Anna Coope ; sky pilot of the San Blas Indians

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Anna Coope and her pupil, Loonie Powers.

ANNA GOOPE

SKY PILOT OF THE
SAN BLAS INDIANS

an Hutobiograpb?

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY

PARK AVENUE AND 40rH STREET

NEW YORK

Copyright, 1917, by
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY

FOREWORD

This is a remarkable book, and for the rea-
son that it is born out of a remarkable, and, in-
deed, an almost unprecedented experience.
The author's life is spent daily and hourly in
communion with the Creator and Heavenly
Father. God is always near, always reveal-
ing His love, and manifesting His protection
and deliverance. The book is especially
timely in these days when God is held by so
many to act only through the established laws
that control the physical universe. It is in-
spiring and uplifting to be in the atmosphere
even for a short time of a faith that believes
in God every moment, and trusts Him for all
things, realizing that He is present in the
smallest details of our daily life. The book
is published under the strong conviction that
it will strengthen the faith of all who read it,
and bring the believer into closer touch with
the Eternal Father and Omnipotent Saviour.

JuDsoN Swift.

tii

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I Girlhood Days in England .... i

II New Life in a New Land 20

III To THE West Indies and Home Again . 30

IV Up the Orinoco to San Isidro ... 43
V Work Ended in Venezuela . , . . 67

VI My Adventures in a Launch ... 79

VII Back to Colon 89

VIII At Rio Diablo 104

IX Hindrances and Progress 120

X Some of My Boys 132

XI ** The Chief Man OF THE Island " . .149

XII Some Customs of the San Blas Indians 165

XIII GoD*s Leadings 176

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Anna Coope and her pupil, Loimie Powers . Frontispiece

FACING
PAGE

The first school was a native house with palm-leaf

roof and bamboo walls 22

"I feel very big towering over some of the women,

who stand under my arm" 22

San Bias women in native dress. The crowning
feature of the costumes are the heavy strings
of beads of all colors on the neck, arms and
legs, and nose rings 44

Miss Coope's "up-stairs tenement'* at Rio Diablo.

Native grass houses on the left 60

A nearer view of the author's home. The first floor
is the schoolhouse and mission. Chief Robin-
son has on a black derby hat 60

Map showing location of San Bias Islands and coun-
try round about 80

Chief Robinson's House. Open door leads to store.
The American as well as the Panama flag forms
part of the decorations 100

The *'San Bias" — the Panama government steamer

which plys up and down the north coast . .100

Boys from the schooL Andrew Ferguson is third

from the left 134

vii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACE

Beads for the legs. Dame Fashion is as tyrannical in

San Bias as in other parts of the world . . .134

The main street on the island of Rio Diablo. Na-
tive woman carrying her husband's canoe.
Cross indicates the last rum shop, now closed . 154

A Panamanian policeman with some native boys and
girls. The steps to the new government public
school are in the background 154

vm

ANNA COOPE

ANNA COOPE,

SKY PILOT OF THE SAN BLAS
INDIANS

CHAPTER I

GIRLHOOD DAYS IN ENGLAND

I HAVE often been asked to write the story
of my life, showing how God has led me
and provided for every need as I walked by
faith in his promises. What God has done
for me He can do for others, and if the read-
ing of these chapters will help some one to
step out by simple faith on His promises, every
one of which is Yea and Amen in Christ Je-
sus, I shall be glad that I have tried to tell
the story in my simple way.

In Bolton, Lancashire, England, a large
manufacturing town of about two hundred
thousand inhabitants, on Tuesday, May 31st,
1864, I first saw the light of day. I was not

2 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

very warmly welcomed because I was a girl,
poor me! Although I was the express image
of my father, he was not particularly fond of
me, so I became mother's girl. For some time
she cherished a grudge against me because I
had blue eyes and flaxen hair like my father,
but after a while, mother-like, she became
reconciled to my defects and loved me in spite
of them.

I was the first-born, which has been a com-
fort to me, for God has said: "The first-born
are mine." The second child came two years
later and was a boy. Mother and father were
very happy, but the baby did not stay long,
only three months, and from that time I was
the only child.

When I was vaccinated I became a great
deal of trouble, for something was wrong
with the vaccine and my arm became so bad
that the doctor said it would have to be ampu-
tated; but mother said she would not bring
up a one-armed child, and he must either
kill me or cure me with two arms. To be
a girl was bad enough, but to be a one-armed
girl was unendurable!

Finally the arm healed, and then there

GIRLHOOD DAYS 3

came a growth in my nose which no one
seemed to be able to name. One doctor said
it was a polypus, another contradicted this;
but whatever it was it gave me pain. My
mother went to one doctor after another, some
saying that I was too young to be operated
on. At last she became desperate and said,
"Operate at once, whatever the result, and let
us know the worst; she cannot go on suffer-
ing in this way." The operation was per-
formed and I lived, but with a pug nose that
was to be all my life my thorn in the flesh.
I did not mind being a girl, but to be called
"Pug-nose" by thoughtless children in school,
was hard to bear.

I can see that God allowed this trouble for
a purpose. Because of it I kept aloof from
other children, and as I was an only child I
stayed much in the house and learned all that a
girl ought to about housekeeping, was the com-
panion of my mother and grandmother, and
began to read at an early age. I was very
fond of reading out loud and my parents en-
couraged it, so I was getting my first lessons in
a life of service for others.

I mention my "thorn in the flesh" because

4 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

I know that many are unhappy because they
are not beautiful in face. But God has said
in Isaiah : ^^How beautiful are the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace." So I am glad that I have "beautiful
feet," and that G6S. chose me to carry the mes-
sage of salvation to many of His neglected
ones. "Man looketh upon the outward ap-
pearance, but God looketh on the heart." If
I had not had the "thorn" given me, I would
have looked like other girls and quite prob-
ably would have married, so my whole life
would have been different. I believe God
allowed that disfigurement to come into my
life to keep me for a particular work, there-
fore that operation was the first lesson in my
missionary training.

My parents were hard-working people;
neither one had had much schooling. My
father went to work when he was seven years
old and was apprenticed to learn the mule-
spinning trade. My mother also began work-
ing at an early age. Both of them were
members of large families, and they had to
assist in filling the family purse. My father
was very fond of reading and was ambitious

GIRLHOOD DAYS 5

to have me learn, so he put me in a girls' pri-
vate school v^hen I was five years old and I
stayed there until I was nine. I was always
very fond of telling others what I had learned
myself, so I began in those early days to teach
my mother when I came from school, and I
was sure that she and my grandmother were
wonderfully edified! My father encouraged
me to read and bought me books as rewards
for good reading. He guarded me against
what he termed ^^boshy fairy tales," and later
on against novels, examining every book that
I brought into the house, even from the Sun-
day-school library. He threatened what he
would do if he ever found me reading love
stories.

When I was nine my father took me from
the private school, saying that I knew more
than he did at my age and that I must now
go to work. The law then would not allow
a child to work all day long in any factory
until it had passed the fourth standard, so I
was put in school for half a day and the other
half I had to work in a hot cotton factory.
Here was another preparatory lesson in the
school for missionary training; I was learn-

6 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

ing how to live in a tropical climate. I was
not allowed to speak to the boys or men who
worked for my father or near him. When
passing them and wanting to speak, I seemed
to feel the keen blue eyes of my father pierc-
ing even my back. He punished me once
when he thought I had talked with a boy who
worked near by, and the only sympathy that
I got from mother was, "You must obey your
father." I did after that, you may be sure;
for years I would not look at or talk to a boy.
Although my father was not a professing
Christian, and never took me to the house of
God nor read the Bible in his home, and was
bitter against me when at the age of seventeen
I accepted Jesus as my Saviour, he had had
the training of a godly mother who had
prayed much for her nine children. She was
what they called a Strict Baptist, and my fa-
ther had been a good Sunday-school boy, so
my aunt told me, but like many boys had
stopped attending when he thought he was
getting to be a man. My mother was partly
brought up a Roman Catholic. Her mother
was of French descent, but marrying an Epis-
copalian, their house was divided and only

GIRLHOOD DAYS 7

one of their eight children clung to the Cath-
olic Church, the others going to the Church
of England. So my mother never taught me
the religion of her childhood, but her oldest
sister, the one Catholic in the family, tried her
best to make me a convert of Rome, and
would have succeeded if my father had not
kept such a strict watch over me. He finally
forbade her coming to the house. Here again
is an evidence of God's overruling hand, for I
was very receptive to religious influences and
was just at the age to be easily moulded.

When I left the private school my first
Bible was given to me, and I well remember
my cousin saying to me that I must put it
away and keep it clean, as he did. He was
ten years older than I and his Bible was as
clean as when he received it. He never read
it; oh, no, the Bible was to have and to hold
occasionally, and to keep nice. I don't re-
member reading it in the private school, but
in the new Episcopal parochial school to
which I went, we often read the Bible ; and one
of the teachers asked me to come to the Sun-
day-school and be in her class. My father
reluctantly consented, saying that he didn't be-

8 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

lieve much in religion; it made folks crazy.
I was allowed to go occasionally and was very
glad indeed, but not until I was eleven years
old did I go regularly. I remember going
with a neighbor's child, a girl of my own age,
when about seven or eight years old ; and there
I heard a lady tell of the children in India
who had no Sunday-school, who did not know
how to sing these beautiful hymns and who
knew nothing about Jesus who loved little
children. I said, "Why doesn't somebody go
and tell them? I would go if I were big, and
when I get big I will go!" That settled it!
I was marked for a missionary to Indians
somewhere from that day; that was my star,
my goal, henceforth.

But now a new experience came into my
life. One day while playing on the outer cir-
cle of an open-air Methodist meeting, I heard
a boy of about fourteen say that he knew his
sins were forgiven and he was very happy. I
had never heard any one talk like that before.
My mother's mother had told of Jesus dying
on the cross for sinners, but sinners were old
folks, not a boy like that or a girl like me!
Yes, grandmother did tell me that I "had a

GIRLHOOD DAYS 9

temper," but she never said that I was a sin-
ner. This boy said that he was "a sinner,"
but that Jesus had forgiven all his sins and
that he was happy because he knew it.

Now if I had dared to speak to that boy I
would have questioned him pretty closely, but
I did not dare, so I had to puzzle over the
matter without getting much satisfaction.
God had used that boy to fix my attention on
spiritual things. I wanted to know how he
knew that he was forgiven. I had been go-
ing to the Sunday-school and the church and
was learning new things both from the Bible
and the Catechism, but this was the newest.
The Catechism said that I was "a member of
Christ, a child of God," but I knew that in my
heart I did not feel this to be true, and there
came over me a great longing to be saved and
to know it.

I tried to get to a cottage prayer-meeting
held not far from my home, but it was held
at night and I was not allowed to go out after
dark, so there was no help in that direction.
I made up my mind that I would read my
Bible more than ever and pray, and that was
really the beginning of my searching to find

lo ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

out God. How I groped in the dark! I felt
better when I prayed much, but I was not sat-
isfied. I asked God to tell me that my sins
were forgiven and I would tell it to every-
body. I thought I must be confirmed, but my
father vetoed that. Then I planned to go to
a Methodist Sunday-school, and my mother
forbade that; she didn't like "too much reli-
gion" any more than my father.

I grew desperate. Here I was seeking to
get what I was sure was the best thing in the
world, and those who ought to be helping me
were keeping me back for fear I'd go crazy.
Crazy? I felt as though I really should go
crazy if I didn't get religion, and the kind
that boy talked about, that made him glad. I
knew that I was not glad, and I knew that
my parents were not either; so I went on
struggling, endeavoring to be a Christian. It
was all endeavor; there was no Christian in
it.

So I went on struggling. But the Lord
has wonderful ways of helping those who are
seeking him, and he opened a way for me in
the dark. Just at this time my father sub-

GIRLHOOD DAYS ii

scribed for a monthly paper, The Life and
Explorations of David Livingstone. He
read it because he was interested in the ex-
ploration scheme, but I read it because David
Livingstone preached Jesus to the poor Afri-
cans. What did I care where the source of
the Nile was? I wanted to find the source
of salvation! Livingstone became my hero,
and I looked forward eagerly to the coming
of those papers. I determined that I would
be a missionary after I had found out how
I myself could be saved. The source of life
eternal was my quest and as a guide-book I
read my Bible constantly.

In talking to one of my friends who had
been confirmed I asked her if she knew she
was a Christian. She said, **I think so." I
was dreadfully disappointed, because she did
look so sweet in her white dress and confirma-
tion cap that I thought somehow she must
have been changed, but when she said, "I
think so," I exclaimed, "Oh, dear me, I want
to know! That boy said he knew; why don't
you?" She said that was not to be known.
"The minister didn't teach us that in the con-

12 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

firmation class. He said to be good and to
try every day to do right, and that Jesus would
help us."

I resolved then and there that I would never
be confirmed until I had a different feeling
than this, until I knew surely that I was saved.

I was about sixteen now, and a new battle
was being fought out in my heart. At times
I wanted to go to dances; my feet fairly
tingled to dance music. I grew desperate
and said that I wouldn't try any longer to be
a Christian; I would be like my father, who
made no profession and who never went to
church. I knew professing Christians who
danced, but I felt in my own heart that if I
ever became a Christian I would not want to
dance, and the reason why I wanted to now
was because I was a sinner, "a miserable sin-
ner," as the Prayer Book said ; we chanted it
every Sunday in the Litany, and I knew that
it was true of myself. I made up my mind
that I'd not struggle much longer. If I
didn't come to know soon that I was saved it
was no use pretending; I'd give up trying and
go to the dance and the theater and have a
grand good time! Why not? If it had not

GIRLHOOD DAYS 13

been for fear of my father I would have done
these things ; and I resolved that when I was
of age I would do them, if I was not a Chris-
tian before that time. So I went on strug-
gling and trying and finding no real peace.

In the Lenten season of 1882 a minister of
the Church of England came to our town to
hold what is called a Mission for forty days.
He spoke in the Sunday-school, and his
words, his manner, his spirit were so differ-
ent from anything that I had come in contact
with before that I made up my mind that he
was a Christian, and I wanted to hear him
preach. I could get hold of what he said, or
something got hold of me, and I trembled.
The Sunday night that I heard him first he
preached about the second coming of Christ,
and it was so vivid that I expected Jesus to
come before he got through preaching; and
to cap it all he asked this pointed question:
"Is every one in this church ready to meet
Jesus and go with him if he comes now?"
Oh, it was like a thunderbolt in my soul ! I
trembled, and it seemed to me that I could
hear my soul cry out in agony: "No, I am not
ready 1"

/

14 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

At the close of his sermon the preacher
asked all who wanted to talk with him to go
into the vestry, and the choir sang, "Yet There
Is Room." I sat fixed in my seat. I wanted
to go and yet I could not seem to take the first
step. Alternate waves of chill and of fever
swept over me, and I cried and trembled.
One of my friends said, ^'Annie, what are you
crying for? You are a good girl. If I were
like you I'd not cry."

"Oh, Emma," I cried, "don't talk like that!
I'm not good; I'm a miserable sinner, and I
know it!"

She said, "I will go with you into the ves-
try," but I preferred to go alone; I did not
want such a poor helper.

I did manage somehow to get into that ves-
try and the room was full. I took a seat at
the door, and my agony was so great that I
sobbed aloud. The preacher's wife came to
me and wanted to know why I cried.. I said,
"I'm not ready if Jesus comes to-night!"
She talked to me kindly about being good and
believing on Jesus. "Oh," I exclaimed, "I
have tried to be good, but trying does not
make me a Christian. I want to know that

GIRLHOOD DAYS 15

I am one." The good woman could not en-
lighten me much, and I said to myself, "I see
that it is only God who can help me; I shall
have to talk to him." I got up from my knees
with the grim determination that I would be
a Christian and the "know so" kind; there is
no other kind but the "know-so's."

I went home and to my room and shut the
door and cried and prayed, and became so ex-
hausted that I fell asleep only to wake up the
next morning in agony. But I prayed again
and cried, and my grandmother asked me if I
were sick. Yes, I was, but a dose of her
wormwood did not cure that sickness.

Finally on Wednesday, March 29, 1882, at
three o'clock in the afternoon, I was really
saved. It was while on my knees praying in
the kitchen before a low rocking-chair — down
low in every sense of the word — that the light
broke on my soul and I felt my burden of sin
roll off. I had never read Bunyan's "Pil-
grim's Progress," but I had the same experi-
ence that Pilgrim had of the burden rolling
away. I rose to my feet like one on air, with
these words ringing like bells in my soul:
"Certainly I will be with thee," and oh, I

i6 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

was happy I I danced for joy, and in a few
minutes was on my way down the street to the
home of my Sunday-school teacher to tell her
the good news. She said she was glad; that
she had prayed for me, because she wanted
all her girls to be confirmed 1 Confirmed?
That might be another step, but it was enough
for me now that I knew that I was Christ's
and he was mine. I replied, "Oh, I don't
think my father will let me be confirmed, but
I know that I am a Christian now, and I am
happy."

I almost walked on air after that testimony;
and I was eager to have an opportunity of tell-
ing my friend who sat beside me Sunday
night. I met her on the street, and grasping
her arm cried: "Oh, Emma, I know I am a
Christian now!"

"How do you know?" she asked; "I do
not, and I have been confirmed and you have
not."

True, I had not been confirmed ; but I had
been so convicted of sin that, like David, my
bones waxed old through my groaning. Now
God had spoken — "Certainly I will be with
thee" — and I knew the voice ; it was not that

GIRLHOOD DAYS 17

of a human being; and my whole soul was
flooded with light; I had the joy of assurance.
Blessed assurance! My mouth was opened
that I might tell it out to others. It was no
more "hope so," "think so," but "I know"!

My friend said : "Don't go crazy telling that
story!"

"Oh, no, I won't be crazy," I replied; "but
ril tell it to everybody!"

That afternoon I told my grandmother,
who had been visiting a friend. She said:
"Well, Fm very glad to hear it Now if you
are a Christian, when I ask you to leave your
books and wash dishes you'll do it without
stamping your feet and banging the doors."

You see grandmother had not much confi-
dence in my "Christian endeavor" life and
wanted to see the real thing. But her remarks
did not cool me off; I was a Christian and I
knew it.

When my father came home — ah, here was
the test of my courage! But I had something
to tell and I went at it straight as a die. He.
growled, than said in an indirect way, not
speaking to any one in particular: "H'm, it's a
whim she has ; it will soon pass off." Well,

i8 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

thirty- four years have gone by and the "whim''
is still on. He did not understand, neither
did mother, who simply said: "I hope so,''
when I told her.

But none of these things moved me. I was
living in a new world ; I was born again. I
was "a new creature in Christ Jesus," a child
of God and an inheritor of the kingdom of
heaven. I never again repeated that part of
the Litany which says that we are "miserable
sinners," for I did not feel that I was. I knew
that I was a forgiven sinner, and it made me
very happy. My girl friends called me
"saint" and "too religious," because I refused
to go with them on their Sunday afternoon
strolls but would go with my Sunday-school
teacher to visit the sick. I gave as my reason
that I wanted to be a missionary, so I must be-
gin to take my training.

A candidates' class for confirmation had
been formed during Lent, and I had twice
asked my father to let me join it, only to be
refused. But about two weeks before its close
I asked once more, to receive the answer:
"Well, your grandmother says that you are

GIRLHOOD DAYS 19

better. If you keep on like that you may do
as you please." So I joyfully made prepara-
tion to be confirmed on May i8th, just thirteen
days before my eighteenth birthday.

CHAPTER II

NEW LIFE IN A NEW LAND

TWO years after my conversion we left
England for the United States, landing
in New York, then going on to Providence,
Rhode Island. My rector had given me a let-
ter to present to any Episcopal clergyman
where I might settle.

We lived only two months in Providence;
then father and I got work in the Turkey Red
Dye Works at Belief ont, near Auburn, Rhode
Island. In this establishment I learned to
weave damask tablecloths ; and at every oppor-
tunity I bore testimony to Jesus who had
saved me and day by day kept me. We lived
in old Elmville until the Roger Williams
Park Association took the land, the Wextend
Park grounds, etc., when we purchased a lot
and built a cottage in Edgewood and made
that our permanent home.

