^0'^-%'^ 
 
 USTRATeo 
 
^.dl.'oi^ 
 
 «»jS PRINCETON, N. J. '^ 
 
 Purchased by the Hamill Missionary Fund, 
 
 BV 3269 .D68 D68 1904 
 Downie, Annie Hershey, 1852 
 The young missionary 
 
The Young Missionary 
 
^m9 missionary 
 
 The Story of tlie 
 
 Cife of nmk Kennard Downie 
 
 Bv HER MOTHER 
 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 Bmcrican JiSaptist publication Society 
 
 1904 
 
Copyright 1904 by the 
 American Baptist Publication Society 
 
 Published February, 1904 
 
 jfrom tbc Soctct>9*s own ipresg 
 
PREFACE 
 
 IF any one thinks that the romance of missions 
 has departed, let him read the life of Irene V. 
 Petrie, of Cashmere, a young honorary missionary 
 of the Church Missionary Society of England. 
 The story of this gifted young lady's life and la- 
 bors in Cashmere is one of the most deeply inter- 
 esting and thrilling biographies we have ever read. 
 Well-born, with a host of friends among the best 
 people in England, artistic, musical, and cultured, 
 she gave up all the pleasures of a refined life in 
 London, and went to the mission field out of pure 
 love to God and because her heart yearned over 
 her dark-skinned sisters in India. 
 
 In reading the story of this beautiful life, we 
 have constantly been reminded of another girl, the 
 story of whose life seems to us eminently worthy 
 of being recorded, not simply as an illustration of 
 a consecrated missionary life, but as an inspiration 
 and incentive to other young women to devote 
 themselves to the same blessed work. 
 
 In the preface of Miss Petrie' s biography there 
 is a striking illustration of how a young life may 
 be blasted for want of a proper motive at the out- 
 set. A young Russian girl, well-born, attractive, 
 
 V 
 
pretace 
 
 gifted, ambitious and successful as a musician and 
 artist wrote her autobiography. In the beginning 
 she frankly confessed that in setting out in life her 
 most earnest prayer was : ** God, grant me hap- 
 piness, make my life what I should like it to be." 
 But she died early and left this testimony behind 
 her : *• I am so unhappy, all is wretchedness and 
 misery; I don't know whether there is a God or 
 not." If, as Irene Petrie and Annie Downie did, 
 she had given her life at the beginning to God's 
 keeping and sought the happiness of others, rather 
 than her own, her life would have been holier and 
 happier, and others would not have had to turn 
 from the record with such pity and sorrow. 
 
 A. H. D. 
 
 VI 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 1. Child Life in India n 
 
 11. Child Life in America 20 
 
 HI. A Re-united Family 28 
 
 IV. THE Return to India 34 
 
 V. WORK and Play 44 
 
 VI. A Call to Mission work .52 
 
 Vll. THE return to America 62 
 
 VIII. A term of Bible Study 70 
 
 IX. AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 78 
 
 X. A Second term of Service 86 
 
 XI. A TRANSLATION 94 
 
 XII. A RETROSPECT 100 
 
 vii 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Annie Kcunard Donmie {Frontispiece) 
 
 Mission House, Nellore 12 
 
 ''East and West'' 19 
 
 Temple Gateway near Nellore 56 
 
 Nellore Boys'" Boarding Seliool 52 
 
 A Christmas Feast at Nellore yo 
 
 Student Volunteer Band at Newton yd 
 
 The Downie Family in igoi y8 
 
 Nellore Girls' Boarding School go 
 
 Hindu Girls 92 
 
 Educated Christians . - 97 
 
 Her Resting-place 10^ 
 
 ix 
 
The Young Missionary 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 CHII.D LIFE IN INDIA 
 
 Sometime when all life's lessons have been learned, 
 
 And sun and stars for evermore have set. 
 The things which our weak judgment here has spurn'd, 
 
 The things o'er which we grieved with lashes wet, 
 Will flash before us out of life's dark night, 
 
 As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue ; 
 And we shall see how all God's plans were right. 
 
 And how what seemed reproof was love most true. 
 
 'N the southeastern part of India, thirty- 
 five miles north of the large city of 
 Madras, begins the Telugu country. 
 Nellore, the chief town of the district 
 of that name, is situated on the Penaar River, one 
 hundred and eight miles north of Madras and six- 
 teen miles inland from the Bay of Bengal. It is a 
 town of thirty thousand inhabitants, and is well 
 known to the Baptists of the United States of 
 America, as the original station of the famous Te- 
 lugu mission, which was called "The Lone Star." ^ 
 
 1 See "The Lone Star. The History of the Telugu Mission of the 
 American Baptist Missionary Union," by David Dovvnie, D. D., Missionary 
 at Nellore. American Baptist Publication Society. 
 
 II 
 
Zhc ^oxxm nntsstonarp 
 
 The mission compound is situated half a mile 
 from the river and near the great Northern Trunk 
 Road. The mission bungalow was built in 1840, 
 by Rev. Samuel S. Day, the founder of the mis- 
 sion, and here Annie Kennard Downie was born, 
 April 30, 1875. 
 
 The Telugus are very fond of children and the 
 rejoicing was sincere when the little one came. 
 
 THE MISSION HOUSE, NELLORE 
 
 Some would have preferred a boy, for boys are 
 considered " a heritage from the Lord," but there 
 had been no children for so long in the big house, 
 they were glad to welcome even a girl. Old 
 Lydia, one of the Bible women, came to the 
 bungalow and said in her impressive way : "We 
 were thankful when a mother came to us, but we 
 are still more thankful now that we have a sister 
 too, for lonely is the house without a child." 
 
 Annie was dedicated to the Lord from her birth 
 and was carefully taught his word, so it was not 
 
 12 
 
CbilD Xite in ITnMa 
 
 at all strange to us that she should early give her- 
 self to him and that her life should be consecrated 
 to his service. 
 
 She had her share of infantile troubles. When 
 only eight months old she had an attack of fever, 
 ushered in by strong convulsions. After several 
 weeks of suffering, when hope seemed in vain, we 
 surrendered her absolutely to God and were able 
 to say: ** Thy will, not ours, be done." Imme- 
 diately the disease was stayed and we always felt 
 sure that God had restored her to health because 
 he had some work for her to do. When able to 
 be carried around the house she seemed full of 
 gladness at being alive and she would beam on 
 us and laugh, until all in the house were infected 
 by her mirth. All through her life she kept that 
 laughing countenance. 
 
 The life of an English or American child in 
 India is very different from what it would be in 
 its own country. There cannot be the same free- 
 dom in play out of doors, for the sun is a deadly 
 enemy, and the children must stay a good deal 
 in semi-darkened rooms, going out only in the early 
 morning or after four in the afternoon. Then, in- 
 doors, are centipedes and scorpions with occasional 
 snakes, some of them very deadly; so the children 
 cannot be left alone day or night, and when not 
 with their parents must have an attendant near. 
 
 We were fortunate in securing a good Christian 
 13 
 
XTbe lacuna fmtsstonat^ 
 
 woman as ayah^ or nurse. She had had nine chil- 
 dren of her own and gave a mother's care to those 
 entrusted to her. As Annie grew older Janet kept 
 her from coming in contact with the evil that is all 
 around in a tropical country, and taught her many 
 a Bible story. The child loved her ayah dearly and 
 when she was with her we felt no anxiety. 
 
 When Annie was twenty-three months old a 
 little sister came to share our affections. We were 
 anxious that there should be no jealousy on the 
 part of the elder sister, so her father said : ** There 
 is a little baby in here; it is Annie's baby. Come 
 see it ! " The tot understood her father to say 
 "birdie" and was immediately interested. She 
 ran to the basket where the infant of a few hours 
 lay and pulled herself up so that she could peer 
 over the edge, calling out: "Tahtu, tahtu, Annie 
 got tahtu?" This was her name for bird, and 
 for years after the pet name of the second daughter 
 was "Tahtu." 
 
 Before the sister was a month old Annie went 
 with her father to the Hills, as his health had given 
 out. There an attack of sickness again brought 
 her to death's door. She was so reduced by this 
 illness that she had to learn again how to walk. 
 
 She early developed a love of nature and was 
 always finding and cherishing queer creatures. 
 When three years old, we were spending a few 
 weeks on Udayagiri Droog, a hill three thousand 
 
 M 
 
c:bil^ Xite in UnMa 
 
 feet high, sixty miles west of Nellore. Here she 
 ran about among the rocks most of the day and 
 her pockets were usually full of slugs and bettles. 
 Sometimes she would lay in our hand a queer 
 beetle with a horny back that would roll into a ball 
 when touched. She never hurt anything that had 
 life and loved to have pets near her. 
 
 The schoolboys in Nellore appreciated this love 
 for pets and were constantly bringing her baby 
 squirrels, young parrots, and mina birds. Among 
 the pets that she had at various times were guinea 
 pigs, white rabbits, and antelopes. But it is hard 
 to keep pets in India and many a tear was shed 
 when some loved animal fell a prey to some treach- 
 erous rat or cat, to a pariah dog, or to disease. 
 
 The Rajah of Venkatagiri came into town once 
 with his eight elephants. They paraded the streets 
 and one came into our compound. Annie was de- 
 lighted with the way the huge creature salaamed 
 with its trunk, knelt down and rose at the word of 
 command, and begged for fruit, and her heart 
 was at once set on possessing one for a pet. Not 
 long after, when starting for Madras, we asked 
 her what we should bring her. Without a mo- 
 ment's hesitation she said: " A baby elephant." 
 On our return we gave her a toy elephant which 
 was received with a burst of tears. When asked 
 what was the matter, she sobbed out, *' I wanted 
 a live baby elephant." 
 
 B 15 
 
XTbe 13ouna nnisstonar^ 
 
 She loved all out-doors and learned the names 
 of the trees and flowers. She spent many happy- 
 hours in the garden chattering to the gardener, 
 coming in with her hands full of the sweet cork 
 tree or orange blossoms which she would string 
 into garlands for her hair and neck. This love of 
 nature followed her through life. ** I always con- 
 nect trailing arbutus with Annie," writes her aunt, 
 " because when we came across it one day at Bel- 
 mar, she threw herself down on the earth in a lov- 
 ing embrace, exclaiming, * Oh, the Mayflower, the 
 Mayflower!' '* Her uncle also tells of a time 
 when walking with him in Brooklyn Park she 
 seemed to know every tree and once threw her 
 arms right around one which appeared to be a 
 special favorite. 
 
 Her nature was very sensitive. Even as a child 
 she dreaded a rebuke and a sharp word would 
 bring tears to her eyes in a moment. As she tried 
 to do what was right she seldom had to be rebuked 
 and still more seldom punished. Occasionally it 
 was necessary to chide her for some childish burst 
 of temper or for failing to share her playthings, 
 but all that was needed was a quiet suggestion to 
 go find some other mother, that her mother did not 
 like little girls who acted in that way. She would at 
 once cry and say, ** Please be my mother, I don't 
 want any other mother, I'll be good." At times 
 when she felt we were displeased with her, she 
 
 i6 
 
(Tbilb %iU in IfnMa 
 
 would kneel behind a door and ask God to forgive 
 her, then coming to us would say, " God has for- 
 given me, now won't you forgive me too?" She 
 thus early learned to take her troubles to the Lord. 
 
 She was fond of books at an early age and 
 though she did not begin lessons before she went 
 to America, yet she learned her letters from the 
 ^ya/i and her blocks and could read easy books 
 before she was seven. She loved to be read to, 
 her favorites being •* Peep of Day," ** Line upon 
 Line," and " Little Pillows." When we were too 
 busy to read to her, which was often the case, she 
 would ask the aya/i or Julia to read to her. The 
 "children's hour" was at noon when the house 
 was still and they were ready for the daily nap. 
 Many a beautiful Bible tale or child's book from 
 America was read to the eager little listeners be- 
 fore they could be quieted down and the eyelids 
 close over the bright eyes. 
 
 Annie was a help in mission work. When we 
 went out into camp taking the two little girls, the 
 heathen women would come to the tent to see the 
 ** white babies " and we have heard Annie talking 
 to them telling why her parents had come to India 
 and about the Jesus they preached. Once, after a 
 wearisome day, when we were sitting quietly inside 
 the tent, Annie came, saying: "Some women 
 have come, mamma, come and talk to them." 
 " Mamma is very tired, dear, she cannot come 
 
 17 
 
trbe 13ovinc} nntssionar^ 
 
 now/' was the answer. ** Yes, but mamma they 
 have come, and some one must talk to them," 
 persisted the child. **Well, you go, dear, you 
 and ayah may talk to them," the tired mother 
 replied. So back she went and the women heard 
 and went away wondering at the fair-haired girl 
 who could speak such good Telugu. 
 
 On the bungalow veranda, one evening, we heard 
 an earnest voice and found that it was Annie talk- 
 ing to the punkah man, for she came saying glee- 
 fully, "Why, mamma, Lukshmiah knows about 
 Jesus, he must be good! " She used to talk 
 to the tailor too, about God and heaven. To a 
 remark of his about not being able to see God, 
 she said: " Do you see those trees moving, Man- 
 akum ? It is the wind moves them, but you can't 
 see the wind. God is here, Manakum, but we 
 cannot see him." 
 
 In 1882 we decided to take our furlough home. 
 Annie was nearly seven and there were three 
 younger sisters. Before our departure, we had 
 the pleasure of dedicating our new church build- 
 ing. Quite a large number of village Christians 
 came in to attend the services and bid us farewell. 
 The services were on Sunday. In the afternoon 
 we celebrated the Lord's Supper. On Monday 
 five couples were married. As most of the brides 
 had been boarding-school girls, we had a merry 
 wedding feast in the girls' school compound, An- 
 
 i8 
 
Cbil^ %\Xc in HuMa 
 
 nie joining with them, eating rice and curry with 
 her hand as the rest did. On Tuesday we said 
 good-bye to the whole company, many of them 
 accompanying us quite a distance along the road, 
 in true Oriental style. 
 
 Thus ended Annie's 
 career as a child in In- 
 dia. She had to leave 
 the home she loved, the 
 dear old aya/^, the dusky 
 playmates who called 
 her sister and go to a 
 new country and to 
 strange people. 
 
 Poor old Janet was 
 almost heart-broken at 
 losing her dear children. 
 She remained in the 
 bungalow to look after 
 the little one belonging 
 to Mr. and Mrs. Burditt, 
 who were to take charge 
 of the work during our absence. But the night of the 
 day we left, she did not go to bed at all, her grief was 
 so great. She stood out on the veranda, gazing in the 
 direction her little brood had gone, mourning for the 
 two she never expected to see again on earth. 
 
 ''Light and shade, by turns, remembrance 
 always." 
 
 19 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 CHILD LIFE IN AMERICA 
 
 And we shall see the while we frown and sigh^ 
 
 God's plans go on as best for you and me ; 
 How when we called, he heeded not our cry, 
 
 Because his wisdom to the end could see. 
 And e'en as prudent parents disallow 
 
 Too much of sweet to craving babyhood, 
 So God, perhaps, is keeping from us now 
 
 Life's sweetest things because it seemeth good. 
 
 i 
 
 'HEN we traveled from Madras to 
 Nellore in 1873, it took us five 
 weary nights, in a bullock cart 
 without springs, to accomplish the 
 distance. We traveled at night, because, though 
 it was December, the sun was too hot to allow 
 day travel. When we made the return journey 
 in 1882, it was on the East Coast Canal, which 
 had been completed as a "relief work" during 
 the dreadful famine of 1876 to 1878. The canal 
 basin was fifteen miles from Nellore, and we rode 
 that distance in a conveyance drawn by coolies, 
 at the rate of five miles an hour, our * * Pull-man 
 express," as we called it. 
 
 Travel on a canal, if slow, is very restful, and 
 we enjoyed the quiet gliding of the top-boat after 
 
 20 
 
Cbilt) %\tc in Hmerica 
 
 all the excitement of the preceding days. The 
 children were always happy when traveling, but on 
 this occasion they were somewhat sad because 
 *' poor (7ya/i" had been left behind. 
 
 After a few days in Madras, we sailed April 
 16, on the "India," of the British India Line. 
 There were eight in our party. We brought with 
 us from Nellore, Seetama, a Telugu girl who had 
 been in our family from the time Annie was a 
 baby. All the children were fond of her. She 
 went to help on the voyage and go to school in 
 America. In Madras we were joined by Finette, 
 the youngest daughter of Doctor and Mrs. Jewett. 
 Annie was very fond of Nettie, and we considered 
 her quite an acquisition to the party. 
 
 Our English friends, the Nellore collector and 
 family, were on the steamer with us. Their two 
 girls had been playmates of Annie and Minnie, 
 and the four enjoyed themselves day by day, play- 
 ing as happily as though they were on land and in 
 their own homes. Annie's seventh birthday oc- 
 curred while on the steamer and she was made 
 happy by some nice presents, provided In antici- 
 pation of the day. 
 
 When we reached London we rather expected 
 the girls to be impressed with the size of the great 
 city, but to our surprise, both took everything as a 
 matter of course, and expressed no astonishment. 
 However, on Sunday we attended Spurgeon's 
 
 21 
 
TLbc ^onm natssionar^ 
 
 tabernacle, and when the great doors were thrown 
 open and the crowds came in, one of them asked 
 if a/l of London came to that church. 
 
 Annie had always claimed that she was an 
 American Indian, for, said she, '' My papa and 
 mamma are Americans, therefore I am an Ameri- 
 can, and I was born in India, therefore I am an 
 Indian." We took her to the Crystal Palace and 
 in the ethnological department we saw a group of 
 American Indians in their rudeness and squalor 
 near their wigwams. She stood for a while look- 
 ing intently at the group and then said, "I'll not 
 be an American Indian any more." 
 
