The Darjeeling disaster, its bright side : the triumph of the six Lee children

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THE DARJEELING DISASTER
ITS BRIGHT SIDE.

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

Boston Library Consortium IVIember Libraries

http://www.archive.org/details/darjeelingdisastOOwarn

T^fE DAI^JEELING DISASTEI^:

ITS BRIGHT SIDE.

THE TRIUMPH

OF THE

SIX LEE CHILDREN

BY THE

REV. F. W. WARNE, B-D.

Cai-CUTTA :

The Methodist Publishing House

46, Dharamtala Street.

1900.

Copyrighted, 1900.

Printed at the Methodist Publishing House,

46, Uharamtala Street,

Calcutta.

1900.

PREFACE

I hav^e had the pleasure and honour of being
the pastor of the "Lee family" since their
return to India in 1894, and secretary to the
Arcadia Girls' School from its beginning. I
was with Mr, and Mrs. Lee through all the
unspeakable experiences herein portrayed, I
went with them to Darjeeling after the disaster ;
was with them as they waited with their son,
Wilbur, while he told the story of the children's
triumph ; when he entered into rest, attended
his funeral, and returned with them to their
lonely Calcutta home.

Suggestions were made that some one should
write an account of the Darjeeling disaster so
far as it concerns the Lee children and the
Arcadia School. In this school and in " Mall
Villa" (where the Lee children met their death)
popular interest centred because in these build-
ings only were the lives of American and
English children lost. My relation to the
family and school singled me out as the one
who should prepare the memorial volume.

(v.)

VI.

In endeavouring to carry out the suggestion,
1 have been happy in persuading Mrs. Lee to
write the Hfe-story of each of her bright, merry,
Christian children, and these chapters will
appear as written by her, a tribute of love to
her darling children from their loving, sorrow-
ing mother.

The Lee children in their religious life were
exemplary, and their mother has told the
story so as to reveal the secret of their training
in such a way that it can be understood and
may be imitated by other parents.

If this book helps other parents and children
to a higher ideal, and interests its readers in
the salvation of the Bengali girls, a w^ork to
which this familv was consecrated, and in which
the parents are still actively engaged, the pur-
pose for which it has been written will be
accomplished.

With a prayer that the}' may aid in further-
ing the will of the Master in this mysterious
providence, these hastily written pages are sent
forth.

Frank W. Warne,
Pastor, Methodist Episcopal Church.

Calcutta, Feb. 6th, igoo.

Vll.

CONTENTS.

Chap. ' Page

I. The PTrst News in Calcutta ... i

II. The Journey TO Darjeeling ... 12

III. "Arcadia" 24

IV. Esther and Ada ... .. 39

V. Herbert Wilson ... ... 56

VI. Wilbur David ... ... 71

VII. Lois Gertrude ... ... 85

VIII. ViDA Maud ... ... ... 105

IX. The Children's Letters ... 129

X. Wilbur's Story ... ... 158

XI. JESSUDAR, THE BENGALI GiRL ... 173

XII. Extracts FROM Letters ... 179

XIII. The Lkes, AND Their Work ... 196

Vlll.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Facing Page,

I The Lee Family ... Frontispiece.

2 Mrs. Lee [See quotation p. 59, para 2.] ... I 5

21

40

44
56

3 Baby Frank in the Basket ..

4 Esther and Indu Bala

5 Ada and Esther ...

6 Herbert and Wilbur

7 Mount Eyerest, near Darjeel-

ing ... ... ... 72

8 ViDA and Lois ... ... 85

9 Vida's Sunday School ... no
10 Child Wiyes ... ... 140

11 The LHOWRASTA, which the landslide came. 159

12 JESSUDAR ... ... 17s

13 Mall Villa No. 2 before Land-

slide ... ... ... 184

14 Mall Villa No. 2 after Land-

slide ... ... ... 185

15 Rey D. H. Lee ... ... 196

i6 Young Girl Workers ... 212

Chapter 1.
THE FIRST NEWS IN CALCUTTA.

"Both Safe at Grand Hotel. Ida Villa
Destroyed." Two gentlemen were waiting at
my home for an explanation of the above tele-
gram when I came in to dinner at 7 P.M. Sep-
tember 25th. They supposed I could explain
how " Ida Villa" had been destroyed as it stood
on the mountain side at Darjeeling, just above
Arcadia, in which we had our Darjeeling Girls'
School. It was my first intimation of any thing
out of the ordinary. I remember saying, as a
first thought, "If there had been an earthquake
we would have felt it, or would have had the
news; there must have been a fire'\ " Ida Villa"
could have burned and Arcadia could have es-
caped, I thought, and was only slightly anxious ;
but / was anxious.

My servant came in and I asked : " Has a
telegram come for me ?" '' Yes, sahib, but the
man would not leave it without a receipt." I
Ivnew then that there was trouble, but what ?
While we stood bewildered, another gentleman,

The Darjeeling Disaster.

whose daughter was in Arcadia, arrived with
a telegram lie had received. It read, " Heav\^
landsHde, Winnie safe, coming b\' first train."
" Winnie," his daughter, was in Arcadia ; m}'
own wife and daughter were in Arcadia. Are
tlie}^ safe ? What is in the undeHvered telegram ?
were the questions that came rushing to my
mind. The cause of the destruction of " Ida
Villa" had been explained, but how '* heav\""
the "landslide," I did not know.

I hastened to the telegraph office for the
missing telegram, but could get no trace of it.
I then, with a burden of fear and uncertaint}',
hurried to several newspaper offices, and learned
that the following telegram had been sent from
the Commissioner at Darjeeling to the Lieutenant-
Governor of Bengal : —

" Mall Villas destroyed, lives lost as follows :

D. H. Lee's children, eldest girl found dead,

eldest boy saved, rest missing. At Ida Villa,

Phoebe and Ruth Wallace, Eric Anderson, all

dead."

These lost children were pupils of Arcadia,
situated just below " Ida Villa." How they got
to " Ida Villa," and what about the rest, was all
a m}-stery. I mused. Lee's children all dead

The First News in CalcuttxV.

but one ! How can I tell it ? How can thev
bear it ? My wife and child must be alive be-
cause their names are not among the dead.
Then the many possible conditions between
being dead and having escaped without injury
were in my mind. Who else has suffered ? I was
not told of sweet Violet Pringle, and did not
know of her death until next morning when her
name appeared in the papers. I hastened
toward home, and on my way met Rev. Herbert
Anderson, India Secretary of the Baptist Mis-
sion. He had received a telegram stating that
his " dear boy Eric" had been killed, but he was
still hoping that it was not true. It was my
painful duty in the darkness of the night to
confirm the sad news, and see him clasp his
head with both hands, and to hear him pray :
" O God, help his poor mother." None but
those who have had such news concerning their
own can understand its crushing power. I had
to hasten on to the Deaconess Home in which
Mr. and Mrs. Lee were then living, and, How
shall 1 tell them, was the uppermost thought.
When I arrived at the home. I met Miss Maxev
and Miss Blair, two deaconesses, at the doon
Let Miss Blair describe what followed :

4 The Darjeeling Disaster.

" A message had come for Mrs. Robinson,
and Miss Maxey and I started out to take it
across to her. Mr. Warne, just returned from the
telegraph office, met us ; his face was drawn, I
thought, with anxiety for his own. He seized the
envelope, tore it open, and read, 'FIora(Robinson)
safe. Coming by first train.' No news of his
family. Miss Maxey went in with the message,
and Mr. Warne, motioning me aside, said in a
voice trembling with emotion, ' All the Lee
children, except Wilbur, are dead !' Oh, those
terrible words I It could not be — surely it could
not be ! M\^ heart cried out against it. Vida,
brave, womanly Vida, caring with a mother's
tenderness for her vouno;er brothers and sisters ;
Lois, the darling and jo\^ of all their hearts ;
Herbert, and quaint, sweet little Ada ; and
bab}' Esther, just past her fifth birthday ; that
they had all gone, in a moment, lik-e the puff cf
a candle, seemed beyond belief. But how to
tell the poor parents, — should we tell them at
once, or wait till the statement was verified ?"

We went out. Miss Maxey and Miss Blair to
take the good news to Mrs. Robinson, wife of
the Editor of the Indian Witness^ while 1
hastened to m\' home, behind the church, to see

The First News in Calcutta.

if any other news had arrived, only to be dis-
appointed. On my return, in the shade behind
the church 1 met Mr. Lee. " Have you any
news?" were his first words. "Yes," I said,
" terrible landslips, Eric Anderson, Phoebe and
Ruth Wallace killed, but no news of my people,
and nothing definite about the rest in the school."
His thought was of his own, and he at once
asked: "Any news of our children?" The
dreaded time when the terrible news must be
told had come. By this time we were out of
the shade of the church and under the light of
the street lamp. I tried to break it gently, and
answered: " Yes, Brother Lee, there is some
news. The house in which your children were
is gone." He seemed to know the rest, for in
an instant his erect and alert form was bowed,
as if he were a man of eighty years, and with
feeble, tottering steps, not uttering a word, he
moved off through the darkness toward the
Deaconess Home. Afterward he said to me :
" I thought }ou would fall to the earth when
you told me the house was gone."

At this moment, Miss Maxey and Miss
Blair were coming across the street. I left
them to follow Mr. Lee to their home, and I

The Darjeeling Disaster.

went to tell Miss Wi'ddifield, and to get news to
Miss Craig, Mr. Chew, and other members of
the mission. I will let Miss Blair describe what
happened while I was giving the information to
others :

'' We met Mr. Warne at the church gate,
and saw Mr. Lee just turning awa}\

' 1 have told him the house is gone,' was
whispered as we came up, ' I couldn't tell him
the rest.'