I found that there were two churches in

20

NEW LIFE IN A NEW LAND 21

Auburn, which was very thinly populated at
that time — one Baptist and the other Adven-
tist of the American Pre-millennial Associa-
tion. A young woman who worked near me
in the factory offered to take me to Sunday-
school, which she said she attended when she
had something new to wear. So I went to the
Baptist church in the morning and the Sun-
day-school in the afternoon, but was so dis-
appointed that I cried when I went home. I
told my mother that the preacher was uninter-
esting and nothing that he said touched the
heart. I had expected something different
from the church to which my grandmother
belonged, but this church was probably an ex-
ception. The Sunday-school was no better;
the girls seemed giddy, and the teacher was not
able to hold their attention. There was more
display of jewelry than I had seen among the
wealthiest ladies of the church at home in
England, and I was actually homesick for my
old church.

This went on for several Sundays when a
neighbor, talking with my mother at the well,
invited mother to go with her to her church
the following Sunday evening. She thanked

22 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

the one who invited her, but said that she did
not care to go to church; that her daughter
might, however. I had heard this other one
called "the little church," and I looked for-
ward with hope that it might be simple and
quiet and meet my need. It did. As I en-
tered the door I felt at home. The bell-
ringer was also deacon, janitor, Sunday-school
superintendent and Bible class teacher. He
shook my hand so that I remembered it; there
was no doubt of my welcome. The one- room
building was so simple in its arrangement and
color-tone that I was rested at once. When
the other members of the congregation came
in, my escort and I were introduced and made
to feel welcome. I felt that I had found my
church home, and it proved to be that for thir-
teen years.

The preacher, the Rev. F. O. Cunningham,
who is still alive and preaching in the New
England States, was a fine singer and the
whole assembly sang heartily. The hymns
were new to me, so I listened. I remember
one in particular: "IVe reached the land of
corn and wine." Ah, yes, that was just what
I had reached, and I was going to stay if

■-chool was a native house uith p.ilui-lcaf hhA
and bambco walls.

'I feel very big toweling over some of the women, who
stand under my arm."

NEW LIFE IN A NEW LAND 23

they would let me, but I wondered how I was
to join such a church, which in England
would be called a Dissenting church.

The singing and the prayer uplifted me;
but the sermon was wonderful. It was on the
second coming of Christ, which was presented
in such a way that I sat spellbound. I had
never heard a sermon like that in all my
twenty years. The preacher who spoke the
night that I was converted had talked of the
Lord's coming in judgment, and I was terri-
fied because I was not ready to meet Him.
But this was a different phase of His coming.
I did not lose a word, and I turned to the ref-
erences in my Bible so that I could read them
again. Tears rolled down my face. I was
fed; I was happy; my hungry heart was satis-
fied.

When the service was over the preacher
came to me and said: "A stranger, but you
are welcome." I said : **Oh, can I come here
always?" Of course I could I That night I
literally skipped down that lane, and my
friend laughed to see me so happy. I kept
saying: *7^sus is coming back, and I must be
ready for Him. But do you have such Bible

24 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

readings as that always? It was almost all
Bible 1" Even my mother was pleased to find
I was satisfied and happy.

I united with that church by baptism on
Sunday, June 7th, 1885. The pastor left in
about eight months, and we had various sup-
plies for some time. It was during this
period that I received the "second blessing,"
or, as it is often called, "sanctification." It
came about in this way. I read in the reli-
gious notices of a "Holiness" meeting to be
held in South Providence, and I decided that
I would like to attend it. I was not well
enough acquainted with Providence to know
where to find the place, so I spoke to one of
the members of our church about going with
me. "What is a Holiness meeting?" I
asked. "It sounds good to me." Sarah
shrugged her shoulders and advised me not
to go at the risk of being thought queer; but
all that she said only made me more deter-
mined, and at last she promised to accompany
me.

As we neared the place of meeting that
Sunday afternoon the singing was inspiring —
"You may have the joy bells ringing in your

NEW LIFE IN A NEW LAND 25

heart'' — and the music seemed to fill me with
such joy that I felt that I was getting a new
experience already. As the room was seem-
ingly full, seats were found near the door.
Everything impressed me favorably. There
were about three hundred present and their
faces were shining with intelligence and spir-
itual power; there was no display of dress or
jewelry ; I felt that I was among my own, and
I was ready to listen to the word that pro-
ceeded from such wholesome sensible peo-
ple.

The preacher opened his Bible. That was
right; I opened mine too. We read the
twenty-third verse of the fifth chapter of
First Thessalonians : "And the God of peace
himself sanctify you wholly; and may your
spirit and soul and body be preserved entire,
without blame at the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ." As the preacher emphasized
the word sanctify the people responded, and
I said to myself that this must be the key-
note of holiness. I marked all the verses that
the speaker gave us; it was really a Bible
reading on the subject. I was delighted.
New visions were opening to me out of the

26 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

old Book that I loved so well. Why had I
not seen these things before? Had I been
blind? Jesus said them; John, Peter, James
and Paul had preached them and had written
them for my benefit; and I had been in the
family of Christ for four years and had not
seen them. Why, the preacher was giving us
the very honey and cream of heaven; and I
was so hungry that I was just swallowing it
down.

As soon as the speaker finished my friend
and I left the hall, as I had to lead the young
people's meeting that night and we had about
three miles to walk. We had only gone a
few streets, and were now in Adelaide Grove,
when Sarah said : "What do you think of the
Holiness people?'* I was not thinking of
people just then, but of the truth which I
had heard, so precious, so real, so true that
its power was coursing through my being in
electric quivers, and I said: "Sarah, on my
seat in that hall I accepted Jesus as my Sanc-
tifier. I believe this is a second definite, posi-
tive work of the Holy Spirit in my soul. I
knew when I was born again ; now I have seen
advanced truth; I am sanctified by faith in

NEW LIFE IN A NEW LAND 27

Jesus just now." As I finished my testimony
the Holy Spirit flooded my soul, and I cried,
"Praise the Lord, it is in his Word!" We
stood still in that grove while I poured out
my belief and my praises, and Sarah said,
"Annie, I do believe God has done something
for you, for your face shines." But, like
Moses, I did not know it.

I could hardly walk home ; I longed to fly
to tell our people what God had done for
me. My friend had to go home, as she had
an aged mother to care for ; but I went on to
the church. I was a few minutes late, which
was unusual for me; and the young people
came to meet me. As they saw me they ex-
claimed: "Miss Coope, how beautiful you
look! Where have you been? Tell us
quickly." I thought: "Can this be true? If
it is it only proves the Scripture: ^He will
beautify the meek with salvation,'" Psalm
149 : 4. I felt the beauty within uplifting me.

I cannot recall all that I said, but I poured
out my soul to them ; and I had them all turn
to their Bibles to verify the things which I
was telling them. While thus talking the
deacon who supplied as pastor came in so

28 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

quietly that I did not notice him, and after
listening for a time he came forward and said
to the young people ; "All that our sister has
been telling you is true. I have longed for
such an experience myself : let us kneel down
and pray that God may give us this blessing
now." We then had an altar service, the first
that I had seen in the church. While we
were on our knees the older members of the
church came for the evening service, and find-
ing a manifestation of the Holy Spirit re-
mained also to pray. Many were blessed that
night.

All these things were only preparing me
for service. I was learning to know God
for myself, to find out through His Word what
he would have me do. I continually kept
before my own mind the thought that God
wanted me to be a witness for Him to those
who sat in darkness, and from this time my
purpose was fixed though the way did not
open directly. I was greatly interested in
Sunday-school and young people's work, mis-
sions, and open-air services, and thus step
by step my training was being carried on
though I went to no training school

NEW LIFE IN A NEW LAND 29

Several American missionaries from the
West Indies had spoken in our church, and
as a result my interest was turned definitely
in that direction. Theirs was a work of faith.
They were under no Board, but went out
trusting God to supply every need for body
and soul, and I felt that this was just what
I would like to do. I had read the life of
George Miiller of Bristol, England, and his
great faith encouraged me to step out on the
promises of God. Belief in divine healing
came to be a part of my life, and I have al-
ways carried any sickness to Him rather than
to a physician.

CHAPTER III

TO THE WEST INDIES AND HOME AGAIN

IT was in the fall of 1897 that I took my
first definite step toward the foreign field.
Some of the missionaries from the West In-
dies had spoken of the need for workers there,
and I decided to go with them. Their condi-
tions were absolute trust in God for all things ;
and that met with my approval. So after get-
ting clearly the mind of God in the matter,
I announced in the church that I was going
to the West Indies by the first boat that I
could catch. I knew nothing of the cost;
I never asked the superintendent of the mis-
sion one question about money matters, for
ail the workers had said that those who felt
called of God to labor with them must trust
God to supply the means. So I was trust-
ing. I had felt the "Woe is me if I preach
not the gospel," and I was going to do it. I
went from that service and began that night

30

TO THE WEST INDIES 31

to look over my wardrobe to put it in order
for going away.

It may be asked if I had not saved enough
money to at least start me on my trip. True
I was called a good weaver and had earned
excellent wages; but, English fashion, had
given every cent of it to my mother except
the Lord's tenth. I took that out before her
eyes, saying: ^^Mother, this is God's money,
not mine and not yours." She said that I was
a crank, and I answered : *^ Yes, I am a crank,
turned by Bible truth and Holy Ghost
power."

Mother heard before I reached home, of
my declaration in church, and she at once
asked : "Where are you going to get the money
to go on your wild-goose chase?"

"From God," I answered; "He has called
me to go, and He will pay all the expenses."

The following Sunday a young woman
member of the church put a five-dollar bill
into my hand, saying: "I believe God has
called you to go to the foreign field, and I
want to share in your blessings." It felt very
strange for me to take it, and I thanked her
with mingled feelings. I had nerer received

32 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

money from any one before, not even as
Christmas or birthday gifts ; and here five dol-
lars had been given by a young woman who
worked hard for it, keeping boarders. It
meant sacrifice for her. I felt that God was
very near; that this was a token of His ap-
proval and an earnest of what was to come.
I was very glad that God had let a poor work-
ing girl help me first.

On the same Sunday, at night, one of the
deacons, Daniel Potter, a godly man and the
richest one in our church from every point
of view, rose and said: "I will be responsible
for our sister Anna's expenses to the West
Indies."

What more did I need? God had pro-
vided, and that right quickly! I did not even
handle the money; the ticket was given to
me, and that sufficed. I did not talk of my
needs; I never do. I am to be about my
Father's business and He takes care of me.
"I'm the child of a King," and no beggar; my
Father can speak better for me than I can for
myself, so I let Him.

I packed my trunk, quite delighted with
God's arrangements for me; and my mother,

TO THE WEST INDIES 33

helping me, did not raise an objection. Some
of the neighbors came in to act as Job's com-
forters, saying: ^'How can you let your only
child go away so far? Why don't you stop
her? She ought not to leave such a good
home," and similar remarks.

But mother was staunch in her defense.
"You can talk all you like about her going
away," she said ; "and while I don't want her
to go if I could have my own way, still I
would far rather see her go than marrying
such men as you are giving your daughters
to! No, I have confidence in my girl; she is
doing right and is going to help others to do
right. I'm not right myself, but that is my
own fault."

That was talk that went right home, and
the neighbors did not bother her any more.

Then there was my father to be reckoned
with. He said that I was a fool, with an
oath before and after, and blamed mother be-
cause he said she was helping me in my fool-
ishness. All the mother in her rose to the
occasion. "Harry, you have been threaten-
ing for years to put Annie out of the house be-
cause she had religion. Now she is going

34 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

herself, and you will be well rid of her and
her preaching. Let her go I"

For years my father had been angry with
me, often locking the door at night and or-
dering my mother not to wait for me to come
in, though I was rarely later than nine o'clock.
Mother would listen for my footsteps and
slip down and let me in, frequently bring-
ing down a storm upon her head for doing
so. I was often advised to leave home be-
cause of his treatment; but I felt that I must
bear opposition patiently: that it was really
a part of my training for service; if I could
not bear unsympathetic and unkind treat-
ment at home, how could I bear what I would
have to meet on the mission field? Besides
I really loved my father and prayed for him,
and I had the assurance that some day he
would be saved. The road from our house to
the church was a very lonely one, and father
often said that he wished I would be attacked ;
but his wishes were never fulfilled. I was
God's child and the angel of the Lord en-
camped about me and delivered me. For
thirteen years I had a special guard, a body-
guard, and I rejoice as I look back over those

TO THE WEST INDIES 35

experiences, for through them I learned to
walk by faith, to know God as a personal com-
panion and to lean on Him for help. God
was very close to me during my three weeks
of preparation for my journey, though my
father never spoke to me during that time nor
did he say good-by to me.

I sailed from New York on October 2nd,
1897, and stopped at several of the West In-
dian Islands, holding meetings and distribut-
ing tracts. When we arrived at Martinique,
where this party of missionaries had opened
the first Protestant mission to the French
Catholics on the island, the superintendent
asked me to stay for a time. I could not
speak a word of French, but I did hand out
tracts and speak a few times, one of the mem-
bers of the mission interpreting. I saw the
first Protestant converts baptized here. What
ignorance, wickedness and idolatry there were
in that city I It is little wonder that God
overthrew it I

After six weeks' stay in Martinique I went
to Barbadoes, and in January, 1898, there was
an annual convention of the workers in the
islands. All the native workers who could

36 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

come did so. One young woman came from
Bolivar, Venezuela, South America, and she
told of the Indians living in huts on the
banks of the Orinoco River, of their pov-
erty, their sad, dejected appearance and their
appeal for some one to come and teach them.
Her story touched my heart, and I said:
"Lord, if you v^ant me to go to the Indians of
South America, make it plain to me." Like
Gideon I laid down my fleece before Him,
asking that He would show me by my abil-
ity to learn the Spanish language whether I
had the fitness to go there. After a long talk
and prayer with the missionary who had
brought the tidings of this neglected people,
I went out and bought a small book called
"Spanish at a Glance" and began to study it.
I certainly did not learn the language at a
glance — far from it! — but I was enthusiastic
from the start, and my teacher soon declared
that I was getting beyond her. I had not
much time for study, but I improved every
spare moment; my book and I were insep-
arable. I considered that this was a leading
from God, because I had never before been
able to tolerate a foreign language. My

TO THE WEST INDIES 37

teacher stayed only a few weeks, and I was
obliged after that to get on as best I could
alone; but I loved the language and stuck
to it.

I remained in Barbadoes for two years or
more, when a party of us started for Porto
Rico soon after the close of the Spanish-
American War. I was the only one in the
party of four who could speak Spanish, and
I was kept busy for two months holding open-
air meetings, visiting from house to house and
distributing tracts and Gospel portions to
those who could read and reading to those
who could not.

At the end of this time I received a letter
from home saying that my mother could not
live and that I was needed at home at once.
I left by the next steamer, glad to go where
the Lord called me, but sad because of the
thousands in darkness whom I was leaving be-
hind me.

I found my mother still alive but beyond
human aid, and still unsaved. She was very
glad to see me again and we talked much that
night, mostly concerning her soul's condition.
She brought forward as her defense her mo-

38 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

rality and her good deeds, while I did my
best to show her the way through Jesus' blood
as the only heaven-appointed way. A new
birth, a complete surrender of all that we
think we are, belief in the Lord Jesus Christ
and confession of sin, with the witness of the
Holy Spirit, were the truths that I brought
before her continually for two weeks, and
many were praying for her at the same
time.

At last, under the fire of such Catling guns
of heaven, she surrendered; and oh, what a
change! She was indeed a new creature, and
for three weeks she preached Jesus to all who
came to see her, telling them that if she had
died depending on her own respectability to
plead for her she would have been lost She
urged my father to repent; but he was so
grieved at the thought of losing her that he
did not pay any attention to his own souPs
need.

In my mother's rejoicing over her new
vision of spiritual things she exclaimed : "Oh,
Annie, is this what you have been talking
about all these years! I thought sometimes
that you were crazy, but I am so glad that

TO THE WEST INDIES 39

you were true to God and persevered in do-
ing what you felt called to do. If I had
known this fifty years ago I would have been
a missionary and gone everywhere to tell
about Jesus. I did think you were foolish to
leave a good home and go out to work among
black folks, not knowing how you would be
treated, but now I understand it all. Go
again when the way opens. You will have
a hard time with your father, but it won't be
for so very long. Do what God tells you. I
am going home, but I shall be watching for
you."

Mother went to be with her Saviour Sep-
tember 24th, 1900, and I could only rejoice in
her triumphant death.

Now there was another complete change in
my life, for plainly my duty now was with
my father. For more than six years I re-
mained at home with him, working at my
trade of weaving to support us both, as he
was now over seventy. We owned our home
and were very comfortable. Father worked
in his garden and among his chickens and was
quite well for years ; then he had a stroke and
was unable to leave his bed, but was perfectly

40 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

conscious during the last four weeks of his
life.

Nine days before he died he called to me
early in the morning: "Annie, bring your
Bible and teach me the way to heaven!'^

I was so filled with joy that I can't tell how
I got hold of the blessed Book and hurried to
his side. God had answered prayer. Here
was a helpless old man seventy-eight years of
age, who had turned from God all his life,
now wanting to be shown how to come to Him !
Surely our God is longsuffering! I quoted
John 3:16 to him thus: "God so loved
Henry Coope that he gave his only-begotten
Son, that if Henry Coope believeth in Him
Henry Coope should not perish, but have
everlasting life," and Isaiah i : 18: "Though
Henry Coope's sins be as scarlet, they shall be
as white as snow; though Henry Coope's sins
be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
As I finished he said: "Pray for me!"

"Oh, no," I answered; "it is your turn to
pray now. I've prayed for you for twenty
years ; your mother prayed ; your wife prayed ;
now you must pray."

"I don't know what to say."

TO THE WEST INDIES 41

I told him to tell God that he was a sinner,
and he said: "God knows I am."

"Yes, but the Bible says: *If we confess our
sins He is faithful and just to forgive us.' You
want Him to forgive you: tell Him so. Do
you feel happy?"

"No, I feel bad, miserable."

"Then tell him so."

"Why, doesn't He know all that?"

"Yes; but He said, *Come, let us reason to-
gether,' so you see He wants you to talk to
Him. Tell Him everything that is in your
heart that is hurting you and making you mis-
erable. He will cleanse you. Do it now."

He began slowly: "God, be — mer — ci — ful
to m — e, a sin — ner," holding on to his words
and repeating them again. Suddenly he
cried, "Oh, it is done!"

"What is done?"

"God has forgiven me! I know it! I
know it!" His face was illumined ; he looked
fairly beautiful.

I was so happy that I fairly danced through
the house, and I felt that the angels were re-
joicing with me. Talk of joy! Indeed the joy
of the Lord is our strength. It was four o'clock

42 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

in the morning, and I at once sat down to
write the good news to some of my friends.
One letter was to a preacher in the West In-
dies who had criticized my staying at home
with my father, saying that I was wasting my
time when I had a call to the foreign field;
that I ought to leave him in a Home for
the Aged and go and preach. I told him that
though this man was my father I knew he was
a great sinner, and I felt that God had given
me this heathen at home to convert before I
could go to the Indians ; that this was a part
of my training for future work and that if I
wanted God's blessing I must do the duty that
lay right before me.

My father began to preach to our nearest
neighbor that same morning at eight o'clock,
thus proving that "with the heart man believ-
eth unto righteousness and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation." For nine
days he lived to tell the story that Jesus had
saved him. He said he was like the Prodigal
Son, but the Heavenly Father had taken him
home, and he just rested with childlike confi-
dence on the promises of God.

CHAPTER IV

UP THE ORINOCO TO SAN ISIDRO

IN a month after my father's death I had
disposed of the property and furniture and
was at liberty to go where I was called. Part
of the money that came from the sale I sent
to India and Japan to work where I could
not go, for I could trust God to supply my
needs. I spent a few months in the home of
a friend, one of the founders of the Christian
Mission to the West Indies, doing church
work, and a few months more in Rescue Mis-
sion work in Providence, R. I., and Brockton,
Mass. Then in November, 1907, I started to
find my Indian mission field, in company with
several missionaries who were to settle in the
various islands of the West Indies.