 On our arrival among friends Annie soon be- 
 came accustomed to the new mode of life and fell 
 readily into American ways. She enjoyed going 
 to a kindergarten and learned very readily. Both 
 girls were very shy about talking Telugu, which 
 they spoke fluently. Annie said to us one day, 
 ** People always laugh when we talk Telugu and 
 we don't like to be laughed at." The only thing 
 she was willing to do was occasionally to sing a 
 Telugu hymn, and even that was a great cross to 
 the sensitive child. 
 
 During the first winter at home she was taken 
 ill with scarlet fever and had to be isolated from 
 all. Instead of grumbling at being in bed she 
 said gleefully, " I don't mind being sick mother, 
 because I can have you all to myself." And 
 
 22 
 
CbilD Xite in Bmertca 
 
 mother and daughter had some precious hours 
 together during the illness and convalescence. 
 
 The pleasure of the two years at home was 
 shadowed by the thought of the coming separa- 
 tion. Annie was old enough to understand the 
 necessity for it, but she dreaded the time to come 
 almost as much as we did. 
 
 During the last few months of our stay, there 
 were meetings in various churches and requests for 
 the two girls to be present, that the ladies might 
 see them and so feel an interest in them when they 
 were alone in the land. Annie always shrank 
 from the publicity of the meetings. Once, in the 
 Hanson Place Church, Brooklyn, the girls were 
 present, dressed in Telugu costume and while their 
 mother was making an address, some one lifted 
 them up where they could be seen by all the ladies 
 present. As the mother spoke of the coming 
 trial and asked the prayers of those present for 
 her children, some of the ladies noticed the tears 
 rolling down Annie's face. Minnie, by her side, 
 noticed them too, and taking her little handker- 
 chief she wiped away her sister's tears. It was a 
 pathetic sight. Some remembered the scene and 
 spoke of it years after when we were again home 
 on furlough. 
 
 The time for our second journey to India drew 
 near, and early in July we took the two girls to 
 Boston, Mass., and left them in the Home for Mis- 
 
 23 
 
Ubc ISoung missionary 
 
 sionaries' Children, in Newton Centre. It was a 
 sad parting for all, but the little sisters who re- 
 turned seemed to feel it even more than those left 
 behind. For months the burden of dear Elsie's 
 cry was : "I want my Annie and Minnie." Even 
 tiny Alice, two years old, would look into the faces 
 of those who took notice of her and say : * * I left 
 my Annie in Newton Centre." As for ourselves, 
 it seemed as though part of our very lives had 
 been cut out and left behind. 
 
 Annie stayed in the home from 1884 to 1890. 
 Her life there was a very happy one and she de- 
 veloped rapidly. Her letters to India used to be 
 full of the pleasures of school and home life. 
 The children lived much in the open air ; they had 
 trips into the woods, boating on the pond, and en- 
 joyed tennis and other healthful games in the gar- 
 den. Birthdays and holidays were always kept, 
 and the children were well remembered by relatives 
 and friends on all such occasions. 
 
 Annie's letters were often written on Sunday, 
 and as she grew older she generally sent a digest 
 of the sermon, and we used to wonder, sometimes, 
 at the clear way in which she put down the salient 
 points and the amount she remembered of what 
 the minister had said. It was only the beginning 
 of the way her mind worked later on. In school 
 she absorbed knowledge naturally, and was always 
 far up in her classes. It was a pleasure to her to 
 
 24 
 
Cbilt) Xite in Hmertca 
 
 study, and though fond of play, she never neg- 
 lected her lessons. 
 
 At ten years of age she requested admission to 
 the church. When giving her experience she 
 dated her first thoughts of God and love for him 
 to six years of age, when in Nellore. With her, 
 though, there was no precise time when she could 
 say her sins had been forgiven, for as soon as she 
 understood the difference between right and wrong 
 she chose the right, and her heart ever seemed to 
 turn to the Lord in love. 
 
 After uniting with the church she was always a 
 prominent worker, ready to take her part in meet- 
 ing and anxious to be in her place whether the 
 weather was propitious or not. Both Doctor 
 Braislin and Doctor Barnes who followed him as 
 pastor of the Newton Centre Baptist Church, fre- 
 quently said that they gathered no little inspiration 
 from the earnest faces that were raised to them 
 from the row of children belonging to the home. 
 Doctor Barnes, in noticing Annie's call ''homey'* 
 writes: ** Annie was an inspiration, as a child, in 
 the church life at Newton Centre. In our meeting, 
 the other evening, I told our people about the two 
 bright-eyed girls who sat near the front, in the prayer 
 meetings at Newton Centre, and were a cheer to the 
 pastor. I am sure that Annie has brought gladness 
 into the assemblies of heaven. Our loss is not only 
 her gain but also their gain. It is wonderful to 
 
 25 
 
Ubc JSouno nat9sionar^ 
 
 know that, as much as she was needed in India, 
 she was needed still more in heaven." 
 
 In 1888 the first great sorrow in the lives of the 
 Downie girls came with the news of the death of 
 the sister, Elsie, in India. Annie, particularly, 
 felt the blow keenly, for Elsie had become able to 
 write letters to her sisters, and had made little 
 presents to send across the waters to them. A 
 letter from Annie to Elsie, before the latter was 
 taken ill, told of some nice times they were having 
 in Newton Centre, and the wish was expressed that 
 her sister could be there too. After reading the 
 letter aloud, Elsie grew very quiet and finally said : 
 "Yes, it would be very nice to be in America, 
 but heaven is a much nicer place, I'd rather go to 
 heaven." A little later she said to a playmate: 
 " Daisy, I'll never go to America, I'll die in Coo- 
 noor or Madras or Nellore, but you'll see, I'll never 
 go to America." ** Don't you want to go to Amer- 
 ica ? " Daisy asked. "I'd rather go to heaven," 
 Elsie answered. " I'll see grandma and my sisters 
 in heaven. I am going to heaven, Daisy, and I 
 want you to come and see the angels too. Oh, I 
 want to go this minute." 
 
 This testimony of dear Elsie as to her readiness 
 and desire for the last change affected Annie 
 much, and she confessed afterward that her great 
 longing was to be as ready as her sister was, if 
 her call came soon. 
 
 26 
 
dbilC) Xtte in Hmerica 
 
 The old ayah was spared the sorrow of losing 
 one of her children, for she had been called to her 
 heavenly home the year before. During her long ill- 
 ness Elsie and Alice visited her daily. Elsie would 
 talk to her about going to heaven, of the beauties 
 of the place, and how Jesus would never let her 
 have any more pain or trouble. As the faithful 
 old servant drew near her end she spoke lovingly 
 of the two in America, and desired some strings 
 of gold beads sent to them after her death, be- 
 cause they had loved to play with them, and Annie 
 had so often worn them. 
 
 The stress of mission work and the sorrow that 
 had come into the home in Nellore, had told on 
 the mother's health and a change was deemed 
 necessary. Accordingly, she and Alice turned 
 their faces to the West early in 1890, leaving the 
 husband and father behind, as the work did not 
 permit him to take a furlough then. 
 
 The separation of husband and wife is even 
 harder to bear than that of parents from children, 
 but the Lord helped in that, as he does in every 
 trial that comes to his children. We need the dis- 
 cipline that comes from the disarranging of our 
 plans, and we have proved by experience that the 
 Lord is never nearer and dearer than when bring- 
 ing us into the shadows for our good. 
 
 ** May your life have just enough of the shadow 
 to temper the glare of the sun." 
 
 27 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 A RE-UNITED FAMII.Y 
 
 And if sometime, commingled witli life's wine, 
 
 We find the wormwood, and rebel and shrini<. 
 Be sure a wiser hand than yours or mine 
 
 Pours out this potion for our lips to drink. 
 And if some friend we love is lying low, 
 
 Where human kisses cannot reach his face. 
 Oh ! do not blame the loving Father so. 
 
 But bear your sorrow with obedient grace. 
 
 |IX years had passed since Annie and 
 Minnie Downie had seen their mother 
 and baby sister, and great was the 
 rejoicing when word came that they 
 were on the way home. The girls planned to go 
 into Boston to meet the ship, but as it arrived before 
 the expected time, the travelers reached Newton 
 Centre and drove up to the door of the home by 
 themselves. The mother's feelings, when two large, 
 strange-looking girls came running out to greet her, 
 can better be imagined than expressed. It took 
 some time for her to realize they were really the two 
 little girls she had left six years before. 
 
 Readville is a suburb of Hyde Park, and near 
 enough to Boston to allow of frequent trips on 
 business or pleasure. *' Blue Hill," with the New 
 
 28 
 
H 1Re==untteb ifamtl^ 
 
 England Observatory on top, is quite near, and 
 the place has some national notoriety as being the 
 Massachusetts camping ground during the Civil 
 War. Here a home for the family re-united was 
 secured which was pleasantly situated with the old 
 camping ground in front, and a large pond full of 
 water-lilies at their back. 
 
 We have always considered the two years spent 
 in Readville, as among the happiest in the lives of 
 the two girls. There was a choice circle of young 
 people, with something always on hand in which 
 all were interested. There were woods all around, 
 full of the wild flowers that Annie loved ; skating, 
 sledding, and snowballing in winter, with pleasant 
 evenings when the young people gathered together 
 to practise for some entertainment or to amuse 
 themselves with music and games. In all the go- 
 ings-on, Annie was usually the foremost one, plan- 
 ning for one thing after another, and helping to 
 carry out all the arrangements with method and 
 precision. Her vitality seemed unlimited and her 
 powers of endurance very great. She never seemed 
 tired. Her daily studies, painting, violin lessons, 
 and practice, took a deal of her time, but she al- 
 ways managed so that there was time left for the 
 meetings, for private devotions, and for the inno- 
 cent pleasures the quiet country place afforded. 
 
 There was no Baptist church in Readville, but 
 there was a union enterprise with a pretty little 
 
 29 
 
XTbe 13ounG rmtssionar^ 
 
 chapel, and to that Annie gave her support and 
 presence, and no matter how inclement the weather, 
 her place was always filled. She helped in the 
 Sunday-school, in the various religious meetings, 
 and endeared herself to all the elders by her bright- 
 ness and readiness to undertake any work assigned 
 to her. She is credited with having inspired the 
 organization of the Y. P. S. C. E., and was one 
 of its most enthusiastic members. She also took 
 a prominent part in various missionary meetings. 
 
 Early in 1892 we began to look forward to the 
 return of Mr. Downie. He was hardly more than 
 a far-away memory to the two older girls, for they 
 were only nine and seven when he left them eight 
 years before. Had he met them unexpectedly, on 
 his way home, he would hardly have recognized 
 them. He came in May, and though, at first, there 
 was a little constraint between the three, yet that 
 soon wore away, and they became comrades and 
 companions. That summer was an eventful one. 
 As we had been separated for so long a time, we 
 were anxious to spend the vacation in some special 
 way. An excursion to Long Island, Casco Bay, 
 was decided on. There was a delightful night on 
 the ocean from Boston to Portland, Maine, a steam 
 down the lovely bay with its three hundred and 
 sixty-five islands and a walk across Long Island to 
 the ocean side, which was uninhabited except for 
 few scattered fishermen's houses. 
 
 30 
 
U IRe^untteD ifamtl^ 
 
 A friend in Portland loaned us an abandoned 
 farmhouse, and there we camped for three weeks. 
 Our bedding was spread on the floor, a table was 
 made out of an old barn door, each had a camp- 
 stool, and there were just enough dishes to go 
 around. A kerosene stove with its furniture, which 
 had been brought along, and a large box to hold a 
 hundred pounds of ice with corners for milk and but- 
 ter cans, completed the outfit. We were so used to 
 camp life in India that we could readily adapt our- 
 selves to our surroundings and enjoy all thoroughly. 
 
 The days were usually spent out on the rocks 
 where the ocean came tumbling in, fishing for 
 *' cunners," or with some of the fishermen in 
 their boats, trying for other fish in the deep ocean. 
 The fish caught were cleaned, cooked, and eaten 
 with the best of all relishes — hunger. 
 
 Annie's talent for painting was of use here. 
 She took several sketches of our camp and the 
 ocean and made the ** captain," who had been 
 very kind, lending his boat and bringing us crabs 
 and lobsters, very happy, by giving him a very 
 clever water-color painting of his house. 
 
 In the fall of 1892, the pleasant home was 
 broken up and we removed to West Chester, Pa., 
 near our home city of Philadelphia. Here the 
 two eldest girls entered the State Normal School 
 as boarders. The rest of us took rooms near so 
 that we could all be together part of each day. 
 C 31 
 
trbe 13ouna tiatssionar^ 
 
 It had been decided that all five of us would 
 return to India, if the Lord opened the way. So 
 Annie took only elective studies for the year, a 
 complete course in chemistry, a few English 
 branches, Greek New Testament, violin and vocal 
 culture. It was quite a change from a public to a 
 boarding school, but she entered upon the life 
 there with her usual energy and before long was a 
 favorite with her teachers and stood high in her 
 classes. It was characteristic of her, that she 
 threw her whole self into whatever she was doing. 
 Writing of this later on, Mrs. Philips, the princi- 
 pal's wife, said: *' None of us, I feel sure, realized 
 Annie's frail nature quite enough. As a young 
 girl, here, I used to remark on her nervous tension 
 in class and although she recited with ease, her 
 whole being was involved." 
 
 She made some true friends during the year, 
 whose love cheered her to the end of her days. In 
 her diary she writes in one place : " Isn't God good 
 to give us friends ? I mean good, true friends who 
 help us in life and when gone leave a sweet, fragrant 
 memory behind." At the end of the school year 
 the way opened for the return of us all to India. 
 
 When we went in 1884 and left the two girls be- 
 hind, some friends said: "How can you leave 
 those dear children and go so far away ? " When 
 we decided not to leave either of them we thought 
 all would be pleased. But no, we were met with 
 
 32 
 
H 1Re*=unttet) jfamily 
 
 this : " How can you take those young girls away 
 from their friends, from their school life, out to a 
 land where they will have no advantages ? How 
 can you blight their lives by not letting them have 
 that which belongs to all young lives?" Our 
 reply was that we felt we were doing the right 
 thing ; that what the girls would lose of school life 
 and contact with young people at home, would be 
 made up to them in other ways ; that by seeing 
 the work on the field, they would gain for their 
 Christian characters what they might never gain at 
 home, and it was our wish that they should get in- 
 terested in the salvation of the heathen before 
 they decided as to their life work. 
 
 We sailed from New York, August 20, on the 
 "Furnesia," bound for Glasgow. Quite a number 
 of friends came to see us off and wish us " God- 
 speed," as we once more bade farewell to home 
 and friends. For how long ? Who could say ? 
 
 You messengers of God to men 
 
 Now on the deep sea tossing, 
 Naught shall you hurt, God shall avert 
 
 The danger of the crossing. 
 The ship is safe, w ith Christ ye sail, 
 
 And ye are bearing orders ; 
 All places lie beneath one sky, 
 
 Close to the heavenly borders. 
 God at the helm, to guide the barl<, 
 
 There is no room for error ; 
 Whom he has sent, should be content, 
 
 Nor yield to doubt or terror. 
 
 33 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE RETURN TO INDIA 
 
 And you shall shortly know that lengthened breath 
 
 Is not the sweetest gift God sends his friends, 
 And that, sometimes, the sable pall of death 
 
 Conceals the fairest boon his love can send. 
 If we could push ajar the gates of life. 
 
 And stand within, and all God's working see. 
 We could interpret all this doubt and strife. 
 
 And for each mystery find a key. 
 
 HE journey across the Atlantic was a 
 pleasant one. All of us were good 
 sailors, and Annie enjoyed shipboard 
 life as she enjoyed everything else. 
 When we reached Glasgow we were the guests of 
 Reverend and Mrs. Robarts, spending a few days in 
 their pleasant home seeing the curious old Scotch 
 city. Then the two older girls and their father 
 went through the Trossachs while Alice and her 
 mother visited friends in Edinburgh. 
 
 How Annie enjoyed that trip through the moun- 
 tains ! The scenery on the lochs, the rides through 
 the passes on the tops of stagecoaches, the stay 
 at the various queer Scotch inns, all formed sub- 
 jects for graphic letters home. For us she had 
 some sketches to show and much to tell of the 
 
 34 
 
Ube IRetutn to luMa 
 
 people she had met and the queer things heard. 
 She was delighted with Edinburgh, and our kind 
 hostess, Miss Jeanie Rose, of Hillside Crescent, 
 saw that she had every opportunity of seeing all the 
 historical places and points of interest in the Queen 
 City. So with the rest of the trip. The visit to 
 Melrose Abbey, the journey to London with a stop- 
 over at York to see the fine cathedral, and the ten 
 days in London with the many wonders of that me- 
 tropolis, were all an education and an inspiration. 
 
 On the way to Liverpool we had a rare treat in 
 a visit to Oxford. We lunched with the Dean of 
 Queen's College in his apartments, where we saw 
 many curios and some fine specimens of carvings 
 from France. The dean is a brother of Jas. Grose, 
 Esq., our Nellore collector, with whose family we 
 had been on such friendly terms. After lunch 
 he showed us the various colleges, explaining the 
 merits of the different buildings, giving us an idea 
 of the place that could not have been obtained in 
 so short a visit in any other way. 
 
