
Here we must leave the war and its story which,
God grant, may have been all told before these
lines are seen. 'Tis a terrible and bloody tale,
and dark look the prospects of this poor little
kingdom of simply kindly folks, which now lies
at the mercy of the Conqueror to be I But we will
trust that God who pities and avenges the weak
in His own way and time, but surely, and who
counts every sparrow that falls, has not forgotten
it. American guards who had seen service in the
Philippines came to the American legation when
the war broke out, of course, and I am sure Harry
and the other American boys would gladly have
lain down and let the soldiers walk over them.
The boys hung round the barracks, acted as inter
preters and ran errands for their heroes and, of
course, at once invited them all to church and
prayer-meeting, an invitation which, however
courteously received, was not, I'm afraid, very
generally or enthusiastically responded to.
They were all friends of Harry's and Harry
loved them all. Some of them had to be asked
to tea, of course, which was yet keener bliss for the
ardent little American, who sat close beside them,
gazing and listening as though they were demi
gods, while they told stories of their experiences

316 The Boy's Christian Endeavour Society
in the Philippines and elsewhere. So the sol
diers came to be a large item in Harry's life and
that of the other boys. Soldier slang, soldier
songs, and stories began to come to Mrs. Won's
ears rather frequently, and she was forced to utter
a word of warning, though she hated to cast a
mist of doubt of the glory of his idols. " They
are brave fellows, dear ; but all sorts of men en
list ; we saw some of them very tipsy more than
once, men who like to stay in those horrible dirty
saloons do not use the best talk, and are not com
panions for children ; you must choose out your
companions among those who are Christians."
But though the intercourse was somewhat re
stricted they all had a strong hold on his affec
tions, and he always had an excuse ready for their
faults, to most of which he was indeed quite blind,
and ardent praises for all their virtues.
A much-prized institution of the foreign chil
dren in Seoul was the Christian Endeavor Society,
which was made up largely of boys and girls who
had mostly been born in Korea, but for all that
were, as I've hinted before, straight enough
Americans, Canadians or English. Nearly all
of them had been in the home lands, some had
been all round the world, for it was pretty nearly
the same thing when their parents took their fur
loughs whether they crossed the Pacific and North
America, or went round through the Suez Canal
and across the Atlantic, so they had seen mapy

Cosmopolitan Children 317
lands, many kinds of peoples and customs, and
been in all sorts of queer places. Most of them
talked Korean like natives. One of Harry's
friends in Cheefoo talked three languages fluently
at five, for his parents being German, his nurse
Chinese and his playmates English, he needed
to use them all. As for Harry he had seen the
beautiful park, the cherry blossoms, Zoo, and the
wonderful tableau flower show in Tokyo, the parks
and gardens in Hongkong, Singapore and Paris,
the beautiful aquarium in Naples, the picture gal
leries and churches in Rome, Florence and Venice,
had walked through the ghostly streets of Pompeii,
sauntered through the London tower, the British
Museum, the Zoo and Madam Tussaud, so he and
the others too had had more than a glimpse at
the world's peep show, if they did not live in an
out-of-the-way corner, nor were they at all behind
their cousins who lived in America in the educa
tion that is won from books ; still their parents
felt they lacked, and feared their character might
suffer, for the bracing Christian atmosphere of a
large American community, and the privileges
of the warm shelter of American Church life. So
a Christian Endeavor Society was suggested, to
give the children training in Christian work, a
sort of little hot-bed in the chilly heathen weather
for their imported plants. Everybody fell in
heartily with the idea. A young missionary
was found who willingly took charge of the

31 8 The Boy's Christian Endeavour Society
society, and the boys and girls joined with en
thusiasm, except Forest, who, being a nervous
boy, was so afraid he might not keep the pledge
he refused to sign it. Harold, and Mary Moose
were obliged to print their names; but never
mind, it was quite readable.
The young members contributed very gener
ously of time, strength and money.
Laurence was the oldest, in all the dignity of
sixteen, then Lera, Myrtie, Harry, Helen, Wilber,
Douglas, Fred, John, Bowling, Foster, Stella,
Madeline, Max, Newlon, Ruby, Lisette, Mary,
Harold. They were a pretty busy crowd of chil
dren. Before Christmas of course everybody
was making presents for everybody else, as well
as for some of the Koreans, but not counting that,
they all or nearly all, raised vegetables, fruits,
flowers or chickens, which they sold to each oth
er's fathers and mothers or their own ; the girls
knitted and sewed, some of the boys and girls,
too, chopped wood famously, and then there
were errands and lessons, but nevertheless their
Christian Endeavour was not a bit slighted. The
committee for visitation of the sick were found
with flowers and rosy, shining faces in many
sick rooms, and proved to be a very good medi
cine indeed.
All who could read took turns in leading the
meeting, and felt the dignity and responsibility
involved.