There was no need. The matter had been
taken out of our hands ; he knew. We over-
took him in a moment, and Miss Maxey, thinking
to reassure him, made some remark, but he
walked on without a word. She spoke again ;
still no word did he sa}'. He was like one
stunned. Suddenly he stopped and said, ' All
my children gone ! '

Then it was we told him all we knew. He
said no more but went directly upstairs to the
room where sat poor Mrs. Lee by the side of
her sleeping baby. There was no need to speak.
She saw it written in our faces. Mr. Lee sat
down and looked at her seeming still unable to
shake off the spell which held him.

The First News in Calcutta.

' Are the children all right ? ' She said,
and when still no word was spoken, she cried
out in agony, ' Oh, what is the matter ! are they
safe ? What is the matter ! '

' Darling,' he said, ' they are all gone but
Wilbur.' And then a cry, the cry of a mother's
breaking heart rang though the room :

' Oh my God ! Why didn't He take us all !
Oh, what is there left to live for !' "

After having given the awful information
to the other missionaries, I hastened to the
Deaconess Home where all our mission people
soon gathered, and where we together spent
most of the night, giving what sympathy we
could and praying with the sorrow-stricken
parents. On my arrival I found Sister Lee, in
her husband's arms, looking as pale as death,
her forehead cold, her breathing scarcely per-
ceptible, her hands rising and falling at her side,
and she moaning out : " My darling girls,
Vida ! Vida ! ! Vida ! ! I Lois, precious Lois !
Darling, cheerful Ada. Esther, — Esther, my
baby girl — Esther — not a girl left ! Not a girl
left ! ! Not a q-irl left ! ! ! O mv God — not a
eirl left. What does it mean ? Did I love
them too much ? Was 1 too proud of them ?

The Darjeeling Disaster.

Have I sinned ? My precious Herbert — no
more hugs, no more kisses. Did they suffer ?
Did they all go together ? They are happ}-,
ihey are with Jesus. Wh\' were we not all
taken with them ? 1 have lived too much for
earth, and too little for heaven."

The husband and father — devoted husband
and affectionate father, brave man — he held and
comforted his heart-broken wife, as if he had
not a sorrow of his own. He would say :
*' Darling, Jesus gave them to us. Jesus loved
them. Jesus has taken his own. Don't weep,
darling, the}^ are with Jesus in heaven and we'll
soon be with them." The rest of us looked on
" dumb with silence." Such a providence would
be m3^sterious under any circumstances, but to
us, as missionaries, at first it seemed almost as
if God discouraged missionaries and was frustrat-
ing the purposes of his best and most devoted
workers. The Lee children had given them-
selves to mission work. Just about two weeks
before, I remembered having gone in when
Brother and Sister Lee were at tiffin, which was
just after the arrival of the Darjeeling mail, and
Brother Lee in his most cheerful and happy
mood, sprang up and shook a letter which he

The First News in Calcutta.

had just received from Vida, his eldest daughter,
and said : " No father ever received a better
letter from a better daughter than I have re-
ceived from Vida." He waved the letter in the
air, and said, " It's worth a thousand dollars."
It was dated, September 7th, 1899 : and in it
she said :

"My darling Papa, we were all talking the
other night of what we would do for 3'ou both,
and I am sure Frank (a baby nine months old)
would have joined if he had been here. Wilbur
says he won't charge anything for your teeth
beino; fixed. Lois will doctor vou free. The
rest of us, you know, aint so sure of our mone\'
as they two are. And Herbert, Professor Lee,
will make home ' comfee.' I will try hard to
keep up your work. I am sure God has called
me to it, and will be with me. Now I have told
you what I did not expect to. I have told you
what is in my heart, I am God's for your work,
trust me and believe me, your loving and affec-
tionate daughter, Vida."

What a contrast between that scene and
the one of which I now write ! As the night
wore on, and we prayed, and asked for light on
the mystery, I began to think oi that wonderful

lo The Darjeeling Disaster. '

hymn of William Cowper's, on the text, — "Veril)-
thou art a God that hidest thyself."

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform :
He plants his footsteps in the sea,

And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
. He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take :

The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break

In blessings on your Iiead.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust him for his grace ;
Behind a frowning providence

He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,

Unfolding every hour :
The bud may have a bitter taste,

But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,

And scan his work in vain :
God is his own interpreter,

And he will make it plain.

Then we began to understand that in God's
infinite wisdom and love be could take those
dear children, whom he loved so much and who
had given themselves to him, all to heaven to-
gether, almost as painlessly as falling asleep, and
use the story of their clear conversions, entire
consecration, and triumph in darkness and storm
on that terrible night, as it would be read around

The First News in Calcutta. i i

the world, to soften hard hearts, to open pocket
books, and, through the story of their death, have
not only six hearts opened and consecrated to
his service, but six thousand or more. Thus as
the night passed away, rays of light and hope
began to glimmer through the darkness.
These rays, we are believing, were from the
Revelation of the Spirit, the " Comforter," vv'ho
was taking of the thoughts of Jesus Christ, and
showing them unto us ; and it is for the purpose
of aiding in accomplishing what we believe to be
the will of God in this otherwise very mysterious
providence, that the story is being told in this
form.

^i^^^i^

Chapter 1 1.
Tt^E JOURNEY TO DARJEELING-

Among the greatest wonders of the world
are the Himala)'a mountains, in which is situate
DarjeeHng, often called the "Children's Paradise;"
which it certainly is to the children of a large
portion of the Europeans of Bengal, for, when in
the hot season the temperature on the plains
is from 90' to 100 ', in Darjeeling there is an
average of 60^. It is about 450 miles from
Calcutta, and at an elevation of about 7,000 feet
above sea level. The first 400 miles out from
Calcutta the train runs through the densely popu-
lated rice districts of Bengal, where sometimes
there are nine hundred people living to the square
mile, and during the last fifty miles there is an
ascent of about one inch in every twenty-nine,
and at some places one in every twenty-four.
The narrow-gauge light engines and small cars
used on the road which ascends the mountain
has given rise to the name " Toy Railway."

A ride up the mountains on this railway with
its spiral slopes, sudden reverses and sharp

The Journey to Darjeeling. 13

curves, passing places appropriately called *' Sen-
sation Point," and " Agony Point," as one is hur-
ried up through forests, tea plantations, cloud
and sunshine, with a change of mountain view
at everv turn, until he is his^'her than the verv
clouds and in full view of the ''eternal snows," is
considered bv tourists to be one of the most de-
lightful, exhilarating and inspiring experiences
known in a journe}' around the world.
Darjeeling has been considered one of the safest
resorts in the Himalaya mountains, there has
not been a serious landslip in the memory of
the oldest resident. '" Arcadia," "Ida Villa " and
" Mall Villa," the ver\^ houses in which the
children suffered, have, without the slightest
sign or suspicion of danger, been occupied everv
season for over thirty years ; but an unusual rain-
fall began on Saturday, September 23rd, and
did not cease till 4 A.INI. on Monday the 25th.
l^etween these hours 24*70 inches of rain fell.
The heaviest storm was between 4 P.M. Sunday,
the 24th, and 4 A.M. Monday, the 25th, during
which twelve hours fourteen inches of rain fell ;
but its severest fury was attained, and the
greatest landslips occurred, between midnight
and 2 A.M. Monda}', when it would seem safe

14 The Darjeeling Disaster.

to assume that the rain was falling at about the
rate of two inches per hour. Not onh^ did the
storm wash down the sides of the mountains in
Darjeeling, but for many miles round the land-
slips were terrible.

On Monday, September 25th, before the news of
the disaster at Darjeeling had reached Calcutta,
Miss Fanny Perkins, a missionar}' from Than
Daung, Burma, had left Calcutta for Darjeeling,
taking with her a special parcel from Mrs. Lee for
each of her children, prepared with great care by
the mother, not knowing the children were al-
ready in heaven. Miss Perkins found two
breaks in the road before reaching Kurseong,
one necessitating a walk of a mile and a half,
the other two miles. She reached Kurseong at
3 o'clock, Tuesday the 26th, and as she was one
of the first party of Europeans who w^ent over
the road, I will let her tell her own story of
bravery and endurance : —

" The train did not go any farther and I knew
nothing of broken telegraph connections and
had decided to send Miss Stahl word that I had
tried to visit her but could get no further ; and I
engaged a seat in the next train returning. I
was standing watching four gentlemen who were

Mrs. Ada Lee, Baby Frank, Hindoo Girl, and Orphan Child.
. {See page 59.)

The Journey to Darji*: idling. i

preparing to walk through.. One of them went
to a shop across the street and soon returned and
said to the others, ' That's terrible news from
Darjeeling. The Rev. Mr. Lee and family have
been swept down the mountain side and are lost.'
I went out and said, ' That's a mistake so far as
Mr. and Mrs. Lee are concerned : they are in
Calcutta, but their children are living in Darjeel-
ing. Are you sure it's true about the loss of the
family?' ' Well, it's Mall Villa No. 2. Do you
know their house ?' I went to the box and
there I found the same name and number. The
thought of returning to Mrs. Lee when so near
and perhaps able to be of some service, seemed
impossible, and I asked the gentlemen to permit
me to go through with them. They looked a
little doubtful, and I assured them I would cause
them no delay as I was fully equal to the w^alk.
and they consented. I had my breakfast at 1 1
o'clock, but there w^as no time to get any food
to take with me, as the others were ready to
go, and it w^as late. Mr. Pascal secured me a
coolie for my box and bundle and we started
off, — Messrs. Pascal, Burke, Pymm, Macdonald
and myself. We had seven or eight coolies with
us, one of whom had been over the road from

1 6 The Darjeeling Disaster.