 Only a few days were spent in Liverpool ; 
 but we were ready for the second voyage on the 
 "Clan Macintosh," November fourth, and when 
 the vessel was once under way we breathed a sigh 
 of relief that we were once more headed for home 
 and the work awaiting us there. 
 
 Annie was so young when she went to America 
 in 1882 that she remembered but little of the 
 
 35 
 
Xlbe 13ouna milsstonar^ 
 
 places on the way, so everything was of interest 
 to her. In her diary she tells of the day in Malta 
 and of the comical sights at Port Said, where she 
 bought a coin bracelet as a souvenir, and quotes 
 the vender's speech: " Real oxidized silver, lady, 
 wid ze head of Rameses, ze great Rameses, and 
 
 real Egypt coin from 
 Cairo, lady, v-e-r-y 
 sheap." The search- 
 light through the canal 
 excited her wonder too, 
 but Colombo came in 
 for the greatest praise 
 of all as it was the first 
 real sight of the tropics. 
 Madras was reached 
 December ninth, and af- 
 ter a few days' shopping 
 we made the journey 
 to Nellore by rail, as 
 the South India road 
 had been extended that 
 far. We were right royally welcomed by the 
 schools and native Christians who were rejoiced 
 at having their ** parents and sisters " once more 
 among them. 
 
 Now began in reality the experiment of bring- 
 ing three young girls to a climate like that of 
 Southern India, to a station away from the civili- 
 
 ^6 
 
 TEMPLE GATEWAY NEAR NELLORE 
 
Ube IReturn to HuMa 
 
 zation of the large centers ; away from books and 
 teachers ; away from young companionship and 
 all that makes life pleasant to girls just budding 
 into womanhood. Was the experience a success 
 or a failure? Let the record of the next few 
 years answer the question. 
 
 Annie at this time was eighteen. She had 
 looked forward to a college career and the break- 
 ing up of school life had been hard for her. 
 Yet so sweet was her disposition that she never 
 referred to her disappointment but cheerfully ac- 
 quiesced in all the new plans. She knew we had 
 prayed much and thought well before deciding 
 upon the step and she determined to do her part 
 fully. Later on she confessed that she felt very 
 unsettled and dissatisfied for over a year, but 
 when she began to see the destitution all around 
 and the great need there was for workers, her 
 unrest left her and she was glad she was among 
 the heathen and could do her share in bringing 
 the Saviour to them. 
 
 While at home she had expressed a desire to 
 study medicine and we thought she could enter the 
 Medical College in Madras, but we found that all 
 candidates must first pass the matriculation examin- 
 ation which meant, for her, a year's study. There- 
 fore, soon after reaching Nellore, she procured the 
 necessary books and began to read up the pre- 
 scribed subjects. In order that her life during this 
 
 37 
 
Xlbe IBouna missionary 
 
 year may be brought fully before our readers, we 
 have quoted quite freely from her diary. 
 
 January i, 1894. It seems a long time since I made my 
 last New Year's resolutions. I have gone through so many 
 shifting scenes and have visited so many places. As I look 
 back over the last year, I am discouraged at the thought of 
 unused opportunities, broken resolutions, and failures in my 
 year's record. But it is past, beyond recall, and all I can do 
 now is to turn over a new leaf and pray to be kept in the 
 straight and narrow way of right and duty. 
 
 The New Year has begun with pouring rain ; I suppose 
 nature is weeping over the death of 1893, a year which to me 
 holds some of the happiest and some of the saddest memories 
 of my life. So with a tear and a sigh I bid '93 good-bye, 
 then turn with hope and a prayer to the joys of '94, which 
 like a book is slowly opening to me. 
 
 January 4. To-day is a great day of sacrifice, among the 
 Hindus, to Polaramah, the goddess of smallpox, and oh ! such 
 a crowd as gathered at the place of sacrifice. The procession 
 passed our compound with fireworks and torches, bearing in 
 the midst a clay figure of the goddess which the people were 
 about to throw into the river, the rites all being accomplished. 
 They were making most unearthly noises to propitiate the 
 goddess and to frighten away the evil spirits of smallpox and 
 cholera. It is so sad to see their blind superstition and igno- 
 rance. They hate this goddess and try to frighten it by 
 hideous dances while they heap execrations upon it. 
 
 January 5. it has been a remarkably quiet day even for 
 this remarkably quiet place. This morning and afternoon I 
 have been fixing up my box of clippings from well-known 
 authors. My Telugu lesson passed off better than it has for 
 the past few days. I am beginning to like it very well now, 
 though it is much harder than either Greek or Latin. 
 
 January 7. It is no use talking about the weather in this 
 country, for it is not at all like our changeable American 
 weather. When it is dry, it is very dry, and when it is wet 
 it is soaking. I acted as superintendent to the English Sun- 
 
 38 
 
Ubc IReturn to UnMa 
 
 day-school in the absence of Miss Faye, and made so many 
 blunders 1 am ashamed of myself. 1 forgot to give out the 
 merit cards and lots of things. In the evening six natives 
 were baptized, and it was a very impressive ceremony. Our 
 baptistery is a small, round, well-like structure almost in front 
 of our bungalow, and it was such a beautiful sight, the white- 
 robed school children and a crowd of native Christians 
 watching the rite, while at the back the sun was setting. 
 
 January 8. Dr. Ida Faye telegraphed that they would be 
 home to-morrow bringing company with them. But we are 
 used to that. This house has never been so full but that we 
 could welcome any new-comer, if worst comes to worst, we 
 can stow away some in a tremendous tent we have to go 
 camping in. . . 1 have been busy fixing library books, put- 
 ting new numbers on, entering them, and so forth. Our Sun- 
 day-school library is in a dreadful condition. I have been 
 quite miserable for several days. I cannot seem to find any 
 cure for my ailments. 
 
 January 9. Dr. Ida and Miss Faye came this morning, 
 bringing with them Mr. and Mrs. McKay and their son and 
 heir, aged three months. Mr. Drake also dropped in to break- 
 fast, so we were a very merry crowd, twelve at the table, and 
 such a jolly dozen. We did a good deal more talking and 
 laughing than eating, though there was plenty of that too. 
 Finally, father. Miss Faye, and I got to shooting custard 
 apple seeds across the table, when mother called us to order. 
 
 January 11. I gave my first Greek lesson to Subbiah to- 
 day and 1 think he will be very bright at it. Our house has 
 been totally upset for the last few days, it will seem strange 
 to get quiet again. 
 
 January 12. Father went into camp directly after dinner. 
 When he was half-way down the drive we had to call him 
 back because he had started off without any hat. This after- 
 noon we went for a walk along the canal. It was a delight- 
 fully cool day and we thoroughly enjoyed our walk. I 
 gathered a number of specimens of flowers on the way which 
 1 have pressed. We went to a place where I suppose no 
 whites have been before, because the children ran from us in 
 
 39 
 
Xlbe ^o\xm flnissionar^ 
 
 terror or stared in amazement. I am beginning to study for 
 tlie matriculation examination in dead earnest. Physics is 
 tlie first brancli I liave tackled as it is tlie hardest for me. 
 To-morrow i will do some history. 
 
 January 14. A very small English Sunday-school to- 
 day. The Lord Bishop of Madras is in Nellore, and all the 
 English-speaking population flock to hear him. We all 
 intended going this evening, but were kept at home by 
 one of the schoolgirls getting convulsions. She came in 
 and out of twenty within two hours. Doctor Ida was 
 away in camp, and was not expected until eight o'clock. 
 How we did long for her coming while we tried everything 
 we knew anything about. 
 
 January 15. This noon I was resting in my room when I 
 heard a commotion downstairs. A baby had been brought to 
 Doctor Faye, in all probability in a dying condition. We 
 hurried down and found the poor little thing, only four months 
 old, in terrible inward convulsions. The mother had given it 
 a hot bath, and then to prevent it from taking a chill had 
 given it a preparation of hot pepper. The stomach and abdo- 
 men were inflated until they pressed upon the heart almost 
 stopping its working powers. All five of us worked over 
 that baby from half-past one until five o'clock and then fear- 
 ful of something happening, 1 held it until seven o'clock in 
 my lap. But it lives, yes, is almost well. Oh, the happiness 
 of the mother is beyond measure, for it is her only one. 
 
 January 16. Doctor Faye and I went to Koour to-day, to 
 her dispensary there, and it was very interesting. First, we 
 had Telugu prayers. Imagine us two, in a box of a room, 
 with a few Bible women, the window, door, and every avail- 
 able nook crammed with a motley throng of heathen. Some 
 listened to our hymns and prayers, making audible comments 
 throughout the whole of them ; some went away indifferent ; 
 some were curious, and a few, we hope, had some seeds of 
 truth of Christ's love dropped into their hearts. We may 
 not know in this world how much good every such small 
 effort does. After prayers we went to the medical work. 
 There were twenty-three patients with every sort of ailment, 
 
 40 
 
Ubc IRetutn to UnMa 
 
 some slight, some very serious. It is pitiable the amount of 
 suffering endured by this people. 
 
 January i8. Minnie and I had a regular scramble this 
 morning in the library and around the verandas, which we 
 enjoyed immensely. To pay up for it we both had to go un- 
 prepared to our lessons, she to her Telugu, I to my Greek. I 
 haven't had a regular scramble since I came here, the climate 
 is too hot, but 1 did enjoy this one, it seemed like home. Sub- 
 biah is getting along splendidly in his Greek. He is very 
 fond of asking questions. I enjoy having him for a scholar, 
 he is so nice. 
 
 January ig. Early this afternoon when all were out but 
 Alice and myself, she called me down to see some sick 
 patients. Although my head was going like a trip-hammer, 
 I went down and found a little baby, thirteen days old, who 
 had fallen into the fire and was in a terrible condition. I had 
 to go chasing around in the broiling sun for Jessie (Doctor 
 Faye's assistant). We looked over the medicine chest but 
 decided the baby was in too bad a condition for us to handle, 
 so we sent it to the government hospital. 
 
 January 20, Saturday. Time fairly flies here. There are 
 so many things 1 wanted to do that 1 haven't touched, yet I 
 have been busy every hour of the week doing something. 
 To-day it was those library books again. This evening I 
 had a fine time studying, got my Bible lesson for to-morrow, 
 my Greek for Monday, and part of my British history. 
 Mother says we must employ every odd minute, and I have 
 come to see the truth of her words. Alice is getting along 
 beautifully in her music. She is not quite ready sometimes 
 to study the hard places, but, on the whole, does very well. 
 
 January 21. Our Sunday-school lesson was on our first 
 parents' disobedience. If it didn't do any one else any good, 
 I know it helped me very much. Everything seemed more 
 real to me as I tried to explain it to my little girls and I saw 
 the sin, the curse, the promise, and the result to posterity 
 more forcibly than 1 ever did before. What a sly old serpent 
 Satan is anvway ! I wonder if it is the curse upon the serpent 
 that has made it so odious to mortals, beautiful as it is in many 
 
 41 
 
Ubc l^ouna fiHisslonati^ 
 
 of its forms? Whenever 1 see a snake, somehow it reminds 
 me of Satan. . . I stood for a while on the veranda and was 
 enchanted with the beauty of the moonlight. Outside it looks 
 like fairyland bathed in silver. But it made me sad and heart- 
 sick for home, so 1 did not venture to stay there long. 
 
 January 26. If there is one thing more than another that 
 gives me trouble it is my temper, it seems to me when 1 try 
 my hardest, then I fail most signally. It is so hard to battle 
 against self and sin ! Perhaps I trust too much in my own 
 strength and do not lean enough upon the strong arm of my 
 eternal Friend. How often our prayers are wandering, faint- 
 hearted petitions, and how they must grieve the dear Father 
 above ! But what a good Father he is, so ready to forgive 
 his erring children, so ready to receive them in his arms when 
 they fly to him sin-sick and weary and so lovingly guiding 
 their steps in the path of right. I love this Father, but I want, 
 I long to love him more, more, and oh, 1 want to grow more 
 like him. I am so weak and selfish. I despise myself. 
 
 January 28. That poor little baby of whom we took such 
 care and on whom we all spent so much time and strength is 
 dead. It died very suddenly and, at first, we were so sorry 
 for the stricken mother and grandmother. Afterwards we 
 felt they deserved the blow, for in spite of all Doctor Faye 
 said and of all our pleading, they took it to a native doctor, 
 gave it native medicine and actually had the poor child burned 
 in three places on its forehead. 
 
 January 29. We went through an important event to-day. 
 We were all vaccinated, on the veranda, with the calf right 
 before our eyes. It was a novel experience, but I expect it 
 will be still more novel when the fever sets in. The govern- 
 ment is making the matriculation examination harder and 
 harder each year. Ah me ! where will 1 be next year, I won- 
 der? I am doing my very best to study up, but find it very 
 hard work with all that I have on hand to do. The days are 
 getting awfully hot too, for me, but mother says this isn't 
 anything to what it will be later on. 
 
 We have quoted rather freely from the diary for 
 42 
 
Ube IReturn to UnMa 
 
 January, because we wished to show how there is 
 something all the time, coming up in a mission 
 compound, outside of the regular routine work. 
 Though Annie had been but one month in Nellore 
 and had no special work to do, yet we find her 
 busy, helping here and there, and moaning over 
 the little time there was to do the many things 
 needing attention. 
 
 Many good people at home have strange ideas 
 concerning the work done by the missionaries. 
 ** Is it true that the missionaries sit all day long 
 under the shade of a palm tree?" was a real 
 question asked by one anxious for information. 
 She only needed to see a palm tree, with its crown 
 of foliage far above the earth, to realize that there 
 was no shade there, even if any one had time to 
 sit out in the heat, courting a sunstroke. We see 
 by Annie's account that even in January the heat 
 affected one who had not become used to it. If 
 the cavilers at home could only come and spend 
 some time, as the Clintons did in the "Bishop's 
 Conversion," they would soon see the difference 
 between life at home and that in the tropics, and 
 modify many of their erroneous ideas. 
 
 43 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 WORK AND PI^AY 
 
 But not to-day. Then be content, poor heart ; 
 
 God's plans, like lilies pure and white, unfold, 
 We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart — 
 
 Time will reveal the calyxes of gold, 
 And if, through patient toil, we reach the land 
 
 Where tired feet, with sandals loose, may rest. 
 When we shall clearly know and understand, 
 
 I think that we shall say that " God knew best." 
 
 ^E quote again from Annie's diary as 
 A better than any description of ours 
 J it tells of her busy young life : 
 
 ^ February lo, 1894. In camp. 1 came out 
 here this morning, arriving in time for breakfast. Early in 
 the evening we went out to a village near here, where mother 
 showed her magic lantern views to quite a large audience. The 
 people were very much delighted with the story of the " Prodi- 
 gal Son." Besides this, we showed Indian views, also views 
 of our compound with the boys and girls in the schools. Then 
 Pastor Subbiah talked to them awhile and we closed with 
 prayer. During the prayer the heathen people made audible 
 remarks on us and the wonderful lamp, which was rather dis- 
 tracting to the one praying. But such is their way. Sunday 
 in camp. It is so still here with only the song of birds and 
 the melancholy chant of a hawk wheeling aloft, that one can 
 almost hear one's self think. It seems to me I would like to 
 stay in camp all the time, it is so restful ; but it seems so 
 strange this utter stillness. In tent, even our voices have a 
 
 44 
 
Mork ant) pla^ 
 
 deadened sound as if we were in a rarer atmosphere. Tiiis is 
 just the time when my thouj:;;hts turn involuntarily to America 
 and the dear, dear friends there. 
 
 February 14. We were all invited to tea at the " Folly " 
 and had a most enjoyable time. Besides ourselves there were 
 two others, just enough to make a jolly crowd. First we had 
 Badminton and the amount of fun we had in that was amaz- 
 ing ; Dr. F who couldn't play, Mr. S who made ridic- 
 ulous tosses and always missed the ball at the critical moment. 
 
 Miss M and papa the best players of the lot, and Mr. 
 
 M who is so fat and whenever he didn't altogether miss 
 
 the ball, sent it waltzing to the top of a tree several yards 
 outside the limits of the court. After this came a delicious 
 tea on the lawn, after which we went into the house and 
 played " Jenkins-up" until time to go home. It was not at 
 all stiff, but very pleasant. 
 
 February 20. Mother has divided the schoolgirls, giving 
 me the first three standards and Minnie the others for calis- 
 thenics. I took my girls to-day and had a tussle with them 
 the first thing. Two of them would not do the head exercise, 
 so after fair warning, 1 kept them after the others had gone. 
 They were very angry with me, 1 suppose, but at any price I 
 mean to have prompt obedience. 
 
 February 23. i suppose at home they are having a gala 
 day in honor of the birth of the " Father of his country." 
 Mother and father went out to camp again this noon, and 
 after they left I came up here and had a cry, for my wicked 
 temper had mastered me again. I am discouraged with my- 
 self. I do try, and pray every day to overcome it, but 1 seem 
 to get worse and worse. What shall I do? Keep on trying, 
 I suppose, until I succeed. 1 do not throw myself enough on 
 God's promises nor trust in him enough. 
 
 More purity give me, more trust in the Lord, 
 
 More freedom from earth-stains, more hope in his word. 
 
 My prayer. 
 
 February 24. My trials began almost as soon as chota haiiri 
 (little breakfast) was over this morning. First the supplies for 
 the schools had to be given out for two days. Then 1 had to see 
 
Ubc Igoung rmtssionar^ 
 
 to the garden, but was called by a complaint against the school 
 peon by the matron ; then came petitions, and so on the whole 
 day long. 1 was ever so glad when night came and 1 could rest. 
 