Boy Missionaries 319
Harry, Wilber and Douglas, the missionary
committee, to which John was afterwards added,
at once bought tracts, and proceeded to dis
tribute them. The novelty of little foreign boys
offering them on the street aroused curiosity,
and they were thronged with applicants. Sol
diers in the barracks let down baskets from their
high windows, and the street cars considerately
stopped, till they could board, give eager pas
sengers one, and jump off. The report for one
month which was not one of the best, was 3,000
tracts distributed by this committee. In this work
they invited native boys of their own age to a
little Sunday-school class, which Wilber superin
tended, and soon quite a number of little fellows
were coming every Sunday. Wilber could not
read the native characters nor could any of the
boys, nor were they enough older than their
pupils to undertake much instruction, so after
singing and a little quiet talk, they were taken
into the regular Sunday-school. This class was
usually quite full, but with a somewhat changing
audience, and how to keep those who had once
come was a problem, but Wilber had an idea,
and he and Harry, having talked the matter
over, arranged that those who would come regu
larly for three weeks, should be promised a magic
lantern exhibition. Fifteen were faithful, and on
Saturday afternoon Professor Harry was on hand
with his toy lantern, and proceeded to entertain

320 The Boy's Christian Endeavour Society
the crowd. His slides were mostly comic, but
having borrowed some from a friend who had a
fair assortment such as they were, they were
described and commented on with dignity mixed
with humour, jokes at the expense of some of his
Korean cronies were indulged in, to the delight
of everybody, and the young lecturer's efforts
seemed, by the rapt attention and delighted
laughter of the crowd, to be most successful.
Moreover Lera, who had a class of native girls,
asked for a repetition for their benefit, and this
was followed by another request for another class
of boys elsewhere, and so the American toy
helped on the kingdom just a wee bit, for two of
those boys were baptized that year.
One Sunday when the boys' tracts were all
gone, and they had searched their fathers' book
rooms in vain, the elders all being at Korean
service, they found in the Korean waiting-room a
delightfully big pile of the very things they wanted,
which were forthwith speedily distributed to the
very last leaf. But when the young natives' mis
sionary society, who had bought those tracts with
their own savings, and were intending to give
them out in suburban villages after preaching
that very afternoon, came and found their supply
all gone there were long faces, anxious inquiries,
eager searching on all hands, especially as none
could be bought that day. When the real culprits
were discovered the mistake was. very good-na-

The Home for Children 321
turedly condoned, and it was difficult to persuade
the owners to accept the price ; but the boys
would not hear of anything else, and so it was
all settled quite comfortably. At Christmas the
children decided to give a feast to the Home for
Destitute Children. There are, as I have ex
plained, innumerable friendless little ones in
Korea either on the streets, or the slaves and
dependents of those who do not love them, per
haps in Buddhist temples, or the houses of the
sorcerers. A large (according to Kerean no
tions) native house and beautiful grounds on a
healthy hillside had been given for this home
and a few children gathered in.
The support of this institution was very precari
ous, being fathered by no boards, which do not
patronize charitable institutions, and so it had to
depend on the occasional generosity of a friend
here and there, and the gifts of the missionaries
and other foreigners in Seoul. The school is now
without sufficient funds to pay the salary of a for
eign superintendent, but they still hold on to it,
and keep it running with a native caretaker,
rather than turn the homeless little fellows back
into the street. The plan of the committee is to
teach these children trades, so that they may sup
port themselves as soon as may be, and help pay
expenses. The missionaries of all denominations
hope to see it well supported, instead of strug
gling for bare existence ; for to save the young