I stopped at the island of Trinidad to wait
for a steamer bound for Venezuela on the
mainland of South America, but as yellow
fever and the bubonic plague were on the

43

44 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

island no steamer could leave there, so I went
to Bridgetown, on the island of Barbadoes,
for several months, believing that God would
open up the way in time. In the meantime
I received a letter from one of the missionaries
who had been in Venezuela a few years, trav-
eling up the Orinoco River as a Bible colpor-
ter. He said that in his travels he came to
an Indian village whose chief kindly enter-
tained him for three days, and after listening
to the old, old story of Jesus, bought a Span-
ish Bible, saying: "I cannot read, but I will
get some one to read it to me." As he took
the Book he said: "Gracias a Dios por este
libror "Thank God for this book!" When
I read that letter I resolved that I would go
to this chief, and I prayed God to help me and
to convert him.

But my faith was to be tested again. For
months every vessel for Venezuela was quar-
antined, so that no passenger from Barbadoes
was allowed to go. Many said that it would
be better to stay in the islands, but my heart
was set on work among the Indians, and this
colporter's message seemed to me to be God's
way of directing me. I managed to get a let-

UP THE ORINOCO 45

ter through telling the colporter that I was
coming, and he wrote back saying that he
would take me to the Indian village, although
it was five years since he had been there him-
self, and urged me to come at once if pos-
sible.

But now came another testing time for me.
Before leaving the United States I had noticed
a lump or swelling on my tongue, but thought
lightly of it. When I had reached the West
Indies I found it was larger, and later on it be-
gan to give me some pain. I thought seriously
of visiting a physician, and finally did so.
He told me the swelling needed attention, and
the sooner the better. I decided, however,
to talk to my Saviour, the Great Physician,
and carried my trouble to Him in earnest
prayer. I did not speak to any one of the
pain I suffered, nor did I try to think the pain
was imaginary. I, however, experienced a
strong faith that God would help me, and ere
long I noticed that the swelling was disap-
pearing, and in a short time was entirely gone.
As a consequence, I felt in my heart a great
joy, and told the glad news to all the house-
hold and to all my friends, realizing that what

46 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

I had experienced was an evidence of God's
goodness, faithfulness and power.

At last one morning one of the members of
our band came into the house saying excitedly,
"There is a steamer in the bay now which is
not quarantined and is bound directly for Bol-
ivar City, Venezuela. It is a cattle boat, but
perhaps it will take passengers."

I urged him to go at once and secure pas-
sage for me if possible, for I was all ready
to start, and he was able to secure a place for
myself and the two colored women who were
going with me, though only after a long dis-
cussion with the agent, who said that the cat-
tle ship was no fit place for a white woman.
Finally he put the responsibility on the cap-
tain, saying that if he would take me it would
be all right, and getting this much assurance
we packed our belongings and went aboard,
believing that God would make a place for
us. We carried food for the three days' voy-
age and expected to eat it on deck, picnic fash-
ion, but it turned out that we were even better
provided for than we had expected.

The three days were happy ones. I had
my folding organ and we played and sang for

UP THE ORINOCO 47

the pleasure of all. The captain, a Nor-
wegian, said that it was like having church
all day. He told us about himself, his fam-
ily and his plans, and we talked of Jesus and
His power to save us now from all sin. He
told us that this was an ill-fated vessel and
never made a voyage without having a death ;
but I told him there would be no death on it
during this voyage, and there was not. He
told us that if he got that load of cattle to
its destination in Bolivar City and the ship
back to one of the West Indian Islands, he
would return to his family. We urged him to
accept Jesus as his Saviour; but, though he
said he wished he could have the assurance
and the comfort that I had, and seemed
moved, he did not really yield, though he said
he "would try to serve God." He was most
courteous to us, for instead of letting us sit
in a corner and eat our food from lunch-boxes,
he had good meals cooked and a waiter to
serve us at table. We, like brother Paul, had
command, under God, of that ship.

The poor captain did not live long after
that. He went to a town about three miles
away on business and contracted yellow fever

48 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

and died before he had gotten his cargo. We
heard this from one of the crew whom we met,
who would not go back to the steamer, and
he said that the captain asked several times
for me, but they did not know where to find
me in the city.

We were now ready to start up the Orinoco
River when we found a boat to take us, and
after seven days of waiting and looking we
found a man who owned a small boat who was
willing to undertake the journey. He and a
young boy did the rowing. They worked
steadily all day and at sunset tied up the boat
in a little cove and we all went ashore. We
were so crowded in the little boat that it was
out of the question to think of sleeping there,
and we were weary from the long journey in
such cramped quarters with the sun beating
down upon us, so that it was a relief to get
out on the white sandy bank and be able to
move about. We must sleep somewhere, but
the question was where, and we were to make
an early start in the morning.

After a little supper I suggested that we lie
down on the sand, and the captain, a Span-
iard, kindly offered us some tarpaulin; that,

UP THE ORINOCO 49

spread on the ground, would be a protection
from sand-fleas. My girls declared that they
would not lie on the ground; they preferred
to sit up all night ; but I was glad to rest lying
down even if it was on the sand, and I slept
for perhaps half an hour when I was awak-
ened by the excited twittering of some birds
in the bushes near by. The sun had set, so
I knew that the birds ought to be asleep, and
I felt that there was trouble. I sprang to my
feet crying: "Look out! there is some danger
near!" The captain came running to the
spot and exclaimed: "Ahi un cuebra aqui!"
— "There is a snake here!" Of course we
were all wide awake by this time, and sure
enough, in a moment a great yellow and
black striped snake glided near. "Look for
a stick or a stone; screaming won't kill
him!" I exclaimed; but instantly the cap-
tain had whipped out his knife and struck
at the snake's head and he was soon dis-
patched.

After that adventure there was no thought
of sleeping for my three girls — another
young colored woman who could speak Span-
ish had joined our party. But I said, "A

50 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

dead snake can't harm us and I am going to
sleep."

"But its mate may come to see where the
other one is;" objected the frightened girls.

"Well, if it does, the birds will notify us.
God has special guardians around us. Trust
Him and go to sleep ; you need the rest."

The girls were not willing to lose conscious-
ness, but I slept sweetly until about three in
the morning, when we were called to start on
our journey again.

The next night we beached in another shel-
tered cove, cooked our evening meal and wer^
preparing to sleep on the beach again when
a party of Spaniards came running toward us
and asked the captain if he had any rum to
sell. One of the men wanted to know what
I was doing here in this black crowd, and I
told him that I was going to the Indians to
tell them of Jesus who died to save all who
would believe, and I talked of Jesus to these
men. They said that the Indians were of no
account; I ought not to waste my time on
them. Would I not come and live in their
house and teach them English? They in-
vited us up to their house and treated us very

UP THE ORINOCO 51

civilly, saying that we could hang our ham-
mocks in the house and inviting us to play
cards to pass the evening. We could see that
they did not know Jesus, and I so turned the
conversation on heavenly things that there was
no card-playing that night.

We hung our hammocks on the piazza, as
the house was saturated with their everlast-
ing cigar smoke. The girls could not sleep
there either; but I committed myself into my
Father's hands and slept. The next morning
the Spaniards gave us all the milk we could
drink and a few pounds of home-made cheese.
See how the Lord provides I These men
looked ferocious with their pistols in their
belts, their unkempt hair and rough clothing.
But they had hearts that responded to kind
words and they listened attentively to the story
of Jesus.

The third day's journey took us through
a beautiful country that would have de-
lighted the heart of an artist, and I enjoyed
every moment of this succession of lovely
views, praising God that He had made such
a beautiful world. We went ashore about
five o'clock. There were still thirteen miles

52 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

to be traveled before we reached San Isidro,
the place for which we had started, and this
part of the journey would be by land. The
first thing to be thought of for the night was
a place to sleep. There was an adobe house
near the shore where the traders lived and
stored their hides on their trips from the in-
terior. It was empty now, for the men were
away buying hides, so our belongings were
taken to the house.

I said that the house was empty, but we
had no sooner entered than we found that its
roof of palm leaves was inhabited by snakes,
bats, spiders, and other crawling things un-
known to us. There was one room with two
doors and no windows, but one of the doors
was so strongly fastened that we could not
force it open. However we made a fire to
try to smoke out the tribes, but without suc-
cess; they were quite used to smoke I The
bats still hung up, the whip-snakes only
twined in and out to show us that they were
yery much alive, and the other inhabitants
evinced similar activity. There was a house
near by, and I asked the Spaniards there if
these things were dangerous. "Esta nada;"

UP THE ORINOCO 53

they replied, which meant ^'That's nothing,"
so I said to the girls: "I don't believe in being
afraid of nothing. I am going to sleep"; and
in spite of their remonstrances I proceeded to
stretch my cot and have a good rest, American
style I

We had to wait there two days for the
coming of the traders who were to guide us
further on our journey, and we improved the
time by visiting the two Spanish families near
us, playing and singing in Spanish for them
and giving them Gospel portions and tracts.
One man could read ; we heard him reading to
his family and others, so we felt that we had
done a little missionary work.

On the third day toward evening the trad-
ers, who had come down with a load of skins
the day before, told us that they were leav-
ing, as it was a full moon and it was cooler to
travel by night, and I thought that a moon-
light trip would be delightful and that we
would be in San Isidro by morning. But
they had evidently planned differently, for
after we had gone about two miles they came
to a stop at a large adobe house. The owner
of it was an old man who had a large cattle

54 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

ranch, several wives and many retainers. We
found that it was he who owned the house
where we had spent two nights, and he wanted
us now to stay here for the night. As the
men were unhitching the oxen from the
carts, we knew that there was nothing else to
do.

As we neared the dwelling and saw several
women about we expected to find that the
feminine touch had made that dwelling a
home. But we were disappointed. Such
filth I had never seen! We had to pick our
way oter piles of refuse, through swarms of
flies, pigs, dogs and pools of tobacco juice.
Whew! this was worse than bats and lizards
and snakes! As we went into the house the
pigs — ^fourteen of them — almost tripped us
up. Everybody, men, women and children,
was smoking. What an atmosphere for the
old man, who was very sick! I counted the
next morning, when I could see, sixteen per-
sons, twelve dogs and fourteen pigs, all of
whom did their best to entertain us. The
mosquitoes and flies swarmed ; lizards jumped
across our laps to catch flies — everything
seemed to think we were one with the crowd.

UP THE ORINOCO 55

On the rafters was a gruesome sight — a coffin
just waiting for that old man to die!

In the midst of that filth and confusion we
were invited to hang our hammocks! I
thanked them for their kind invitation but
told them that we preferred to sleep outside,
it was so nice and cool, and we did so.

The next morning all were astir early.
The sick man wanted to talk with us again.
He asked how much money we were going
to get for coming up this way. We told him,
"A hundredfold in this life, and in the world
to come life everlasting." We asked him if
he understood that. He said, "Oh, yes, yes,"
but for fear he did not we explained that God
loved the world and gave Jesus His Son to die
for us; that we believed in Jesus and knew
that our sins were forgiven; and that as Jesus
had said that His disciples were to go into all
the world to preach His gospel, that was why
we were coming this way to tell the Indians,
and he added: "And me." "Yes, you;" we
replied. We told him that we had not bar-
gained with God for money, and as no man
or society had sent us we did it for love. He
said: "Good! good!"

56 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

One of the women brought us a calabash of
milk. It is true that as she carried it, her
thumbs were in the milk and in one hand she
held a long black cigar, but she smiled as she
offered the "lordly dish." The bowl was so
greasy that I had to put my thumbs as hooks
to hold on to it, and there were islands of
fertilizer floating on the top of the milk, but
there was nothing else to do, so I blew them
aside as well as I could and put my lips di-
rectly into the milk instead of against the bowl
and drank it My girls were horrified and
would not touch it themselves, but my host-
ess was delighted to see me enjoy her hospi-
tality.

We left that place about eight o'clock and
started for our eleven-mile walk. I sug-
gested that we follow the wagons of the trad-
ers, but our guide said that he could take us
a better and shorter way, so we tramped up
hill and down, wading rivers and so getting
beautifully cooled off, for four hours, when
we could see the top of a house here and there
in the distance. There was no well-beaten
track, the grass grew in humps and the walk-
ing was hard; but we were nearing our In-

UP THE ORINOCO 57

dians, which rejoiced our hearts; and as we
had been so cramped for three days on the
boat this was good exercise for a change.

About two o'clock the man said that he had
evidently gotten out of the way; and as one
of the girls was very much exhausted, I told
him to go on alone and perhaps he could find
the road again. We prayed the Lord to di-
rect the man, who was now very uneasy about
us, because the wagons held all our food and
belongings, and we might have to stay in this
spot all night; then we put up our umbrellas
to form a tent and I slept sweetly for three
hours.

When we thought it was about time for the
man to come back we began to sing in order
to guide him, and by-and-by he appeared, ac-
companied by two Indian boys and a donkey
for the white lady to ride on, a gourd full
of water and some cassava bread. We just
praised the Lord to see them all. The man
said that the carts were unloaded and the
whole village was waiting to welcome us, and
that the chief had sent the donkey. I had
never ridden any animal, but the Lord had
evidently provided this donkey for the girl

58 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

who was so lame. She knew how to ride and
mounted, the boy leading the animal and the
rest of us following them. The water tasted
delicious and we nibbled the bread as we
walked, for we did not want to lose time, it
was so nearly sundown. We soon reached
the river which separated us from the village,
and the Indians began to carry our things
over. We would have to be carried over also,
as the river was too deep to wade and none
of us could swim, so while we were waiting
the girls made a fire and boiled some cocoa
and we had a good feast of bread and cheese
before we went on.

Once over the river, the chief's wife greeted
us warmly, took off my hat and tried it on,
examined me thoroughly, took my hair down
and untied my shoes; I had a real massage
treatment. It rested my head to have it
rubbed, so I let them go on. I laughed and
they laughed, and so we became acquainted.

We were shown our new home by moon-
light. It was simply a huge umbrella, with
no walls and so of course no windows; we
could have the air freely! One of the In-
dian3 wanted to know what wa$ in the black

UP THE ORINOCO 59

box which formed a part of our baggage, so I
opened it and began to play. Oh, joy, what a
delight that was ! One of the women made us
a lamp by taking a leaf, rubbing some kind
of grease on it and hanging it on the door-post
of our house. Its flickering light made the
whole scene weird enough to suit the most ro-
mantic nature.

It was Saturday night. I played and sang
until hoarse, and then we knelt down and
prayed for these people among whom we had
come, then I told them to go home and
come again to-morrow. But they never
moved I I counted seventy- five men, over
fifty women and some children. When they
made no move to go away I had them put
out our cots and I lay down on mine. I had
not been undressed for six nights, but another
night would not matter. The girls said:
"You surely won't try to sleep with this crowd
around!" But I said: "Yes, I am through
business for to-night; I can't hold my head up
any longer. You may entertain them if you
want to keep awake, but as for me, I am going
to sleep."

About daylight I opened my eyes, and there

6o ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

stood my friends of the night before as mo-
tionless as wooden men and women. "Girls,"
I called; "are you asleep?"

"Asleep!" they answered with such disgust
in their tones that I laughed and laughed till
even the Indians grunted and some of them
showed their teeth in a smile. "Do you think
we could sleep with these wild Indians stand-
ing over us?"

"Have they really been here all night?" I
asked incredulously.

"Yes, indeed, all this time they have stood
over you like that, and here we have sat with
our hearts in our throats fearing that they
would kill you and scalp us."

Then and there I preached a sermon to my
Christian helpers about trusting in God.
"Don't you see," I said, "how God has
guarded us every step of the way since we
came into this land? He has protected us
from snakes and all hurtful things, has raised
up friends where we had not looked for them,
and now has let these men stand guard over
us all night to protect us from we do not know
what danger. Where is your faith? We

Miss Coope's "up-stairs tenement" at Kio Diablo. Native jrrass
houses on the left.

A nearer view of the author's home. The hr&t Hoor is the school-
house and mission. Chief Robinson has on a black derby hat.

UP THE ORINOCO 6i

are on business for the King, and has He not
promised to take care of us?"

"Yes, we know that, but — "

"You seem to ^but' so much against things
that come in your way that the buts are rob-
bing you of your needed rest through fear of
man. Our God neither slumbers nor sleeps,
and we can trust ourselves with Him." My
experience for thirteen years along that lonely
country road back in my home came to my
mind, and I praised God for my training.

While the girls prepared breakfast I played
the organ, for the first words my Indian au-
dience said to me after my morning greeting
were: "Blanca senora, toca la musica" —
"White lady, play the organ;" so they had
evidently waited all night for that. I played
for some time, then we ate our breakfast and
prayed, and then I told the people that this
was the Lord's day and God had commanded
that we should not work on th^t day. We
ourselves did as little work as possible.

My first call was on the chief, who was very
sick. I asked him if he had the Bible which
he had bought of the colporter. He said he

62 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

had not; that some Spaniard had taken it to
read and had not returned it. He said he was
glad that we had come to his village, and I
answered, "I have come to live here and teach
you and your people about Jesus."

"Ah, white lady," he said; "that is good, but
why did you not come sooner? It is too late
for me : I am dying."

I hardly knew how to answer that poor dy-
ing Indian, but I put up a petition to God
for wisdom and told him that I had come as
soon as I heard about him. That seemed to
pacify him somewhat, but here was another
question : "Did your people know this a long
time ago? Why did they not come? My
people have died and did not know; no one
came from your land to tell us."

I was smitten with grief at the backward-
ness of our people and could say nothing.
What would you who read these words have
said? What will you say at the Judgment?

The chief was so weak after our talk that
it seemed as though the end was near. Here
I had come to tell this man more about Jesus
and his salvation, and he was going to die
right before my eyes, in the dark, with only

UP THE ORINOCO 63

reproaches on his lips that we had not come
sooner. I felt a wave of faith sweep over me,
and said to the chief's brother: "Oh, let us
pray! This man must not die yet; he is not
saved! He must be saved, and I believe God
will raise him up for that purpose."

I knelt down by the side of his hammock
and told him that I was going to pray to God
to heal him so that he might live and hear
the gospel of Jesus. He nodded his head
feebly. I laid my hands on him and prayed
and he broke out in a perspiration. I left
him and went to visit others, returning home
about five o'clock. We had just started a
song service when the chief's wife came run-
ning to the place of meeting, crying: "Oh,
white lady, the chief is better, is better, is bet-
ter!" She said that he slept after I left, for
two hours, the first in two weeks, and when
he woke he asked for a drink of milk and it
had stayed on his stomach ; now he was sleep-
ing again. I told the wife to praise God, for
He had done this. God surely answered my
prayer, for in a few days the chief came to see
us and accepted Jesus that very day.

On Monday I asked the Indians to build

64 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

a wall of bamboos around one corner of our
house so that we could have a bedroom, and
we made the cots up with clean linen, hung
up towels and arranged our belongings as
tastefully as we could. When we had fin-
ished our new home looked delightful to us,
and to the poor Indian women who watched
every movement, talking volubly over every
arrangement, it must have seemed like a bit
of fairyland. They exclaimed over every-
thing and touched things as if they were
afraid they might be alive.

After I put up a piece of burlap to form
a door they did not seem to think they could
go past it, so I called one who seemed very
anxious to look and took her inside. I showed
her my looking-glass, and she ran toward the
others with childish delight to let them see
their faces; some were afraid of the self that
they saw in the glass. After that exhibition
she wanted to go in again, so I took her. This
time she noticed the red and yellow cot cover
one of the girls had, and taking it off of the
cot she put it around her Indian fashion,
slipped her feet into a pair of red carpet slip-
pers, then taking down my hat and putting it

UP THE ORINOCO 65

on she walked out again wondrously arrayed.
Her companions were delighted.

I next showed the woman my cot, and she
examined the springs and motioned to me to
get in, which I did and drew the mosquito
netting down. She thought that was fine;
and when I got up she got in, and that was
still finer! She brought all the women in to
see the things from far away, and it was a
great day for them.