 March 3. Minnie gave a picnic to-day to the school chil- 
 dren and Dr. Faye to the Bible women and teachers. We 
 started in the morning about nine o'clock and had the picnic 
 in a mango grove about a mile from here. It was a delight- 
 ful place and the children were in their element. We played 
 games and sang until it got too hot, when we lay down under 
 the tent or under the trees and talked, read, or slept until dinner 
 was ready. Oh, that dinner! How delicious was the curry 
 and rice eaten with the fingers! Then came games, singing, 
 and talking until four o'clock, when Miss Faye gave a 
 present to each one. If the people in America guessed one- 
 half the happiness which their boxes of little gifts give to 
 these children, their hearts would overflow in thanksgiving. 
 After the gifts came sweeties and after that — home. 
 
 March 4. Where does all the time go, I wonder? Am I 
 growing morbid? I ask myself time and time again. It 
 seems to me as if this climate was bringing out all the worst 
 traits in my character and fight as I will, a flood of morbid, 
 restless feelings will surge over me every once in a while. O 
 God, take away these thoughts and make me as sunny and 
 gay-hearted as I was in the dear old days. Such is my daily 
 prayer, and I think, I hope, if I fight against the feeling, that 
 God in his infinite mercy will answer this my soul's longing. 
 This life is indeed a battlefield, a daily struggle. 
 
 March 5. It is getting hotter and hotter every day. The 
 glare of the sun is very bad, especially at noon. 
 
 I gaze all day on the burning plain, 
 And I long, I long for the cool again. 
 
 It is already 90° on the veranda at 3 P. M., and it is only 
 March. What will it be in May ? We have such quiet times 
 here, very little to break the monotony. Every day full to 
 the brim with work, but all days having a sameness that 
 makes me long to fly away somewhere for a little while. It 
 is only work that keeps us from ennui, I verily believe. But 
 in spite of it all, it is a very pleasant sort of life. 
 
 46 
 
Mork ant) ©lay 
 
 March 9. Papa has been reading us scraps from the 
 " Hindu," about the Parliament of Religions, and it has riled 
 me dreadfully. 1 wish I had the power of writing or speaking 
 so that I could rouse the people of our beloved United States 
 and make them ashamed for allowing this indignity, this blas- 
 phemy against Almighty God and Christ and the Holy Ghost. 
 My heart is burning with anger to see the Creator of heaven 
 and earth and his word so belittled and scoffed at ! How dare 
 they? How dare they? And our country, which is con- 
 sidered the most civilized and enlightened on the earth, to be 
 called by the Hindus, "coarse," " provincial," "savage"; 
 our religion, the purest and best, ridiculed, and to have thanks 
 sent from the United States to India for " the truths they have 
 taught us,^^ and a request for " more teachers to be sent to enlighten 
 us !'' O Lord, how long wilt thou suffer such things? Come 
 quickly and make all things right ! 
 
 March 14. 1 got an invitation to-day to the wedding of one 
 of our teachers which is to be celebrated to-morrow afternoon 
 in the church. There are great preparations going on. I had 
 to settle a quarrel between the gardener and the bridegroom. 
 Instead of asking the gardener to get the cocoanut branches 
 for him, he took them himself and nearly spoiled one of the 
 nicest trees, taking nine branches instead of three. This wed- 
 ding is more trouble than it is worth, for in spite of all orders 
 they pulled down our pretty Rangoon creeper, took all the ex- 
 quisite purple flowers off Dr. Faye's choice plant, and all the 
 fresh green tips off our mango tree which means just so many 
 less mangoes for us. 
 
 Later. The wedding has come off and the bride looked 
 very pretty and the groom very important. They had a grand 
 feast with fireworks afterward. This is the first native 
 Christian wedding we girls have seen. At the end of the 
 ceremony we had wreaths put around our necks. 
 
 March 16. I am down with a very bad sore throat and 
 feeling miserable generally. At the same time the wedding 
 was in progress yesterday, there was a heathen wedding not 
 far from here, and we can hear the music nicely. They 
 have a band hired from a distance, and are having gay times 
 D 47 
 
trbe BouuQ tmtsBionari^ 
 
 every evening for eight days. The bride is seven and the 
 groom twelve. If this little groom should die, this wee girl 
 would have her head shaved, never marry again, all her fine 
 clothes be taken away, and she would become an outcast and 
 a drudge. Poor wee lasses of India ! How I pity the widows ! 
 March i8. This afternoon father told us we were going to 
 Coonoor in April, and 1 shall be so glad. That is where dear 
 little Elsie sleeps, and 1 want to see her grave so much. I 
 was in America when she died. 1 never saw her after she 
 was four years old, and missed nearly all of her sweet life. 
 Father says her grave is one of the prettiest spots there. He 
 say Coonoor is almost like Paradise. 
 
 And so her diary goes on, full of all that was 
 happening around her and the many things in 
 which she was interested. The leaven was work- 
 ing, she was beginning to feel her part in the work- 
 a-day world. She had her daily study for the 
 examination and Telugu with the Munshi. She 
 taught Greek to Pastor Subbiah, music to her sister 
 Alice, calisthenics to the schoolgirls, and had 
 superintending to do in the absence of her mother 
 in camp. She was always ready to help when the 
 sick were brought in. She was full of sympathy 
 with all suffering, and even when in pain herself, 
 would hide it and devote herself to any poor suf- 
 ferer that claimed her help. 
 
 As the weather grew warmer, and the girls 
 seemed to feel the heat very much, we decided to 
 leave Nellore as soon as possible. Annie writes, 
 April 15 : 
 
 I took my Sunday-school for the last time as superintendent, 
 48 
 
Morft anD play 
 
 for I go from the Hills straight to Bangalore to school. Our 
 lesson was " Discord in Jacob's family," and we all laid 
 most stress on the trouble that comes from quarreling. We 
 all know it from experience, I am sure. I think 1 sympathize 
 with a hot-tempered person more than any one else for I have 
 so much trouble with my own hot temper. We all go to the 
 Hills on Tuesday. 1 won't be sorry to get out of this heat. 
 
 It Is a wonderful provision of nature, that in the 
 hottest part of Southern India, there are hills that 
 tower from five thousand to eight thousand five 
 hundred feet above the plains, and afford a refuge 
 during the extreme heat. 
 
 Coonoor, on the Nllglrls or Blue Hills, is some 
 six thousand feet above sea level, and there the 
 Missionary Union has a sanatorium for the use of 
 the missionaries. It is beautifully situated on a 
 high cliff with a lovely valley in front, across which 
 is Hoolical Droog, a fortified hill, famous for being 
 the scene of some of Tippoo Sultan's barbarities. 
 
 In this beautiful place Annie's love of nature 
 had full scope. The days were full of long walks, 
 excursions to various points of interest, during 
 which many woodland treasures were added to her 
 ever-increasing collection. She also gathered 
 strength during the two months' stay for the hard 
 study which lay before her. 
 
 Our dear friends, Mr. and Mrs. Owen, of 
 
 Bapatla, were with us at Holmwood, and in the 
 
 evenings when the doors were shut and curtains 
 
 drawn, we had interesting home concerts with 
 
 • 49 
 
Ube Boung fintsstonarp 
 
 piano, two violins, guitar and three well-trained 
 voices. It was a vacation long to be remembered 
 by all who enjoyed it. 
 
 ** I will look unto the hills from whence cometh 
 my strength," said the psalmist, and truly many 
 of the weary workers on the heated plains have 
 gained strength from these hills. 
 
 The following beautiful poem from the pen of 
 William Gannet, expresses exactly what we all feel : 
 
 God plowed one day with an earthquake, 
 
 And drove his furrows deep ! 
 The huddling plains up-started, 
 
 The hills were all a-leap ! 
 
 He hath made them the haunt of beauty, 
 
 The home-elect of his grace ; 
 He spreadeth his mornings on them. 
 
 His sunsets light their face. 
 
 His thunders tread in music 
 
 Of footfalls echoing long, 
 And carry majestic greeting 
 
 Around the silent throng. 
 
 His winds bring messages to them. 
 Wild storm-views from the main ; 
 
 They sing it down to the valleys 
 in the love-song of the rain. 
 
 Green tribes from far come trooping, 
 
 And over the uplands flock ; 
 He hath woven the zones together 
 
 As a robe for his risen rock. 
 
 They are nurseries for young rivers, 
 Nests for his flying clouds, 
 50 f 
 
Mori? ant> pla^^ 
 
 Homesteads for newborn races, 
 Masterful, free, and proud. 
 
 The people of tired cities 
 
 Come up to their shrines and pray, 
 God freshens again within them. 
 
 As he passes by all day. 
 
 And lo, 1 have caught their secret ! 
 
 The beauty deeper than all ; 
 This faith— that life's hard moments 
 
 When the jarring sorrows befall, 
 
 Are but God plowing his mountains; 
 
 And those mountains yet shall be 
 The source of his grace and freshness. 
 
 And his peace everlasting to me. 
 
 51 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 A CAI.I. TO MISSION WORK 
 
 Live day by day, 
 The path before thee does not lead astray. 
 Do the next duty. It must surely be 
 The Christ is in the one that's next to thee. 
 
 
 HE city of Bangalore is on a plateau three 
 thousand feet above sea level, in the na- 
 tive province of Mysore. It is a canton- 
 ment and has, besides the various regi- 
 ments quartered there, a large number of European 
 and Eurasian residents. The climate is usually good 
 and there are several very good schools. 
 
 It did not take Annie long to find out that she 
 could not hope to prepare for a difficult govern- 
 ment examination amid all the rush and worry of 
 a mission compound, so she wisely decided to 
 enter the matriculation class in St. Andrew's High 
 School and put her mind to study only. She left 
 Coonoor June 15, 1894, and reached the city the 
 next evening. She was warmly welcomed by our 
 missionaries. Doctor and Mrs. MacLaurin, who 
 opened their home to her for the six months she 
 expected to be in school. Of the journey there 
 Annie writes in her diary : 
 
 =52 
 
B Call to niMsston limorf? 
 
 Oh, how hot it is on the tiaiii ! After the hills it is almost 
 unbearable. Luckily we got two compartments for the night, 
 though not without a fuss with the station-master. Miss 
 Booker and 1 had a very good night's rest, and to-day Mr. 
 and Mrs. Owen joined us in our compartment, and with a 
 well-filled lunch basket, a dozen or so of mangoes and a 
 spirit lamp to make tea and coffee, we are having a jolly time. 
 
 Of her introduction to the school she says : 
 
 First day at school. It isn't at all like what I expected, but 
 I dare say I shall like it better as 1 get along. 1 suppose I 
 made too high a vision of it after my training in America. 
 The lessons, as far as I can judge from such short acquaint- 
 ance, are very dilYerentl\' taught here from what they are at 
 home. 1 just looked on to-day taking no part whatever in 
 the recitations. 
 
 During her stay in Bangalore she made many 
 friends, but the school life was not the same as in 
 America, and she was glad when it was over and 
 she was able to return to Nellore. Of her stay 
 with them Mrs. MacLaurin writes: 
 
 1 shall alwa\s be glad we had Annie in our home in Banga- 
 lore. Often have 1 said that 1 never knew a girl of more 
 thorough, unfailing sweetness of disposition or more sincerely 
 a Christian. 
 
 And Annie always looked upon the home in Ban- 
 galore as a second home to her and cherished a 
 pleasant remembrance of the time spent there. 
 
 After her return to Nellore, while waiting for 
 the government returns of the results of the exami- 
 nation she began work again in the mission, for it 
 
 53 
 
Ube ISoung /llMssionarp 
 
 was impossible for her to be idle with so much to 
 be done on every side. 
 
 There was a growing feeling in the family that 
 she was not strong enough for the strain of a 
 medical course and when it turned out that she had 
 failed in arithmetic, which was a compulsory sub- 
 ject, it was taken as an indication that she had 
 better give up all thought of a medical career. 
 Again she yielded her desires in deference to her 
 parents' wishes and did not try again. She had, 
 though, a decided talent for teaching, and Miss 
 Darmstadt, who had taken over charge of the 
 schools, was very glad to have her help. 
 
 In 1896, Alice, the youngest sister, had to return 
 to America, partly on account of her health and 
 partly to resume her interrupted studies. Annie 
 wrote very full letters to her during the two years 
 they were separated and extracts from them shall 
 tell the story of her life and work. 
 
 Nellore, July, 1896. 
 
 My Dear Alice: I wish you could see my room just 
 now. We have had a sharp shower and in less time than 
 seemed possible, my room is swarming with those winged 
 white ants, hundreds of them, covering table and walls and 
 getting all over us. I hear groans from mother's room, so 1 
 suppose she is having a siege too. Well, even while 1 have 
 been writing, they have become so unbearable that I must put 
 out my light and go to bed. 
 
 Monday. 1 have been writing " Review " letters all morn- 
 ing and some part of the afternoon until I am sick of the sight 
 of them. My children in school were very naughty, and I 
 
 54 
 
H Call to /IDisston Morft 
 
 had to punish three of them, and altogether this has been a 
 horrid day. . . 
 
 Mother says I must go to bed as it is nearly eleven o'clock, 
 and 1 have to get up early to inspect the boys' dormitories and 
 look after their eating dishes. I spend from half an hour to an 
 hour every day, watching them sweep the dormitories, to see 
 that the corners are all swept out and also under and behind 
 the almirahs. 1 have to peek through the almirahs too, for 
 unless the boys are watched they keep their clothes and 
 books in a disgraceful condition. On Saturdays they mend 
 their clothes from three to six P. M., and the boys like this as 
 little as I do. 1 am sick of putting on patches and sewing on 
 buttons and shall be as glad as they when the new clothes come. 
 
 Before Alice went home there had been one 
 break in the family. At the earnest request of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Manley, who were all alone in Uday- 
 agiri, Minnie went there in 1895 to take charge of 
 the school work, and help in opening work among 
 the secluded women in the town. It was the first 
 time the sisters had been separated for any length 
 of time, and in October, 1896, Annie went to 
 make Minnie a visit, and while in Udayagiri went 
 up on the hill where she had been several times as 
 a child. She wrote of the visit to Alice as follows : 
 
 My Dear Alice : I had such a nice time with Minnie on 
 Udayagiri Droog. We took long walks over the hill and 
 roamed over the old ruined place ; saw the Musjid ; carved 
 our names on the ruined old mosque that joined the palace ; 
 visited the Rambuga well, where the thousand steps tired us 
 all out; peeped into the " Sanayasi's Guha " (sacred man's 
 cave), and did all the ruins nearly. We looked into the 
 underground dungeon, which is very well preserved, but as 
 there was no one with us to help us out, nor a rope to let us 
 
 55 
 
Ubc igouna /IDtsstonarp 
 
 down, we decided not to attempt more than a look. I took a 
 sketch of the Musjid, which mother says is the best thing I 
 have done yet. I brought home such a lot of "trash," as 
 Minnie calls it : a stone cannon ball, which makes a very 
 picturesque paper weight ; an antique coin, several hundreds 
 of years old, we think by the superscription ; a number of 
 specimens of rocks, of ferns and mosses, of butterflies, and one 
 large water creature which the natives call a " water scor- 
 pion," though it looks more like a beetle. It is three or four 
 inches long, and is a very curious as well as vicious looking 
 " animile." I have him in a glass bottle of spirits where he 
 makes a very tine sliow. But my best loved pet is a big 
 green chameleon, ten or twelve inches long from its ugly little 
 nose to the tip of its strong curling tail. Its eyes turn every 
 way, and the curious part is when one eye turns to the front, 
 the other turns backward. The feet are very funny, in two 
 parts (like a mitten with only the thumb separate), with two 
 sharp nails on one part and three on the other. All down its 
 backbone and also underneath, along its chin and stomach, 
 is a row of what looks like saw-teeth. It changes a great 
 many different shades of green, yellow, and reddish brown, 
 and sometimes almost black. We feed it by putting a live 
 grasshopper into its mouth, and give it water to drink in the 
 same way. it likes to climb everywhere, but likes best to be 
 either on the foot of my bed or on my head, where it will sit 
 a long time perfectly motionless, except for the rolling of its 
 eyes. It is so awkward and comical when walking that it 
 sends us into fits of laughter. It gets very angry when taken 
 up, especially when it is making for some tree in the garden, 
 opening its mouth, hissing and spitting like a cat. When it 
 is angry its tail curls up into a tight little roll, and when it is 
 happy the tail sticks straight out behind or waves triumph- 
 antly in the air. It holds on by its tail too, like a monkey. 
 It spends most of the day on my shoulder or head, and at 
 night sleeps in a little box with a wire top. 
 
 October 25, 1896. 
 My Dear Alice : Yesterdav the teachers, Minnie, Mui 
 
 56' 
 
H Call to /IDtssion Work 
 
 riah, and Jessie, gave all the missionaries a feast of delicious 
 curry and rice, real hot, and after that, puppoo, peanuts, cassia 
 nuts, cocoanuts, and custard apples. It was so comical to see 
 the dignified missionaries sitting cross-legged on mats, eating 
 with their hands, trying to eat curry and rice as gracefully 
 and as easily as the natives do, but failing woefully. Mr. 
 Levering is so tall he couldn't sit on the floor with any com- 
 fort, so he had a little footstool provided for him which 
 perched him up so high above his leaf plate as to be even 
 more comical. Poor Miss Wayte nearly choked over the hot 
 curry, it was hot enough to bring tears to the eyes of the 
 rest of us, but we enjoyed it immensely, especially Miss 
 Darmstadt and myself. 
 