322 The Boy's Christian Endeavour Society
before their hearts have been steeped in vice
and their minds warped to evil is to gain a
long advantage in the race with the powers of
darkness. The foreign children therefore had
planned to do their share to help. All had con
tributed generously, and all went out to the home
on the occasion of the feast, to play games and
give the litde waifs as good a time as possible,
and mingle in as merry a game of romps as
though a wide, deep and almost impassible gulf
did not lie between them ; yet, nevertheless, there
it was, black and sullen, for on the one side were
children whose birthright was civil and religious
liberty, the breath of whose nostrils was freedom,
purity and love, who claimed sonship of God, and
whose dwelling was in His light, along whose
sunny well-hedged pathway were the fruits and
flowers of the tree of Life, who had already drunk
of the water of Life, and tasted its Bread, before
whom shone steadily the star of Hope, growing
brighter and brighter to the perfect day, while on
that other brink ! Poor little flotsam and jetsam
of the scum of heathenism, chilling in the bitter,
biting blasts of adversity ! Souls starving in
ignorance, darkness, disease, crime, folly. Hither
to this shelter they had been gathered with no
more light or hope than wild animals, no dim
inkling of what real mother love could be, or a
home or even a word to express it, or a remote
dream of it, in its plainest interpretation as

Heathen Flotsam and Jetsam 323
familiar to those foreign children. But now a
light was beginning to shine dimly ; they had
been told matters strange and hard to under
stand. Somewhat of One who loved them
(though of love their ideas were very misty, not
yours or mine) who had died for them ; and of
the great God who was their father. All this,
however, they did not try to comprehend as yet.
It was no doubt some deep philosophy, too deep
for boys and women, but at times they pondered
it, and in the meanwhile food, clothing, warmth,
physical and moral, from foreigners was a
strange and good thing, and was, they knew,
connected in some way with Him who loved
and died for them.
So after all the gulf between them and the little
Americans was not entirely impassible or quite
hopeless, however much it looked so, for that
hidden Love that yearned over them, from whose
light sin had kept them hidden, could -bridge it
all. When Harry was eleven, and had sat at the
native communion service, where boys only a
little older than himself were joining the fellow
ship, and as he felt the holy impulses that seemed
to weight the atmosphere at the sacramental
seasons when many eyes were wet with love and
thankful sorrow, he had begged to be allowed to
join the Korean Church, but fearing mere child
ish impulse might have instigated the wish, his

324 The Boy's Christian Endeavour Society
parents put him off nearly two years, but after
that they could refuse no more, and not only he,
but three of the older children had joined the
Church. Of course the younger boys all looked forward
to it, too, and had a grave respect for those who
had taken this step, which I fear they did not de
serve. Harry was telling rather a tall yarn which
Edmund refused to believe. " Why, Edmund,"
said John, " I shall go right home and tell mamma
if you don't believe Harry ; don't you know he is
a Christian, and besides he is a Presbyterian 1 "
No answer ; the small doubter was silenced if not
convinced by so powerful an argument.
Harry is getting too old to be written about
any more ; there will soon begin a new chapter
in his life like that in the Hie pi every American
child in Eastern lands, half delightful, half dread
ful. They are going ten thousand miles away
from parents, brothers, sisters and playmates, to
be plunged into life of a new kind by themselves,
never to return to the home as children again,
if at all.
Fathers and mothers put it off as long as
possible, put away even the thought that will
stalk forth at unexpected moments, mostiy in the
lonely night watches, when he forthwith proceeds
to wind his long, cruel fingers among their heart
strings and tear them, so that people say next
day, " How pale you look ! " or whisper to each

Education Pangs 325
other, " How old and wrinkled he or she is grow
ing 1 "
Sometimes the mother goes with the children,
and then there remains behind a lonely, home
less man, toiling away, with his heart across the
seas, and over yon there is a wife who lives a
widow, and children who grow estranged, scarcely
know their own fathers by sight, and pass their
youth without a home, for the man must be left
thus, or the children must be pushed out into the
world, at too tender an age to meet its tempta
tions unguided and unsupported. The choice is
not easy, or likely to prove satisfactory either
way. Do we Americans make a Moloch of
schooling, "education," so-called, and sacrifice
our children and our homes upon it ? The home
is broken up forever ! those who have been so
inexpressibly near and precious will not meet
again till the gulf of change and years lies be
tween. As one by one the others have gone away,
Harry is left the oldest one, and somewhat alone.
Mother and father bring out their favourite books
of poetry, history and fiction, the best magazines
are subscribed for, and certain others carefully
dropped ; they play chess, checkers, etc. ; they
study the catalogues for new games, but they are
busy folks. Harry has some lonely hours, and
then Mother Won questions her own heart
solemnly, is she wronging her boy, keeping him