Sonada that da\'. We left Kurseong at 4 P.M.
The first washout was close to the town. The\-
told us that tliere was a footpath, but we would
find it very hard to get through as there was a
very bad washout in the fortieth mile (the miles
are numbered from Siliguri). VVe found several
bad places before we reached Toong, but the
ease with which we crossed them encouraged us
to think that we would not find it impassable.
We rested at the Toong station five minutes, then
hastened on in order to pass tlie bad washout
before dark. We reached what we supposed
answered the description, where the railway irons
and ties hung like a suspension bridge over a
space two hundred feet long. It was at a place
where the road bent in, and from a point several
hundred feet above there had been a great sweep
of rocks, carr}'ing a\va\' the railway bed In the
middle of the slip w^as a torrent of water. The
only sign of a footpath was a bridge made of
small tree trunks thrown across the torrent.
Climbing over the loose rocks on the steep
mountain side we made for the bridge, which was
about a foot wide. We crossed the break success-
fully and congratulated ourselves that we had
been wise in passing it before dark. Daylight

The Journey to Dakjeeling. 17

faded, the stars came out, and we found ourselves
at the edge of a washout as large as the other
and much worse, because the rocks were mixed
with soft earth and water. We had no lieht
save matches, Mr, Macdonald was ahead, then
a coolie, Mr. Pascal and myself behind the others.
The coolie called back that the " miss sahiba "
could not come, and as we neared the torrent
Mr. Pascal drew back saying, ' It's too bad. Miss
Perkins ; we can't go.' I heard Mr. Macdonald's
voice across the torrent, and as the coolie reached
down his hand T took it and went up and crossed
the temporary bridge on my hands and feet.
The rest came over soon, and we made our
way over fallen trees and rocks, through mud
and water. Ofttimes when I sought a safe foot-
ing, my walking stick would sink to my hand in
the soft mud. It was an awful place. But we
came out on the railway again and found our-
selves near a native hut. We aroused the inmates
and purchased an old lantern (which did service
for two miles or more) and some mustard oil. I
had two towels in my hand-bag, one of which
I tore and made torches which gave us light.
We found that instead of one washout there were
many after the fortieth mile. Indeed, it was

i8 The Darjeeltng Disaster.

washout or washin most of the way to Ghoom.
We had to walk in many places on a wet parapet,
which on the top was only about a foot wide.
A misstep might land a person hundreds of feet
belov/. But our feet did not slip and we reached
Sonada soon after nine o'clock. Here we rested
for half an hour and the native postmaster made
tea for us. We had some lunch with us and the
hot tea refreshed us. We here secured four
bottles of oil and my other towel was torn to
serve as a torch. We had nine miles before us,
and we found the road about the same as that
over which we had passed. At Ghoom we rested
for five minutes and then pushed on. The
moon had risen in her fullness, and the
walk up over Jalapahar was delightful.
From Kurseong to Ghoom there was the
constant roar of falling water, but from here
there was silence, because our patli for a dis-
tance of five miles took us away from the rail-
way track as we found its bed in the mountain
side entirely swept away. We were compelled
to climb a high mountain spur which carried us
above Darjeeling. As we came down over the
hill the challenge of the sentinel rang out in the
stillness. We passed on and came to where we

The Journey to Darjeeling. 19

could see Darjeeling nestling in the mountain
side. It was a beautiful sight ! Death-like
stillness reigned. I inquired of a policeman for
^' Arcadia," and was told that the school had
moved out. The man said he knew the house
and would take me to it. Bidding the others
good-night, I went on my wa\\ It was just
three o'clock when we reached Darjeeling ; but it
was four before I found the house where Miss
Stahl, Principal of Arcadia, was sta}^ing.

"The Arcadia Girls' School had been re-
ceived b\' the Scotch Zenana Mission Ladies,
and ]\Iiss Reid opened her door for me that
morning and gave me a most cordial welcome.
We were the first Europeans who had passed
over the road, and our arrival was an omen of
good. ]\Iacld\' and wet, I did not present a ver\'
pleasing picture. Miss Reid insisted on m\'
going to bed at once while she prepared a cup
of hot tea. This earl\' chhota hazri (little break-
fast) was exceedingl}' refreshing. I was then
told to go to sleep, but closed eyes brought
pictures of rocks, mud, fallen trees and hanging
railwa}^ lines. At the usual hour for rising I
was shown into IMiss Stahl's room. It is need-
less to say that she was glad to see me, and we

20 The Darjeeling Disaster.

had much to say to each other. I learned that
Wilbur Lee had been found and was still living,
though his recovery was doubtful."

Just forty-eight hours later than the time
Miss Perkins left Calcutta, another party left for
Darjeeling, composed of the Rev. D. H. and
Mrs. Lee, "baby Frank," J. W. Pringle (father of
sweet Violet, who entered into rest from Ida
Villa on that terrible night,) and the writer.
In the journey up to Kurseong there was nothing
unusual, except the surprise at our going so
soon after the disaster, and the sorrow that over-
shadowed us. In a conversation overheard
between Mrs. Lee and Mr. Pringle, it was mutu-
ally decided that God had some very special
blessing for each of them, or He would not have
so afflicted, and both agreed that they would
seek until they found the purposed blessing.

At Kurseong we procured ponies, but only
rode five miles, and then reluctantly let them
return because we came to a break in which over
a hundred yards of the railway line was gone
and over which the ponies could not pass. We
scrambled up the mountain side on our hands
and 'feet, and crossed a bridge consisting of two
logs which had been thrown across the water-

Baby Frank in his Basket, as he was carried to Darjeeling.

The Jourxky to Darjeeling. 21

fall, and then picked our way over boulders and
through slush down again to the railroad. Such
experiences became common during the next ten
miles. Over forty places were counted where the
railroad was either washed away or buried. Then
the one counting grew weary, but afterward
estimated that forty other such places were
crossed before reaching Ghoom? ? When we
began to walk a novel and interesting method
was devised for carrying "baby Frank." A little
coolie girl who carries bundles on her back up
the mountains, was secured, v^ho had an in-
verted cone-shaped basket, which we cushioned
with an overcoat, and " baby Frank" sat in this
basket with his laughing face above the brim.
Throughout the journey this little man proved
himself an excellent traveller, and soothed his
parents with his smiles and baby talk. At this
stage he appeared to the best advantage ; for,
notwithstanding his new surroundings and mode
of conveyance, he was full of fun, screaming
with laughter, and kept one of us busy watch-
ing that, in his dancing, baby glee, he did not
jump out of his basket. The largest break on
the line was about three hundred yards in a
semi-circular form, and the iron rails were torn

22 The Darteelixg Disaster.

and twdsted as if they had been made of iron
threads. Huge boulders had been rolled down ;
in fact the hillside had been completely carried
away, and perhaps more than anywhere else on
the line was the mighty power of God mani-
fested in the devastation the storm had wrought^
and we keenly felt the littleness and utter help-
lessness of man in the presence of such over-
whelminar destruction.

At Sonada, ten miles from Darjeeling,
night overtook us, and though we were intensely
anxious to proceed, yet with ]Mrs. Lee and the
baby in our party, we felt that to go forward in
the night was neither wise nor safe ; but we had
nowhere to sleep. In this hour of extremity a
priest came down from one of the Roman
Catholic sanitariums situated close by and kindly
offered us entertainment for the night, which
offer we gladly and gratefully accepted and we
were most delightfully entertained. On the
following morning we rose much refreshed, ate
a hearty breakfast, and started out on foot,
feeling grateful to the kind-hearted priest. I
noted that all hearts were touched when it was
known that ]\Irs. Lee and '* baby Frank" were
in our party. People vied with each other to

The Journey to Darjeeling. 23

see who could do the most for them. We had
again reached a place where the journey could
be made on ponies, and two ponies were ready
to carry Mr. and Mrs. Lee into Darjeeling. A
basket was specially prepared for "baby Frank "
and a known and trusted servant sent to carry
the precious baby. For this kindness Mrs. Lee
is indebted to Mrs. Brown. Five miles further
on at Ghoom a refreshing repast was given us
at the home of the Rev. Mr. Frederickson, of
the Scandinavian Mission. From Ghoom we
ceased to even follow the railway line, for from
there to Darjeeling we were told the railroad bed
was almost entirely gone. We ascended by a
hard climb the Jalapahar mountain, and as we
approached its summit the eternal snows in the
golden glow of the early morning broke upon our
view, and as we looked at the range, hundreds
of miles in length, it seemed that nothing more
beautiful and majestic could be seen until we see
the King of kings in all His glory. Darjeeling
was reached in a short time ; and the part}'
separated ; the Rev. D. H. and Mrs. Lee to the
bedside of their boy, Wilbur; Mr. Pringle to some
friends ; and I to where the Arcadia School was
being kindly and gratuitously sheltered.

''ARCADIA"

The death of the four children of the
Arcadia Girls' School was caused by the falling
in of the walls of the room in which they were
at the time. The building was of stone, and
a boulder coming dow^n from the hill above
struck the house with such force that the walls
were collapsed without a moment's w^arning.
There were nine ladies sitting^ in the room with
the children when the walls fell, nearly all of
whom were more or less injured. The story of
the last day and night will be told by those who
passed through it. Miss Stahl writes of the

Last Sunday at Arcadia.

'' There are two memories connected with
our last Sunday at i\rcadia. While the rain was
falling in torrents outside we had a quiet, lovely
day in the school, and no one thought of fear.
The morning service in the church is at
1 1 o'clock, and Sunday-school immediately after.
When the school-bell rang at 8 o'clock, as
usual, for the study of the Sunday-school

Arcadia. 25

lesson, seeing that we would probably not be
able to go to church I reviewed the lessons of
the quarter with the older girls. Miss Brittain
iook the little girls, taught them the Golden
Text, and read Bible verses to them until 9-30,
the hour for morning prayers. On Sunday we
always spent half an hour at prayers, sang several
hymns, read the lesson for the day, and the
little ones recited a psalm in concert. That
morning they recited the 90th Psalm : " Lord,
thou hast been our dwelling-place in all genera-
tions." The prayer closed the exercises, and
then we had breakfast. After breakfast the
children played about or looked at picture-
books, and the older ones read for an hour or
more. Then all were made to lie down on their
beds and sleep or read, as they chose, until
dinner time, which was at 2-30. The time for
the Junior Christian Endeavour meeting was
five o'clock, and I gave the Bible lesson that day,
and the Lord gave me the verse, ' Suffer little
children to come unto me ' as the one to talk
about. As I remember it now, if I had known
that four little ones present at that meeting
would be taken to heaven before mornine I could
hardly have said anything more appropriate.