 November 15. We have had a beautiful heavy rain all day 
 to-day. it really looks as if it is a genuine monsoon rain at 
 
 last. It is still raining this evening, and Miss D and 1 
 
 are very cosy in the drawing-room writing letters. There 
 is a song we used to sing when at school, about the spring- 
 time. One couplet goes : 
 
 The frogs begin to ripple 
 A music soft and sweet. 
 
 The frogs are "rippling" in fine style to-night, but the 
 "music" is neither "soft" nor "sweet." It sounds as if 
 this whole compound of eight acres was one mass of war- 
 bling frogs. They even drown, to a great extent, the bark- 
 ing and yelping of a Pariah dog in the Pallem. 
 
 1 have another pet, Alice, a big green caterpillar, about four 
 inches long and as thick as my thumb. 1 put him into a bot- 
 tle with some Rangoon creeper leaves and he has spun for 
 himself the daintiest of silk cocoons and has now gone to 
 sleep for some months. I watched him spin and I declare he 
 is a wonderful cradle maker. My Oosarilli (chameleon) is 
 thriving and is getting lazier every day, because he don't 
 have to hunt for his food, but every day, about one o'clock, 
 all he has to do is to open his Kentucky Mammoth Cave of a 
 mouth, and in pop from three to six " hoppergrasses." Miss 
 D is almost as fond of him as I am. He is a dear little 
 
 57 
 
Ube 13ouna /nMsstonar^ 
 
 chappie, though as far as his face is concerned, he is as ugly 
 — as ugly as blue mud. 
 
 November 23. Only a scrap of a letter, my dear Alice, 
 just to send over the blue waters, a kiss, my love, and many, 
 many good wishes for a most delightful Christmas, also a 
 little picture which I hope will add brightness to your room 
 and remind you of hidia. 
 
 1 fancy there is not another soul who is awake while I am 
 writing this. Oosarilli is fast asleep in his box by the 
 door and a number of bats form my sole company. I am 
 always afraid to shake my bed for fear of rousing those that 
 are hanging from the springs underneath. Every night there 
 is a hard fight in the bathroom and in the morning I find the 
 floor strewn with feet, wings, and scraps of fur. I have to 
 be careful lest 1 find a luckless bat has fallen into the pitcher 
 or taken a header into my tooth water. Mosquitoes are also 
 here, little ones with such a thin piping ke-e-e, that I get very 
 wrathy and make furious slashes at them. The older, deeper, 
 more sedately singing ones I don't mind so much. Eucalyptus 
 oil, well rubbed on, is my antidote. 
 
 February 7, 1897. 
 My Dear Alice. 1 am enclosing a letter from my boy 
 Joseph. He took a great deal of pains writing it in English 
 and I wish you would write him a little note in return. I have 
 adopted him as my boy. I am paying his expenses in school 
 and 1 will give him lower secondary training as a teacher. 
 After that, if he chooses to study more and is willing to help 
 himself, I am going to help him in his studies further. There 
 are three boys in the school that I am very fond of, John, 
 
 Joseph, and Moses. Miss D has put me as a sort of head 
 
 over the boys, and they now look on me as their own special 
 property. They always come to me with their woes, griev- 
 ances, quarrels, and requests, which are sometimes rather 
 hard to settle. Out of the fifty-eight boys sent up for exami- 
 nation, only three failed, two of them being outside boys. 
 Wasn't that good ? Miss D is now teaching English prose 
 
 58 
 
H Call to /HMsston mox\{ 
 
 in the boys' school and I am teaching them poetry. Both 
 schools have drawing and singing from the third class up. 
 Every Saturday evening, John, Moses, and Joseph come 
 over to the bungalow and 1 teach them violin and mandolin. 
 
 it is so hot here at one o'clock ! Everything has a drowsy, 
 tired look. Even the butterflies seem oppressed. As for me, 
 I am slowly melting and in a couple of hours will be little 
 more than a grease spot. I have a class at two-thirty and 
 have to dress, so this letter will not be very long this week. 
 
 Miss D and I are very much interested in a Shudra boy 
 
 who is studying in the sixth standard. He is just as nice as 
 he can be in school. He seems much interested in Chris- 
 tianity, we hope he will be a Christian soon. He is in my class 
 in Sunday-school and always has his lesson. I gave him 
 your little black Bible to study from. I have also given him 
 a Telugu hymn book and Bible. 
 
 We have another caste boy in the sixth class — Rama-Row, 
 a Brahmin. He is a nice little chap now, though at first he 
 was inclined to be impertinent to the teachers. He was a 
 bigoted little Hindu, refused to go into the school Bible class, 
 and laughed in prayer time. Now he is in my Sunday-school 
 class and is at least respectful in prayers. He came into 
 the drawing-room, Saturday while I was playing the piano 
 and seemed so curious about it. I set the music box going and 
 showed him how it worked. He thought it was wonderful. 
 
 Now I must close. I have a splitting headache and should 
 lie down, but there are so many things I ought to do, I hardly 
 know which to choose, but I suppose a letter to Mrs. Safford 
 is the most important as it is about the boys. 
 
 October ii, i8q7- 
 I fear this will not be much of a letter as I am pretty tired 
 to-night. I am in study hour with the boys. It is a pity they 
 cannot be trusted to get their lessons without having to be 
 
 w^atched, but boys will be boys, 1 suppose. Miss D was 
 
 away for over a month and I had a jolly time as " head of 
 the heap," over at the school. The matron and I had no end 
 of trouble with sick children, thirty sick at one time, but 
 
 59 
 
XTbe ^onm /nMsstonati^ 
 
 otherwise everything went smoothly. One or two or the girls 
 have been trying to get "fits," but it does not work at all. 
 All the comfort they get is a tincup full of water in their faces 
 and if that does not bring relief, then a warning that father 
 will be called over works like a charm. 
 
 We have a dear lad here called Judda Solomon. He is from 
 Udayagiri. About a year and a half ago he only knew his 
 letters in English. Since then he has studied up four years' 
 lessons in English and is now studying algebra, arithmetic, 
 history, geometry, and hygiene, all in English. Ask Professor 
 Philips if that is not pretty fair for a lad of sixteen and a 
 Madaga (chuckler) at that.? He is a dear little chap and we 
 all love him dearly. 
 
 In November of this year a great shock came 
 to the Nellore family when the head of the house 
 was bitten by a mad dog and was ordered at once 
 to Paris for treatment at the Pasteur Institute. 
 Minnie had come from Udayagiri to be present at 
 her parents' silver wedding celebration, but all joy 
 was swallowed up in the sudden trouble that came 
 just before the expected day. The girls behaved 
 beautifully, keeping up their spirits so their father 
 would not feel badly for them, and helped to get 
 the travelers ready for the hurried journey. Annie 
 wrote to Alice under date of November 29 : 
 
 My Dear Alice. Only a few lines to let you know we 
 are well and that I intend writing to you every week while 
 mother and father are away. Mother wrote you all about 
 father's bite, did she not? Now you must not worry, little 
 girlie ; father will be all right, I am sure. They are doing just 
 the best thing possible, as far as we can see, by going to 
 Paris, and will return very soon. Meanwhile we will pray 
 60 
 
H Call to /IDtsston TKIlorft 
 
 for him and at the same time do our work faithfully and as 
 well as possible, just as he would like us to do — will we not? 
 Minnie runs the house and makes a capital housekeeper. Mr. 
 Levering takes father's place as treasurer, /)ro tern., and Miss 
 
 D and 1 run the schools as usual. Minnie has the zenana 
 
 work also. We are having a very busy time as the exami- 
 nations are near. 
 
 Twenty-two of our boys have taken a pledge neither to 
 use intoxicating drinks nor tobacco in any form. I am 
 making out some pretty pledge cards for them in Telugu, 
 printing a spray of flowers on each. 
 
 This is the coldest " cool season " we have had in Nellore. 
 The temperature was down to 64° this morning. Christmas 
 won't be Christmas with all the home folks away, but we are 
 going to make the best of it. 
 
 61 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE RETURN TO AMERICA 
 
 Pass out — pass over the threshold, love, 
 Straight as the south-bound swallow. 
 
 Each soul has its star-path fixed above, 
 Where none — ah, none may follow. 
 
 Go swiftly, strongly to find thy fate ! 
 
 'Tis love that sends thee, and love can wait. 
 
 S the months passed, Annie became 
 more and more interested in her work. 
 She taught five hours a day in the 
 schools, and often had the pupil teach- 
 ers come to her for object-lessons that she prepared 
 in her own time. Besides all the routine work, in 
 the three years, she passed three examinations in 
 Telugu and read a year in Sanskrit. 
 
 There could be but one ending to all this, her 
 health became seriously impaired, and a nervous 
 shock she received early in 1899, decided the ques- 
 tion of her immediate return to America. 
 
 The school children, as well as the native Chris- 
 tians, felt badly at the prospect of losing one who 
 was not only a loving teacher, but also a sympa- 
 thetic friend. She had three farewell addresses 
 presented to her which we quote in full, as much 
 
 62 
 
XTbe IReturn to Hmerica 
 
 for the quaint wording as for the spirit of love 
 and regret that animates them : 
 
 TO MISS A. K. DOWNIE. 
 
 Dear Madam : We, the scholars of American Baptist 
 Mission Lower Secondary Boys' School, have assembled here 
 to bid you farewell on the eve of your departure from our 
 midst. Glad as we are that such an opportunity has come to 
 us for expressing our sense of love and gratitude to you, we 
 regret greatly that, on the same occasion, we have also to ex- 
 press our feelings of sorrow at the painful separation. 
 
 Nearly three years have elapsed since you came to this 
 school, to join the teaching staff of this institution, and the 
 confidence and affection which during that comparatively 
 short period you have worked in us, cannot, on the occasion 
 of your departure, allow us to express the feelings of gratitude 
 that we cherish toward you. Your unwavering kindness, re- 
 gard, and impartiality, your readiness to help and advise, 
 your sympathy and goodness of heart, have engendered in us 
 a feeling of love and respect for you, and it is needless to men- 
 tion what a source of pleasure it has been to us, day by day, 
 to sit at your feet and listen to those highly instructive and 
 interesting lessons, to those weighty thoughts and wise re- 
 flections that you always conveyed to our minds. By your 
 kindness we learned English, drawing, and other divine 
 songs. Therefore we offer heartfelt thanks to you. You 
 were a type of moral courage and moral principles. 
 
 In conclusion we request you to accept this as a token of 
 our esteem and regard for you. And may God grant you a 
 safe and happy journey, and that there may be much happi- 
 ness and prosperity in store for you. 
 
 Yours obediently. 
 The Scholars of A. B. Mission Schools, Nellore. 
 
 March 2, 189^), Nellore. 
 
 TO MISS A. K. DOWNIE, Assistant Superintendent A. B. Mis- 
 sion Training and Girls' Schools, Nellore. 
 Most Respected LADY: We, the students of the A. B. 
 
 63 
 
XTbe ^oxxm /nM80ionar^ 
 
 Mission Training School for mistresses, and the pupils of A. 
 B. Mission Girls' Lower Secondary School, Nellore, beg your 
 ladyship to accept this address of a few lines, which express 
 our love and gratitude towards you on the eve of your de- 
 parture for America. 
 
 You took charge of assistant superintendentship in the 
 year 1895. Ever since then your heart and soul have been 
 devoted to elevate us both educationally and evangelistically. 
 We poor girls owe you much for your untiring zeal, patience, 
 and energy, in imparting instruction in singing, drawing, cal- 
 isthenics, and kindergarten system of teaching. You not only 
 proved yourself a best teacher, but you treated us also as a 
 sister and mother in our private matters. Besides this, we 
 find in you a true missionary in uplifting us, so that we might 
 become women of true Christian principles. As our knowl- 
 edge is very insignificant, we cannot find words to express our 
 feelings of love and gratitude. We sincerely commend you to 
 the love of Jesus Christ, until we meet again, and we hope 
 for you a happy voyage, a pleasant stay in your dear home- 
 land, and a happy return to us. We beg to remain, most 
 respected lady. 
 
 Your most obedient students and pupils of A. B. Mission 
 Training and Girls' Schools. 
 
 TO MISS ANNIE K. DOWNIE. 
 
 American Baptist Mission, Nellore. 
 
 Dear Madam : We, the members of the native Christian 
 community of Nellore, avail ourselves of this opportunity to 
 express our testimony to the sincere appreciation of your use- 
 ful work in our midst during the last three years and a half. 
 
 Your lessons in drawing, chastised by the wholesome influ- 
 ence of your character, enabled our children to draw the right 
 line as well on the spiritual tablet within as on the paper board 
 before them, and your serene music as a chorister of our 
 church, has prepared us to be ever ready to listen to the voice 
 of God. As our Sunday-school teacher, you have palpably 
 exemplified the untiring exertion of the membership of our 
 Christian Endeavor Society. 
 
 64 
 
XTbe IReturn to Bmerica 
 
 You are engendered to us, as one born in Nellore, and sorry 
 as we are to part with you, for however short a period, we at 
 the same time tee! immensely happy in the prospect of your 
 early return to tiie " Lone Star," with higher literary honors 
 and finer artistic accomplishments embodied on a superior in- 
 tellect and invigorated health. 
 
 Lastly, we rejoice to record your sympathy, love, and 
 courtesy, towards us as members of the universal church of 
 the Son of God. 
 
 Heartily wishing you a happy voyage and a safe return. 
 We remain, Dear Madam, 
 
 Yours very affectionately. 
 
 The Native Christians of Nellore. 
 
 There were five of our Telugu missionaries who 
 sailed on the S . S . " Egypt, ' ' from Bombay, on the 
 twelfth of March, 1899. The vessel was crowded 
 and there were sixty-five children in the second 
 saloon, so that all were very uncomfortable. In- 
 fluenza broke out among the passengers during the 
 trip, Annie being among the victims, and she was 
 so used up by it, that she was in her room for a 
 week after reaching London. We were very thank- 
 ful that our friends and co-laborers, the Leverings, 
 were in the party, for they cared for her faithfully 
 all the way to America. 
 
 Alluding to the dreariness of the journey, Annie 
 wrote : 
 
 Docket read her voyage letter from mother to me to-day, 
 and it made me so homesick that I disgraced myself by cry- 
 ing. . . All I want is to see my folks. Thank you so much 
 for the letters at Marseilles, i carry them about with me to 
 keep up my courage. 
 
 OS 
 
Ube IBouna /llMeslonar^ 
 
 Just before reaching London the weather was 
 very unpleasant. Annie writes : 
 
 I shall be so glad to get off this ship, 1 am not in love with 
 it. I suppose I am looking at everything tlirough blue glasses 
 on account of my miserable cold. 1 am the only one of our 
 party that is up to-night. All the others, one after the other 
 decided that their cabins are the best places for the present. 
 Only nine ladies appeared at supper. At my table there were 
 only myself and a gentleman who took his wife's place. The 
 boat is pitching and rolling, and going every which way, 
 which the people say is very unkind. One gentleman came 
 on deck, and seeing the rows and rows of empty chairs, and 
 the languid occupants of the few that were occupied, struck 
 an attitude, and in a very tearful voice said : " How are the 
 mighty fallen ! " . . . 1 had a real jolly time walking up and 
 down the deck with another girl who is as "fit" as I am. 
 
 March 22. It is bitter cold upstairs, we can only keep warm 
 by walking, and I am so tired this morning I can't walk much. 
 1 was kept awake half the night by a baby in the next cabin, 
 screaming with the earache. 
 
 The longest journey must have an ending, and 
 so London was reached at last. Of their joy at 
 being on shore, she says : 
 
 It seems so good to get out of the ship and be on terra firma 
 again. One gets so tired of ship sights, sounds, and smells. 
 I got so sick of the smell, the indescribable ship smell, before 
 we got off. At the docks we had to wait for another steamer 
 to go in ahead of us. There was a crowd of people on shore 
 waiting for our ship. They had been there four hours, and it 
 took us nearly two hours to get into the dock. It was a 
 weary wait. 
 
 Annie's letters written on the way and while in 
 66 
 
ITbe IRetutn to Hmertca 
 
 London, were full of interest. We append a de- 
 scription of Westminster Abbey : 
 
 When we went into the abbey there was a service, so we 
 waited until it was finished, and then 1 waited still longer to 
 hear the organ voluntary. Oh, it was grand ! The music 
 began very softly, just a breath, as if afraid to disturb the 
 silence of the old abbey and the dead lying there. Then it 
 gradually swelled until the volume of sound filled the whole 
 place, the treble soaring higher and ever higher and the thun- 
 der of the bass echoing and re-echoing from transept to tran- 
 sept. Suddenly, with one magnificent chord, the music 
 stopped, and the silence which followed was awesome in its 
 intensity. This organ is called the "Celestial Organ," and 
 I think it well named. 
 
 We didn't go into the chapel of Henry Vll., but went first to 
 the Poets' Corner where 1 had my little hero-worship over the 
 monument of Longfellow. Lord Tennyson is buried next to 
 Browning, not very far from where Longfellow's bust stands. 
 