There were three brothers who lived eight
miles from us who had lived with a Spanish
family and learned to read. When they
came to see us I gave them a New Testament
and had them read to us and we read to
them. They were so happy that they spent
the day with us, and soon they accepted Jesus,
and visited us often to learn more about the
way of life. I often found them in the other
houses talking of Christ and His love for all
men.

We had a service every afternoon, as that
seemed the best time to reach the people.
The Indians go to bed early and rise early
as a rule. They stopped work about three
o'clock, and we had our service from four to

66 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

six usually and retired at sundown. This was
really the most practical thing to do, for the
mosquitoes came out in droves about that time
and we were glad to get under the shelter of
our nets. The netting did not shelter us from
the snakes in the roof nor from the larger ones
that sometimes came into our houses ; but God
protected us and we were never bitten.
Every morning we visited each house in the
village, talking, reading, praying and sing-
ing, and so, with the afternoon services and
the morning round of visits, we kept in touch
with both the men and women in a public way
and in their home life.

CHAPTER V

WORK ENDED IN VENEZUELA

FOR four months we lived in San Isidro.
The chief sent men to the woods to cut
logs to build us a house, and we picked out a
lot high and dry and were planning to settle,
when the chief became ill. He was appar-
ently not seriously sick and was only a few
days in bed. I called on him and talked of
Jesus, and he seemed cheerful and did not
speak of dying until the last day, when I said
to him: "You are not going to leave us so
quickly, are you?" and he replied; *^Oh, no,
sister, but if I do I shall go to Jesus. He has
forgiven my sins and I am glad."

After talking with him I visited other
houses, finding several sick, and then went
home. Soon the wife of the chief's sister
came running to me crying: "The chief is
dead ; he has gone to Jesus 1" I could scarcely
believe the news and went at once to the

(^1

68 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

house. He had died two hours after I left
him. His body was rolled in a sheet and laid
in his hammock, with his hat, sandals and gun
laid on top. Every one was weeping. I
went to the widow and put my arm around
her and wept with her. I could only say,
*^Gone to Jesus 1" and she nodded understand-
ingly.

Two other persons died that same week,
and a fear came upon the rest that some dis-
ease was going to carry them all off. After
four days of mourning, weird singing and
dancing around the chief's body, they carried
it eight miles away to bury it. I went to the
funeral. After that was over they burned the
chief's house and many other houses, and the
men came to tell me that they were going to
the mountains; they had no chief, and until
they appointed a new chief they would not
live together again, and never on that spot, for
death was there and they must go.

"I will go with you," I said; "for I don't
want to live here without you all. I have
come to teach you and I will stay."

"Oh, no, white lady, you go back to your
people I The mountains are no place for

WORK ENDED 69

you; in the rainy season there is much sick-
ness. We are glad you came to tell us about
Jesus, and will not forget, but we are going
far, far away."

About that time an old man who had traded
for years along that territory, going by mule-
back with a pack of cloth, tobacco, etc., came
to the village and saw the condition of things
and talked with me. He said that this break-
ing up was their custom, and he showed me
the charred logs of a once large village where
this tribe had lived. There had been small-
pox, many had died, and wisely they had
burned the houses and the dead to stop the
disease. Then they had scattered, and about
eight years ago had built this present village
of about thirty houses, "which they will now
desert," he said, "and live here and there scat-
tered until they rally around a man in confi-
dence to make him their chief."

I have not spoken of these traders, but there
had been several of them at the village while
we had been there, and there were some inci-
dents of our work that were brought about
by their coming. They always brought rum
and tobacco, and we had witnessed several

70 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

sprees as the result of their visits. They were
really thieves, for they robbed the poor In-
dians shamefully. One of the industries of
the village v^as the raising of cassava. The
men cultivated it and the women grated,
pressed and dried it, then made it into cakes,
which were sold for ten cents apiece in the
city. They made a great many daily, and
when the traders did not come to rob them
in exchange for liquor and tobacco, the men
took the cakes overland on the backs of their
donkeys and sent them by boat to the city.

But often five or six men would come up
with a load of rum and give the Indians
enough to make them drunk, when they would
take the cakes in "payment" for the liquor.
That night two or three of the men would go
off with a load of cakes, and the next morn-
ing when the Indians were sober there would
be a reckoning, when the traders would claim
that they had not been paid or paid enough,
and then more cakes had to be made to pay
their "debts." In order to coax them to do
this the traders would give them more liquor,
thus robbing them wholesale. The chief was
wise and did not trade with them, and he and

WORK ENDED 71

some of the others told me about the robbery
that went on. I told them that the next time
a band of traders came the men must come to
my house and not take any of the ^'treats" of
rum offered to them.

One afternoon a party came up and there
was a great display of bottles. I sent one of
the men to call all the village to my house
and we kept them until sundown. During
that meeting two of the Spanish traders came
in, one with his machete, a long sword-like
knife, and the other with a revolver in his
belt. One sat behind me, the other sat in
front. I spoke to them and they turned their
heads. The girls, always fearful, said: "Miss
Coope, let the Indians go. These men are up
to something bad; the one behind you will
stick his knife into you."

"Oh, no, he won't;'' I answered. "You
pray and trust God and He will keep us from
harm."

This conversation went on while I was find-
ing another hymn, and we started to sing
"Down at the Cross." As we sang the man
in front of me took out his revolver and
pointed it only about a foot from my face.

72 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

I heard the girls exclaim, but I sang on and
looked at him, and then one of the Indians,
who, thank God, was sober, as were all the
rest of them, sprang at the man and struck
his arm from my face, while another caught
him by the scrufif of the neck. They made
him fire his revolver six times into the air and
held him while he unloaded all his ammuni-
tion, and while this was going on the man
with the machete slipped away. The service
went on, and every man of the village except
the two who were taking care of the would-be
murderer stayed until sunset, when they
quietly marched single-file to their own
homes. There was no spree that night, and
the traders, defeated, left early the next morn-
ing, threatening to kill us because we had pre-
vented the Indians from buying their rum.
But I rejoiced in the words of David:

"In God have I put my trust, I will not be
afraid;
What can man do unto me?"

I was threatened with death another time,
and it came about in this way. A- Spaniard

WORK ENDED 73

came to the village with a woman to whom
he was not married. He could read, and I
talked to him of Jesus and read to him and
gave him a Testament. He went to the home
where they were staying for a few days, and
God's Spirit took such hold of him that he
could not sleep. He got up and read the
New Testament and was convicted of sin.
He told the woman that he was a sinner, and
God would punish him and her too ; that they
must separate; he would send her home in the
morning. She vowed that she would kill me,
as I had made all the trouble, and she started
out with that intention. Her countenance
was fierce as she entered my house, but I
smiled, and as we were at family worship I
gave her a seat and asked her if she could
read, and as she said she could I gave her a
Testament. She held the book, but kept
looking at me, so, wondering if she really
could read, I asked her to read a verse. She
did it, and from that moment her attention
seemed riveted to the book. Then as we
were about to pray I told her so in order that
she might understand our next move, but she
began at once to talk about herself. She said

74 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

that she was going to the city; that "her man''
was sending her back; and she began to cry.

"Why, is he not your husband?" I asked.

"No," she answered; "and it is all through
reading that book that he has turned against
me."

I saw that here was my "woman at the
well" who needed the water of life, and I
spent the morning talking, reading and pray-
ing with her, letting my usual visiting pass
for that time. She confessed that she had
come there to kill me, but added: "I can't do
it, for you are a good woman. I am bad, but
I will read this book and pray to God to help
me." She left in peace. The man remained
a few days longer, then went farther into the
interior, carrying his Testament with him.
Truly the entrance of God's Word giveth
light!

The very day that I was planning to leave
for the city this man returned to the village.
That morning before daybreak I had prayed
very definitely, "Lord, what shall I do?" and
this scripture came forcibly to me: "Rise,
and enter into the city, and it shall be told
thee what thou must do." I just thanked the

WORK ENDED 75

Lord, for with that scripture there came into
me a "Go ye" spirit, and soon after I rose, this
man went by the house. I called him and
told him that I was going to leave and asked
him if he could get word to the man with the
ox-wagons to come and take my things and he
said that he would. We had a long talk,
and he showed that he was very happy in his
new life and said that he read the Testament
daily.

Another conversion made glad our hearts
during our stay in the village. A young
Spaniard of intelligence called on us. He
had come to buy sugar and cakes from the
chief and was told that there was a white lady
in the village. He said that he could hardly
believe it and he came to see if it were true.
I told him that our reason for coming was to
teach the Indians about Jesus, and he seemed
to think that we were wasting our time. I
quoted Jesus' command: "Go ye into all the
world;" adding that this was a part of the
"all," and that we had come at His command
and because we loved Him. That opened the
way to ask the young man about his own soul's
condition and I gave him a Spanish Testa-

76 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

ment. He was glad to get a new book and sat
there and began to read it at once.

This young man lived about sixteen miles
from the village with his father and mother,
two sisters and a little brother, and he an-
nounced that he would bring them to see me.
The following Sunday the father and mother
came, riding in style mule-back. They
brought milk and fresh meat and spent the
day with us, and we told them of Jesus.
They invited me to their home, but as I had
no mule, and there were several rivers to ford,
I never was able to visit them.

The young man came to see us twice a
week, however, eager to read and to question
about the great things of salvation. The fa-
ther was worried, asking when he came over
one day: ^Will any one go crazy from read-
ing God's Book? My son tells my family so
much about the Book that you are teaching
him that I am afraid they will all b£ crazy.
They sit up all night to read and talk." I
told him that it would never make them crazy
if they obeyed what they read, but if they dis-
obeyed when they knew the truth it might
make them crazy. I urged him to pray to

WORK ENDED 77

God in Jesus' name to help him and all of
them to believe what they read and to obey
it, and they would be made new creatures by
the power of God coming into their hearts.

I was not able to stay to see the results of
this preaching of Christ; but I believed that
God would take care of the seed sown in their
hearts, and having given a testimony there
among the Indians and seen the results, I
could leave with the consciousness that I had
done what I could and was ready now to go
on to another field if it was God's will.

Once more we packed up our belongings,
said good-by to those whom we had lived
among for four months, and started toward
the river again. On our return trip we
stopped at the home of the sick man on the
cattle ranch where we had spent the night on
our way up, swinging our hammocks in the
porch. The man was much better and walk-
ing around. We told him what God had
done for the Indian chief of San Isidro and
he asked us questions about heaven. I gave
the family a New Testament that they could
read for themselves, and they gave us milk
and fruit. We did not spend a night at the

78 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

landing-place, as the boat arrived almost im-
mediately and we left. The boat was larger
than the one we came up on, so that we slept
on it even though there was not much room.
It suited the girls better than lying on the
beach and they were able to sleep.

On my arrival at Bolivar City I found a
quantity of mail waiting which the colporter
had sent by some Indians that he knew lived
in San Isidro. In one of my letters was a
clipping from a religious paper about a
woman missionary in Colon, Republic of
Panama, who was going to the Panamanians,
asking prayers for her. On the margin of the
paper the sender had written : "This may be
of interest to you." I wrote at once to the
missionary and also made preparations to go
back to Barbadoes, for my girls were not will-
ing to go through any more experiences
among Indians. We left Bolivar City May
1st, 1909, having been in Venezuela exactly six
months. I went first to Trinidad, where I la-
bored two months in the Christian Mission,
and then returned to Barbadoes.

CHAPTER VI

MY ADVENTURES IN A LAUNCH

AFTER two months at Barbadoes I started
for the Isthmus of Panama, and not hav-
ing received any answer to my letter to the
missionary inquiring about the Panamanians,
I wrote to some of the members of the Chris-
tian Mission inquiring if they knew of any
Indians around there to whom the gospel had
not been preached, and they replied that they
had seen some walking along the streets of
Colon, barefoot and poor looking, who evi-
dently had not been reached by any mission-
ary.

When I reached Colon I found that the
woman to whom I had first written had been
sent to Jamaica for her health, which prob-
ably accounted for my not hearing from her.
Inquiring further, I found a Methodist min-
ister in Panama City who said that he had
had six men in his house from the San Bias

79 ,

8o ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

coast, one a chief and the other an ex-chief,
who had pleaded with him to send a teacher
to them, a woman, because no white man was
allowed to stay on their islands over night.
The ex-chief, John Davis, had left his boy
of eleven with the minister, and as he brought
him to me I spoke to my first San Bias Indian.

At last I had found Indians who wanted a
teacher, and more than that a woman teacher!
I was ready to go at once, but there was still
a delay. I had difficulty in getting a passage
on any of the traders' vessels. Their plea was
that their boats were not fitted for passengers.
One man said that the missionaries would
spoil his trade.

^^Spoil your trade I" I exclaimed. "We are
not traders; what could we do to hurt your
trade?" As he did not answer I added: "Of
course if you sell rum to the Indians I shall
certainly do my best to spoil that trade."

He made no answer again, because he was
guilty. He took it by barrels to sell to those
people. That trade has been stopped now,
however, I am thankful to say.

I finally secured passage to Nombre-de-

ADVENTURES IN A LAUNCH 8i

Dios on the American tug that went there
daily for sand for the foundation of the Gatun
Locks. While waiting there for further
transportation I preached Jesus and scattered
tracts to a few who could read. This roused
the ire of the Roman Catholic priest, who
stood afar off one day when I was holding an
open-air meeting. Some of his flock were in
danger! He took the tracts and tore them up,
scattering them along the street

At the end of a fortnight a small gasoline
launch going up the coast stopped at Nombre-
de-Dios and I secured passage on it. When
the priest found that I, a Protestant, was go-
ing to the Indians with that dreadful book,
the Bible, going where some of his brethren
had tried in vain to enter, he was furious.
He tried to persuade the captain not to take
me, but as my things were already aboard the
launch and several were there to see me off,
I said to the captain: "You'd better not touch
my baggage! Those people around us are
Americans; and Americans can do things!"

He laughed and said: "Well, the padre does
not want you to go up to the Indians."

82 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

"Never mind the padre;" I said decidedly.
"I am going up on your launch to those peo-
ple because God wants me to!"

There was much palavering between him
and the priest, but I kept quiet and prayed,
going aboard the launch and taking my seat
next to the priest because there was no other
place to sit. Still the boat did not go ; they
were waiting for me to change my mind.
But there was no prospect of that! The
Americans who had watched the proceedings
thus far came up to the launch and said: "So
you are going!"

"Yes, Fm off."

"It really doesn't seem safe:" "Look out for
that man ; he is very angry." "That priest will
harm you if he can." These were some of the
comments ; but as they were in English, which
the priest did not understand, he did not get
their meaning unless he judged by actions and
looks; while as for me, my mind was made
up and there was no turning back, whatever
the danger might be. Finally they started,
with me on board!

We stopped at several small villages on
the mainland and slept that night on the

ADVENTURES IN A LAUNCH 83

launch. The next forenoon we arrived in
the vicinity of two islands near the mouth of
Rio Diablo, the Devil River, in the Depart-
ment of Colon. The chief of the smaller
island came on board the launch. He could
speak a little English and asked me where I
was going. I told him to Mona, which is
about forty miles farther west in the Depart-
ment of Panama.

"Why will you not stay here and teach us?
We want to learn English ;" he said.

"But you have the priests here;" I reminded
him.

He said that the priests did no good, and
yet he bowed to my fellow-passenger and
kissed his hand. He said that the priests had
been on the island for several years, but none
of their children could read or write; they
only taught them to pray to the saints.

I told this chief that John Davis wanted me
to come to Mona, and I asked him about the
chief on the other island as we lay anchored
in the bay between the two islands. He said
that he was his nephew, that his name was
Charles J. Robinson, and that he was away
on the mainland working on his plantation.

84 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

so I did not meet him. The chief with whom
I talked was Joe Harding.

The priest who had come up the coast thus
far with us remained at Harding's Island, but
he engaged two Indian men to go on with us to
Mona, giving them rifles from a box of twelve
which he had with him. The last words
which he said to them as he rowed away from
the launch were: *Telear por mi," "Fight
for me," and some of the men said: *^These
Indians will kill you ;" telling me what they
had heard him say. I said: "Never mind; I
trust in God and He will keep me safely."
The captain swore and said that I was going
to get him into trouble ; he wished he had not
brought me.

We left the bay in the afternoon and ar-
rived at Mona about five o'clock the same
day. The Indians of course got a boat and
were taken to shore before I was, and as soon
as I could get a man that understood Spanish
or English — I used either language as the case
demanded — I inquired for John Davis. One
of the men pointed him out on the beach and
rowed me to him. As John could speak good
English we were soon chatting eagerly. I

ADVENTURES IN A LAUNCH 85

gave him the photograph of his son which
the Methodist minister in Panama had sent
by me, and he seemed glad to see it and asked
about him.

While John Davis and I were talking the
two Indians who came up on the launch had
called the people into the chief's house and
we were summoned to come there too. There
was a great crowd; it looked as though the
whole island was there. I was seated by the
side of the chief, while John Davis, being an
ex-chief — now second chief — sat at my left.
The crowd was in front of us, the two messen-
gers, each with a rifle, at the front looking
very important and trying to impress me with
their importance. But I was very busy look-
ing at the women and babies and refused to
be properly impressed. There seemed to be
an endless chain of women and girls, each
with a baby on her hip.

When everybody came to order John Davis
spoke. He told the chief that I had come to
teach them the Bible and how to read and
write in English, as they wanted that lan-
guage. With every few words the chief
grunted, as did everybody after him, and

86 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

finally the tension was getting so great that
I grunted too and felt better! I do not know
whether the whole story was told, for it seemed
to me that in the middle of it there was a sud-
den break, the two men jumping to their feet
and crying: "Pelear! pelear! pelear!" Every
one took up the cry, and I felt like doing the
same, so great was the excitement, only I felt
that I must watch proceedings, so I sat still,
as did also the two chiefs. When the con-
fusion stopped I asked John what it all meant.

"Oh, white lady;" he said, "I am sorry, but
you cannot stay here. The padre has told
these two men that you are a bad woman and
we must not let you stay."

I had no thought of being sent away in this
peremptory fashion without at least a protest.
I understood the influence at work and how
these simple-minded people had been influ-
enced against me, but I would not go without
a plea for them to hear me, so I asked John
Davis if he could not quiet the people so that
they would listen to what he had to say about
me. The Indians were gathered in clusters
and were all talking at once, here, there, and
yonder. It was very interesting and exciting.

ADVENTURES IN A LAUNCH 87

The women were talking too, of course, though
what their attitude was I did not find out
until later.

While waiting for the decision I was rest-
ful regarding the whole matter and prayed
to God to overrule. Finally John said : "You
had better go! These two men will kill you
if you do not."

He had hardly spoken the words when one
of the willing-to-be murderers caught me by
the wrist and pulled me from my seat and
pushed me forward. Then I found out with-
out any questioning what the women's atti-
tude toward me was. They screamed when
I passed them, pulled the children out of my
way as if I would contaminate them, spit at
me and made faces. I could not help think-
ing of the way many so-called Christians treat
a woman of the street, shrinking from even
the touch of her clothing. These Indian
women are made up of the same sinful tend-
encies and can show them when they are
under provocation. They were not going to
be contaminated by the touch of such a one
as I!

In the midst of all this turmoil, instead of

88 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

having fear I was very conscious of the pres-
ence of God, and said to myself : *^This must
be one of the ^all things' that I can bear
through Jesus' help. I did not understand,
but I could trust God and I did.

As the man who was leading me put me into
the canoe he was so excited that he tipped it
in such a way that it filled half full of water,
so there I sat up to my shoe-tops in water.
As there was no accommodation on the launch
except to sit in one place day and night, I
could do nothing but sit still and let my cloth-
ing dry as it could. But there are worse
things than that, and I did not catch cold or
have the fever, as some of the crew said I
would. The captain frankly said he hoped I
would die from the exposure; but the sinner's
hopes are vain. My hope was in God, and
He did not fail me.