326 The Boy's Christian Endeavour Society
away from the joyous young life of his own
country and people ?
The Spectre is coming very near, the rack turns
yet another notch every day. God help Tomp
kins' Amonni when the time comes. Aye and
so He will, and her dearest hope for her boy is,
in spite of all the pain, that when preparing days
are done he may be so honoured as to " be
allowed of God to be put in trust for the gospel,"
in Korea.
So let us too hope, that in later years our young
American may take up the story of a new Korean
people, happier, civilized, enlightened, not with
that superficial veneer of civilization which is
satisfied with imitating the unessential and effemi
nating results of the true, which touch only out
ward appearances, but the real, the Christian civ
ilization, which begins from within, in a new life
in the heart of the people, in the people's hearts.
A Life whose very motive power is unselfish Love,
which works out in fair blossoms and sound fruit
of "nobler modes of life, sweeter manners, purer
laws" and they
" No longer half akin to brute;
For all we thought, and loved, and did,
And hoped, and suffered, is but seed
Of what in them is flower and fruit."

THE END

Printed in the United States of America.

THE MINISTER AND HIS WORK
7HISELT0N MARK, D.Lit.
The Pedagogics of Preaching
A Short Essay in Practical Homiletics. Net 50c.
Much has been done for the Teacher in showing him
the practical application in his work of the findings of the
new Psychology, but comparatively little has been done in
the field of "Psychology and Preaching." This scholarly and
yet popular book applies to the art of preaching methods
which have long been followed in the training of teachers.
FRANK W. GUNSAULUS. P.P.
The Minister and The Spiritual Life
Yale Lectures on Preaching for 1911. Net $1.25.
Among the phases of this vital subject treated by the
pastor of The Central Church, Chicago, are: The Spiritual
Life and Its Expression in and Through Ministering; The
Spiritual Life in View of Changes in Philosophical and
Theological View-Points; The Spiritual Life in Its Rela
tion to Truth and Orthodoxy; The Spiritual Life and
Present Social Problems, etc.
PROF. A, T. ROBERTSON, P.P.
The Glory of the Ministry
Paul's Exultation in Preaching. Cloth, net $1.25.
Rev. F. B. Meyer says: "I think it is the best of all
your many books and that is saying a good deal. #Its il
luminating references to the Greek text, its graphic por
traiture of the great Apostle, its allusions to recent liter
ature and current events, its pointed and helpful instruc
tions to the ministry combine to give it very special value."
SAMUEL CHARLES BLACK, P.P.
Building a Working Church
i2tno, cloth, net $1.25.
Every pastor or church officer no matter how successful
he may be, will find practical, vital suggestions for strength
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thor makes every chapter bear directly upon some specific
phase of the church building problem.
WILLIAM B* BARTON, P. D.
Rules of Order for Religious Assemblies
i8mo, cloth, net 50c.
This work is entirely undenominational and will be
found adapted to use in any religious assembly whether
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BIOGRAPHY

ROBERT E. SPEER, P. D.
The Foreign DodlOr : "The Hakim Sahib"
A Biography of Joseph Plumb Cochran, M.D., of
Persia. Illustrated, i2mo, cloth, net $1.50.
Dr. Cochran came to a position of power in Western
Persia which made his life as interesting as a romance. Ht
was one of the central figures in the Kurdish invasion df
Persia, and was the chief means of saving the city of Ura-
mia. in no other biography is there as full an account of the
actual medical work done by the medical missionary, and of
the problem of the use of the political influence acquired by
a man of Dr. Cochran's gifts and opportunities.
HENRY D. PORTER, M.D., P.P.
William Scott Ament Am^Z°Boldoftothcuna.
Illustrated, 8vo, cloth, net $1.50.
A biography of one of the most honored missionaries of
the Congregational Church, whose long and effective service in
China has inscribed his name high in the annals of those
whose lives have been given to the uplift of their fellowmen.
MARY GRIP LEY ELLIN WO OP
Frank Field EUinwood Presbn^tan P. r Aboard
His Life and_ Work. Illustrated, cloth, net $1.00.
A charming biography of one of the greatest missionary
leaders of the Nineteenth Century. — Robert B. Speer.
ANTONIO ANDREA ARRIGHI
The Story of Antonio the Galley Slave
With Portrait, l2tno, cloth, net $1.25.
"Reads like a romance, and the wonderful thing about
1/ it is that it is true. A fervid religious experience, a passion
for service and good intellectual equipment were his splendid
preparation for a great missionary work among his country
men in America." — Zion's Herald.
GEORGE MULLER
CJporCP lVTllll*»r The Modern Apostle of Faith
vieorge iviuuer, By Frederick g Warne
New Edition, including the Later Story of the Bristol Orphan
Home. Illustrated, cloth, net 75c.
"What deep attractiveness is found in this life of the
great and simple-hearted apostle." — Christian Advocate.
KINGSTON PE GRUCHE
Dr. Apricot of "Heaven-Below"
Illustrated, ovo, cloth, net $1.00.
"No one who has read this book will ever afterwards
repeat the threadbare objection, "I don't believe in mis
sions." — Continent