26 The Darjeeling Disaster.

The Lord gave me the message. I knew it then
but did not know why he had given me that
particular message. The lesson was, first, the
sweet stor}^ of how the words came to be-spoken
when the mothers brought their children to show
them to Jesus. The disciples thought it would
annoy Him, and tried to send them away, but
Jesus said, ' Suffer the little children to come
unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the
kingdom of heaven.' Then He took them in
his arms and blessed them, which shows Jesus
loves little children and loves to have them
come to Him. That was the substance of the
lesson, to which they all listened most atten-
tively; they then sang the hymn about mothers
bringing their children to Jesus. Tea was at
6-30, and after that the older girls gathered
round the piano and we sang hymns, while the
little ones sat quietly in another room and
listened to a story. At 7-30 they went to
bed."

Mrs. Warne, who had gone from Calcutta
to spend some time in Arcadia, continues the
story :

"About 8 o'clock in the evening we heard
a peculiar roar which Edith, my only daughter,

Arcadia. 27

a child under fourteen years of age, said was
thunder. I went down to see Miss Stahl and
asked her if she had heard it, and she said it
was the river roaring, in a lull in the storm, but
I felt that it was a landslip. From 9-30 we sat
with Miss Stahl and talked awhile. I then
asked her if I could come to her room, as I was
too nervous to sleep. She said, 'Yes, come.'
We were just going to do this when there was
the most awful roar, accompanied by the crash of
stones on the roof of the room in which I lived
at the end of the building. Miss Stahl asked,
'What is it ? ' I answered, ' A slide, and very
near, too.' We then went up to see how the
girls were in the dormitory, and finding them
all quiet, we came back to consult as to what to
do next. I said, ' We are responsible for these
girls, and I think we had better get them up
the hill.' Just then we heard cries and pitiful
screams from outside, and on going out, found
all the school servants who had escaped, com-
ing to the house. They said their houses had
been swept away, one sweeper killed, the
washerman, the watchman and his whole family
covered (seven in all) by the debris. Miss
Stahl took a lantern from the head bearer and

28 The Darjeeling Disaster.

went toward that end of the building to see
what had happened, but before going two-thirds
of the way she was over her ankles in water
and mud, and was told she would b^ swept
away if she went on. We now felt that it was
too much risk to remain in a building being
undermined by a stream of water. The teachers
were awakened ; Miss Stahl went up the hill to
Ida Villa to see if we could bring the
children up there. While she was away
Edith and I wakened the small children
sleeping in a dormitory by themselves. We
went to their room and soon quietly roused
and dressed them. None were over nine years
of age. Edith woke them, as she was a favourite,
and could do it without alarming them. We
soon had them dressed without arousing fear,
some asking why we woke them so soon. We
told them we were going up to Ida Villa, as
a part of the hill had come down on the
servants, and we wanted to go higher up. Eric
Anderson was the last one I helped, and he
dressed as if for the day, putting his little
night-suit on his pillow as he would have done
in the morning. Phoebe Wallace, the school
pet, laughed at me as I went round fastening a

Arcadia. 29

button here or a shoe string there that
some child could not master. Her ayah
put on her dress over her night-clothes
and rolled her up in a blanket, leaving
an opening through which we kissed her
happy little face, but she knew nothing of
the fear we had for her and the other little ones
we had under our care. Miss Stahl returned and
said we could go. Edith and I went with those
whom we had dressed, and some of the older
girls who were also ready. Miss Stahl came later
with the others. We climbed by the sweeper's
path, up the hill, the water coming down it as
if in a drain and the rain pouring in torrents
upon us. Mr. and Mrs. Lindeman gave us a
kind welcome beside a good fire in a pleasant
little drawing-room. We had the children take
off their shoes and dry their feet, and after a
time put them on the floor to have a sleep.
Miss Stahl and I went from group to group and
talked with the older girls, who realized what
had happened, and tried by being calm our-
selves to keep them the same. The smaller
children laughed and played, and one by one
fell asleep with their heads under a round table
and their feet sticking out, spoke fashion. Eric

30 The Darjeeling Disaster.

Anderson was full of fun and as he saw a hole
in a stocking of a boy next to him, said,
* Mrs. Warne, I have found a potato.' As we
were thus sitting and passing the time, without
any warning, a slide came on the south and west
ends of the room, filling it with the falling
stones and dust. There was pitch darkness for
a time, but when it subsided we saw the stones
still falling ; but to our joy the hanging lamp
was burning as if nothing had happened. It
seemed miraculous that the end of the beam on
which the lamp hung should be saved and
enough roof above it to protect the lamp from
the rain. This lamp burned till morning. As
soon as the dust cleared away we saw that all the
teachers, except one, were wholly or partially
covered with the falling debris. Miss Stahl and
I got five children out by lifting stones off them.
It is still a marvel to me when I remember the
large stones which we rolled off the children,
that none of their bones were broken and no
one seriously injured. This is probably ac-
counted for, partly, by their having so strangely
(which now seems providential) gone to sleep
under the table. The next work was to get the
teachers out. When we had released all we

Arcadia. 3

could, there was still covered Muriel Haskevv,
all but her head ; but Violet Pringle, Ruth and
Phoebe Wallace, the ayah, Eric Anderson and
little Blanche Limpus, were entirel}' buried.
Finally we could do no more, and Mrs.
Lindeman came to me and said, ' Oh ! Mrs.
Warne ; if some one could get out and bring
help ! My poor husband (an old gentleman)
has not the strens^th to do all that is needed.'
Edith was standing near me, and said,
' Mamma, I think we can get out. I knew an
old path two years ago when I roomed here.'
I stood bewildered a moment, and she said
again, ' We can get out that way, Mamma.' I
could not refuse to go after this, even if it meant
the end, so I said, 'We will try.' No one can
ever know what it meant for me to take my dear
girl out into that dark, stormy night alone. I
got her where I could get a good, long look at
her white, brave face, and gave her what I
thought might be a goodbye kiss, and we started
out. We could not get out at the end door as
Edith wished, so left by a back bath-room door.
At our first step we went into water to our knees.
Then followed an almost perpendicular climb
on our hands and knees, the water striking us on

32 The Darjeeling Disaster.

the chest like a river, and the rain falling on us in
torrents. This was between 12 and i, the time
of the fiercest storm. Umbrellas and cloaks we
had none, as all were covered in the room we
had left. We were dressed as we had been
when helping the children. After we got on the
first road above there came the most dreadful
roar of falling hill that we had heard, or else we
felt it more, being alone. The ground shook
beneath our feet, and I put my arm around Edith
and said, 'Darling, it is the end.' She answered,
•'No, it is behind us ; come on, mamma.' I
followed, and we soon came to where we had to
cross the slide that had crushed the room in
which we had been. Edith plunged in, and I
followed as fast as my long, wet, clinging cloth-
ing would let me. I sank to the knees in mud,
but got through the first slide ; had a few feet
of solid road, then came to another slide. I,
fearing to go near the edge, kept toward the hill,
and was soon in mud above the knees,
which seemed to draw me down, and I
thought I was in the mouth of a drain, as I
could not get out. The earth and stones began
to come from above, and I expected to be
covered every minute, so I called to Edith, 'Go

Arcadia. 33

on ; I can't get out.' I hoped she would be
spared to her papa in Calcutta, even if I did not
get out. She called back, 'If you can't come
mamma, I am coming back to you.' I knew
she would, and gave another desperate struggle,
found a little more solid footing, and reached her
side of the slide. We had a few more feet of solid
road, and came to the crossing of another
slide. In this one Edith never left me, but kept
hold of my hand, and we passed over safely
and reached the level road on the top of the
mountain. We soon found some native police-
men, and told them our sad story of the children
buried, and asked them to go down the hill and
help dig them out. To comply with our request
required more bravery than they possessed. We
had to pass on in the darkness without receiving
from them any help. We called at other places
on our way, but were disappointed in getting
help. In our dire distress we thought of the
Union Chapel Manse, half a mile farther on, and
without a light we hurried on through the blind-
ing rain, wading in water over our ankles, some-
times to the knees, sometimes running and then
hardly able to walk, once climbing over a slide
in which was a fallen tree. At last we reached

34 The Darjeeling Disaster.

the Manse, and were kindly taken in and
tenderly cared for by Mrs. Campbell White,
The Rev. Patrick McKay and Prof. Fleming,
of Lahore, immediately left for the Scene of
disaster, and did excellent work."

This rather full description of the experiences
and difficulties of getting up the hill through that
terrible cyclone and landslips, will reveal what
Miss Stahl, the teachers, and the girls of the
School, who came up the mountain side a few
hours later, passed through in that terrible
night.

At the house that had fallen in on the
teachers and pupils. Miss Stahl continued, with
Mr. Lindeman, working to rescue Muriel
Haskew, but finding herself unequal to the
task, she started out to find a way to take the
remaining children of safety. Ten children fol-
lowed her, among them the brother and sister of
Ruth and Phoebe Wallace, who were under the
stones. As she was climbling the hill, she
saw a light, which proved to be Miss Reid
guiding the rescue party to Ida Villa, and too
much praise can not be given to her for this
brave act. The rescue party, on reaching the
house, found Mr. Lindeman had gathered the

Arcadia 35

frightened girls who had not gone up the hill
with Miss Stahl, and was having prayer with
them in one of the uninjured rooms. The
first work was to rescue Muriel Haskew.
Beams had to be cut in three places, with a
tiny meat-saw, and much rubbish removed
before she was free. She was released after
some three hours of waiting, not knowing
when more hill might come down, hearing all
the talk of the children and those who were
working, and at last knowing she was given up
till outside help came. After all this, when
someone said, " Give her brandy," she said, " I
can't take it ; I'm a Band of Hope girl." Little
hope remained that those in the far corner could
be alive. The rescuers were wet and weary, and
had about decided to rive up for a time, when
one young man thought he heard a cry, and
said, " It's the baby. Come, one more trial,"
and they found Blanche Limpus, who had been
sheltered by a chair and the organ in a most
wonderful way. Great stones were all around
her ; she had thrown one tiny arm over her
head as if to shield it from the falling walls.
When taken up by one of the men, he said to
her, " God bless you dear ; we are glad to see

36 The Darjeeling Disaster.

you." She looked into his face and laughed a
happy, childish laugh, and ran to the other
children.