 The old friends 1 particularly noticed were, rare Ben Jonson, 
 Milton, Spenser, tomb of Geoffrey Chaucer, Dryden, Shakes- 
 peare, Scott, and the monument to Handel. Have you ever 
 noticed that? Handel is represented holding the manuscript 
 of the " Messiah," and 1 could plainly read the words with 
 the music, " 1 know that my Redeemer liveth," etc. The 
 onlv other busts 1 remember at all are the ones of Matthew 
 Arnold and Charles Kingsley, in the baptistery at the end of 
 the south aisle of the nave. Oh, yes, there was a tablet to 
 John and Charles Wesley in the south aisle which surprised 
 me a bit. Above was a medallion portrait of the two men 
 and below that a bas-relief representing John Wesley preach- 
 ing to a crowd of people in the open air, and the words, " The 
 world is my parish." As you turn down the north transept 
 to go out, you may see an insignificant white slab set into the 
 floor of the aisle, walked on by all who come in or go out, a 
 slab perhaps three feet square, with the simple inscription, 
 " W. E. Gladstone," and the dates of his birth and death. 
 1 was rather sorry nothing was said about the man, as on 
 
 67 
 
Ubc 3ffoung /iDlsstonar^ 
 
 some of the other monuments, and that there was no bust of 
 him ; but perhaps this very simplicity is the best tribute to 
 his memory, just as if the name was sufficient and there was 
 no need of any other words. 
 
 After some little time in London, the party- 
 sailed from Southampton and reached New York 
 early in May. Of this last voyage Annie wrote : 
 
 I never had such a dread of going on the sea before, as 1 have 
 this time. As 1 look forward it seems as if I could not possibly 
 stand even seven days of it. isn't it strange.? Docket says 
 1 am over-tired. 1 don't know what it is, but although there 
 is most beautiful moonlight, and the sea is as smooth as glass 
 almost, yet 1 cannot bear even to look at it. Your good sailor 
 daughter is growing chicken-hearted, 1 am afraid. 
 
 Later on she writes : 
 
 You mustn't think because 1 write so matter-of-factly and 
 cheerfully, that I am forgetting India and you all. I long, oh, 
 so inexpressibly to see you and to be with you again, it 
 seems sometimes as if i could not bear it, but must go back. 
 But father said I must be brave and enjoy my vacation, and 
 so I am trying very hard and I am going to get well and 
 strong very soon, so i can come out all the sooner. That is 
 why i am eating so much ham and bacon. Five days more 
 and i will be twenty-four. Just think of it, folkses dear ! 1 
 can hardly realize it myself, i am taken on board for eighteen. 
 One lady calls me "little soldier." Why do people always 
 use that ridiculous adjective "little," in speaking of me? 
 "Little Lady," "Little Girl," "Little Friend," and now to 
 cap the climax, "Little Soldier." Well, i can only hope to 
 get big sometime in the near future. 
 
 After reaching America, it did not take her 
 long to join her sister Alice who was waiting 
 
 68 
 
Ube IReturn to Btnettca 
 
 anxiously to see her. She spent most of the sum- 
 mer in or near the lovely town of West Chester, 
 where Alice was at school, and which had been 
 her school home before going to India. She was 
 so nervous and miserable when she first reached 
 there, that our dear friends. Dr. and Mrs. Jacob 
 Price took her right into their hearts and home 
 and she benefited much from their care, from the 
 long drives, from the nourishing food with plenty of 
 milk, and from the restfulness of the quiet place. 
 
 She afterward visited among friends and rela- 
 tives, then went to Newton Centre in August, to 
 spend a year in ''Hasseltine House," and take 
 the course of study in the Newton Theological 
 Seminary, for she had decided to offer herself to 
 the Woman's Board to be sent out as a fully ap- 
 pointed missionary. 
 
 AUF WIEDERSEHEN 
 
 Go thou thy way and I go mine ; 
 
 Apart, yet not afar ; 
 Only a thin veil hangs between 
 
 The pathways where we are. 
 
 And God keep watch 'tween thee and me, 
 
 This is my prayer. 
 He looks thy way, he looketh mine, 
 
 And keeps us near. 
 
 Yet God keeps watch 'tween thee and me. 
 
 Both be his care. 
 One arm round me and one round thee, 
 
 Will keep us near. 
 
 69 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 A TERM OF BIBLE STUDY 
 
 The entrance of thy word giveth light ; it giveth under- 
 standing unto the simple. 
 
 Search the Scriptures ; for in them ye think ye have eternal 
 life : and they are they that testify of me. 
 
 ARLY in September, 1899, Annie en- 
 tered Hasseltine House and began 
 study in the seminary on the hill. She 
 found the home the Woman's Board 
 had prepared for young ladies desirous of entering 
 the foreign field, a very pleasant place. The stu- 
 dents are under the care of Mrs. George, formerly 
 a missionary in Burma. She is peculiarly fitted to 
 lead those in her charge and to help the Board to 
 decide as to the fitness of the candidates. Annie's 
 letters tell the story of her work and pleasures dur- 
 ing the year. 
 
 September 5, iSgg. 
 MY Dear Folks: I am in Newton Centre at last, where 
 1 hope i can stay at least until I get thoroughly rested. I am 
 tired of wandering to and fro, living in my trunks. It seems 
 so nice to look around a room and say, " This is my dominion 
 for a year, my sanctum, my kingdom." I have the Pittsfield 
 room, it is a little room between Mrs. George and Mrs. 
 Waterbury. It has two windows, one to the south and one 
 to the west, and overlooks the hill. The paper is a dull goldy 
 
 70 
 
H ITerm ot Bible Stubs 
 
 color with dashes of gray-bkie, the design being ascension 
 lilies. It gives a bright, soft light to the whole room and con- 
 trasts pleasantly with the light, yellow-brown furniture. . . 
 
 September 6. Mrs. George takes Miss P and me to the 
 
 seminary to-morrow to enter us. 1 went to the farewell re- 
 ception given by the church to their pastor, Mr. MuUins, and 
 what a pleasant time 1 did have seeing all the old friends. 
 They all welcomed me back so kindly. Mrs. George is ar- 
 ranging the schedule for us ; w'e will probably begin real work 
 Monday next. 
 
 September 15. Motiier's letter came as a ray of sunshine 
 to me this morning, and I consider it as a reward for all my 
 hard study to-day. Since 11 A. M. I have made a digest of 
 all the non-Christian evangelical sources to the Life of Christ, 
 copying quotations on the subject by Josephus, Tacitus, Sue- 
 tonius, and Pliny ; read through Acts, the Catholic Epistles, 
 and Revelation, selecting all texts bearing on evidence that 
 Christ really lived, classifying these texts under heads, such 
 as " The Witness of John," "The Witness of Peter," etc. 
 Don't you think I deserve a reward like mother's letter? I am 
 in love with all my studies. Theology under Doctor Wood, 
 Jeremiah under Professor Brown, English New Testament un- 
 der Doctor Hovey, and Life of Christ with Professor Rhees. 
 I don't know what my electives are to be, but I think " His- 
 tory of Missions," " Biblical Geography," and " History of 
 the Atonement." It seems to me now that heretofore I have 
 known hardly anything about the Bible. I am so thankful 1 
 can be here for study. 
 
 We are now in the midst of the equinoctial gales, and oh, 
 how it rained yesterday and to-day ! At first, Mrs. George 
 said we could not go to lectures, but we dressed up so well in 
 short skirts, arctics, gaiters, rubbers, and mackintoshes, that 
 she finally gave in, and off we trudged. 
 
 September 24. I have such a heap of good things to tell 
 you this week about sermons and lectures. As I wrote in my 
 last letter, we went into Boston to hear Principal Fairbairn, of 
 Oxford, on "The Influence of the Study of other Religions 
 Upon Christian Theology," but we had to leave before he 
 
 71 
 
Ube l^ouuG tniisstonar^ 
 
 had well begun. There were two others before him, the last 
 of whom, Rev. John Daniel Jones, of Bournemouth, Eng- 
 land, was fine. . . 
 
 He held the people spellbound the whole time. Doctor Fair- 
 bairn praised the missionaries in hidia very highly, their 
 self-sacrifice, their sincere devotion, their earnestness. It 
 did my heart good to hear such hearty words of commenda- 
 tion and praise from the lips of such a man. 
 
 I have a nice little window garden started in my room. A 
 couple of tiny, though perfect pine trees, a basket of partridge 
 berry vines, a pot of forget-me-nots, and a pot of ferns. 
 
 October i. It is eleven o'cloci< and 1 am just home from a 
 meeting at Lexington where I "addressed" an audience. 
 Elinor went with me and a rich time we had too. We had to 
 wait an hour in the North Union Station and sat directly back 
 of a party of three, of which the gentleman had just come 
 over from Europe, spending two weeks there, visiting London, 
 Havre, Versailles, and Paris. He was entertaining the ladies 
 with his experiences. Here are some of his remarks: "All 
 Englishmen wear high hats." " People in England have 
 no frame houses but build them of brick and mortar, con- 
 sequently thev decay easily ^ '' Many of the houses are 
 covered with thatch." " There are no day laborers in France, 
 so they all sleep until twelve o'clock." " English people 
 have no soda fountains, so they have to drink beer.'" It was 
 very entertaining. 
 
 October 7. We have been in a rush getting the new mis- 
 sionaries off. The farewell meeting was awfully hard for me. 
 I thought if 1 only could go along with Doctor Coats and be 
 with you all. It seemed almost unbearable to see them all go 
 off and think I couldn't go too. The girls were all so brave 
 and spoke so well, not a breakdown among them. 
 
 Dr. Caroline Coats writing of this time, says : 
 
 Annie's devoted love for her parents and home friends was 
 well shown the night before I left for Nellore when she sobbed 
 in my arms like a homesick child because she could not come 
 
 72 
 
a Xlerm of JSibte Stu^^ 
 
 too. How slie was prepared by that trying separation for 
 wliat was awaiting lier ! 
 
 October 12. School is over and we are home again. We 
 had a spirited discussion on the inspiration of the various 
 writers of the Bible and also on miracles. In fact, " miracles " 
 has been the principal theme for several days. Doctor Wood 
 is a fine teacher and is very cautious on the theological ques- 
 tions. His stand is, that a man ought to be very sure he is right 
 before he expresses a decided opinion. He says modern think- 
 ers are apt to mal\e rash statements that they have to tal>:e back 
 after a short time. He is considered quite ortliodox and yet, 
 withal, free when necessary and fair-minded at all times. 
 
 Friday. Our class has finally settled the question of mira- 
 cles. Here is the definition, made up, part by part, phrase by 
 phrase, by various members of the class and finally accepted 
 by all. " A miracle is an event in the experience of men, not 
 explicable by known laws, having a beneficent or moral pur- 
 pose, attesting a divine message or messenger, and accom- 
 plished by the immediate agency of God." 
 
 Doctor Wood believes in making us think and has suc- 
 ceeded in getting several unique and interesting ideas from the 
 young men. He wants us all, as we go along, to make our 
 own theology, not accept one word which we cannot under- 
 stand or believe just because it is in the text-book. . . 
 
 Last night I dressed in Telugu costume and talked to the 
 " Farther Lights " about the girls of India. They were so 
 nice to me afterward, nearly all came up to speak to me. I 
 had my book of Indian pictures and a few curios to show 
 them and they were so interested in them. . . 
 
 I have written a story for the King^s Messengers. I took two 
 or three " Christmas iumashalii (goings on) " in Nellore, and 
 pieced them together to make a Christmas story. I hope you 
 will like it. 1 have perhaps added a wee bit of fiction, but it 
 is founded on fact, and in the main is correct. Mrs. George 
 likes the story very much. . . 
 
 What a treat I had this mail day, extending, in fact, over 
 two days. Father's letters containing the C. E. photos, yester- 
 
 73 
 
Ube ^onwQ nntsstonar^ 
 
 day, also the two letters from the girls, sent by mother, to-day 
 Minnie's letter and the two enclosures from two of my boys. 
 Indeed 1 felt rich, and every one basked in the light of my 
 smiles (you know they can be pretty broad sometimes), for 1 
 beam on every one for quite a while after I receive your letters. 
 Not that I do not smile at other times, you understand, but 
 there must be a difference of some sort, for they all say im- 
 mediately, " The Indian mail must he in.'''' 
 
 I am booked for a woman's basket meeting in Lowell, a 
 children's rally in Providence, and another meeting in Tremont 
 Temple. My Telugu costume is always in requisition, I find it 
 takes better than anything else. I like to speak at these meet- 
 ings, for I feel somehow as if I were doing at least a little mite 
 for the great work of missions which I love so much ; 1 don't 
 do very well, but then it helps a little bit anyway. . . 
 
 We have organized a little informal student volunteer band 
 in the seminary, composed of seven of us who have a definite 
 idea in view, that of going as foreign missionaries. We are to 
 meet every week for prayer and the study of certain topics that 
 will help us ; to talk over mission work very informally and 
 get better acquainted with it ; also, we are going to try and 
 increase the interest in foreign missions in the institution, 
 which has been rather anti-missionary for the past few years 
 they say. There has been such a change in the attitude of 
 the men this year, about the young ladies. Last year there 
 was so little interest in missions that the sailing of the Has- 
 seltine House girls was totally unnoticed by the young men, 
 many of whom did not even know they had sailed. This 
 year quite a number attended the farewell meetings and also 
 the sailing, setting out for the latter as early as six A M., with- 
 out their breakfast, for fear they would not be in time if they 
 went on the later train. Many of those who remained behind 
 had a special service of prayer for the out-going-missionaries 
 at nine, the hour of sailing. 
 
 NEWTON'S RALLYING CALL 
 
 The voice of them that perish, 
 Is borne across the sky, 
 
 74 
 
H Uerm of Bible Stut)^ 
 
 From out the night it soundeth 
 A wild and aimless cry ; 
 
 The voice of brothers dying 
 Without the light of day, 
 
 Wake Newton men and fathers 
 And send them there, we pray. 
 
 Of native land forgetful. 
 
 And well-loved friends at home, 
 Oh, send us far, our Father 
 
 That so thy kingdom come. 
 We seek not here for pleasure 
 
 And follow not for fame ; 
 But that the darkest heathen 
 
 May know his Saviour's name. 
 
 Oh. thou majestic Saviour 
 
 In whom all glories shine. 
 Baptize the sons of Newton 
 
 With power of life divine ; 
 That we to way-worn nations 
 
 Who farthest from thee rove. 
 May tell of peace eternal. 
 
 And thine own deathless love. 
 
 -S. S. Huse. 
 
 October 20. Our examinations for the first term come next 
 week. Monday begins the "cram." Not much of a cram 
 for me, so don't worry, for I don't believe in using myself up 
 with too much study the last days, and then be no good in 
 the examinations. . . 
 
 I will finish this letter this P. M., as I have quite a little 
 time to myself. Doctor Chambliss took for his text to-day, 
 " My eyes have seen the land that is far off," or, as he said 
 was the better rendering, " My eyes have seen the land of 
 far distances." . . 
 
 November 7. Last night our student volunteer band went 
 into a meeting of the Boston S. V. League and had a fine 
 time. First, one of the members of the league, Mr. Gage, 
 gave the whole league a supper and a good one too. After 
 that, we had a fine meeting on ways and means of influencing 
 young people in regard to foreign missions, in stirring up 
 bands to prayer, to give a tenth, and in stimulating an interest 
 for work in foreign lands. 1 learned so many bright, new, 
 
 F 75 
 
XTbe l^ouna nntssionar^ 
 
 interesting methods, and when I learn more I will impart some 
 of them to you, Minnie, for help in Christian Endeavor work 
 in Nellore. I wouldn't have missed the meeting for a good 
 deal, 1 enjoyed it so. Saturday I spoke at Providence. 1 en- 
 joyed the children so much and my talk with them. One 
 very sweet young girl came up to me afterwards and thanked 
 me for what 1 h?d said, telling me she had a class of boys and 
 my words about my boys in India helped her very much. 
 
 STUDENT VOLUNTEER BAND AT NEWTON 
 
 November 13. I heard something this week that made me, 
 oh, so happy, because it will make you happy too. Doctor 
 Wood told me that I had the highest mark in the class in the 
 last theology examination, ahead of the boys too. I was so 
 surprised when he told me that any one could have bowled me 
 over with a goose quill. He said : " You have the honor, Miss 
 Downie, of leading the middle class in theology this term." 
 Doctor Brown also returned mv paper on Jeremiah, with "ex- 
 
 76 
 
H trerm ot JBtbie Stub^ 
 
 cellent " at the head of it. I am going to try still harder, this 
 term, to do well, for 1 want you all to be proud of me. That 
 will be my sweetest reward, next to the Saviour's " well done." 
 
 Father, 1 have actually commenced Greek this term : Col- 
 ossians, with the middle and senior classes. It is decidedly 
 hard and requires a great deal of delving into commentaries. 
 I wish I had access to your library, once in a while, for it is 
 hard for some twenty pupils to all get their lessons out of four 
 or five of the commentaries required. 
 
 Wednesday. We had a very pleasant social last evening at 
 the church, given by the ladies as a reception to the faculty 
 and students of the seminary. The students turned out in 
 brave array, and seemed to enjoy themselves very much. 1 
 met a lot of students and had a chance of giving three foreign 
 missionary lectures to three different groups of lukewarm em- 
 bryo preachers. It rouses me so much to see such utter indif- 
 ference to foreign missions in those who call themselves Chris- 
 tians, that it seems as if I couldn't go without speaking about 
 it. But the evening was not all spent in missionary talk, we 
 had a jolly time all round. . . 
 
 We had a delicious lesson on India to-day. One man got 
 up and explained that the dress of a native man consisted of 
 an upper and a lower cloth tied round the waist and hanging 
 in folds to the knee, and the upper cloth thrown over the 
 shoulder and tied at the waist also. A woman's costume con- 
 sisted of a cloth wound round the waist, but he couldn't just 
 see how it was done. Another said that rice was eaten with 
 a kind of sauce called curry. A third said the houses were flat- 
 roofed with a thing projecting out in front called a veranda. 
 