MISSIONS, BIOGRAPHICAL

DR. GEORGE BROWN
The Life of Dr. George Brown
Pioneer, Explorer and Missionary. An Autobiography,
with in illustrations and map. 8vo, Cloth, net $3.50.
"Since the appearance of John G. Paton's Autobiography
we have read no work of such entrancing interest. It is a
narrative of this pioneer missionary's forty-eight years of
residence and travel in Samoa, New Britain, New Ireland,
New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands." — British Weekly.
JESSE PAGE, F. R. G. S.

The Black Bishop sJ^ffij^.
Preface by Eugene Stock, D. C. L,., with frontispiece,
sixteen illustrations and map. 8vo, Cloth, net $2.00.
"The simple life-story, told mainly by himself, of a
West African who was a kidnapped slave when a boy of fif
teen and forty-three years later became the first negro bishop
of the Church of England. Much information is given be
side the biographical details, about the problems presented
by the Nigerian peoples to their white rulers and particularly
of the extent, influence and probable future of the Moham
medan, invasion." — Nation.
W. H. T. GAIRDNER, B. A.
DlVf Thornton A Study in Missionary
. 1V1. 1UUIUIUU Ideals and Methods.
Nine illustrations, 121110, Cloth, net $1.25.
"The Student Movement" says: "It is likely to dominate
the thoughts of the missionary thinker for many years."
Devoted largely to experiences in Egypt and lessons gath
ered on this field — it tells of a man who devoted his intel
lectual powers to thinking out the wider problems of the
evangelization of the world and the spread of Christian in
stitutions in Mission lands.
GEORGE HAWKER
The Life of George Grenfell,
Congo Missionary and Explorer
Illustrated, 8vo, Cloth, net $2.00.
"This may be regarded as a companion volume to Sir
Harry Johnston's 'George Grenfell and the Congo'— it was,
indeed, originally arranged that Sir Harry Johnston and Mr.
Hawker should collaborate in a single volume as a memorial
to one of the greatest names in the annals of equatorial
Africa." — London Times.
REV. JAMES WELLS, P. P.
Stewart of Lovedale
The Romance of Missions in Africa told in the Lite of
James Stewart, D. A., M. D., F. R. G. S. With forty-two
illustrations and two maps. 8vo, Cloth, net $1.50.
"We may heartily congratulate Dr. Wells on having
written a book that will live, and more than that, a book that
will create life wherever it is read." — Dr. Robertson Nicoll,
in the British Weekly.

FOREIGN MISSIONS

ROBERT E. SPEER The Cole Lectures for 191 1.
Some Great Leaders in the World
Movement 121110, cloth, net $1.25.
Mr. Speer in his characteristic inspiring way has pre
sented the key note of the lives of six of the World's^ great
est missionaries: Raymond Lull, the crusading spirit in mis
sions; William Carey, the problems of the pioneer; Alexander
Duff, Missions and Education; George Bowen, ^the ascetic
ideal in missions; John Lawrence, politics and missions; and
Charles G. Gordon, modern missionary knight-errancy.
S. M. ZWEMER, F.R.G.S., and Others
Islam and Missions
i2tno, cloth, net $1.50.
This volume presents the papers read at the^ Second
Conference on Missions to Moslems, recently held in Luck-
now, India. The contributors are all experts of large ex
perience in such mission effort.
VAN SOMMER, ANNIE, and Others
Daylight in the Harem
A New Era for Moslem Women. In Press.
Woman's work for Woman is nowhere more needed than
on the part of Christian women for their sisters of Islam.
it is a most difficult field of service, but this volume by au
thors long and practically interested in this important Chris
tian ministry, demonstrates how effectually this work has
opened and is being carried forward with promising results.
ROBERTA. HUME, P.P.
An Interpretation of India's Religious
J-Ti ^Tit-v Introduction bv President Kins, LL.D
niMOry ofOberlin College
i2mo, cloth, net $1.25.
The author of this careful, though popular, study, is
eminently qualified to deal with the subject of his thought
ful volume. Equipped for this purpose through long resi
dence in India and intimate study of India's religious his
tory _ what he says will be accepted as the estimate and in
terpretation of an authority.
MARGARET E. BURTON
The Education of Women in China
Illustrated, i2mo, cloth, net $1.25.
The author of this scholarly study of the Chinese woman
*™ education is the daughter of Prof. Ernest E. Burton, of
the University of Chicago  The work is probably the
most thorough study of an important phase of the economic
development of the world's most populous country that has
appeared.