More help came at daylight, and the bodies
of the following four children and a native ayah
were recovered : Violet Pringle, who was the
only daughter of Mr. J. W. Pringle, a well-
known Government servant of Calcutta. She
had a slight head w^ound which the doctor
thought gave her a painless death but was not
at all disfigured. She was a sweet, quiet girl,
loved by all. Eric Anderson, son of the Rev.
Herbert Anderson, Secretary of the English
Baptist Mission in India, a dear, bright, fun-
loving boy. Ruth Wallace, a merry maiden of
of nine, one of the sweet singers of the school,
full of music to her busy finger-tips ; and dear
baby Phcebe Wallace, the pet and darling of
the School, whose rosy lips had been kissed
when awakened a few hours before, but now
were cold in death. She was found in her
faithful ayah's arms covered with her chadar, as
if she had tried to shield her darling from the
stones. These two were the children of Dr.
James R. Wallace, a widely- known physician
in Calcutta. The bodies of these dear children

Arcadia 37

were taken to the Union Chapel, where kind
hands performed the last robing in earthly
white, till they arise clothed in Christ's robes.
Dear Lois Lee, whose body w^as found below
Mall Villa, and whose story will be told in
another chapter of the book, soon rested i-n
Union Chapel beside the others. At one side
was placed the faithful ayah who had cared
for Baby Wallace.

On the day of the funeral many friends sent
to the church baskets of flowers, wreaths and
crosses of roses, lilies, chrysanthemums, ferns,
and dainty creepers. These were sent by all
who had a flower left after the storm. They
came from the tiny garden of some quiet
cottage on the hill-side as well as from the
Maharani's and the Lieutenant-Governor's more
beautiful grounds ; but all alike bore a message
of love and sympathy to the sad hearts of the
parents away on the plains, and seemed to
say, " These are also our children and in your
place we pay the last tribute of love."

Long before the time of service the church
was crowded, and many had taken care to remove
all bright colour from their clothing. All sects
were represented, Churchmen and Dissenters

38 The Darjeeling Disaster.

meeting on one common platform and joining
in the service. The walk to the cemetery was
an impressive one. The highest Government
officials in Darjeeling, with the highest repre-
sentatives of the Church of England .^and the
Church of Rome, followed the coffins, which
were borne by a detachment of soldiers of the
Munster Fusiliers, led by the military band, and
the procession extended half a mile. The
simple Hill people stood on either side of the
road with their usually merry faces saddened
and quiet, — not a murmur as the procession
passed along. The five bodies were laid side by
side on the quiet hill-side in sight of the eternal
snow in the beautiful ''God's Acre," to rest till
Christ shall call His own (for they were His),
as their schoolmates sang, "Safe in the Arms of
Jesus," and the Archdeacon read the beautiful
words " I am the resurrection and the life."
The Master's call had again been given to
mothers on earth: "Suffer little children to
come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such
is the kingdom of heaven."

ESTHER AND ADA

Chapter IV.

Our little Queen Esther was born in
Mountain Lake Park, Maryland, U. S. A.,
x^ugust 24, 1894. We were stopping in Hotel
Lennett, a rest home for weary workers in the
Lord's vineyard. We were there at the urgent
request of its founder, — -that noble man, A. W.
Dennett. He wished us to spend our last four
months in i\merica in that delightful place,
called by many "the nearest spot on earth to
heaven." We had with us in the rest home
about fifty missionaries and other workers, so
Baby Esther had a warm welcome ; and after
we had named her Esther — saying surely "She
had come to the kingdom for such a time as
this" — our friends added the name Dennett.

She was baptized and dedicated to God
September 10, the dear, white-headed "Bishop
Thomson" performing the rite ; and we all
prayed that she might indeed be a Queen
among Missionaries. She went to hold her first
missionary meeting, with her mother, when but

40 The Darjeeling Disaster.

four weeks old, and did very well. She sailed
for India when seven weeks old, with her five
brothers and sisters, and was the best sailor and
gave the least trouble of them all.

After six weeks she reached Calcutta, "still in
a good humour with the world and all about her.
Our native people called her Ranee (Queen).
She was a hearty, healthy child with fair curls
and a very affectionate disposition. Her short
life seems like a flash of sunshine. She had a
baby sister, whose name was Ruth^ whom she
had never seen, who went to heaven after being
with us three short weeks. She had heard from
the others about her, and she used to trouble us
sometimes by her questions concerning her and
heaven, often ending up by saying, "Mamma, I
want to go up to heaven and play with Baby
Ruth." What a grand time these angel babies
must be having together these days !

She was very fond of the little Hindu girls
who came to school at our house. She had a
special favourite — a very dear little girl* Indu
Bala, with whom she played nearly every day.

She could not bear to see a little child in
distress or danger, and often came to me cr3ang,

* See Photo.

Little Esther and her Hindoo Friend.

Esther and Ada. 41

begging me to go to the help of some one.
Esther had taken part with us in a few lessons
in ph)'sical exercise a year ago. From that time
she was continually reminding us to keep erect
at- the table, out walking, and wherever we
might be together, by saying, "Hips back,
mamma," "Maintain position. Maintain posi-
tion, mamma." Her wise little speeches — how
we yearn to hear them again.

She was very original in her prayers, and it
was a source of great joy to us — not unmingled
with amusement — to hear her lead in prayer at
the family circle or alone at her bedside. She
used often to say, " Oh, Lord, don't bess the
people only dat are good, but bess the bad
people too — all the people in the whole world."
She would tell God about everything. If her
bunnie was hurt, or if she had broken her dolly,
she seemed to have great comfort in telling
Him about it. Once while at the hills, she
heard of my suffering with the heat in Calcutta,
and that evening in her prayer she was heard
to say, "Oh God, send mamma lots of wind."
In the last little Sunday evening prayer
meeting at which we all knelt as a family
together, she prayed, " Oh Lord, bless not only

42 The Darjeeling Disaster.

dis family, but all de families in de whole
world."

She was a great singer. Her special favourites
were, "Jesus Loves Me," "The Mothers of
Salem," " Suffer little children to come unto
Me," and " When He cometh to make up His
Jewels." She had several Scripture verses
memorized. The last one she learned perfectly,
was, "Show me thy ways Oh Lord, teach me thy
paths," Psa. 25 : 4. Our darling baby girl ! How
far ahead of us is she to-day in understanding
God's ways ! We seem lost without her childish
prattle, and long to feel again her arms twine
about our neck.

She was with us in Calcutta until within a
few weeks of that terrible disaster. She went
up wdth her papa, as she said, to take care of
him, when he went to visit the children, and
she remained with them. We permitted her to
stay, thinking it best for her, and afterwards
every attempt to get her down seemed frustrat-
ed. It must be God had need of her and could
not spare her to us. I shall never forget our
last few moments together before she took the
train for Darjeeling when she assured me she
would not forget to say her prayers, neither

Esther and Ada. 43

would she quarrel with sister— "For, mamma, if
1 did those things, then God would not be
pleased." Little did I think that was the last
time I should ever see the darling. No wonder
it.nearly killed me to see her go.

Her little hand waving from the car window
as she smiled back "good-by" was the last time
we shall see that dear face — until after the night
is over and we see her beckoning hands in the
dawning of that eternal da)', and when they will
all run to meet us and welcome us home — then
we shall have them all again, and forever.

Ada Eunice was named by her papa, — Ada
for me. I called her Eunice, " Happy Victory,"
saying, " With her God will give me victory in
raising our missionary fund for India." Ada,
my name-sake, my little curly-head, how can I
write about her ! I can never picture her life so
others can understand. We were so proud of
her. If she were someone else's child I should
say she seemed perfect, physically and mentally.
She had feet and ankles like a deer ; was as fleet
as the wind ; could climb like a squirrel, and was
the companion of her two older brothers in all

44 The Darjeeling Disaster.

their walks and rambles, and they liked it
because she could go wherever they could, and
seemed perfectly fearless. She was full of play
and mischief; entered into all their games and
races : could ride or walk equal to any*.of them
—just the kind of a sister brothers like to have
about. She seemed gifted in many ways. For
one so young she wrote a beautiful hand, was
neat at sewing, and loved music and flowers
passionately.

Oh, how much we hoped for this child in the
future ! I am glad for the faith we have that our
dreams for her are not to be disappointed ; that
she will have unbounded opportunity for the
development of those faculties we so admired,
and when we see our beautiful Ada again we
will be satisfied to a degree we never could have
been here.

She was born in Dell Roy, Ohio, U. S. A.,
January 9th, 1 89 1, and was baptized the following
March 14th by our presiding elder, Dr. R. M.
Freshwater. She soon after becran her work as
my companion in holding missionary meetings in
different parts of the country, helping more than
others could ever understand. So good was
she that, night after night, she would go to sleep

w

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& fa

5- 3
o 5

2 D-

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Esther and Ada.

before the service and sleep until all was over,
giving no trouble to any one. One night after a
longer service than usual, on returning and
finding her sound asleep and happy, her uncle
said to me, " Well, Ada, I think your babies are
are made to order ; they seem never to interfere
with your work." And so it seemed. It was
during her babyhood that the fund for our
return to India was raised, so she travelled
many thousand miles with her mother during
the first two years of her life.