 77 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 
 
 God's plans for thee are graciously unfolding, 
 And leaf by leaf they blossom perfectly, 
 
 As yon fair rose, from its soft unfolding, 
 In marvelous beauty opens fragrantly. 
 
 HE last letter for the year 1899, from 
 Annie, was dated December thirty-first. 
 She tells of her Christmas : 
 
 I had a most lovely Christmas, though I was 
 quite a bit lonely and wanted " my folks." Every one though 
 was very kind and made me quite one of the family. I had 
 such a lot of presents, every one seemed so kind in remember- 
 ing me. The night before Christmas we arranged all the gifts 
 for the family in the parlor on the table. After breakfast we 
 all went in there and after prayers standing around the table 
 we each in turn shut our eyes and took a parcel from the pile. 
 Then it was handed to the owner, opened and enjoyed by all. 
 
 Annie had ten presents in that pile and writes : 
 
 All the week presents have been coming in, so I feel as if I 
 had had a whole week of Christmas. . . 10.30 P. M. You 
 are all probably keeping watch night in India and I am going 
 to watch with you to-night. I will write until about 11 o'clock 
 and then begin my watch — all alone and yet not alone either. 
 It seems rather solemn to be watching with no one else here. 
 
 We had not planned returning to America until 
 78 
 
Bn Tllnexpecteb /IDeetino 
 
 1901, but circumstances seemed to demand that 
 our furlough should be taken earlier. The Rev. 
 W. L. Ferguson was the best available man to 
 take up the double v^^ork of missionary and mis- 
 sion treasurer, and as he intended taking his fur- 
 lough the next year, it was decided that we return 
 in 1900. When Annie heard the news she wrote: 
 
 Won't it be jolly to have you come and we all be together 
 once more? When I heard the news I jumped all around I 
 was so happy. . . it seems hardly possible that I v/ill see you 
 so soon. 1 have to say it over and over to myself to make 
 it seem true. . . 
 
 School is well under way now. Doctor Wood told us the 
 general results of our theology examination on Thursday. Miss 
 
 B , Miss F , and I did better tlian any of the young men 
 
 he said. And he said also that if we could have written better 
 papers than we did, he would lil^e to see them, but he thought 
 that was hardly possible; that the ones handed in were as nearly 
 perfect as examination papers could be. The boys took it 
 very nicely and clapped us. I am so glad I can hand in a 
 good record for your sakes ; you have been so good to me, 
 that the very best 1 can do to pay you will be none too good. 
 1 have to work hard to keep up, for the girls here are all bright 
 and scholarly, have fme minds, and work hard. 
 
 We reached New York at the opening of the 
 Ecumenical Conference, and as the Hasseltine 
 House young ladies were permitted to attend the 
 great meeting, we met Annie there, at the home 
 of our friends, Professor and Mrs. Bickmore. It 
 was a great joy to find her looking well and full of 
 enthusiasm over the double pleasure of our return 
 and the meetings. 
 
 79 
 
Zbc ISouuQ Mtsstonary 
 
 Before Annie left Newton Centre for Belmar, 
 where we spent the summer, the Woman's Board 
 showed their appreciation of what she had done 
 during the year, by inviting her to spend another 
 year at Hasseltine House, to fit herself more thor- 
 oughly for future work. Annie was anxious to get to 
 the foreign field where her heart was, but she real- 
 ized that it would be better for her to stay another 
 year in America and go back with us, so she grate- 
 fully accepted the invitation particularly as the 
 Board kindly voted two hundred dollars toward her 
 expenses, thus paving the way for an acceptance. 
 
 The second year at Hasseltine House passed 
 much as the first, except that there were other 
 companions and advanced studies. She began 
 Hebrew, a study she very much enjoyed. It was 
 never any trouble for her to study languages and 
 she undertook Hebrew to help her in the study of 
 Hindustani after her return to India and also as an 
 aid to translation and other literary work. 
 
 While busy with her studies she still found time 
 to make missionary addresses, here and there, 
 which were always well received. A lady of West 
 Newton writes : 
 
 Dear Annie was with us at our meeting last May, and the 
 girls will never forget her earnest, helpful words. She was 
 so filled with the love of Christ and so sweetly unselfish in 
 her willingness to serve him. To have known her even a 
 little was a blessing and an inspiration. 
 
 80 
 
Bn xaneipecte^ /IDcctiuG 
 
 In April, at the women's annual meeting, at 
 Hartford, Conn., she was presented as one of the 
 candidates for the foreign field, and no one pres- 
 ent, who knew her, will ever forget the words she 
 spoke at that time. She had been passing through 
 one of the seasons of doubt and distress that 
 often come to God's children, a time when the 
 soul gropes after God as the foundations of belief 
 seem shattered and tottering, and she spoke of 
 what she had suffered and how she had come into 
 a stronger, purer light. She mentioned the five 
 windows of the Newton Centre Church, each with 
 a separate inscription. The last one was dark, but 
 when it was deciphered there was the old Commis- 
 sion : "Go ye into all the world and disciple all 
 nations." She told how it had seemed to come 
 to her with fresh force as if direct from God. 
 
 Many have spoken of that talk and of her looks 
 at the time. One friend writes : 
 
 I shall never forget the impression she made upon me in her 
 address at Hartford, it really seemed as though her face and 
 voice were illumined witli the divine light. I have heard 
 many speak of it in the same way. 
 
 A mission worker in Washington also testifies : 
 
 I shall always rejoice that I met her in Hartford last April, 
 and that 1 heard her tell of the live windows with her face all 
 aglow. 
 
 Just before ending her second year of Bible 
 8i 
 
trbe Igouna nntsetonari? 
 
 study she appeared before the executive committee 
 of the Missionary Union and was accepted as a 
 missionary of the Woman's Board. Doctor King, 
 chairman of the committee, says: ** How well do 
 I remember Annie when she appeared before the 
 executive committee, so bright, so winning, so full 
 of hope and promise," while Doctor Mabie, our 
 Home Secretary, writes still more strongly : 
 
 My admiration for this dear girl became very great in con- 
 nection with the time she spent at Hasseltine House. Her ap- 
 pearance before our executive committee and the manner in 
 which she narrated the exercises of her mind which had led 
 her up, stage by stage, to the point of giving herself to mis- 
 sion service, was one of the most touching we have ever 
 heard given. She was intellectually so bright, her counte- 
 nance was uncommonly radiant, and we hoped for her an 
 efficient and blessed service in India 
 
 In June, 1901, her connection with Hasseltine 
 House ceased. She regretted leaving the place 
 that had been a real home to her for two years, and 
 she loved Mrs. George who had been like a mother 
 to her when her own mother was far away. 
 
 As to her influence in the House, Mrs. George 
 says: 
 
 She was a ray of sunlight always. Was there an errand 
 to be done her ready feet had accomplished it while the echoes 
 of the wish were dying away. Was any one ill, her hands 
 ministered comfort. Was there a birthday, some delightful 
 surprise was sure to celebrate the event. Was any one lonely 
 or homesick, some way was found to lighten the depression, 
 
 82 
 
Bn innetpectcb /IDeetino 
 
 During these two years, I cannot recall a hasty or unkind 
 word. Truly she walked with God. She excelled in her 
 studies and loving study for its own sake, she loved it doubly 
 because it would fit her for richer service. 
 
 When the seminary commencement exercises 
 were over it seemed wise that Annie should go 
 somewhere for a quiet rest. She decided to go 
 to Nova Scotia and visit Mrs. Burditt, a dear friend 
 and former co-laborer of ours in India. She had 
 known Annie as a child, and looked forward to her 
 coming as bringing her again in touch with the old 
 home and work in the Telugu mission. She had 
 laid her husband's body away in an Indian grave, 
 and had been for many years in Nova Scotia edu- 
 cating her five children. Of Annie's stay with 
 them she says : 
 
 Annie endeared herself to many here. Her earnest words 
 in behalf of the women and children of India will not soon be 
 forgotten. And socially, with our young people, she left the 
 impression of unusual brightness and sweetness of character. 
 In our own home she left a fragrance that will never leave us. 
 We are so glad she was able to be with us those few weeks. 
 
 Several of the Hasseltine House young ladies had 
 arranged for tenting together at Northfield, so as to 
 enjoy the July meetings together. Here Annie re- 
 ceived a great blessing which resulted in greater 
 consecration. She thus wrote home about it : 
 
 In tent, Northfield, July 19, 1901. These have been such 
 busy days and yet such happv davs for me. I have had 
 
 83 
 
Ube lUouuG nnissiouari^ 
 
 hardly a minute in wliicli to sit down and write letters, but 1 
 haven't forgotten you all. I am so glad 1 came here. The 
 meetings have meant so much to me, and my life has been 
 deepened and broadened and transformed far more than 1 can 
 say. I feel as if my life heretofore has been so shallow, so 
 lacking in many ways, that I do not wonder 1 have had so 
 little influence for good among those around me. 1 have had 
 so many besetting sins, mother dear, pride and selfishness, 
 deception and disobedience which always follow in the wake 
 of the first two, that 1 sometimes wonder why God should 
 have called me, who am so unworthy, to be his ambassador. 
 These meetings have shown me so clearly the awfulness of 
 sin in a life, and the far-reaches of influence, so that now I see 
 clearly my spiritual life henceforth must be deeper and fuller, 
 and I want your prayers, mother, dear. My heart is just sing- 
 ing now that I know these things, and 1 am so glad that I am 
 going out to his work, and I pray that 1 may be made worthy 
 and meet for his service. 
 
 From Northfield she visited relatives and friends 
 in New York and Pennsylvania, and made some 
 necessary preparations for her departure in August. 
 Of the other two girls, Alice had graduated from 
 the Normal School in West Chester and was to 
 accompany us to India, while Minnie had entered 
 the Connecticut training school in the New Haven 
 Hospital. She was looking forward to completing 
 her course, spend a year at Hasseltine House in 
 Bible study, and then return to India for work 
 in one of the mission hospitals. It was hard, very 
 hard for her to be left behind. 
 
 Not a tie is broken, not a hope laid low, 
 Not a farewell spoken, but our God doth know ; 
 
 84 
 
U\\ xanexpecteb /IDeetin^ 
 
 Every hair is luiinbered, every tear is weighed, 
 In the changeless balance wisest love has made. 
 
 Power eternal resteth in his changeless hand ; 
 
 Love iniinortal hasteth swift at his command, 
 Faith can firmly trust him in the darkest hour, 
 
 For the key it holdeth, to his love and power. 
 
 itpn 
 
 85 
 
CHAPTER X 
 A SECOND TERM OF SERVICE 
 
 Among the lives that I have known, 
 None I remember more serene and sweet, 
 More rounded in itself and more complete. 
 
 HE summer days passed all too quickly, 
 and once more we found ourselves in 
 New York, our trunks packed and 
 ready for another sailing. Early on 
 the morning of August 10, 1901, we went to the 
 ship accompanied by our kind friends, the Bick- 
 mores. They had seen us sail in 1893 and also 
 in 1884. 
 
 Our passage was taken on the ** Marquette," of 
 the Transport Line. It was a cattle steamer, but 
 was selected for its sloivness and steadiness, and be- 
 cause we did not care to cross the ocean too quickly. 
 The steamer sailed very early in the morning, but 
 Annie was much pleased at the presence of some 
 *' Farther Lights" girls from Riverside, New York, 
 who came with beautiful flowers for her, and a big 
 wonder bag containing some surprise for each day 
 of the voyage. 
 
 The last farewells were said, some pretty pictures 
 taken, and the good ship slowly left the dock and 
 
 86 
 
B Seconb Uerm of Service 
 
 steamed down the bay. When we were fairly 
 afloat, we went to our staterooms to get them in 
 order, and found them full to overflowing with 
 boxes and parcels left by our friends. We could 
 fully echo dear Annie's exclamation: ** Isn't God 
 good to give us friends!" The loving thoughts 
 expressed by the gifts and in the many letters 
 awaiting us quite took away the edge of our grief. 
 
 There were some very nice people among the 
 passengers and we made some pleasant acquaint- 
 ances. In the case of a Western professor and 
 his wife a friendship was formjd that bids fair to 
 be a lasting one. They were on their way to 
 Oxford for a year's study. Both took quite a 
 fancy to Annie and all had some nice times to- 
 gether on the steamer and afterward in London. 
 
 On the second Sunday some of the passengers 
 asked for a talk on the Telugu work and seemed 
 much interested. At the end Annie sung a couple 
 of sweet Telugu hymns, and before singing, de- 
 scribed the hymns and by whom sang, in a sweet, 
 winning way, and so impressed one lady that she 
 gave her a small contribution for her special work. 
 During the voyage she had quiet talks with one 
 and another impressing herself upon them in a 
 way they could never forget. 
 
 We reached London on the twelfth day and were 
 soon in pleasant quarters in Torrington Square. 
 As kind friends had again made it possible for us 
 
 87 
 
trbe l^ouno nntsstonar^ 
 
 to do some traveling we did not tarry long in 
 England, but arrai^^ing to join our next steamer 
 at Marseillj.:, we went for a little visit to Paris and 
 other noted places on the continent. 
 
 It was a pleasure to us to note Annie's enjoy- 
 ment, as we visited places that had been familiar 
 to her from reading and pictures, but which she 
 had never expected to see. We had a short stay 
 in Switzerland and the Alps appealed most of all 
 to her. She had always hved mountain scenery, 
 and now said she would enjoy a walking tour 
 through the Alps and might take one in one of 
 her vacations. 
 
 We reached Marseilles in time for the "Chesh- 
 ire " of the Bibby Line and were much pleased 
 to find several of our Burma missionaries on board. 
 Doctor and Mrs. Eveleth, of the Theological Sem- 
 inary at Insein, Miss Haswell, of Amherst, with 
 her adopted daughter, and a Miss Ragon, a new 
 appointee of the Western Board. There were 
 other missionaries on their way to India also, and 
 we all formed a company to ourselves. We gen- 
 erally occupied the hurricane deck, and as there 
 were moonlight nights we had some delightful even- 
 ings. One of the party said of Annie that she 
 was a sweet girl and one could not help seeing 
 often what an unselfish spirit she had, and that 
 her hopes and plans for service were so joyful. 
 
 Disembarking at Colombo, we took the steamer 
 88 
 
H Secont) Xlerm of Service 
 
 across to Tuticorin and suffered more inconvenience 
 that one night than on both the preceding voyages. 
 There had been a cyclonic storm on the Bay of 
 Bengal, and its effects were felt on the narrow 
 strip of water we had to cross. The steamer 
 pitched and tossed, shipping great waves. Annie, 
 though, was one of the two ladies who ventured 
 down to dinner, thereby winning great praise from 
 the captain. 
 
 From Tuticorin there was a day and night 
 journey to Madras . We saw * * Trichinopoly Rock ' ' 
 as we passed along and caught glimpses of the 
 bay, which relieved the tedium of the journey. 
 
 In Madras we were warmly welcomed by the mis- 
 sionaries and other friends, but only stayed there a 
 couple of days, as we were anxious to reach home. 
 A ride of seven hours on the new East Coast Road 
 brought us, at last, to dear old Nellore on the 
 afternoon of October 11. Annie's letter to the 
 ** Helping Hand " tells of our reception : 
 
 In the evening we had a reception tendered to us on the 
 veranda of the bungalow. All the school children were pres- 
 ent and a crowd of the Christian men and women. There is 
 a society newly formed in Nellore by some Brahmin lads, 
 called the Victoria Literary Society. Well, on the veranda 
 among our Christians and school children, was a goodly rep- 
 resentation from this august body who had come to give us 
 a welcome. The speech presented by Veerasevamy was 
 characteristic. Then the Victorians read an address of wel- 
 come, in which they requested " Rev. D. Downie and Mrs. 
 and Miss Downie" to become honorarv members of the 
 G 89 
 
trbe l^ouna nntsstonar^ 
 
 society. Before we had reached Nellore it seems that they 
 elected father president of the society, and in the address they 
 took it for granted that he would accept the honor, and ad- 
 dressed him by the title. We were so glad of this interest, and 
 we do hope that we can get some sort of hold on these boys 
 and be able to help them some. Hitherto the upper classes 
 have been inclined to hold aloof from the missionaries. A 
 heavy garland of red and white flowers was put around the 
 neck of each of us, and we were presented with little balls of 
 flowers to hold in our hands, and were freely sprinkled with 
 Oriental rose water and after the reception there was a short 
 display of fireworks. 
 
 Annie spoke very sweetly in response to her 
 address, telling how glad she was to be back, 
 and how she hoped to be used of God in help- 
 ing them all. 
 
 One week was spent in unpacking and getting 
 settled, when we took over charge of the work 
 from the Fergusons, who had faithfully held the 
 fort during our absence. Annie took the Bible 
 women from Miss Wagner, and at once began 
 her work among them. She was not hampered 
 by the want of the language, as new mission- 
 aries usually are, yet she began reading with the 
 Munshi all the same, as she felt she had lost 
 much of her Telugu during her two years at home. 
 She also began the study of Hindustani, for the 
 houses of the Mohammedans were opening to the 
 workers and she felt anxious to speak to the 
 women in their own language. Being Purdah 
 women few of them know Telugu. 
 
 90 
 
H 5econ^ Xlerm of Service 
 
 Before the second week was ended she had 
 started Bible lessons with the workers and had 
 visited all the zenanas where regular lessons were 
 being taught. We began to fear that she was at- 
 tempting too much, and by our advice she re- 
 linquished the Telugu reading for a time. 
 
 The northeast monsoon broke toward the end of 
 October, and the heavy rain caused much washing 
 out of congested drains and brought much sick- 
 ness into the closely built parts of the town. But 
 Annie continued her visits to the houses not think- 
 ing of the danger she was in. 
 