CHAPTER VII

BACK TO COLON

THE launch which had brought me thus
far had to go up the coast three days'
journey, and as there was no other boat by
which I could return to Colon I had to go on
also. When I went aboard at Nombre-de-
Dios I had carried only a little luncheon in
my bag, for I expected to be at my destination
in a few hours, but it took the better part of
two days. The second day I had asked for
some of the rice and freshly caught fish that
the crew were cooking only a few feet from
me, but they would neither give nor sell any
of the food, so I was hungry yet not suffering.
I had part of what my Father had promised
me to keep up my strength, namely, water,
so I drank that and thanked Him, feeling sure
that the bread would come later, because God
has said: *^His bread shall be given him; his
waters shall be sure." Not having had the

89

90 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

privilege of unloading any of my boxes from
the launch when we stopped at Mono ; and the
chief and John Davis not having had time to
entertain me even if they had felt so disposed,
I had no food that day or that night. But
"He giveth unto His beloved sleep," so I had
that rest and refreshment. We went on all
the next day, coming to a large island toward
evening, and I had nothing to eat that day
either.

As the launch stopped in the bay I spoke
to some of the Indians and found a few who
could understand English a little. I told
them that I would like to see the chief, but
they said it was too near sundown; that no
foreigner was allowed on shore when the sun
set. I promised that I would come back as
quickly as possible, so they took me to the
chief's house. He received me very gra-
ciously, bowing low, and I bowed slightly
and was made to take a seat of honor at his
right. By means of several of the chief's men,
some of whom understood a little English
and some a little Spanish, I made them under-
stand that I wanted to come and start a school
among them. They talked together volubly

BACK TO COLON 91

for a time and finally told me that they did
not want a school. They were Indians, and
no Indians learned to read or write; it was
not good. Then with a very gracious bow
from the chief I knew that I was dismissed,
and I turned to go to the launch, being es-
corted by a curious crowd. The women cen-
tered their attention on my clothes, with an
interest quite similar, only differently ex-
pressed, to that of women of more enlightened
countries when something new comes before
them. They felt the texture of my garments,
and touched my hat and my hair and my shoes
in such a way that I exclaimed: *'Oh, vain
woman, everywhere the samel Color does
not change the natural curiosity and vanity."
The men on the launch had somehow man-
aged to get some rum. I knew that the water
tank was empty, and I asked one of the black
men to have it filled. He turned to another
man more intoxicated than himself, who said
in a maudlin way: "We drink rum; we don't
drink water." I said nothing, but tried an-
other man, who finally put in about a pailful.
That was far better than none and I thanked
the Lord for it. I asked the captain to let

92 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

me get a box that had food in it from the hold,
but he refused to open it up, saying I could
"go to ''

"Oh, no, thank you ;" I replied ; "I am going
to heaven."

The brains of the crew were so befuddled
with drink that instead of anchoring for the
night they determined to sail out by moon-
rise. They said that through me they had
lost so much time that they must now make
it up! We had not sailed more than half an
hour before the boat ran into a sand-bank;
and I praised the Lord, for I felt that it was
a deliverance from something worse, as the
crew were all so intoxicated.

We lay quite still that night, and the next
morning many Indians came with ropes in
their canoes to help pull the launch off of the
bank. But in order to get the boat off they
had to lighten it by opening the hold and tak-
ing out the things, and in this way I was able
to secure one of my boxes that had food in it!
I slid it under the seat and covered it with my
dress. When we were off the bank and they
were refilling the hold, I opened up my box
and had a good meal of condensed milk and

BACK TO COLON 93

soda crackers. They tasted delicious, and I
found that I was certainly hungry. But the
dear Lord had kept me from the gnawings
that hunger brings. I had cocoa also in the
box, and I asked the cook to let me have some
boiling water, but he refused me. I did not
mind very much; I was getting used to being
refused.

We went on our journey quickly that day,
arriving at Port-o-Baldia before sunset, and
on the following morning leaving there on
our return trip. Four passengers for Colon
were taken on, two being policemen and one
a prisoner. Their provisions ran short and
they eyed my box of soda crackers and wanted
to buy. But I was glad to heap coals of fire
on their heads, and it was a real delight to see
the change that came over many of them when
I shared the crackers and gave with them a
message of love for Jesus' sake.

When we arrived at Rio Diablo the padre
who had sent the two Indians up the coast
with me came aboard the launch ; he was go-
ing to Colon. We only stayed in the bay a
little while, and I sat in the boat and looked
at the two houses built by the padres and the

94 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

Indians, little dreaming that in both of them
there would some day be Bible schools and
that I would write this story in the room in
one of the houses which the padre used for his
bedroom. It never entered my thoughts that
the houses built by the enemies of the truth
would one day be under my control and be
used for spreading God's truth; but we walk
by faith, not seeing the path ahead but trust-
ing all to our Heavenly Father. I did have
faith that I should come back there again,
but God in bringing me back has done the
"exceeding abundantly" above all that I asked
or thought.

We had not sailed more than three hours,
cramped up in the launch so closely that our
knees touched, when the padre spoke to me.
I had been sitting all this time with my Bible
in English and Spanish open on my lap, and
the priest could not help seeing it and reading
it if he cared to.

"Do you speak Spanish?" he asked, and I
replied courteously: "Yes, sir," not of course
using the title "father."

Then he opened the battery of his abuse.
He said that I was no good; that I had no

BACK TO COLON 95

faith, no religion ; that I did not eat the body
of the Lord Jesus, so I had no life. He said
that I had no business to come up to the In-
dians ; that he and his associates had come to
give them the true religion and that I must
not interfere. He was so excited, so angry
evidently to find me alive after my trip up
the coast, that he went over and over his state-
ments and denunciations, not knowing how to
stop.

Finally I asked the priest if he had fin-
ished ; that if he had I had something to say ;
and then I lifted up my heart to God in prayer
to help me to speak wisely, to wield the Sword
of the Spirit so that my listener might feel
its power. Holding the Book out toward him,
I said: "Sir, I come to these Indians to teach
them to read God's Word, whose entrance
bringeth light." As I held it out I gripped
it tightly, fearing that he would lift his hand
to throw it into the water. He did throw out
his hand toward it, exclaiming scornfully,
"El Protestante!"

"Yes;" I said, "this Book does protest! It
protests against many of the doctrines of your
Church. It forbids the making and worship-

96 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

ing of graven images. You lift up the Vir-
gin, the Pope, scapulars, rosaries, holy water
and a wafer god. We preach Jesus Christ,
the Saviour of the whole world. Jesus him-
self said: ^I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men unto Myself.' He did not
say that His Mother would do this, or Saint
Peter or Saint John. They are dead, but
Jesus is alive forevermore. His blood
cleanseth from all sin. He says: *I am the
way and the truth and the life : no one cometh
unto the Father but by Me.'

"Now, sir, if you would read God's Word
and obey it you would have this life in you.
You say that I do not eat the body of Jesus.
It is true that I do not put a wafer in my
mouth, nor let any man deceive me by doing
it, and then call that a god. It may be your
god, but my God is in heaven, and by faith
in the atoning blood of Jesus shed on the cross
for me I have the life of God now in my soul.
And this news is too good to keep to myself;
I have for years been telling to Englishmen,
Spaniards and Indians that Jesus only can
save. No Church, no creed, no ceremony,
no saint, no water, no wafer, can do it; it is

BACK TO COLON 97

Jesus only. I came to these Indians to tell
them this, and you have done your Best to
prevent me. But, sir, mark my words, be-
cause I believe God I shall be back here again,
with this Book, to teach this people. I shall
be in and you will be out!" Truly this was
a prophetic utterance, for it has been fulfilled
to the letter, with more added. Now I am
in and he is out.

The padre squirmed and twisted, but there
was no chance to get away. He did stand up
as if to pass me, and I would have had to move
sideways in order to let him, but I did not; I
stood up too, and with the Word of God open
in my hand I quoted passage after passage.
I felt a special unction in my soul; this was
my hour to glorify God, to lift up Jesus to this
man; he had a chance to receive the light if
he would. He tried to get by me to go to
the hold, but I kept on quoting Scripture to
him, and when he did sidle by me and peer
down into the dark hole as if very anxious
about his luggage, I followed and talked
earnestly. My soul seemed to be on fire for
God, and I gave him a clear, straight exhor-
tation; he could not get away from it. I

98 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

heard that he afterward returned to Spain
and died there. God's word does not return
to Him void, so that the seed sown on that
launch may have borne fruit to his saving;
I do not know.

I told the padre that I should report his
treatment of me to the President of Panama,
and I did when I reached the city, and had
his sympathy. I did not go to him for sym-
pathy, however, but to get a letter as an offi-
cial passport which would let me go into any
part of the Republic in safety. The Presi-
dent— who is now dead — said that the padre
did not do right in threatening me and send-
ing the men to thwart my plans, and that he
would be glad to give me a letter of com-
mendation, but that I needed no passport; the
Republic was free.

"I know that," I replied, "but some other
people do not seem to know the rights and
privileges that belong to a free republic, and
I want a letter to teach them."

He smiled and said: "Brave little woman 1
But why do you want to go among the In-
dians? They are very treacherous; I would
not go up there for anything."

BACK TO COLON 99

"I want to go and tell them of Jesus who
died for them," I answered; and though I
had told him the whole story of my desire to
teach the Indians, he seemed so interested that
it had to be re-told. Then I preached
Jesus to him and told him how God's Word
is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
"We all need it. You need it as President in
guiding the affairs of this Republic. God
wants to save you ; if you read His Word and
obey it He will save you now."

He seemed interested, and I just praised
God for this privilege of being brought be-
fore rulers for the truth's sake. He told me
that if a certain official would write such a
letter as I wanted he would sign it, and I was
ushered into the presence of one of Rome's
emissaries, I felt sure. The President sent
one of his servants to tell this important per-
son my errand, so I was invited to tell him
the whole story.

"Do you not know," he said as I finished,
"that the education of Panama is under the
Roman Catholic Bishop?"

"Oh, then I see!" This was an explanation
in a few words of a power I had to combat.

loo ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

*Tes, and if you want a letter you must go
to him."

*^Indeed! Then Rome has its foot on the
neck of the Panama Republic so that it is not
free after all!"

^'Religiously, no. The religion of Panama
is Roman Catholic."

^Then do you think the Bishop would give
me a letter?"

^^No."

*Then why do you send me to a man who
you know will refuse my request when it is
in your power to grant it, and the President
said that he would indorse the letter if you
wrote it?"

I felt that it was a plan on the part of both
to put me off, but it gave me an opportunity
to speak to them about Jesus and to magnify
the Word of God.

"We will neither help you nor hinder you
officially," was his answer. "If you want to
go to the Indians you must fight your way
through."

"Thank you, sir, I will," I replied; "but I
won't carry rifles or pistols, but the Sword
of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."

Chief Robinson's House, Open door leads to store. The Ameri-
can as well as the Panama flag forms part of the decoratioDS.

The "San Bias" — the Panama government steamer which piys up
and down the north coast.

BACK TO COLON loi

I left feeling encouraged in God, rejoicing
that I had unloaded another cargo of heavenly
ammunition for Him.

When I went to the home of the Methodist
minister who had given me the directions for
my journey he was surprised to see me. He
supposed that I was all settled down in my
new home, and was planning to send Philip
back, as he and his family expected to return
to the States in a few months. I told him
that I had learned some very valuable lessons
that I was going to use as stepping-stones to
greater victories for God. He did not think
it would be wise or worth while to try to go
back while ihat priest was there to influence
the Indians, but I assured him that the priest
was going to be put out and I was going to
have the privilege of going in; I felt that God
was going to do it.

After laboring for a few months with the
Christian Mission (colored) on the Isthmus,
I received an invitation to go to a party of
missionaries in Mexico, so I waited on the
Lord for the money for the journey if He
wanted me to go. I did not give up hopes of
returning to San Bias, but the way surely was

I02 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

not open at present, so I started for Mexico
in August, 191 1 ; labored there four months,
and then went on to California, where I stayed
two months with friends in Los Angeles, in
all my travels never once mentioning money
to any one; my Father supplied every need.

While in the home of two young mission-
aries who were under a Board I learned many
valuable lessons, and I had to say to them:
"Truly the way of faith is the best." Many
times when things ran short they had to hope
that the Board would send their money on
time so that they would not be too much in-
convenienced. They wondered how I got
along, not being under a Board. "Oh," I
said, "I am not under; I am on top, for *un-
derneath are the Everlasting Arms.' "

In January, 191 2, I sailed to San Francisco,
God providing the means in the same way
that he had done for years, "according to
your faith." Faith is not air; I did not walk
on air, but on the promises of God, and I have
not yet walked to the end of any one of them.

I visited friends and cousins in different
States, speaking in many churches and mis-
sions of God's love and leading, and requesting

BACK TO COLON 103

prayers of faith for the entrance into the San
Bias territory on my return to the Isthmus.
I believed that God wanted me there and that
He would in His own good time open the way.

CHAPTER VIII

AT RIO DIABLO

1 STAYED ten months in the States, visit-
ing Canada by way of the wonderful Ni-
agara Fall?, which I had longed to see from
my childhood days. Father had planned to
take mother and me to see them, but his plans
failed. But my Heavenly Father often gives
me the desires of my heart, even as He has
promised to do to all of His children if they
delight in Him. All through my trip I met
God's chosen ones, had my faith strengthened
by their faith ; and the change of air, scenery
and food all helped to build me up, so that I
started out again with renewed vigor.

Again I sailed by the West Indian passage,
stopping off at several of the islands, telling
how God had led me and asking all the rich
in faith to pray, reminding them of Jesus'
words: "All things whatsoever ye pray and

104

AT RIO DIABLO 105

ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye
shall have them,'* Mark 11:24.

Sailing for the Isthmus, I landed in Colon
August 24th, 19 1 2, having been away just two
years, during all of which time I had not
ceased to believe that a door would be opened
to the Indians. Remembering the two islands
at the mouth of Rio Diablo, where I had
stopped when I went by launch to Mona, and
the wish of Joe Harding, the chief of the
smaller island, to have me stay there and
teach, I decided, if it were possible, to meet
Charles J. Robinson, Harding's nephew, who
was chief of the other island. Knowing that
the Indians came to Colon with their boat-
loads of cocoanuts, I went to the wharf where
they landed, hoping to see him among them.
I asked every Indian that I saw about Chief
Robinson, but many understood neither Eng-
lish nor Spanish, and for some time I made
no headway. But, searching in this way, I
made the acquaintance of an Indian who had
married a light-colored negro and they lived
in Colon. He could speak English well, and
he said he would let me know if he heard that
the chief was coming to the city.

io6 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

While I was waiting for news I gathered
in my room a class of young lads who wanted
to learn English, one of whom could speak it
very well and acted as interpreter; his home
was only six miles from Chief Robinson's
island, and he was watching for the chief. I
talked of Jesus, and the young man said,
"The Indians have their own religion; they
do not want to learn about yours; they only
want you to teach them to read and speak
English so that they can make plenty of money
like the Americans."

"Is that so indeed?" I replied. "Well, if
they will listen to me and learn about Jesus,
some day they will walk on golden streets
and have more than any Americans can give
them." I talked earnestly to the lads every
time they came; that was my business for my
King.

In January, 1913, I was told that Chief
Robinson would be in on the 17th, so in the
morning I was down at the wharf, and I saw
him and two other men just going across to
the Government Building to get a pass on the
railroad to visit Panama City. My heart
beat fast for joy; this was my hour! Going

AT RIO DIABLO 107

up to the leader, for they walked single file,
I asked if he were Chief Robinson of Rio
Diablo.

"Yes, I am."

"Do you want a teacher to come to your
island and teach your people the Bible and
English?" I asked.

"Yes, I do. When can you come?" was the
prompt reply.

That was business and rejoiced my heart,
and I answered : "Now." He smiled and said
that would be all right.

"I will go back with you if you say so,"
I suggested, anxious to seize the opportunity.

"You could not very well, for my canoe
will be so loaded," he answered. "You had
better come on one of the large schooners."

I said that would be quite satisfactory to
me, and we talked together for a few minutes.
He said that he been taken by the captain of
one of the trading vessels when he was nine
years old to a place called Old Providence,
near Jamaica. The captain's name was Rob-
inson, so he named the boy Charles Julius
Robinson. He sent him to school for three
years, so that he learned to read, write and

io8 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

speak English, and at the age of twelve he
went to sea, traveling on the schooners to New
York, Nova Scotia and other places. When
about twenty-five he returned to his home,
was married, settled down, and was soon
afterward appointed second chief, then chief
at the death of the old chief, Henry Clay.

During the reign of Chief Clay the Roman
Catholic priest came and somehow got in.
Many were against him, but Chief Robinson
was one who was in favor of having him stay
because he wanted his children to be educated.
The people helped him to build the very
house that I now occupy, the priest supplying
the galvanized iron for the roof and sides and
the Indians cutting down trees and hauling
most of the wood, each helping a little in gifts
and in free labor.

"We are sorry that we ever let the priest in,
however," said the chief. "Our children
have not learned anything but to chant to
images, saints and the Virgin. I was taught
to read the Bible and I want my children to
learn to read it. I am glad that you will
come."

We parted then and I went to my room to

AT RIO DIABLO 109

begin packing, my heart singing for joy. One
morning a week later I was awakened early
by a knock, and on opening the door I saw
three Indians, one of whom pushed an en-
velope into my hand. I opened it and read:

San Jose Nargana, Feb. 2nd, 19 13.
Dear lady I sent my 3 Indians to Bring you up
to San Bias Coas to my country My people like
to see you Dear lady if you can By A B C Book
Engles and Bring your Piano up with you no
more for Present. Mr. Charles J. Robinson.

How much that letter meant to me! and
here were the three living red Indians waiting
for me to speak the word! Had not our God
answered prayer?

I hastily strapped and roped things with the
aid of the Indians, then to the canoe we went.
It was the largest canoe the chief had, but
was very small for us to weather heavy seas
in, and I had heard much about the roughness
of the sea at this season. But I believed that
God would overrule the sea and everything
else. However, my friend in Colon came
down to the wharf just as we started out and
called to the men not to take me, the wind

no ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

was so changeable. So we put back to shore
and the men put off one of my trunks, a deck
chair and a box of canned foods, then they
went on. I waited two weeks and then se-
cured passage on the two-masted schooner the
^^\gnes E."

We were nine days getting from Colon to
the first group of the San Bias Islands, and as
the captain had business to attend to of course
I had to wait until it was finished. But I was
quite comfortable and simply felt that I could
rest for a little. We were now about fifteen
miles from Rio Diablo. During the day the
Indians came aboard, and I opened my ^'pi-
ano"— the folding baby organ — and played.
The captain and crew who could speak Eng-
lish sang the Moody and Sankey hymns and
we spent a pleasant time. But the news
spread that a white woman was on board who
was going to Chief Robinson's island, and
early on the morning of the tenth day out we
were awakened by the splash of oars and a
voice calling: *^Ai es the Missi ar?"

"Yes," I answered in Spanish; "I am here,"
for I was quite sure that I was the Missi who
was meant. One of the men could speak Eng-

AT RIO DIABLO in

lish (I have since found that he was one of the
two who dragged me off from Mona Island),
and he said, "Chief Robinson sent us for you;
come now," so I just stepped off of the
schooner into the canoe and we were off like
a shot. A few hours' sailing and we landed
safely at home!

Of course the whole village was out, and I
was graciously received by the chief and his
brother Alfred, who also could speak Eng-
lish. I sat in the store, for, by the way, Chief
Robinson had and still has quite a grocery and
dry-goods store, and for two hours was, I
might say, on exhibition. The chief had an
old iron stove in which he burned logs when
he wanted to cook after the white man's style,
and here my dinner was prepared, or rather
my breakfast, for although it was now after-
noon I had not eaten. But then I must suffer
some inconveniences, even as these people were
doing to have me there in their home. After
a meal of something fried in grease and soup
of some kind, and some eggs fried till they
resembled sole leather, and some kind of
black liquid to drink, all of which I took,
"asking no questions for conscience' sake," I

112 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

felt better able to walk, as I was expected to
do after that feast, to see the sights of the
town. Then I was taken to my new home, a
native house with palm-leaf roof and bamboo
walls. The chief had said to me, ^We have
no house for you to live in," and I had an-
swered, "Oh, the same kind of house that the
natives live in will do for me."

So this was my home! One corner was ar-
ranged for my sleeping room, and there the
Indians hung my hammock. They cooked
for me until the schooner came up four days
after bringing my household effects.