When thirteen months old she took a trip of
seven days, by train, to California. We had word
that my mother was dying, and she wished so
much to see me. Our engine broke down the
night before we entered Denver, Colorado, ana
we were delayed several hours. I remember how
earnestly I prayed that the train with which we
were to connect in Denver might be detained
so we might catch it. I felt so sure that the
Lord was planning this trip for a purpose, ana
believed he would not let me and my baby
miss the train. When we arrived, to my great
disappointment the train had left two hours
before, and there was no other train until night
and I must spend the day in some strange

45

46 The Darjeeling Disaster.

hotel. I left it all with Jesus and sought out a
hotel and sat down to think. I turned over the
leaves of my address-book, and found the name
of a gentleman whom I had never seen, but
who had written to me sending and offering for
our fund from his Sabbath-school class in
Trinity church. I found his office was
just near the hotel. I sent him a note, and
soon after he called. I asked him if there was
anything I could do during the day. He told
me that, not knowing beforehand, he could not
leave his office, but he would give me a letter
of introduction to two of the leading ladies of the
church, and if I would call on them they would
be able to open up work for me. It was a cold,
stormy day, the snow filling the air, almost
blinding one's eyes. While talking, he noticed
my baby on the floor near me, and said, " Is
this your baby, Mrs. Lee?" I answered in the
affirmative. " Oh, then it will be impossible for
you to go out."

" Oh, no," I said, " she is my partner in my
mission work and always helps me."

So I went, and the baby, as well as I, met
friends who have ever since been active helpers
in our works. From this opened up a whole

Esther and Ada. 47

week's campaign in Denver which we conducted
on my return trip a month later. This campaign
was characterized by two very large and
influential CTatherinsrs which did more than we
can ever tell for our mission work. With a fresh
delicious luncheon for the road, I returned in
time to catch the train in the evening, and has-
tened on westward to California.

When I reached my mother, I found her much
better, all of which God knew and I did not, or I
would not have murmured when the train broke
down and my plans seemed frustrated. This
taught me a lesson that I have learned many
times over : that God leads us in the right way
even when everything seems to be going wrong.

The companionship of Ada, but little more
than a year old, on that trip and during my
missionary campaign in Southern California,
I shall never forget. r\s we crossed the Great
American Desert, and after long hours of con-
finement in the train, on reaching the stations,
she would race from one end of the platform to
the other so rapidly that she seemed almost to
fly. She was such a mite that it attracted every-
one's attention. Even the Indians and squaws
who had gathered at the station to see the train,

48 The Darjeeltng Disaster.

would call out, " Ooch! pappoose, pappoose!"
("The baby! the baby!") At another time
during her second year she went with me on
a missionary trip. After arranging th'fc home
affairs so they could get on without us for a few
days, we drove five miles to catch a train. We
had agreed to be present at a certain place in
time for a meeting in the afternoon, and had
been praying much concerning it. When we
drove up to the station, imagine our dismay to
find the time-table had changed and our train
had left two minutes before. Three or four
hours must pass before another train would
be due and this would take us in too late for
our first engagement. It seemed at first God
was against us. I said to my husband, " It will
be so hard for Baby Ada to wait so long at the

station. Drive us up to Mrs , whom I have

met before, and I will wait at her house."

We drove up, and alighting with baby in
my arms I mounted the steps and rang the
door-bell. Mrs met me herself, and ex-
claimed, " Oh, Mrs. Lee ! who told you I was
wanting to see you so badly ? I was just about
to write for you. Come in," and giving me a
seat she began to talk. I found her in great

Esther and Ada. 49

distress of mind. She had sometime before lost
her only child, and Satan had taken advantage
of her in time of sorrow and had gotten her to
doubting God, and she had almost decided
there was no hope of her owm salvation.

We had a good time together with God's word
and in prayer, and she was greatly comforted
and helped. She then told me she wished, in
the name of this child whom God had taken, to
build a room in our mission house for our native
work in India, costing I300, (Rs. 900), to be
paid in yearly instalments of j|5o each. I
thanked God for this, and hurried away to the
train, and on arriving later in the afternoon I
found that on account of some picnic the meet-
ing had been arranged for the evening instead
of the afternoon, and that I was in plenty of
time for it.

All this God had arranged, and the miss-
ing of the train was only a part of his
great plan that he might turn me aside to do
another errand for him, and in doing this,
accomplished more for the work itself than any-
thing I had planned. Now, when He takes our
darling girl for whom we had planned so much,
although it seems so hard and we cannot now see

50 The Darjeeling Disaster.

why, yet we do believe with all our hearts that
our Father has planned it all, and that one day
we will praise him for all the way he has led us.

In all our travels before, and when on our
way to India, Ada was the favourite witlt^ every-
one, making friends both for herself and us
wherever she went. She was so interested in
all the sights, and shared in all the enjoy-
ments along the way. In London she insisted
on going with her papa and the other children
wherever they went.

I got the benefit of the day's sight-seeing
in her childish recitals to wee Esther, in baby
talk, of all that had occurred while they
were out : "I have been to see the great
Bittish Museum. Oo ought to been 'ere too.
We saw big kings and elephants, and pitty
itty angels wif wings. But musn't touch ; if
oo do, a great big policeman would take oo
away to jail. Then, too, we saw such lots of
pigeons, and beautiful green grass — wif no
"keep off the grass" on it either. We could roll
and play all over it. Baby sister, wouldn't oo
like to see the Bittish Museum ?"

Her fearlessness often led her into trouble.
Soon after w^e arrived in Calcutta, when she

Esther and Ada. 51

was only four years of age, a boy with his little
drum and monkey came along. Ada was delight-
ed with the tricks played, and the novelty of
eveything seemed to charm her. The next even-
ing she heard him coming, but he did not stop.
After a while our Ada was missing. The house
and the compound were searched, but no trace
could be found of her.

It began to grow dark ; everyone was anx-
ious, and we flew up and down the street in
search of her. After a while she was found
standing in a street in another part of the
city, crying. Some gentleman gathered from
what she said, something about the direction
from which she had come, and led her down the
street. After a while she espied the house, and
turning to him said, "See ! this is where my papa
lives." We asked her where she had been. She
began to cry, and said, "Mamma, I only went
to find the' monkey-boy, but I don't know where
his house is."

She became interested in kindergarten work,
and the kindergarten songs and plays were a
part of our home life. A year ago she became
very anxious to learn to read her Bible, and so
determined was she that in a very few weeks

52 The Darjeeling Disaster.

she was able to read with us at prayer time.
Her papa gave her a Bible of her own, of which
she was very proud, and was constantly finding
special verses in it, many of which she had beauti-
fully memorized. *

11 er favourites were, "They that trust in
the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot
be removed, but abideth for ever ; as the
mountains are round about Jerusalem, so
the Lord is round about his people from
henceforth, even for ever." Ps. 125 ; 1-2.

And another, " Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he
trusteth in thee ; trust ye in Uie Lord forever,
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength,"
Isaiah 26 : 3, 4.

The grand meaning of these verses must have
flashed into the mind of this darling girl during
that last hour on earth, when, having none else
to whom the}^ could look for help, that precious
little group cast themselves on God, and His
presence was so real that even the younger
children rejoiced in Him, and that hour of terror
was turned into an hour of joy and victory. He
failed them not ; He himself became their
refuge ; and although all material things were

Esther and Ada. 53

utterly destroyed, our Ada abideth forever.

She had a joyful summer in school, romping
and playing, climbing and racing all over those
beautiful mountains. Her part in our little
Sunday evening prayer-meeting was always
very real and striking to me. She often asked
God for a new heart, but she definitely sought
Jesus one Sunday evening a few weeks before
their translation, Vida and all the other child-
ren helping her with their prayers. She accepted
Him and received such peace and joy that
even her very countenance was changed.

In her last letter, written the day before the
land slip, she speaks of her desire to have always
a pure heart.

We do thank God that our darling is now like
Jesus, rejoicing in His presence, and that when
Jesus comes He will bring them all with Him,
and when we see her glorified body wc shall
then be satisfied and she shall be ours forever.

When I shall meet with those that I have loved,
Clasp in my arms the dear ones long removed,
And find how faithful Thou to me hast proved,
I shall be satisfied.

— Horatius Bonar,

54 TiiK Dakjeeling Disaster.

SuOuy^ji/rhOy J/hoyVYVCL .

OTto-n^n^j d/KUX -axe cuy-^ oJlX^ v-to^

Esther and Ada. 55

QauL Oyyyx.

qM<a>o^.

Chapter V.
HERBERT WILSON.

If we could push ajar the gates of life,

And stand within, and all God's working see,
We could interpret all this doubt and strife,

And for each mystery could And a key.
And if, through patient toil, we reach the land

Where tired feet, with sandals loose, may rest,
When we shall clearly know and understand,

I think that we will say, "God knew the best."

— M. R. Smith.

With the birth of our fourth child, Herbert,
dawned the busiest year in all my life as mother.
With four little ones looking up into our faces,
helpless, dependent, with no one to earn their
support but their father, whose small salary
required the most careful management to make
it meet our necessities, and no others' hands
but ours to provide for all the little wants and
to do the work in the home, I found my
moments full.

How to keep the little bodies clean and
comfortably clothed ; the best way to keep
them nourished with food suited to produce
the best results in the healthy development

(56)

3 °

Herbert Wilson. 57

of the entire physical structure ; how best
to execute that greatest of all missions — the
caring for and training of the young minds and
souls entrusted to our keeping by God himself;
these were all engrossing subjects, which kept
me busy, and happy too, in that dear little
country parsonage on the shore of one of
America's greatest lakes.

I can remember how often my arms and back
ached from the toil of the day and, when one
was ill, from the wakefulness and anxiety of the
night ; for, although a healthy lot of children,
there came times now and then when disease
would make its attack on one and another, and
often for days, and even weeks, I have seemed
to have to fight death in hand-to-hand strug-
gles. With tears and prayers and anxious
heart would I hold the little form all night ; and
yet how many times God heard and answered
and gave us back our darlings again in health.