FOREIGN MISSIONS

Z. S. LOFTIS, M. P.
• A Message from Batang
The Diary of Z. S. Loftis, M.D. Illustrated,,
i2mo, cloth, net 75c.
Dr. Loftis went out to Tibet as a medical missionary of
the Disciples Church. His diary contains the events of the
outgoing trip together with incidents of the daily life of a
missionary in this "closed" land.
HON. WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
The Fruits of the Tree
i6mo» boards, net 35c.
This is the address which Mr. Bryan delivered at the
World's Missionary Conference at Edinburgh and contains
his views on missions — views which are the result of hits
personal and painstaking investigation on foreign fields.
HELEN S. PYER Pandita Ramabai
The Story of Her Life. Second Edition. Illus
trated, i2mo, cloth, $1.25.
"The story of a wonderful life, still in the midcareer of
high usefulness. 'Pandita' should be known to all American
women." — The Outlook.
MINERVA L. GUTHAPFEL
The Happies!: Girl in Korea
And Other Sketches from the Land of Morning
Calm. Illustrated, i2tno, cloth, net 60c.
These sketch stories of actual life in Korea by a mis
sionary of experience and insight portray conditions of reaJ
life; they combine humor, pathos and vivid description.
JOHN JACKSON
Secretary to the Mission to Lepers in India and the East.
Mary Reed, Missionary to the Lepers
New Edition. Illustrated, i2tno, cloth, net 50c.;
paper, net 25c.
G. T. B. PA VIS Korea for Christ
Illustrated, paper, net 25c.
An effective report of the recent revivals in Korea told
by an eye witness, who himself participated in the work.

MISSIONARY

The World Missionary Conference
The Report of the Ecumenical Conference held in Edinburgh
in iqio. In nine volumes, each, net 75c; the complete set
of nine volumes, net $5.00.
A whole missionary library by experts and wrought up to
the day and hour. The Conference has been called a modern
council of Nicea and the report the greatest missionary pub
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Vol. 1. Carrying the Gospel. Vol. 6. The Home Base.
Vol. 2. The Church in the Vol. 7. Missions and Govern
Mission Field. ments.
Vol. 3. Christian Education. Vol. 8. Co-operation and
Vol. 4. The Missionary Mes- Unity.
sage. Vol. 9. History, Records and
Vol. 5. Preparation of Mis- Addresses.
sionaries.
Echoes from Edinburgh, 1910
By W. H. T. Gairdner, author oftl£>. M. Thornton.:'
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The popular story of the Conference — its preparation— its
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HENRY H. JESSUP'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Fifty-three Years in Syria
Introduction by James S. Dennis. Two volumes, illustrated,
8vo, cloth, boxed, net $5.00.
"A rich mine of information for the historian, the eth
nologist and the student of human nature apart from the
labors to which the author devoted his life. A thoroughly in
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ROBERT E. SPEER
Christianity and the Nations
The Duff Lectures for 1910.
8vo, cloth, net $2.00.
Among the many notable volumes that have resulted
from the well-known Duff foundation Lectureship this new
work embodying the series given by Mr. Robert E. Speer
in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, will rank among the
most important. The general theme, "The Reflex Influence
of Missions Upon the Nations," suggests a large, important,
and most interesting work,
G. T. B. DAVIS Korea for Christ
asc net
An effective report of the recent revivals in Korea told hf
an eye witness, who himself participated in the work.

IN OTHER LANDS

ISAAC TAYLOR HEADLANP
Court Life in China : The Caap^eopi?fficials
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Empress Dowager, but no one has previously succeeded in
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Mrs. Headland has been of material assistance in her hus-
band*s preparation of this work. In her professional ca
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court, having had many audiences with the Empress Dowager,
herself. GERALD1NE GUINNESS
Peru : Its Story, People and Religion
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Spain of To-day from Within
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SUSAN BALLARD
Fairy Tales from Far Japan
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DEVOTIONAL STUDIES

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Quiet Talks About Our Lord's Return
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YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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