The Return to Taku
By Mr. CARL G. COWMAN, Taku, Yunnan
IT was the 14th day of the 1st moon (Chinese
reckoning—March 4th, by foreign calendar) that
we left Taku in the escort of a band of forty-two
villanous bandits: On the 14th day of the 8th moon
I was escorted back in triumph by a much larger
rejoicing Christians. The
the procession
became. I was overcome with emotion when at a turn in the road the station came into view. As
we arrived at a level spot above the village I stopped
the crowd and together we sang, "Yesterday, today, for ever, Jesus is the same !" There were so many lumps in our throats that we had a hard time
finishing it. Upon arrival at the Mission premises we all as- sembled in front of the house and had another song —the Doxology—and prayer. Soon the call "Come
to meal" came, and I went down to the drill ground
where a feast had been prepared which was attended
by the representatives of a number of villages.
Truly, "Thou preparest a table before me in the
presence of mine enemies." The last time I had seen
the spot it was filled with robbers.
After this I came up and reluctantly started an
inspection of the house. There certainly was not a great deal left in the house to inspect, for the robbers had looted it three times—March 4th, and
August 26th and 28th. It was said that they were
coming again but were forbidden by their "yingchang." so called. But as I went through the house
from room to room I began to realize in a practical
way how to "take joyfully the spoiling" of our
goods. Thank God for the better and enduring substance ! Needless to say, the first few meetings
were joyous occasions. On Sunday a big crowd was
in from all the surrounding villages.