Sometimes there was a temptation to be irrit-
able and displeased because, try ever so hard to
keep them so, the once tidy rooms would become
a chaos of books, slates, broken toys, dolls, baby
garments, shoes and stockings, filling floor and
chair, so that they looked as though (as their

58 The Darjeeling Disaster.

patient papa said) a cyclone had struck the
room. But Oh ! how little those things seem
no.w, and how gladly we would welcome back
the untidy rooms. How beautiful in our eyes
would their torn shoes and stockings now ap-
pear ; instead of the backache and armache
we now have a heartache from which there
seems no release.

We often catch ourselves listening for the
rush of our darlings on the stairs to see who will
beat up, and our lonely hearts long for the
sound of their merry voices. We sometimes
think if we could but feel their cheeks pressed
to ours and their arms twined about us with
the loving good night kiss, we could work day
and night, or dare anything, with a light heart.

It used to be a nightly habit before retiring,
to Qo into their rooms and see that each one was
safe and sleeping soundly ; and at 2 o'clock
to revisit the little beds and tuck each one in.
Many a time have I dropped on my knees
beside their beds and thanked God for them,
and committed them to His keeping for the
remainder of the night, and returned to my
couch and slept such sound and peaceful sleep
as only a tired, happy mother can.

Herbert Wilson. 59

Now the rooms and beds are empty, and
everywhere we turn, the blank and silence seem
to mock our yearnings, until we walk into the
star-light and turn our tear-filled eyes to
heaven. There they all seem to gather about
us, their bright faces seeming to peer down at
us, and we can almost hear them speak, so real
is the vision, and we return to our couch com-
forted as only God can comfort, and we seem to
rest on Jesus' bosom, " where nought but calm
is found."

I have many things to regret ; but how I
thank God now that I never felt we had one
too many ; nor did I ever tire of their noise
or of doing for them. I am glad that several
years ago I wrote the lines, " The highest honour
God has ever bestowed upon me in this life is
that of motherhood and the privilege of living
for the children He has given me. Next is the
honour of being a missionary of the Cross, and
the privilege of living for the women and children
of Bengal."

Tired mothers, may God help 3/ou understand
how rich you are, and how blessed your lot with
all your little ones about your feet. Be thank-
ful and murmur not, and do not let unnecessary

6o The Darjeelixg Disaster.

work crowd out of your life the time you need
to enjoy their prattle and play, and the time
necessary to teach them to sing and to pray and
to love God's word while the\' are voung,

I repeat, i^^hile they are young. I feel their
first years are the most important of their
lives to you. ]\Iy antidotes for scolding and
worry were singing and stor\--telling. Bible
stories being the favourites. The hours spent
thus did me as much good as it did the
children, with whom it was a delight. Oh I the
weight of the story, the value of the word oi
encouragement, the power of prayer and song
upon the children, — yes, upon all. \o one of
us rightly realizes this, or we would use them
more.

How proud 1 was when Herbert came and
we had two bo\"s — " a team," as \"\'ilbur called
them. He was born August 31, 1888 (on his
grandmother's birthday, although but little
chance did the dear boy ever have to enjo\'
a grandmother's love), at Saybrook, Ohio,
U.S.A. He weighed eleven pounds, and
seemed a bab\- almost three months old to
begin with.

Herbert Wilson. 6i

The Sabbath he was four weeks old, 1
attempted to get all four children ready for
Church, and told my husband I never could
do it ; I w^ould have to give up going to church
while they were so little. His answer was,
"Well, dear, if you give up now I fear you will
never go again." So I got ready and went,
and did it every Sunday afterwards. I found
about this, as everything else that was right to
do, that there was a way, and the children need
not be a hindrance, but if looked at in the right
light, they were always a help and a blessing.
He was dedicated in church that mornine bv
the rite of baptism, we thinking the Lord had
a great work for our baby boy to do, and pray-
ing for strength to guide him to it.

When six months old he came nearly dying
with pneumonia. F'cr twelve long hours one
night he struggled for his breath. We were six
miles from a doctor. The snow was so deep
and the storm so great no one dared to venture
out. We did all we knew ; still he grew worse.
We two bent over him all the night, with tears
and prayers, begging our heavenly Father to
spare his life. Near midnight the struggle for
breath became desperate. I could hardly hold

62 The Darji^kling Disaster.

him in my arms. I felt relief must come soon,
or our darling would leave us. We had done
everything in our power.

In our helplessness, his papa flung him.self
down on the bed in desperation and my heart
gave one agonizing cry to God for help. With
this Mr. Lee sprang to his feet, saying, " Why,
Ada, you forget that opossum oil the old lady
brought you some weeks ago. It can do no
harm ; give him some." He handed it to me,
and warming a spoonful I gave it to him,
believing God had told us what to do, and in a
few minutes the phlegm was thrown up. He
was immediately relieved, and before morning
was able to take nourishment and was soon
well again.

Herbert was different from all the rest. From
his boyhood he was a child with a determina-
tion seldom equalled. He would attempt
the impossible, and it nearly killed him to
fail or to have to give up anything he wished
to do. This used to give us trouble, until we
learned better how to manage him. There was
no " give up " to him. I used to say to his papa,
"The only thing to do with Herbert is to make
the thing right that he wishes to do," so

Herbert Wilson. 63

together we learnt to shift the Httle fellow
about and -to guide him into the right and
then let him drive ahead.

He was the most tender-hearted child I
ever knew. He was wonderfully fond of music,
of which he had no little share in his make-up.
There was a young lady who used to visit us who
was a noted whistler. The little fellow caught
it up. and used to creep about the floor
whistling, and before he could walk he could
hum the tune. "There is a Land that is
Fairer than Day." How I used to delight in
singing to him, he humming with me the tune
before he could talk. It was just as easy for
him to learn his books, and no one ever taught
him his letters, — he learned them by hearing
the others recite them, and while only a wee tot
used to surprise us by his achievements with his
pencil on the nursery blackboard.

He was converted when only five years old.
He deliberately and definitely gave himself to
Jesus once and for ever in a children's service
held at a camp meeting one Sunday afternoon.
He dated his new birth from that hour, and never
hesitated to tell any one when and where he gave
himself to Jesus. Ever after that day, his evening

64 The Darjeeling Disaster.

prayer was a settling up with God the accounts
of the day.

Often it had to be done with tears, for his
impetuous nature repeatedly got him into
trouble with others, and the difficulty he had in
yielding the point, or giving up what he had
undertaken, used to lead to slight exaggerations
or little stories, which he called his ^' besetting
sin." Gaining the battles in discussions some-
times led to hot words. These all had to be
repented of.

Our Sunday evening pra}er-meeting with
the children was the special time of review-
ing the week's work, with its temptations
and triumphs or failures. Such a time as this
used to be ! With Herbert it was usually a
time of confession, with tears for failures to live
up to the high standard we had before us, of
what the Bible said our lives should be. So
common was it for him, in praying, to break
down and cry, that little Esther in late years
used to say on Sunday evening, " Come
children, let's go to mamma now ; its time to
pray and cry."

Herbert was so anxious to become a member
of the Church, and to partake of the Lord's

Herbert Wilson. 65

Supper that, often, his earnest entreaties
bewildered us. After conning to Calcutta he
would give us no rest on Communion Sunday.
I would say to him, " Herbert, I fear you do
not understand what it means.''

" Well, mamma, you tell me it's to remember
Jesus' death. I love Him : do I not want to
remember His death too ? I try to please Him
every day, and I belong to Him. Why should
I not take the sacrament with you."

I could resist him no longer, and when he
was but little past six years old he was permit-
ted to kneel with us at the Lord's table and take
Communion, a sacred privilege which we have
all enjoyed together for the past five years.

I never saw two brothers more devoted to
each other than he and Wilbur, and 1 have
known months to pass without a single jar
between them. They were together in everv-
thing ; what one had the other had. Even in
their lessons, they studied together, until during
this last year, Wilbur failing in his examination
led to Herbert's being promoted to a class
higher, a state of things which we greatly
regretted, and which required much wise
management, on our part, on account of the

66 The Darjeeling Disaster.

thoughtless remarks dropped by others as to
the younger being brighter than the older, etc.
But even this God overruled, I believe, for
good.

Herbert was full of life and activity. It was
cruel to make him sit still. He was fond of his
violin, and had learned to play many pieces for
us. How proud I was of our boy and of his
straight, manly little form as he stood up to
play in concert with his brother, his sister Lois
playing the organ, and Vida often joining them
with her guitar.

"Blue Bells of Scotland," "Annie Laurie,"
"The Old Folks at Home," and "Home,
Sweet Home," as well as many of the dear
old hymns, such as " Oh for a thousand tongues
to sing," and " What can wash away my sins ? "
used to make our home ring with joy and have
become doubly sacred to us. It seems to me
sometimes that I can never sing again until
He comes and takes us home.

Herbert would take up a new piece and insist
on playing it when he had not tried it before.
Nothing would daunt or discourage him, and I
used to silence the dissenting voices of the
others by saying, " Let him try it, children.

Herbert Wilson. 6j

even if he fails." He would turn to me, so
grateful, and say, " Mamma, they think I can't ;
but just listen : I will show them I can."

Sure enough, he would surprise us all with
the degree of accuracy with which he was able
to execute it. Oh that darling boy ! With
what delight now that spirit, unfettered, must
dive into the unknown and untried of heaven !
How I picture his beaming face as he succeeds
up there ! We had hoped he would be a preacher
and do a wonderful work for God. The Lord
will not disappoint us in spite of the mists which
hang over us now.

He was so tender-hearted ; he would give
away almost his last penny, and he delighted to
take out a card and write on it his recfular crift of
two annas each Sunday evening from his pocket
money for the church collection. He could not
bear to see others suiTer, and had many friends
among the poor, and the native people. He was
a great boy for fun, and was tempted sometimes
to go too far.