I arrived on the island on Friday, Febru-
ary 28th, and started school the next morning.
Before sunrise I was awakened by voices call-
ing my name. Here were my scholars ready
for school! so we began at once and continued
for eight hours ; then the chief said that they
wanted night school, so for another four hours
we recited and sang A, B, C, and went through
all kinds of exercises, until I dreamed of hands
and feet and faces all mixed up with letters
and red Indians.

The next day being Sunday, I taught them
John 3: 16. That, and: '^Onward, Christian

AT RIO DIABLO 113

Soldiers," was the order of exercises that first
Sunday in San Bias. We marched and coun-
termarched around the schoolroom; the
earthen floor was humpy, but it did not mat-
ter 1 My school was composed of all ages.
There were tottering old men ; Olibebeah, the
chief's grandfather, was said to be over a hun-
dred; and wrinkled grandmothers, and mid-
dle aged and young married women also, each
with a child straddled on her hip. Logs
were brought in, and they sat on these when
they were not marching; but I kept them
pretty lively, and they were equal to the oc-
casion. Shirtless boys came in to march; we
had great times in those early days! A par-
rot came every day and learned to sing, "On-
ward, Christian Soldiers." After he had
sung he would laugh at his own smartness,
and of course we laughed too. I used him to
spur the boys on by saying, "Dear me, the par-
rot has beaten all of you!"

The chief came to the school every day
to tell the scholars what I wanted them to do,
and I learned a few Indian words so that I
could make them understand some things,
and so for three months we had school three

114 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

times a day seven days in the week. On Sun-
day night it was different. Then I had the
chief interpret the stories in the Gospels of
Jesus and His love, and the people learned
many hymns. The organ was a great attrac-
tion. I only played it on Sunday nights,
partly to help make the service interesting,
and partly because when I was teaching there
was no room to move my arms, the space was
so limited.

During the first three months of my stay
the house which the priests had formerly used
was occupied by a man whom they call a
Christian Brother, not a priest, but a mem-
ber of one of their orders who teaches. He
had a few boys every day, but as my school
grew in popularity his twelve boys left and
came to me, and before long the Brother left
the island.

In June I went down to Colon on a new
gasoline launch that had just begun to run up
this coast The captain very kindly oflfered
to take me down and bring me back in ten
days, and this was too good an offer to be re-
fused. The chief asked me to take his eldest
boy, Charles, who was about seven years old.

AT RIO DIABLO 115

with me, that he might see the city and hear
English spoken all the time. I bought many
things for school use and also a new three-
burner oil-stove with an oven.

This oil-stove created a sensation on the
island. Again and again I had to demon-
strate the lighting of that wonderful fire-box.
Chiefs and their body-guards came from far
and near to see the stove — and the lady who
owned it, perhaps! — to hear the children sing
in English, and to listen to the organ. If I
had had a moving picture machine I certainly
could have gotten some interesting scenes.

In a couple of weeks the chief had sent for
an oil-stove just like mine. He told me that
all the women said the evil was in it. They
were afraid of it and preferred to sit on one
end of a log while the other end cooked the
fish, regardless of the smoke and dirt. All
my dishes, forks especially, were carefully ex-
amined ; they wondered what a fork could be
for. When I was cooking they would come
in and smell around the pan, and if it was so
that they could dip a finger into the concoc-
tion they would do so, and in every case they
were disgusted with the white woman's food.

ii6 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

Two months after the Roman Catholic
teacher had left, as the house was standing
empty, the chief said that they would pull it
down. I went in to look it over. It was a
large building about twenty-five feet by
thirty. There were three rooms downstairs
and five rooms above. The largest room
downstairs had been used for religious serv-
ices only; its walls were hung with pictures
of saints and the Virgin, and there were
wooden statues. The confessional box was
there, which I have found very useful as a
library, and the baptismal font.

About this time a Panamanian official came
up to see my school, and was so well pleased
with it that he advised me to leave the grass
hut and go into the large house. I told him
that the priests had built it and I wanted no
trouble with them by occupying their prop-
erty. He said that it would be all right; that
they would not return, and that it would be
better for me to go into it at once, adding:
*^This house is no fit place for a woman.'' I
told him that I was very happy and felt that
God who led me here was keeping watch over

AT RIO DIABLO 117

me continually, and to have His approval sat-
isfied me; that I was never lonely or afraid.

When the rainy season was on, which lasts
from May to the first week in November,
there certainly was much to be desired in the
way of comfort in my grass house. Often my
floor was in such pools that I had to wear my
rubbers all day, but I hoped for better things
when the dry season came, and endured the
discomfort. But one morning in August
when my floor seemed nothing but one great
puddle, I decided that perhaps it would be
wiser for me to move into the house. The
Indians had not torn it down, so I told the
chief that I wanted them to open it up, clean
it and make it ready for me. They went to
work at once, and the next day, Saturday, I
was moving into my upstairs tenement.
Wasn't it fine! I had doors that I could
shut and thus have a little privacy; I had a
good board floor to walk on upstairs and a
smooth cement one downstairs. There were
three long desks that would seat six at a pinch,
and the men made me three more; so with
six benches our room was soon looking like a

ii8 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

real schoolroom. I took down the pictures
of the saints and other paraphernalia of my
predecessors and put up pictures of flowers,
birds and animals that I cut from the maga-
zines and pasted on white paper, and we ail
felt proud of our new quarters.

I kept one of the images to use as an object
lesson, and when the boys recited the 115th
Psalm I touched each part of the image as
they recited: ^They have mouths, but they
speak not; eyes have they, but they see not,"
etc., and questioned them about it. When
we had finished I laid the image down and
stepped on it, asking: ^^Can it feel, can it help
us, can it hurt me, can it get up?" One of
the boys, who was very bright and could speak
Spanish well, and had lived with the priests
as their errand boy, said: "Miss Coope, I knelt
before that wooden man sometimes two hours
at a time, and kissed it, and always bowed my
knee when I passed it. But I see now that
it cannot help us. I will never worship an
image again."

I can only pray that Joe may be kept in the
knowledge of God and that the word may
prove a savior of life unto life in his case.

AT RIO DIABLO 119

He was the son of the chief of Mona Island
from which I had been ejected, and had been
sent to school on this island, living with Chief
Robinson. But even before the Catholic
Brother left he had come to my school, and
for a year he was with me, professing to ac-
cept Jesus as his Saviour. He learned to
speak Spanish well, and when the Spanish
official who told me to go into the big house
saw him he took a great fancy to him and
took him to Panama City, where he is putting
him through school.

CHAPTER IX

HINDRANCES AND PROGRESS

ONE of the great hindrances to the recep-
tion of Christ and the uplift of the In-
dians on the island was, as it is everywhere,
liquor. There were ten rum-shops for a pop-
ulation of 800. They had bottles of Balboa
beer on their shelves, and they built a special
cubby-hole of wood with a thatched roof
which was set apart as a shop, and this was
owned by the chief, or, as he said, by his
brother. The traders brought up demijohns
of rum, so they all '^sold this, the "Chriss-
tians' " liquor — the captains and sailors all
called themselves *^Chriss-tians" when talking
to the Indians — and they had their own home-
made rum; so liquor was plentiful, and every
week during the first year that I was there
they had what is called a "chee-chee," which
really is a drunken spree over a girl's coming

to maturity. It was the woman's day. The

120

HINDRANCES AND PROGRESS 121

girl was bathed three times a day for four
days by the women, and during that time the
father was in the woods shooting game of any
kind and up the river catching fish, and the
mother was cooking on a large scale and mak-
ing the rum, which was put into large earthen
jars.

When all was ready they fired a gun to
notify all to come, for the feast was to begin.
The girl passed around to the guests portions
of meat, fish, vegetables and other things, and
they in turn presented her with rings, beads,
and cloth. Then they drank and sang. They
have a special song, and if the singer does not
finish it in two days the feast must go on, and
of course he does not finish until he sees that
there is no more rum. Sometimes the feast
has gone on for five days, and I cannot de-
scribe the howling and yelling; it is hell let
loose 1 All the men are drunk, and all the
women, especially those of the girPs family,
screaming night and day. The men walk the
streets with bottles under their arms, asking
every one they meet to drink with them. The
"babblings, the wounds without a cause," the
bloodshed were terrible 1 One morning when

122 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

I went to the door of my grass hut there were
great spots of blood before the door. The
boys said: ''Men fight— drunk!" The chief
came by and told me not to come out; it would
not be safe. He was sober, and sober in more
ways than one. He was acting as policeman,
for all his four policemen were drunk. There
was a big fight on, and he had tied them all
to a post and was walking around my house to
guard me.

After that terrible spree was over — it lasted
from one Sunday morning till the following
Sunday — the chief came to me and said : "This
is too much!" He felt ashamed to have me,
the first foreign woman that had ever lived
on their island, see how beastly they were.
When I had talked to him of Jesus as a per-
sonal Saviour, he would say, "I am not a sin-
ner; I believe in Jesus; I am all right," and
yet he kept a rum-shop and allowed their
sprees to go on.

But matters had reached a climax now.
When the people had sobered up he called a
meeting and told them that this thing must
stop. Many were up in arms against him.
They said it was their custom and they could

HINDRANCES AND PROGRESS 123

not and would not stop; the *'white devir'
must leave ; it was she who had put the chief
up to this move; he had never stopped them
before she came.

As a result of the chief's stand the women
refused to come to school ; not a girl came for
several weeks. But the boys all rallied
around the chief and said: ^'Miss Coope is
good; she not drink rum and fight; we
ashamed of our mothers." I told the chief
that he ought to accept Jesus as his Saviour
if he wanted to help his people; that Jesus
would guide him by his Holy Spirit in this
fight for the right; that his idea was to stop
these drunken bouts, but he kept his own rum-
shop and so how was he better than his peo-
ple? When I spoke of that he said that the
cubby-hole was his brother's.

"But you sit there and drink and smoke
with the rest," I said ; "so they think if drink-
ing is right for you it is right for them. You
can't tell them to stop drinking rum while
you go on drinking, selling and encouraging
your brother to take their cocoanuts for your
liquor."

Chief Robinson talked with his brother,

124 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

who was so vexed that he took his wife and
daughter and left the island for a long visit
to his wife's brother on another island. In
the meantime the chief tore down the cubby-
hole and gave orders that all others should do
the same. If they wanted to drink they must
go somewhere else to do it ; he wouldn't allow
it here. So when a girl was to have her
"coming-out'' feast, as we may term it, for
she is then brought before the public as of
marriageable age, they took her to another
island for the festivities. For a few months
after, if they could only afford one or two
days' feasting, they would beg the chief to let
them have "a little drunk" ; they would be so
good if he would let them have just a little
one ! and he did, so that for a year and a half
or more we had the "chee-chees" at intervals,
but never so bad as that one terrible one and
the others previous to it.

The other island, which was so near to us
that we could halloo to each other, still kept
up the feasts, and many from our side went
over there. The chief, Joe Harding, of
whom I have spoken, was an old man. He
said that his nephew, Chief Robinson, was do-

HINDRANCES AND PROGRESS 125

ing wrong; that all the Indians got drunk at
such times, and God made the rum; the cap-
tains, the Chriss-tian captains, had told him
so; and if the men wanted to drink he'd let
them. I used to go and visit him and talk to
him of Christ. He was ill all the time ; had
one foot in the grave. He wanted me to come
and live on his island ; then, he said, his peo-
ple would be good like Charley's.

"I can't very well teach two schools at
once," I told him; "but as you and your peo-
ple visit us and I visit you and tell you just
what I tell my people, why won't you ask
God to forgive your sins, make your heart
good, and teach your people by His Holy
Spirit?"

"I do," he answered.

When I had been teaching a little over a
year a lady came out to me from my own
church in Providence, R. I. I had often
written letters to our church, and she had
heard one; her heart was touched by God's
voice, and she came. I told the chief on the
other island that this lady would come over
to his side and teach, but he shook his head,
saying that the priest was coming back and

126 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

he couldn't let her come; he would let me
come, but nobody else. My chief said that
his uncle was ^^a terrible liar."

Finally, about five months after my friend
came, a priest did visit our island; he spoke
to me in Spanish. He smelled so of beer that
the boys held their noses. I said: *^Do you
want that man to teach you?" and the answer
in chorus was: ^'No, no!" Whether he was
one of the many who had visited these islands
before, I do not know. He went into what
was once their chapel, but it was greatly
changed in appearance; "the gods had come
down." He asked if I taught school, and
when I said: "Yes, sir," he looked at me
blackly and went hastily out, leaving the
fumes of his beer and cigarettes behind him.
He went over to the other island where he
would find "no Protestants," and looked into
the empty building with its walls covered
with pictures and images. It was the hiding-
place of bats, lizards and all kinds of creep-
ers. The chief was flattered by the bottle
fumes and the cigarette, and soon spread the
news which was received with expressions of
delight, that the "padre" was going to open a

HINDRANCES AND PROGRESS 127

school. He was a fine man, he said, and he
was going to give him money.

When I heard that news I said to my friend :
^'Let us pray over this matter. I feel that we
must do something unusual. If we expect
God to do unusual things we must fall into
line." After we had poured out our hearts
before God I rose from my knees with a de-
termination to conquer. I said: *^Come, we
will close our school and go over and talk
with old Joe and find out if these reports are
true."

We went, and found old Joe lying in his
hammock smoking; the priest had left for
Port-o-Baldia after staying only a few hours.
I asked if what I had heard was true, and he
said yes, the padre had said that he would
open the school again when he came back.

"See here, Joe," I said; "you have been ask-
ing me to come here for over a year. Now
I have an assistant who would have been here
five months ago if you had said the word."

"I want you," was his reply.

"All right; do you want me now?"

"Well, wait till the padre comes back; I'll
talk to him."

128 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

"Do you want me now!"

He wavered and I saw my chance. I said:
"I am coming over to-day to open up the
house." That night we slept there.

While I was talking with the chief, two
young men who had been coming to my night
school said : *^Yes, we want Miss Coope," and
their word seemed to have a good deal of in-
fluence with the old man. He called in the
second chief and they had a smoking consul-
tation. While that was going on I mar-
shaled my forces, sending every canoe that
I could get over to bring the things that we
needed for the house.

The next morning early we two started the
school. I told Chief Robinson that I'd give
my school a vacation, and many came over to
the other island to see the starting of another
Bible school. We held the fort until the
priest passed back to Colon, chagrined, out-
witted by a woman. I stayed a week, work-
ing hard with the children and helped by sev-
eral of the big boys who had been in my other
school. The chief was delighted to see all
his children so enthused, and feeling that the
crisis was past I returned to my island, while

HINDRANCES AND PROGRESS 129

the sister remained to carry on the work and
is there to-day. I went over every week to
hold gospel services until the old chief died.
The new chief, who can speak a little Eng-
lish, is a very different character, truthful, in-
dustrious and kindly disposed, so that we have
had no trouble under him. The population
is about 400; the school registers 50, with an
average attendance of 40 daily. My school
registers 107, with an average attendance of
90 and many of kindergarten age who come
because big sister comes. The "big" sisters,
from six to eight years of age, carry the littler
ones on their hips so much that it is no won-
der the two-to-five-year olds expect to be car-
ried back and forth to school, so I have over
120 at times. The girls were very backward
for over a year, but have begun to speed up,
and many are gaining on the boys, who at
first did very well, but owing to sickness and
having to work have fallen behind some.

One day while I was living in the grass hut
two men walked in. There was nothing un-
usual in that; I received callers at all times. I
shook hands with the first one who came to-
ward me, saying: "New-a-dee?" which is the

I30 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

Indian "How do you do?" As I put out my
hand to the second one he held it and looked
me straight in the eye, saying in good English,
"Don't you know me? I am John Davis."
So he was, but I did not recognize him. How
glad I was to see the dear old man! His
companion was the chief of Mona Island and
the father of our little Joe, who had been in
school about two weeks. So here were the
two chiefs who had wanted me two years and
a half ago, and had seen me dragged out by
two men who came from this very island
where I was now teaching! Both John
Davis, the ex-chief, and the chief himself had
a boy in school, and the children of the men
who dragged me from Mona were in my
school also. Here we all were together again,
but under such different circumstances!
How marvelous are God's ways, truly past
finding out!

John had aged greatly; his hair was now
almost white, and he said he suffered greatly
from a cough which seemed to tear him to
pieces, that he had rheumatism, and that he
was poor. I had a long talk with him, urg-
ing him to accept Jesus now. He prayed

HINDRANCES AND PROGRESS 131

and said that he believed and asked me when
I could come to his island, but I could not
give him any promise, as I was so busy right
here on these two islands.

Both of the men said that they were sorry
they had not let me stay on Mona, and asked
me to write to America for another lady to
come out to them. Before they finished their
two days' visit to our chief I did write a let-
ter to the church at home telling them of
John's request and his earnestness and asking
them to pray for him and also that some one
would be led of God to volunteer for this
work, walking by faith. The letter stirred
several in the church, but only one was led
to step out definitely. She came after months
of waiting on God to be sure that He wanted
her; but in the meantime John Davis died,
and his son Philip came to tell me that he
would have to go home, for he was the only
man in the house and would have to go to
work. I trust I shall meet John Davis in
glory. The chief of Mona often visited the
school, was delighted to hear that his boy was
so smart, and wanted me to send him to the
United States for further education.

CHAPTER X

SOME OF MY BOYS

ON May 31st, 1914, three of my boys ac-
cepted Jesus in the Sunday-school.
One was little Joe Harris, the son of the chief
of Tupeelee; the second was Lonnie Powers,
about twelve years old ; and the third Andrew
Ferguson, who is, I think, about sixteen or
serenteen. That Sunday as we read in the
New Testament class of boys of Jesus' com-
mand: "Go ye into all the world and preach
the gospel to the whole creation," I explained
what it meant, telling them as simply as I
could the love story of Jesus; that when we
believe in Him with all our hearts we want
to tell some one else; that it was He who had
sent me to tell the San Bias Indians about Him
and His love for them. "Now you can read
it for yourselves. If you will believe, God
will save you and then send you to others;"
I said. Little Joe's eyes were full of tears.

132

SOME OF MY BOYS 133

I drew in the net. *Who of you will take
Jesus now for your Saviour, to save you from
sin and fill your heart with His love and the
Holy Spirit?''

"I will believe in Jesus now!" Joe said, and
struck his chest with such earnestness that
we all looked at him. His face was eager,
his body trembled.

"Let us all pray now," I said, for every boy
in the class was deeply moved, and each one
prayed.

"Jesus, make me thy child — good now — so
I preach," was one prayer made brokenly.
Another prayed: "Good Jesus, I want good
preach. I love preach good. Amen." A
third: "I believe you Jesus me for died.
Make heart good. Amen." One boy said:
"Jesus, make Indian good heart now, my
good. Amen." Joe said, "Jesus, I believe
you died for me. Make me good now; I lore
you. Amen." I led them all in prayer, and
at its close each one said: "I feel good now."

Two of these boys have developed wonder-
fully. Lonnie Powers was always very
bright in his lessons; he craved knowledge
and rapidly passed every boy in the school,

134 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

always crying for more work, more informa-
tion. He was just as loving and obedient as
he was bright, and I became convinced, watch-
ing his progress in spiritual as well as intel-
lectual things, that God had a work for him
and wanted him to have a wider training than
I could give him. My thought was to send
him to the Academy at Nyack, New York,
and after much prayer I got the assurance
that God would have him go. I had often
written about him to my church people at
home and now I wrote again telling them how
I felt about him. I did not know who was
to be the honored one to pay his expenses
through school, but I knew that God was
talking to some one, for a week after I had
laid the matter before the Lord and was sure
in my soul that Lonnie was to go, I received
in my mail, which had been seven weeks on
the way, a letter from a man, almost a
stranger, who said that he had had a talk with
me at Old Orchard Beach, Me., about five
years before. I had told my experiences
with the Indians and he had gone to hear me
speak. "Now a few days ago," he added, "I
was led to send this five dollars to you. I

Boys from the silmol. Andrew Ferj^usoii is third from the left.

Beads for the legs. Dame Fashion is as tyraiiaical in ban Bias as
in other parts of the world.