 Before coming to India she had promised to 
 meet in Madras the two young ladies designated to 
 Nellore, and looked forward with joyous anticipa- 
 tion to their coming. She went to Madras early 
 in November, but as the vessel was somewhat de- 
 layed, she spent the time while waiting in doing 
 some shopping, buying her furniture and some 
 things necessary for touring. She was out in the 
 rain a good deal and contracted a severe cold. 
 
 When the incoming missionaries reached Madras, 
 there was more shopping to do before the party 
 could leave for Nellore. Finally, the start was 
 made and the Nellore party came, bringing with 
 them Doctor Levering, her sister. Miss Faye, and 
 Miss Lizzie Kurtz, all bound for Secunderabad in 
 the Deccan. 
 
 There was so much excitement receiving the 
 91 
 
Ubc Kouno fintsstouar^ 
 
 missionaries and enjoying their companionship, 
 that we did not perhaps realize that Annie's cold 
 was as bad as it really was. She took simple 
 remedies and made light of it herself. After the 
 Deccan party left us we had a visit from Dr. W. 
 W. Keen, of Philadel- 
 phia, who with his two 
 daughters, war. making 
 a trip around the world. 
 Annie was particularly 
 bright while they were 
 in Nellore. She took 
 the young ladies to visit 
 several of the zenanas 
 and showed them all 
 that could be shown of 
 her work in the short 
 time at their disposal. 
 
 One of the new lady 
 missionaries was Miss 
 Katherine Gerow, who 
 had been Annie's spe- 
 cial friend during her second year at Hasseltine 
 House. The two roomed together here in a small 
 bungalow connected with the large house by a cov- 
 ered portico. They fixed up their rooms very pret- 
 tily and looked forward to spending a year together 
 before Miss Gerow removed to the hospital com- 
 pound where her work was to be. Late in Novem- 
 92 
 
 HINDU GIRLS 
 
B Second Uerm of Service 
 
 ber, Miss Gerow noticed that Annie had a high 
 temperature and insisted on her going at once to bed. 
 The doctor was called in and in a few days symp- 
 toms of typhoid appeared. Then only did we learn 
 that enteric had been raging in Madras, and was 
 bad around the place where she had been staying. 
 She had somehow taken germs into her system 
 which could not be thrown off in her weakened 
 condition. 
 
 As Miss Gerow was a trained nurse she took 
 charge of Annie through her illness, and was very 
 faithful to her trust. The fever was of a mild type 
 and no special danger was anticipated. She 
 suffered no pain, was clear-headed and considered 
 staying in bed rather a joke than otherwise. 
 
 Suddenly, on the evening of the tenth day, she 
 was seized with a sudden sharp pain, peritonitis 
 set in, for two days she suffered greatly, and then 
 — "was not, for God took her." Her second 
 term of service was ended in less than two months. 
 
 God's unseen angel o'er our pathway crossed, 
 Looked on us all, and loving her the most 
 Straightway relieved her from life's weary load. 
 
 93 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 A TRANSLATION 
 
 For he knows best 
 Who takes the young ones in his arms 
 Before the sun sinks to the west. 
 
 'HEN we realized on the never-to-be- 
 forgotten evening of December 7, 
 that nothing could save our darling, 
 that she was sinking fast, her mother 
 went to her bedside and said: "Annie dear, we 
 
 have done the best we could, but " Here 
 
 courage gave way and leaning her head on the 
 dying girl she burst into tears. Annie threw both 
 arms round her mother saying, ** Why, dearie, what 
 is the matter? " Then turning to Alice she said in 
 distress, ''What is it?" Controlling herself by 
 a violent effort, her mother told her she was very 
 ill, that they had done all for her they could, but 
 the Lord was calling her. She seemed surprised 
 and said: "Why, is there any danger? " She 
 was told there was and she would soon be with 
 her Lord. She lay quiet for a moment, and then 
 said very sweetly, "It's all right, mother, I am 
 ready to go." After that her thought seemed to 
 be to comfort us. She said: " Katharine will be 
 
 94 
 
H ITranslation 
 
 a daughter to you, mother, and you have two beau- 
 tiful girls left. Alice pressed her hand and she 
 said: " Dear little Picky," her favorite name for 
 her youngest sister. When her father came into 
 the room she said: " I'm ready to go, father, but 
 I hope to stay with you a little while longer." 
 All through her illness she had been specially 
 anxious that he should not feel troubled, and 
 every time he came into the room she would smile 
 and say, "I'm all right, father." Her father 
 said : ** My dear girl, you have been a very good 
 daughter to us and a good Christian too." She 
 smiled sweetly and said : ** Those are sweet words, 
 father." Then suddenly her face became radiant, 
 she opened her eyes wide and gazed straight ahead 
 saying in a clear voice: ** Oh, the beautiful city! 
 The beautiful city! I am going to the city! " 
 Her father asked her if she could see her Saviour. 
 In a far-away voice with her eyes closed she an- 
 swered : "Yes. He is calling me." Just here 
 the young ladies came in and the eight of us sur- 
 rounded her bed. As they came in, the stir of 
 their entrance roused her and she said to her friend : 
 ** Katharine, be good to mother." Then again 
 her face became radiant and her eyes were fixed 
 on the distance, and a second time she called out: 
 " Oh, the beautiful city! How beautiful! I see 
 the light of it! " Then throwing one arm around 
 her friend, she said: "Won't you come too, 
 
 95 
 
Ube Boung /llM55tonat^ 
 
 Katharine, come with me to the city? " Then she 
 recited in a clear voice those beautiful words of 
 our Lord : ''In my Father's house are many man- 
 sions ; if it were not so I would have told you, I 
 
 go to prepare a place for you. And if I go " 
 
 here she stopped. Some one prompted her but it 
 was too late, the sands of time had almost run 
 through for her and those were the last words she 
 uttered, though twice afterward we could see by 
 the moving of her lips that she tried to say some- 
 thing more. She breathed more and more heavily, 
 then at greater intervals until the fluttering heart 
 ceased and she entered the portals of the beauti- 
 ful city and saw the King. 
 
 Her friend and old-time Greek scholar, Subbiah, 
 pastor of the Nellore church, was in the room and 
 made an earnest prayer, pouring out his soul to 
 God to help all in this time of trial. There was a 
 hush over everything after he had finished. All 
 had been taken up to the very gates of heaven, 
 while that sanctified spirit was entering and there 
 was no room for obtrusive grief. 
 
 It was nine-thirty Saturday night when the spirit 
 went home to God. Misses Gerow, Robertson, 
 Tencate, and MacLaurin, all Hasseltine House 
 girls, did what was needful and robed the body 
 for burial, touching it with loving hands. The 
 burial was appointed for the next afternoon. Dr. 
 Boggs and Rev. J. Heinrichs came from Ramapa- 
 
 96 
 
B XTranslation 
 
 tarn, Rev. W. S. and Mrs. Davis from Allur to 
 help in the services. 
 
 Sunday was a very wet day, but early in the 
 morning the native Christians began to come, to 
 see the one they loved so much, the one from 
 
 0| 
 
 B^^ 
 
 ^Sb^ 
 
 fcg^^ '^ ' ^d^H^^ni^^|^^B|^^^^^^**'j^ 
 
 ^&f 
 
 
 w 
 
 ^ — ^ — -^ ^ J— 
 
 EinCATHU CHRISTIANS 
 
 whom they had expected a much longer service. 
 There was a hush even over them, a very unusual 
 thing with Orientals, whose grief is generally 
 very noisy. 
 
 At five o'clock we had an English service just 
 for the twelve of us, Doctor Boggs speaking most 
 
 97 
 
XTbe ISoung nntssionat^ 
 
 beautifully and feelingly. He had known Annie 
 as a child and always loved her= Mr. Heinrichs 
 made an earnest prayer, and then we took a last 
 earthly farewell of our dear one. She was so 
 beautiful in death. The loving hands of her sis- 
 ters had robed her in a pretty Swiss muslin dress 
 that she had made herself for the stay in Madras, 
 little thinking it would be her shroud. A bunch 
 of white flowers and maiden-hair fern was on her 
 left shoulder, while trailing sprays of the sweet 
 smelling cork tree blossoms were down her dress 
 and around the sides of the coffin. As one 
 present remarked, there was a look of perfect 
 peace and happiness upon her face. To her 
 
 Glad news was sent 
 
 From the far country of her banishment. 
 Who came from that far land, 
 The happy news to tell 
 There sealed those loving lips 
 f To keep the secret well. 
 
 After the English service was ended, the young 
 men who had known her in childhood carried her 
 over to the church, where a large congregation of 
 Christians and heathen was assembled. It seemed 
 as if the heathen of the two hamlets near the 
 mission compound had turned out en viasse to 
 honor one they had known so long. Many of 
 them had heard the gospel story from her lips 
 more than once, 
 
 98 
 
H ITranslation 
 
 There was a touching service in Telugu lasting 
 quite awhile and then all filed past the coffin to 
 take a last look at the lovely form lying there. 
 
 Two weeks before Annie was taken ill, her 
 parents were walking around the compound one 
 Sunday afternoon, as was often their custom. 
 Reaching the cluster of graves the father said : 
 ** While I would never have chosen this as a burial 
 ground, it is here and must stay. I think we had 
 better wall it round, put a gate to it, and fix it up 
 nicely with walks and plants." Then he added: 
 ** If any of our family should be taken, we will 
 be buried here." How little he thought that even 
 then the death angel was hovering over the bunga- 
 low, and the one to be taken first was the dearly 
 loved eldest daughter ! 
 
 Alas ! for the life of promise 
 
 Quenclied in its brightest glow; 
 Alas ! for the young standard-hearer 
 
 Who yonder lieth low. 
 The church on earth bewails her, 
 
 But up above the sky, 
 The church triumphant welcomes her 
 
 With songs of victory. 
 
 99 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 A RETROSPECT 
 
 Drop thy still dews of quietness 
 
 'Till all our strivings cease, 
 Take from our souls the strain and stress, 
 And let our ordered lives confess 
 
 The beauty of thy peace. 
 
 —IVhittier. 
 
 S we have read and re-read the hun- 
 dreds of beautiful letters that came 
 to us after our dear daughter's call 
 away, this verse has been much in 
 our mind: **Who comforteth us in all our trib- 
 ulation, that we may be able to comfort them 
 which are in any trouble, by the comfort where- 
 with we ourselves are comforted of God " (2 
 Cor. 1:4). 
 
 It has been a real grief that we could not repro- 
 duce these comforting words sent us, but, dwelling 
 upon the comfort that comes from even attempting 
 to comfort others, we have learned some valuable 
 lessons that we desire to pass on to others who may 
 be sorrowing even as we sorrowed. We quote in 
 full a beautiful poem sent us, that all our readers 
 may get from it the same lesson that we did : 
 
 lOO 
 
H IRetrospect 
 
 RECOMPENSE 
 
 Straight to my heart this fact to-day 
 By truth's own iiand is driven, 
 
 God never takes one tiling away 
 But sometliing else is given. 
 
 I did not l\now, in earlier years, 
 This law of love and kindness, 
 
 But without hope, through bitter tears, 
 I mourned in sorrow's blindness. 
 
 And ever following each regret 
 
 For some departed treasure, 
 My sad repining heart was met 
 
 With unexpected pleasure. 
 
 I thought it only happened so — 
 But time this truth has taught me, 
 
 No least thing from my life can go. 
 But something else is brought me. 
 
 It is the law, complete, sublime, 
 And now with faith unshaken, 
 
 In patience I but bide my time 
 When any joy is taken. 
 
 No matter if the crushing blow 
 May for the moment down me, 
 
 Still back of it waits Love, I know, 
 With some new gift to crown me. 
 
 As soon as the meaning of the poem had fully 
 entered our mind, there came the question : ** What 
 recompense has God given us ? " It did not take 
 long pondering to realize that we had been given 
 an abiding sense of tJie nearness of God. When 
 in 1888 our Father took to himself our dear Elsie, 
 
 lOI 
 
Zbc l^ouuG nnisstonar^ 
 
 we had this sense of the abiding presence, and it 
 has never left us during the fourteen years that 
 have intervened. But when Annie was taken, a 
 blooming flower where Elsie was only a bud, God 
 measured out his favors with a kingly hand. He 
 kept our darling from suffering that might have 
 torn our hearts with anguish, and he made her 
 dying bed so glorious with that wonderful vision of 
 the holy city, that we could almost hear the rustle of 
 the angels' wings as they bore her spirit away. Can 
 we ever doubt there is a heavenly city, after the 
 manifestation of it to our clear-headed, keen-eyed 
 daughter ? There was given to us afresh sense of 
 what the word * 'friend ' ' mea/is. As soon as the 
 news of our sorrow reached our friends here and 
 in America, hundreds of pens were moved to send 
 us the loving sympathy of those who sorrowed with 
 us and truly mourned the loss of the young standard 
 bearer. Many of the letters came from the depths 
 of anguished hearts, written by those who were 
 themselves in the shadows, and nearly all were 
 full of assurance of prayer for us and the work. 
 Could we, dared we mourn, in the presence of all 
 those ascending prayers ? The sting of our grief 
 was taken away — the prayers of our friends brought 
 us peace, the peace that passeth understanding. 
 With dear Annie we cry, " Isn't God good to give 
 us friends ? " 
 
 There has been given us a great sympathy for 
 
 102 
 
H IRetrospect 
 
 those whose loved ones have been taken a-a'ay. 
 Some sorrow with hope, but many without hope. 
 Oh, the desolation of those who never expect to 
 see their dear ones again ! In this town of Nel- 
 lore, there is a heathen mother who laid away a 
 dearly loved daughter. Several years have passed 
 away, but her grief is as bitter as at first. She 
 
 HER RESTING-PLACE 
 
 has no hope. Her child has gone, she will never 
 see her again. Our hearts bleed for that mother, 
 and we long to give her the comfort we have, but 
 she understands it not. So there are everywhere 
 hearts bowed down, almost crushed under a weight 
 of woe, and there is no peace. 
 
 There has been given to us a great desire to 
 help those ivJio nioitrn zcithout hope. When we 
 H 103 
 
Zbc ISourtG nntsstonar^ 
 
 go now to those bowed with grief and say * * 07ir 
 Saviour binds up the broken hearts and comforts 
 mourning souls, we know, because we have experi- 
 enced it," our words are fuller of meaning and 
 more assuring because back of them lies our knowl- 
 edge — we assure them it is so, because we know. 
 
 But all these recompenses were in our own 
 hearts and hidden from outside gaze. There 
 was one, however, which was swift and appar- 
 ent to all. A faithful worker in God's vineyard 
 had been cut off and her work was left. For 
 one month earnest prayers went up that the dear 
 Lord would fill the vacancy that the work might 
 not suffer. 
 
 During that month a letter was speeding its way, 
 and when Annie's dearly loved sister in the New 
 Haven Hospital read of the loss that had come to 
 her, as well as to us, one great desire took pos- 
 session of her to return to India at once, to com- 
 fort her parents and take up the work her sister 
 had been obliged to lay down. Her own ambi- 
 tions and plans were given up, and it was won- 
 derful how God smoothed away all difficulties and 
 enabled her to sail within three days. It was one 
 of the "all things" too, that a lady was going 
 from New York straight to Madras and that she 
 could have company all the long journey. In less 
 than three months after Annie went, Minnie was 
 here, at work, and we were once more together as 
 104 
 
B IRetrospect 
 
 a family, with the two glorified ones nearer perhaps 
 than we realized. The couplet, 
 
 God never takes one thing away 
 But something else is given, 
 
 thus came to mean a great deal to us, and our 
 hearts are at rest, waiting to see the further work- 
 ings of the will of God. 
 
 It was not a sombre, gloomy life that Annie 
 Downie led ; she enjoyed to the full every good 
 time that came to her, and while she had neither 
 time nor inclination for doubtful pleasures, those 
 which as a Christian she felt she could not in- 
 dulge in, yet she was always ready for an outdoor 
 game and was the life of many an indoor party. 
 If the question had been asked her, as she hovered 
 between earth and heaven, as to her life as a child 
 and as a young girl, we are sure she would have 
 said, " Oh, I have had such a happy life! " 
 
 THE CITY BEAUTIFUL 
 
 Sometimes when the day is ended 
 
 And its round of duties done, 
 I watch at the western windows 
 
 The gleam of the setting sun. 
 When my heart has been unquiet 
 
 And its longings unbeguiled 
 By the day's vexatious trials 
 
 And cannot be reconciled, 
 1 look on the slope of the mountains 
 
 And o'er the restless sea, 
 105 
 
Ube l^oung mitsstonari? 
 
 And I think of the beautiful city 
 
 That lieth not far from me, 
 And my spirit is hushed in a moment 
 
 As the twilight falls tender and sweet, 
 And I cross, in my fancy, the river 
 
 And kneel at the Master's feet. 
 And I rest in the shade that falleth 
 
 From the trees that with healing are rife, 
 That shadow the banks of the river, 
 
 The river of water of life. 
 And sometime when the day is ended 
 
 And the duties he gave me are done, 
 I shall watch at life's western windows 
 
 The gleam of the setting sun. 
 I shall fall asleep in the twilight 
 
 As 1 never have slept before, 
 To dream of the beautiful city 
 
 Till 1 waken to sleep no more. 
 There will fall on my restless spirit 
 
 A hush, oh, so wondrously sweet ! 
 And 1 shall cross over the river 
 
 To rest at the Master's feet. 
 
 lo6