SOME OF MY BOYS 135

trust it will be helpful." So I saw that God
had begun to talk money matters to His own
children. I only sent my order to the Bank
of Heaven, and my Father cashed it through
various bankers. This five dollars was the
earnest of Lonnie's going through school;
more would come. When I received the
next mail all that was needed for his passage
and outfit came, with a letter from Emmanuel
Church saying that they would support Lon-
nie in school.

The next step was to gain the consent of
the parents and relatives, for Lonnie was
very eager to go. His mother and grand-
mother wept for two days before he left home,
saying that they would not see him any more,
and it seemed as though Lonnie's way would
be blocked. He said: "I do want to go, and
I keep praying that God will let me." Fi-
nally the father and older brother took the
reins of government into their own hands and
prepared Lonnie's clothes — for it is the men
who are the tailors in the San Bias Country
— packed the box, or rather threw the things
in, for they do not know how to fold or press
their clothes, and finally all was ready and

136 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

he was to go. I was going to attend the
Latin-American Conference at Panama City
from February 10 to 20, 1916, and planned to
take Lonnie Powers and Andrew Ferguson
with me and to send Lonnie on to Nyack from
there. His mother and grandmother wept
before he left, but finally ended by submitting
to his father's wish.

While we were in Panama both of the boys
were baptized by the elder in the Christian
Mission, and their testimony in that Mission
Hall aroused many of the young people, who
had heard the gospel all their lives and had
not accepted Christ, to do so then. I arranged
for Lonnie to sail on the steamer Colon leav-
ing the dock at Christobal on Thursday, Feb-
ruary 24th, 19 1 6, and he was to arrive in New
York on March i, exactly three years since
I had started my school. He was one of the
first fruits of my work going to the United
States to be trained for a missionary to his
own San Bias Indians.

Andrew Ferguson, the other boy, has been
used of God since his return from Panama to
preach to his own people so that several men,
one woman and over sixty of my boys and

SOME OF MY BOYS 137

girls have been prayed with and say that they
have accepted Jesus Christ; that he saves and
helps them now in their studies and all that
they do. There has been a great change in
their behavior. Andrew plans to go and
preach to the mountain Indians if God opens
the way. Meanwhile he has a great burden
for his family. His father is under convic-
tion and is giving up little by little and says
he wants to be a real Christian. Andrew tells
him that he must give up all, not his mouth
only to speak good words but his whole heart;
then God's Spirit will come in and bless him.
Andrew is my right-hand boy: his life is a
constant testimony for Jesus. Through his
example and pleadings many of the boys have
accepted Christ, and he is like a young shep-
herd, watching them, praying with them and
encouraging them. His manner of life is
simple. He works with his father on their
plantation, cocoanuts being their chief means
of support, and they raise cane, corn and
other vegetables. Their wants are few and
easily supplied.

One Sunday several men were getting
sand to put around their doorstep, and An-

138 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

drew's father went to work with them.
While working he cut his foot, and when he
came into the house and showed it, Andrew
said : "Well, father, God says to remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy. You forgot
God's command ; this is what the Devil gives
you for pleasing him." His father admitted
that he was right, and he came to the gospel
service that night and told me what Andrew
had said to him.

Before the priests came to the Island An-
drew's father wanted him to be a "Camdulay"
singer, one who sings at the chee-chee feasts,
and he had taken some lessons and had gotten
drunk too. But when the priests came his
father told him he must learn to sing with
them and to drink and smoke as they did.
But Andrew did not fancy the priests with
their shaven heads and long black robes and
did not learn their ways quickly. If the
priest had been awake to his opportunity An-
drew might have been trained for the priest-
hood, but he was not; God had his hand on
the boy and was holding him for His own
work. When I came his father was very anx-

SOME OF MY BOYS 139

ious to have him in my school, and in a year's
time he gave his heart to Christ.

Joe Harris, the third boy who accepted
Christ at the same time, has had quite a dif-
ferent history from the other two. He came
to me after my school had been going about
two months. He had lived with the priests
and spoke Spanish well, and in a year from
the time he came to school he could speak
English very well. He is a bright, jolly lit-
tle lad and every one is fond of him, and he
is easily influenced by the company he is in.
A young man came from Colon who had
earned a few dollars there, and he celebrated
by "treating" his friends. Little Joe was with
him, and the next morning he came stagger-
ing past the door of the school at nine o'clock,
drunk. My heart fairly stopped beating at
the sight and I nearly fainted away. The
whole school received a shock. I could not
teach any more that day. I had never had
anything grieve me so. I closed the school
and went to the home of Chief Robinson, with
whom Joe lived, because he came from an-
other island where his father was chief, and

I40 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

was here to attend school. I found that the
whole family had gone to one of the planta-
tions early that morning, and that Joe refused
to go because the young man wanted him to
stay and drink with him.

Some of the men said they would send Joe
home to his father, but the next day he came
to school repentant enough. As I talked with
him he cried and wanted me to pray for him.
He prayed too and told the Lord he would
not touch rum again. He said it was not the
first time he had been drunk.

He seemed very earnest after that. He
learned seven chapters in John's Gospel and
several Psalms, was an excellent reader and
speller and fine in arithmetic. Long Divi-
sion was his delight. He was full of fun : his
laugh was contagious, and he would have kept
the school in an uproar daily if left to himself.
He remained with me until May, 191 5, when
a Government ship came up to the island, and
one of the officials, seeing how bright he was
and how quickly he answered several ques-
tions, took a great fancy to him and took him
away with him. I was sorry to part with
him, but I was not consulted either by the

SOME OF MY BOYS 141

official or the father and would not have
known he was going if the boys had not run
to say that Joe was packing up his clothes in
the chief's house. I went down to the boat
and gave him a New Testament in Spanish
and English. I had promised him one when
he finished learning the 119th Psalm. He
had not finished it, but he was going away
where he would speak only Spanish, and I
felt that he must have God's Word in both
languages. I have not seen him since, but
the man who took him gave a fairly good re-
port of him after eight months. I pray for
him daily.

Joe's father is quite an intelligent, good-
looking man about forty years old. He was
very eager to have a school, and now the Gov-
ernment has built one on his island. They
need the light of the Gospel; but as they do
not know their need we must carry it to them.

Many of the other boys are very interest-
ing; indeed all of them are, and very human
too. Sometimes it is very hard for them to
apply themselves to study. One boy told his
father he was too tired to go to school, and
he started to walk about the town; but his

142 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

father said, "Oh, boy, if you are too tired to
go to school you are too tired to walk about
the town. You had better go to bed." That
settled it; he went to school, for what boy
wants to go to bed in the afternoon?

Eustace Farnum, about eleven, finds it very
hard to concentrate on his books, but if a crab
scratches its nose he hears it. He is very af-
fectionate, and if he can't keep in my good
graces by well-learned lessons he tries to smile
his way into my heart, and he is an adept at
that art. He does like to go fishing; but what
human boy could resist that temptation when
the fish are jumping up by the 'handfuls and
fairly begging: "Come and catch me!" I be-
lieve Eustace can fairly hear them whisper.
He complains of a headache sometimes, but
it all disappears when he gets a fish-line in
his hands. But he is not the only boy that
has the same disease and is as suddenly cured.

Everett Bertram is an excellent reader and
plans to be a missionary some day.

His father is very anxious to have him in
school regularly, so does not give him any en-
couragement to listen to the fish, and if he has
aches of any kind a dose of medicine is

SOME OF MY BOYS 143

promptly administered and the order "To
bed" is given. His father is also a believer
in Solomon's remedy, and rod and moral sua-
sion go together. Not long ago Everett
stayed away from night school. On making
inquiry I found that his father had gone to
Colon: that was the secret. The cat was
away, and this mouse played truant. The
next night, however, he was the first one in,
and at the close of the session, when we all
pray, he asked God to forgive him for sitting
at home the night before. He had heard bad
words, and the "Devil's spirit" gave him bad
dreams ; he promised he would not do it again.
I was glad to know that he understood that
he had done wrong. I tell my boys that if
they will only remember the first Psalm and
ask God to help them, he will keep them from
bad company.

Ned Williams is the eldest child of the
chief of another island about eight miles
away. His father often comes to see how
Ned is getting on. When he was in the
Primer reading "A fat cat sat on the mat"
his father, pointing to a shelf of books, asked
if Ned could read all those!

144 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

Ned's mother does not want her boy away
from her, and in order to get him home some
time ago she sent word that she was sick, so
he went home ; but as his mother began to get
better he wanted to return to school. She
tried to persuade him that he knew enough,
but no, he wanted more, and refused to eat
until his father brought him back to school.
I think he is about eleven or twelve; but the
boys and girls are so tiny that it is hard for
me to guess their right ages. Of late when
his father comes and Ned can interpret for
me, it is wonderful! The father begs me to
take him to New York with me when I go.
The fathers all say that there is nothing here
for their boys to do and they are eager to have
them go to New York, which is the goal of
their ambition.

When the San Bias boys marry they go to
their wife's home and work hard for her
family, so the parents are willing to give their
boys away but not the girls. Mr. Phillips
says that he will send his only girl, Agnes, to
an American school some day. He makes her
American style dresses; yes, he makes them,
for the men are great sewers. But when it

SOME OF MY BOYS 145

comes to the question of Agnes' going away
it will have to be taken before the whole fam-
ily, of which he is only one member. He,
being in the home of his wife's mother and
father, has not the entire control of his chil-
dren. If his wife died and he married again,
he would not be allowed to take one of his
children with him to his new home — a blessed
relief from stepmotherism! There are plenty
of stepfathers, however, for if a man marries
a widow with children he has to work for
her children, but is not allowed to correct
them. Oh, no, there is no rule of the step-
fathers!

Here is Freddy Phillips, about nine years
old. His father speaks very good English,
for he was a sailor and visited many foreign
ports; and he is anxious to have his children
become good English scholars, offering to let
them go away to school. Freddy is one of
my pupil-teachers. He makes a fine report
of his scholars: "Miss Coope, my boys are
very good to-day. Clifford had one mistake
first time reading; second time none. Ed-
ward had no mistakes first time reading; sec-
ond time none," etc., until all the boys are

146 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

reported on. With a bewitching snap in his
eyes he gives me his slate, and I read the re-
port to the whole school. Why not? Such
a helper as that must be encouraged. He
says he loves Jesus too, because he has for-
given him all his bad and made his heart
clean. He has learned the Commandments,
the Lord's Prayer, and eight Psalms and is
now working on the 119th Psalm. He is
Lonnie Powers' cousin, their mothers being
sisters.

Charles Robinson, the son of the chief, is
also a bright little helper. His father would
have sent him North with Lonnie if his
mother had not begged so strongly not to have
him go : he was so young, only nine years old.
He is the only one on the island who knows
his birthday. He likes to teach.

It is very amusing to hear the comments of
the class on their boy teachers : they are very
plain spoken: "Miss Coope, the teacher is
no good."

"Oh, dear me, how is this?"

"He does not open his mouth and speak
plainly."

Sometimes the teacher is discouraged — who

SOME OF MY BOYS 147

would not be with such critics? — and says:
"Miss Coope, I won't teach any more."

"Oh, yes, you will, because you want to help
me; and you are going to open your mouth
the way I do: see?"

Then follows an exercise in mouth open-
ing, watched by the whole school with their
mouths opened ; then everybody is in good hu-
mor, and I have volunteer teachers in abun-
dance, all eager to show how they can open
their mouths; then follows another exercise
in keeping the mouths shut.

These are some of my boys, and you see
they are just as human as the boys in America.
Some people have an idea that if they could
only go to a far-away heathen land where the
people are so different from those at home,
they could do great things with them. But
let me say for the benefit of those people that
the heathen have as much knowledge of evil
as our educated teachers at' home, for the
fallen nature is theirs to contend with just as
much and it comes to the top in a remarkable
manner. The color of the skin does not hin-
der its manifestations, and education does not
eradicate it; only the blood of Jesus Christ

148 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

can do that. We rejoice that we are called
to lift up Jesus as the only Saviour from the
power of the Devil, who is as busy out here
as elsewhere, and we are not ignorant of his
devices.

CHAPTER XI

"THE CHIEF MAN OF THE ISLAND"

FOR a long time after my coming to the
island I worked for the conversion of
Chief Robinson without his surrendering to
Christ. He resisted the Spirit, saying, when
brought almost to the point of surrender,
''Some other time," but I prayed on and be-
lieved for him. Often when I interpreted the
gospel invitations to believe and accept Jesus
now, he would preach to himself, saying: "Yes,
it is true, and it is against me, but I will believe
soon." Then he would come to me for a talk,
and just when he seemed almost persuaded
some one would come and call him, and he
would go away still undecided. Often he
would avoid me by going to his plantation on
Saturday and returning on Monday, so that
for several Sundays I would not see him.
When we talked he would try to justify him-
self by arguing that all the old Indians be-

149

I50 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

lieved that if they did not murder a man they
would go to heaven; that he was not bad; he
used to be when he was a sailor, but he had
turned over a new leaf! How like so many
with far greater light than he who try to
reason themselves into the belief that
they are not sinners needing to be bom
again 1

After he had stayed away from the Sunday
night services for three weeks, saying that he
had to work or he was sick, or some other ex-
cuse, I said to myself : "Yes, you are trying to
get away from God, but He will get you yet!"
Then he began to tell me of the trouble brew-
ing in the midst of the people. It seems that
they wanted a big "chee-chee." There were
four girls of marriageable age and they had
planned a bigger affair than ever. They
thought that they had obeyed the chief pretty
well for months now, and he ought to let
them have another spree. He was in a
quandary, and with his own heart's convic-
tions to battle against, he was having a hard
time. He stayed in my sitting-room for three
hours, and we talked of God and his power
to save, to help and to guide. He agreed that

CHIEF MAN OF THE ISLAND 151

all I told him was right, but pleaded: "Don't
I try my best to get my people to do right?"

Then I turned his own argument against
him. "Yes," I said, "you are trying, and be-
cause they refuse to see as you do you feel bad
about it. It is for their own good, and yet
they positively refuse to be helped. How
about you and God? You admit that I am
right, that I am giving you the best I know
of God's truth; and yet you refuse to obey
God, who is over you, and expect your peo-
ple to obey youl If you will surrender your
will to God he will teach you how to lead
others. You need God at this particular
time, but you must surrender first, then your
people will."

But he was not willing. After much per-
suasion, after he acknowledged that it was the
right thing to do, he jumped up as though he
had been shot and said, "Not to-night; some
other time," and left without saying good-
night. My heart was grieved, but I had
faith in God; I was not discouraged; I knew
that God was talking to him.

This was on a Thursday night. The chief
went away again on Saturday, returning on

152 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

Monday, and again the week after, but had
to return Saturday night as quickly as he
could. He reached home at midnight and
was in agony the rest of the night with bodily
pain. Early Sunday morning he sent for me,
his boy saying, "Oh, come quick! My fa-
ther is very sick, vomiting blood." I went, to
find him rolling in his hammock in great
pain. As I went in he said : "Oh, Miss Coope,
do pray for me! Do pray now!"

"Oh, not now," I replied. "Some other
time will do. There is no hurry; go to
sleep."

"But I can't sleep; God is talking to me.
Pray for mel"

"No, you pray for yourself now. If God
is talking to you, you must talk to Him. IVe
done all I can ; I can't help you now. I can't
relieve you; only Jesus the .Saviour can do
that."

"I know it! I should have given Him my
heart long ago. He has been talking to me,
but I didn't want to obey. I will obey now."

"Well, then, confess your sins first Are
you a sinner?"

"Yes."

CHIEF MAN OF THE ISLAND 153

^Then tell God and ask Him to forgive you
now."

Between groans he prayed, and when he
had confessed and asked God to pardon him,
I thanked God for convicting him and asked
Him to heal the sick man, that he might
glorify God and lead his people to know Him
for themselves. I then began to inquire
about his body; that was secondary; we had to
settle the spiritual sickness first. I had them
get me some eggs and gave him the whites of
eggs only that day and the next. The pain
in his stomach ceased and he slept. I stayed
up with him all night. His little boy of
three was sick also, and they were going to
chant some Indian nonsense over him, at the
same time waving a wooden image the length
of a man's hand, to drive away the bad spirit
that was making the child sick. I told him
to tell them to pray to God, and if the child
was to get better God would heal him. He
sent the message to them, and they did not
go through the incantations; the boy recov-
ered.

Meanwhile preparations for the great
feast were going on. The chief called a meet-

154 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

ing and was carried downstairs into his
brother's house, where the men gathered to
hear him tell what God had done for him.
This was on Sunday. On the Wednesday fol-
lowing some of the men murmured against
him, saying that they would have the ^'drunk."
The chief sent his four policemen to gather
up every vessel that would be used for holding
rum. The men had gathered a great quantity
of sugar-cane and insisted that they must have
the feast now in order to use the cane. The
chief's answer was : "You can eat the cane or
use it in some other way, but you shall not
make rum!" and they didn't! The vessels
were all put in a pile in the house in front of
the chief's hammock and I was called in to
see the sight. It reminded me of what the
Ephesians did after hearing the preaching of
Paul: "Not a few of them that practiced
magical arts brought their books together and
burned them in the sight of all," Acts 19: 19.
The chief broke the vessels, and there has not
been a drunken feast on this island since that
day.

The date of Chief Robinson's conversion
was November 14th, 1914, and from that time

The

..a
the Island of

main street on tne island ot Rio Diablo. jMative woman
carrying her husband's canoe. Cross indicates the
last rum shop, now closed.

A Panamanian policeman with some native boys and girls. The
steps to the new government public school are in the background.

CHIEF MAN OF THE ISLAND 155

he has preached in the power of the Holy
Spirit. He did not regain his strength rap-
idly; it was three months before he could
work again; and during that time he learned
lessons of obedience. As the Mountain In-
dians visit him he spreads the gospel to them,
and my boys tell me that he often talks of
Jesus to them in the store.

During the chief's illness the leader of the
faction who had wanted the drinking feast
stirred up a revolt, urging the people to make
him chief. As the office is not hereditary,
but usually lasts until the death of the chief,
they tried to kill Chief Robinson by giving
him some fish that was a deadly poison. He
discovered it before he had eaten much, but
the little that he did take made him very sick.
God needed him, however, and he recovered.
The rebels went on holding meetings and
planned and carried out a spree on another
island, at which the leader made such a beast
of himself that the people on that island beat
him and he came home somewhat humbled.

But now a new element was introduced
into the situation. Before I lefft Colon to
come to this island I had called twice on the

156 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

new President of Panama. The second time
I asked him for a letter as a passport, telling
him why I wanted it. He replied : "Oh, you
do not need a passport. This is a free coun-
try and you can go where you please and start
a school." I thanked him for that, and then
he asked me why I wanted to go to the In-
dians; he said they were a very treacherous
people; that the Government had to send sol-
diers to Port-o-Baldia to keep order, they
were so terrible.

I answered: "Mr. President, I am going be-
cause I feel that God wants me to tell them of
Jesus who loves them. I want to teach them
God^s Book."

"Are you not afraid?"

"No, because Jesus has said, *I am with you
always.' "

"But are you going alone?"

"Yes, alone, yet not alone. God has said,
'Certainly I will be with thee,' and I believe
God."

"Oh, surely, but I would not risk my life
going to them. They will kill you."

"No, they will not; I am not in the least
afraid of that"

CHIEF MAN OF THE ISLAND 157

"Well, you must be a brave woman, a very
brave woman !"

*^I get it all from God. I am not naturally
brave, but he makes me so, and I love to obey
Him."

"Then I wish you much success."

Two years and three months after that con-
versation in his house President Porras
knocked at my door in Rio Diablo. I never
was more surprised. Here we stood face to
face again, this time among the "treacherous"
Indians. He shook hands heartily, saying:
"I am so glad to see you, Miss Coope. You
are looking well."

"Yes, you see the Indians have fed me in-
stead of feeding on me," I replied. "But,
Mr. President, are you not afraid to come
here?"

"Not now. Your bravery has encouraged
me. I dare to follow you. I need not ask
if you are well ; I see it. I have heard great
reports of your school and I appreciate your
good work."

It is safe to go where the banner of Jesus
has been raised, but it is blessed to go and lift
it for Jesus, He leading to the spot!

158 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

Seeing how the school had affected these
^^treacherous'' Indians, how clean their dress,
houses, and streets were, and hearing the chil-
dren sing the national anthem and gospel
hymns in English and Spanish, the President
was surprised and made arrangements with
Chief Robinson to have a school here sup-
ported by the Government in which only
Spanish should be taught.

Now the would-be chief and his followers
were not in favor of my Bible school, because
their wickedness was exposed by its teachings.
They would not send their children nor would
they attend the gospel services. Having had
the light, they shrank back into the darkness.
So when the President proposed the new
Spanish school to Chief Robinson he of course
had to call a meeting of his people. All were
eager to know what President Porras had
said, for a little of it had leaked out, and the
rebels wanted to know how the chief would
act now. If he had another school they were
surely going to kill him, and if they got into
power they were going to close my school.
So they came to the meeting for spite, with
murder in their hearts.

CHIEF MAN OF THE ISLAND 159

I was called to the meeting, although I un-
derstand very little of the Indian language;
and there in the midst of five chiefs and their
bodyguards and the leading men from the
other smaller island, whose chief is led by
Chief Robinson, with every man, friend and
foe of our noble chief, I sat, wondering, pray-
ing, watching the faces of the rebels, who sat
on the back seats as backsliders always do.

The chief stood up and told them all that
the President had said. There was perfect
stillness aside from an occasional grunt; then
like a bomb in their midst he dropped this
decision: "I have decided to resign as chief.
You can appoint a new one and settle with the
President."

He sat down, and the assembly were dumb-
founded. For several seconds there was not
even a grunt! Then the second chief here,
who was partly for the existing order of things
and partly for the new would-be chief, rose
and in a very determined manner declared
that they could not let him resign.

Such a hubbub as followed, all airing their
own views! After much palavering, during
which the chief sat and listened and I could

i6o ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

only pray that the right might prevail and the
rebel party be broken up, several men stood
up voicing their decision to this effect: they
had unanimously voted to have Chief Robin-
son remain in office, and all the rebellious ones
would return under his leadership, and what-
ever his decision was concerning even another
school, they would abide by it!

Then the chief talked to them. He told
them that as they were citizens of the Re-
public of Panama they should be obedient to
its laws, its President, etc.; that as Indians
they would still be Indians, only with more
advantages (some had gotten the idea that if
they had an education they would cease to
be Indians), because they were hindered in
their business transactions by having to have
interpreters, and if they knew how to read and
write the Spanish language they could attend
to their own business; that the young people
ought to have a chance. He said that he ap-
proved of the new school, but that they could
send their children to either school or keep
them at home ; there was no compulsion ; that
they need not mix with the foreigners, as only
the teachers would be allowed to live on the

CHIEF MAN OF THE ISLAND i6i

islands. (They have a great dread of the
white man taking their women.) He said
that he would not allow a priest or nun to
come as a teacher; that for his part he wanted
the Bible taught, not creeds or prayer-books,
images or crosses.

After this speech there were grunts and
grunts, and at times a man would get up and
take the floor. It was a very well ordered
meeting, and at the end of three hours we all
went to our homes. The President returned
the next day and was told the result of the
meeting, which held for three islands, for the
chief of Mdna was there, having learned a sad
lesson when he put me off his island. Al-
though his own son attended my school his
island was in ignorance.

So now there are three Government schools
on the three important islands, Rio Diablo
especially being called "the New York of San
Bias" by traders and visitors, and there has
been progress along all lines. The chief has
learned to bake bread, and now has a bakery
on the spot where he once had a saloon
and is selling daily all the bread that he can
make, using two three-burner oil-stoves. Four

i62 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

other men, each of whom was formerly a rum-
seller, have ordered stoves also; and besides
this in their stores there are Bibles, hymn-
books, slates and pencils for sale. Praise God
for this wonderful change! This is a sample
of what God can do among "treacherous'* In-
dians I

Before closing this account of Chief Rob-
inson I must tell how staunchly he defended
me the first year that I worked on the island.
Chiefs from two of the other islands were
much against me for coming and opposed to
Chief Robinson for letting me in. The idea
that Indians should learn to read and write
was preposterous! No, they should never be
like the pale-face! After waiting impa-
tiently nine months for me to get weary and
go, they came over, one hundred naked red
Indians, in their canoes, with a red flag on the
prow. They had not notified Chief Robin-
son that they were coming, but as the old say-
ing is, "murder will out," and he heard about
it, and what he said was carried back to them.
He said that he didn't want any fights, but he
wanted his people educated and he was going
to have them educated, and the school teacher

CHIEF MAN OF THE ISLAND 163

would be protected by their lives. If Chief
Neegah wanted to fight he had better look
out, as he had plenty of ammunition, and if
they came it would be the worse for them.

After threatening a few times they did come.
The women on our island were so afraid that
the men came to my house and nailed up every
door but one, intending to put the women and
children in there. They believed in pre-
paredness! It was reported that the enemy
had passed in the night to gather forces from
another island, and that in the evening there
were two hundred coming.

Men with rifles walked around the town
and they fired off a cannon that the chief owns
to warn off intruders. It sounded like war-
times. The next day little Joe said: *^Miss
Coope, the mountain Indians and Neegah are
coming to kill you."

"Yes? Well, will you let them?"

"No, nol"

Then began a sham battle among my boys
to show how they would fight to defend me,
and Joe tumbled over four or five boys in the
fray, at which we had a great laugh.

At noon the enemy came. I saw twelve

1 64 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

men get into a three-by-nine foot canoe and
paddle towards the island. Our men fired,
the cannon boomed, and one boat-load was
captured without a man being killed or
wounded. Our men soon hauled down that
red rag and dragged it on the ground. They
took the captives to the chief, who lay in his
hammock giving orders. He talked to the
prisoners and let them go, and they have
never visited us since. This battle was on
November 15 th, 1913.

CHAPTER XII

SOME CUSTOMS OF THE SAN BLAS
INDIANS

IT is always interesting to know something
about the family life and peculiar cus-
toms of any people, and the San Bias Indians
have their own rules of domestic government.
One of these is that a girl when married never
leaves the parental roof-tree. The man has
to come to her home and make it his as long
as she lives. If she dies and he marries
again, he goes to the home of the new wife,
but the children of the first wife stay with the
grandmother or aunts, so not many women
here have to fill the position of stepmother
and wait on and train the first wife's children.
Chief Robinson, however, had ideas of his
own and did not propose to follow the Indian
custom. He had been among white people
in various ports for several years, and he chose
to follow their way in this matter. He did

165

i66 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

not want to be a slave to his wife's father or
her unmarried or even her married brothers,
for even though a son is married he is re-
sponsible for his sister's comfort if she is
single, and if she is married he watches his
brother-in-law. Although he may be a slave
to some other man, he does not show much
mercy to his sister's husband.

The chief did not want that kind of guard-
ianship ; but when he planned to take his wife
into a house built as the white man, or wah-
gah, builds it, he had not only her family
against him but the whole islands; he was
breaking their custom; it had never been done
before 1 His wife refused to go into the
house, which was not yet built, and her hus-
band, who was not yet chief, left her and for
a month they lived apart. Finally she de-
cided that he was a fine man, that he knew
something, and that he had a will of his own,
and she would accept that will for herself!
The custom is that all that the husband owns
is claimed by his family, so she wisely rea-
soned that if he built a house of his own, when
he died his family would claim it, and she,
having left her father's home, would then

CUSTOMS OF THE SAN BLAS 167

have no home. She told her husband her con-
clusion, and he straightway made a will giv-
ing all his property to her and their children.
So the house was built directly opposite her
mother's home, a two-story structure with a
cement floor. The ground floor is used for a
store; upstairs they sleep. The wife lives
most of the time in the kitchen of her mother's
house, for of course they could not burn logs
in a ^*wah-gah" house, and she must cook! so
that relieves her.

I once asked John Davis what his wife's
name was, and he answered : "John Davis same
me." Although they do name their wives as
it suits them, they generally address them as
Homey, while the husband is Suey.

The San Bias marriage I have never seen,
but I have heard it I They marry at night,
and never on a moonlight night when I could
see. The chief told me that the father of the
girl makes the arrangement. He asks the fa-
ther of the man for his son. Sometimes the
son refuses at once; but if he is willing, or if
his father chooses to have him married, the
ceremony goes on. The girl is put into a
hammock; then several young married men

i68 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

go to the house of the bridegroom-to-be and
carry him bodily to the girl's house. If he
does not know beforehand what is coming he
knows now, for as they carry him they yell,
"Suey! Suey! Sueyl" Then they put him
into the hammock, and if he does not want to
be married he jumps out and runs away. The
young men run after him and bring him back,
and again he runs away, sometimes into the
sea. The third time they bring him back,
and if he wants to be married he stays and his
friends go home and leave him. He is now
married. If he really does not want to marry
he jumps out of the hammock once more and
goes home, and they do not run after him;
they leave him until another moon, hoping
that he will change his mind. Sometimes he
does, and marries that girl, sometimes he does
not. But marry he must, and if he won't be
married when sober they will get him drunk
so that he can't run or resist; and when he
sobers up, often he is vexed and leaves the
girl and the island, taking a wife of his own
choice, arranging the matter with the girl's
father, as she is not to be spoken to by her
sweetheart.

CUSTOMS OF THE SAN BLAS 169

The girl at her wedding gets no presents,
no feast, no new clothes ; these are given to her
when she is "chee-cheed," which is only a
short time before she is given in marriage.

Some of my girls are refusing to be married
so young; they say they want to come to school
and learn something; and the chief is persuad-
ing the parents to let their girls develop more.
The girls are only like little children when
they become mothers, which has much to do
with their dwarfed stature; few are taller
than I, and I feel very big towering over
some of the women, who stand under my arm.
They are very strong, however; the men guard
them and seem to think a great deal of them ;
they do not work in the fields. The women
go in canoes to wash their clothes in the river,
and they bring the drinking water in cala-
bashes and gourds. The men make their own
shirts and trousers and teach the boys to do
so ; the women do not sew for the men.

These people are peaceful and quiet, go-
ing to bed early and rising early and working
their plantations. Cocoanuts are the chief
product, and the traders do a big business
bringing rice, sugar, soap, tobacco, cloth and

I70 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

much rum to exchange for them. The rum
importation has been stopped of late, how-
ever, so that when an Indian wants it he has
to go to Colon in his canoe and get a demijohn.
The people's needs are few — cloth for the
shirts and trousers of the men, beads and cloth
for the women, and a little extra when the
baby girl comes, not for clothing but for a
gold ring for her nose. The custom is to
pierce the nose and ears of the girls on the
third day. Since Andrew Ferguson gave his
heart to Jesus he says he has persuaded his
father and stepmother not to have the baby's
nose pierced. The chief's wife has had two
daughters since I came here, and neither one
has had its nose pierced, so that now several
of the baby girls have escaped that horrible
custom, which even the men approve, saying
it "looks pretty"! I told the chief he ought
to bore these men's noses!

I have the pleasure of naming the babies.
I keep a record of births, and give the mother
a paper; she is pleased to have the "letter," as
she calls it, and when I visit a home I am
often asked how old the baby is and what its
name is. They have a custom of naming a

CUSTOMS OF THE SAN BLAS 171

baby according to what they see or what the
child does. If he eats plenty of rice he is
called Abahdoomah, Big-rice-eater; if he is
fair-skinned he is Me-me-see-puha, White
Baby; or if he is tiny he is called Pee-pee-
wah. Generally to boys they say Machee,
which is an abbreviation of Machee-malo, the
word signifying boy. To girls they say Puna,
which means girl; often to babies just Mee-
mee, which is baby, until he or she is named,
after our style of nicknames.

The San Bias Indians have a peculiar cus-
tom of "making a friend." This is done in
childhood days by both sexes. A boy will ask
another boy: "Will you be my friend?" If
the one asked says that he will, then the first
boy gives him a piece of cloth, enough to make
a shirt; then he boils an egg and cuts it in two
and they sit down and eat it together. Ever
after that they are friends. The next day or
week perhaps the second boy returns the com-
pliment by giving to the other a shirt and
boiling an egg; the girls do the same. I was
puzzled when I first came here and would
ask a boy regarding a companion whom I had
seen him walking around with, "How is your

172 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

friend?" to have him answer, "He is not my
friend; John or Ned is my friend," and yet
he would not be with John or Ned. So they
explained their method of making a "friend,"
saying that the companion whom they are with
is not necessarily their friend; they may not
associate with their "friend" very much, but
still he is their "friend."

The girls of San Bias are interesting as well
as the boys and I have had numbers of them
in my school. Some of them I call my New
Testament girls, and they are earnest Chris-
tians. Owing to their early marriages — for
there are no old maids or bachelor girls among
the San Bias — many of my pupils are mothers,
but that does not especially interfere with
their school life, for the baby can be left at
home with the grandmother while the mother
comes to learn to read and write.

The photographs which are reproduced in
this book show how the girls and women dress.
The skirts are not sewed; they are just a piece
of cloth put around the body and tucked in
at the waist. The yoke and sleeves of the
waist are of many colored strips, and over
the yoke is the bodice, which is very elaborate.

CUSTOMS OF THE SAN BLAS 173

It is made of several pieces of bright-colored
calicoes put one on top of the other, and each
layer cut in figures or designs, letting the
next piece under show through. Often there
are six layers of cloth sewed on in this way.
They do not use a thimble in sewing, and they
push the needle from them. These tattooed
bodices are often quite artistic and are much
better than the African custom of tattooing
the body.

But the crowning feature of the costume
are the heavy strings of beads of all colors
on the neck, arms and legs and the nose-rings.
A girl does not wear finger-rings until she is
married, and then she has two on every finger
and often three and four. The beads are not
strung for a certain distance, so that only the
strings lie against the neck in the back, and
the beads, sometimes a hundred strings in one
necklace, hang in heavy masses in front. In
the photographs many of the beads appear
white, but they are not; the women are too
fond of bright blues and reds and yellows to
wear white. The beads for the legs are
strung on pieces of wood about the size of the
ankle but bound on so tightly that they stop

174 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

the circulation and the flesh is in ridges.
Sometimes the girls tell me that they cannot
sleep because of the pain from that tight bind-
ing; but Dame Fashion is as tyrannical in San
Bias as in other parts of the world, and suf-
fering is endured if the wearer is conscious
of being in style. However many of the girls
and women are not now binding their ankles
and arms and a few have taken off the nose-
rings.

These Indians are sailors born. When the
traders come they depend on the Indians to
pilot their vessels. They have eyes like a
hawk, and often start to Colon at midnight,
moon or no moon; a good wind is all that
they wait for. If they have a good wind they
will be in Colon the next night by sunset, but
often a squall comes, upsetting their small
canoes. They lose much, but they say: "An
Indian can't drown; we never heard of an
Indian drowning." Their cargo is usually
cocoanuts, sometimes alligator pears and
mangoes. They buy to bring back cloth,
sugar, rice, and beads for mother, wife or
daughters ; they would not be Indians without

CUSTOMS OF THE SAN BLAS 175

beads, though the men do not decorate at all;
that is reserved for the women.

We had a new thing last Christmas. I told
the boys to bring a flagpole and place it in
front of the schoolhouse. They did this and
then put one in front of every home in town.
Why not? Then every man, woman and
child made a raid on my Standard Diction-
ary to get patterns of the flags of all nations,
and to save my book I had to cut out the three
leaves of lithographed flags, and the making
of flags was entered into with enthusiasm.
There are now 105 flags on three streamers
from the schoolhouse pole and countless
others in town. No photographer could re-
sist taking a snapshot of us in our beflagged
condition. I have never used a camera my-
self and have to depend on tourists for the pic-
tures that we have.

CHAPTER XIII
god's leadings

MANY have asked me how I came to
work among these Indians, and in an-
swer to that I can only point to God's lead-
ings. I have given each link in the chain,
each one seemingly small and unimportant
yet absolutely necessary to bring about the
thing that God had planned. He sent me
into a home where I was not wanted, where
I was not spoiled by doting parents; by a
facial disfigurement he saved me from van-
ity; he chose me from among the beautiful
and attractive and wise of my native land and
of America, my adopted land, touched my
heart, and I responded, obeyed and went.
That is the story in a nutshell. The results:
Honor for me and salvation from God for the
Indians. As I look out of my door as I
write these lines and see twenty-five of our
Christian boys and forty of our girls working

176

GOD'S LEADINGS 177

in the burning sun, as they have done for two
days, to fill in the large holes washed out by
the sea at the foundation of my house, and
know that before they began the work they
met at the school at five o'clock in the morn-
ing to pray that God would help them to
make the foundation and the wall good and
strong and that none would quarrel and fight
— because, you see, they are human, and some
of the girls are not yet Christians — I can only
praise God for these trophies of His grace.
He has the power to save and civilize "treach-
erous" Indians a hundred miles from the won-
derful "Big Ditch" that slides and stops
traffic; and He is building canals through
which His grace is flowing unhindered, to the
glory of His great name and the joy of angels.
If any who read these lines would really
like to know God's will for them, I can only
say, Ask God. He will show you better than
any human being can. He will make diffi-
cult things stepping-stones and enable you to
do His will as he makes it known. See God in
everything and make everything work for His
glory. Do not think that God will send you
off to China or Japan or India at your first

178 ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

impulse to go. The impulse is good, and may
be one of the links necessary. But seek His
will, and He will let you know in His own way
what is best. Stay at home until He says:
"Go," and use the mop or the spade, the pen
or the typewriter, for His glory. When your
faith grows strong through every-day experir
ences He will promote you. Dish-washing is
a necessary part of a missionary's training, for
I have to do it between teaching and preach-
ing and leading precious souls to Christ. And
I scour my pans and clean just common barn
lanterns to light my school, and wash, iron
and press clothes — all common things that I
learned to do long ago. I bake bread and
have taught an Indian chief how to bake it
and fitted up the stove, for a knowledge of
tools is pretty likely to be required on a mis-
sion field.

Do you sing over your home work? Do
you pray over the common, everyday things
of life? Are you obedient to those over you,
whoever they may be? Jesus learned obedi-
ence "by the things which He suflFered." Do
not use human arguments or reasonings when
you come to God. Talk to Him, let Him talk

GOD'S LEADINGS 179

to you, then obey, and you will be surprised
at the results.

I am surprised that God chose me to come
to this people so near to the spot where big
men were digging a big canal, the wonder of
the world. Big minds turned that way, and
one would have thought that big Boards that
do big things would have seen an opening to
get the gospel to these Indians. But the open-
ing was so small that they didn't see it, and
God let me in through the opening because I
believed. ^'Blessed is she that believed; for
there shall be a fulfilment of the things which
have been spoken to her from the Lord."
Luke 1 : 45.

If some one, after reading this simple ac-
count of what God has wrought, would step
out by faith on the promises and do something,
go somewhere, write, pray, sing for God, let
it be over the garden wall, in the kitchen,
across the street, in the field or factory, in
Sunday-school, mission hall or slums, God
will be honored, the doer will be blessed, and
souls will be saved.

In closing let me say that I have never been
lonely, sad or blue. I have so much to do

i8o ANNA COOPE, SKY PILOT

that time seems to fly. Some ask me how I
have time to write letters. I take time. I
have no spare moments; I have busy moments,
each one a gem. While the water is boiling
for my cocoa perhaps I have two minutes, and
I take a piece of paper and write to this one
or that. I am kept by the power of God from
the assaults of the enemy and often from His
suggestions. I have learned to rest by change
of occupation.

The same God who enabled Daniel to pur-
pose in his heart to keep clean in morals and
in food is here in San Bias to keep me. The
same God who preserved David Livingstone,
who was over a year without letters or papers,
can and does keep me company. Oh, my
mouth is enlarged like Paul's when I begin
to speak of God's leadings. His presence. His
love and power! My soul is full of joy be-
cause Jesus, the Son of God, is my Saviour,
Sanctifier, Healer, and soon-coming King.
The saved ones here are looking for His return
with joy. Pray for them and for me, for I
am looking ahead for more land to be pos-
sessed by the saints of San Bias. We are
marching on by faith.