A little over a year ago the two boys went on
top of the flat roof which was without balus-
trades, to play, a place where they had been
forbidden to go. In their fun Herbert sprang

OS The Darjeeling Disaster.

back, not knowing he was so near the edge.
He stepped off backwards, faUing nearly twenty
feet to the stone steps below. We were afraid to
look at him, thinking, of course, he waS dashed
to pieces. He was greatly shaken up, but not
a bone was broken, nor was there hardly a
scratch or bruise.

As we laid him on the bed nearly wild with
anxiety, he assured us he was not hurt ; that
God had sent an angel who caught him
and saved him from falling hard. He quoted
that verse in the 91st Psalm: ''He shall
give his angels charge over thee to keep
thee in all thy ways ; they shall bear thee up in
their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a
stone," and said, " Mamma, that is my verse.
How cfood God was to save me ! I would not
like to have died disobeying you and papa,"
and he could not rest until he had sought and
found pardon.

He had many verses so fixed that he could
unhesitatingly repeat them and tell where they
were found. He had a special liking for
Malachi 3: 16-17: "Then they that feared
the Lord spake often one to another, and the
Lord hearkened and heard it, and the book of

Herbert Wilson. 69

remembrance was written before him. ....
And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of
hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels."
Another favourite was Rev. 2 : 17 : " And the
spirit and the bride say come, and let him that
heareth sav come, and let him that is athirst
come, and whosoever will, let him take the
water of life freely."

He was greatly interested in a concert given
the Saturday evening before that terrible night,
and was busy selling tickets and inviting friends
to come. This was his last work of the kind.
He was only eleven years old, but could be
trusted to transact business, and helped us in
many ways in our work. They were both
naturally strong, healthy, rollicking boys, and
it does not seem possible that we can live
without them. I am thankful — oh ! so thank-
ful, for the assurance that they are living to-day,
active and happy in the homeland, and are
getting up many little surprises for us and
counting the days, — not until they can come to
us, but until we shall come home to them.

In our rambles they used to enjoy running
up a pakdandi (a short cut) in the mountains
and cominor out ahead of us on some higher

70 The Darjeeling Disaster.

elevation, and then waiting for us, and greeting-
us with some new thing they had found — a
flower, orchid or fern. They have only gone
a "shorter cut and beaten us hon:ie, and are
waiting for our slower, weary feet to reach home
by the longer way. Then — oh the greeting I
We can hardly await the dawning of that
bright morning, the beginning of that beauti-
ful, endless day. Until then we shall travel
with our eyes fixed on the eternal city, and our
hearts rejoicing even here in the hope of the
glory awaiting us.

"Some day," we say, and turn our eyes
Toward the fair hills of Paradise ;
Some day, some time, a sweet new rest
Shall blossom, flower-like, in each breast.
Some day, some time, our eyes shall see
The faces kept in memory ;
Some day their hand shall clasp our hand.
Just over in the Morning-land —
O Morning-land I O Morning-land!

— Edward H. Phelps.

Chapter VI.
WILBUR DAVID.

Peace ! perfect peace ! with loved ones far away,
In Jesus' keeping we are safe and they.
Peace ! perfect peace ! death shadowing us and ours,
Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers.

Wilbur was my little Samuel — asked of God,
Mr. Lee's health had failed the year before,
and he had to give up preaching and take a
year's rest. I remember the test to our faith
vvhen the last of our year's salary came in and
there was no prospect of more for another year..
We had always given God his tenth. Should
we tithe this, which was all we had, and it not
half enough to support us and our two little
girls for the three months ahead of us, let alone
a whole year ?

We hesitated only a moment, then said, " If
we use God's tenth it will be taking what
does not belong to us. It would also be
doubting Him who has never failed us. We
must live up to our principles." So we took the
usual part and gave it to the Lord's work, as we
had always done. It was not two weeks after-

(71)

72 The Dakjeeling Disaster.

wards until God sent us, from a most unexpected
source, ten times as much as we had given, and
'we were able to take the year's rest. This was
one of the great lessons of my life." I never
was afraid after that to take out our tenth for
the Lord, even if it was our last penny. The
Lord keeps his accounts balanced, and gives
back in gospel measure.

Mr. Lee was soon well and strong again, but
our going back to India seemed doubtful.

On August 26th, 1886, (the year we were
resting) in Mountain Lake Park, Maryland,
LT.S.A., Wilbur was born. How delighted we
were with our Boy Baby ! We gladly dedicated
him to God for India, but soon after, he took
ill, and was so ill, that he came near dying.
Day and night he cried until it was almost
unbearable. He was not able to retain nourish-
ment, and went down, down every day until
he was nothing but a skeleton. We called in
an old doctor, who did everything that could
be done. Finally he told us nothing could
save the child, and it was only a question
of a few days, and then he left us.

Still, T worked with the little fellow, hoping
and praying, but he grew worse until he weighed

Wilbur David. 11

less than five pounds, and the skin seemed to
dry on his bones. He was the most wretched
sight I ever saw. For three months I never
slept more than two hours at a time, and then
usually with him in my arms. Many times I
have prayed over him all night.

Finally one morning after such a night, I
laid him down to go and get the others some-
thing to eat. Suddenly the plaintive wail ceased,
and I rushed back to my baby to find his eyes
set, his arms and legs stiff, and he dying, as I
thought. I took him in my arms and prayed for
grace to give him up.

His papa said, " Shall I baptize him and
name him before he dies ?" I said, " Yes," and
not asking each other about the name, his papa
took him in his arms and baptized him, calling
him Wilbur. Although unable to draw his
tongue into his mouth all day, still he lived.

Some kind friend came in to watch with him,
and they sent me off to rest. While praying
and waiting before God I heard a little cry,
and went to my baby to find the change had
come, and he was able to take nourishment.
I got out his clothes again and went to work
nursing him, saying to his papa, " Never mind ;

74 The Darjeeling Disaster.

he'll live to be a man yet." A few days later
an abcess seemed to break and come away, and
the little fellow, although he looked to be a
cripple, grew strong and became a nice*- hearty
child.

The old infidel doctor said, " If this child
lives I will believe there is a God." When
Wilbur was ten months old I met him on the
street one day, and he looking on our fat,
bonny boy, said, "Well, I have seen one miracle
in my life ; there must be a God."

A year or two later Wilbur came nearly
being washed away by a \vave on the shore of
Lake Erie. I caught him by the dress just as
he was being swept under the water. He has
had several other narrow escapes. Two or
three times in his life he has been very ill, and
we were very anxious about him ; but I was
always so sure he had a special mission that I
never feared but that his life would be spared.
Can it be he was born for the Darjeeling
disaster ? Was that his mission ?

There is something mysterious about prayer.
We are told it wields a wonderful power with
God. I have had many wrestlings with God in
prayer for the dear ones and the work, and

Wilbur David. 73

great victories. Is it not strange that in this
one awful hour of their Hves we did not even
know of their danger, and had no chance with
God in prayer for them ? Surely, this was also
a part of His purpose.

After his recovery, I added the name David
to Wilbur, for his papa, and especially for the
meaning — beloved of the Lord ; and never was
a boy dearer to his mother, too, than he.

I found him, when very young, a boy who
could entertain himself. Always building little
sand-houses, making mills and light-houses, and
even to the last, always inventing play engines
and machines, building forts and equipping
them. He was also ingenious in inventing or
discovering ways of doing things. We noticed
this on the last day of his life. When he could
not get his jaws apart so as to drink from a
glass or cup and we were all wondering what
to do for him, he said, " Mama, if I had a straw
I could suck the water through it," and acting
on this suggestion we got a glass tube with a
rubber attached, and he was able to take
nourishment for many hours. Then when he
no longer swallow such quantities, he suggested
a sponge, and the dear boy used this to the last

76 THK DARJKliLING DISASTER.

When the two brothers were old enough to
pla}^ together they seemed perfectly happy in
-each other's company. This was a great pro-
tection to both. Friends used to crkicise our
policy ; for we never allowed them on the street,
or to play with other boys. I have been told
that in thus doing I was totally unfitting them
for life's battles.

But I knew our Wilbur was so quick to
imitate, that until stronger, I must shield him
from the sin about him, — this policy I would
practice if I had a hundred boys.

He also learned at home ; never having gone
to school until eight years of age, so I am sure
the boy never heard an oath until he was about
nine years old, and then he did not know what
it meant. When it was explained to him he
thought it an awful thing, and his whole nature
revolted against the use of profane language.

He was naturally a brave boy, and I have
known him to stand any amount of jeers and
taunts rather than to do a mean thing. I
was his confidant, as every mother should be to
her son. There would not be so many boys go
wrong if every mother insisted on knowing
w^here her boy was and all about what he

Wilbur David. ^jj

was doing, from the time of his infanc}-. She
would be able to save him from many a snare,
and I believe if we begin in time — we mothers —
we can build so strongly around our boy's hearts
that Satan and all his powers can not invade
successfully our domain.

He was frequently asked about how each
hour was spent while out of the house, and was
so in the habit of telling me everything, that
should he do w^'ong or engage in anything he
had been requested to keep from his mother, his
conscience so troubled him, he could not lono-
endure it without telling me all about it. He
was also a great protection to his younger
brother. Many a time the one might have
been unable to withstand the temptation alone.

About a year ago some boys were trying to
get him to fight another, and because he \v^ould
not, called him a coward. He answered, "I am
not a cow^ard, but I was taught that it was
wrong to fight ; besides, this boy is smaller than
I am, and a Bengali boy. I could never do so
mean a thino; as to hurt such a bov\" and he
took the sneers and cuffs of the boys, but would
not yield.

78 The Darjeeling Disaster.

He hated dishonesty and cruelty, and felt
most indignant at any one who had robbed a
' bird's nest or injured a young bird. 1 have
known them to hide and protect nests from other
boys until the birds were ready to fly. Should
any one destroy one of these birds he would cry
bitterly ; he could not bear to see anything
suffer.

Notwithstanding this, he was a great, rollicking
boy, full of play and mischief, even boisterous
at times ; but the moment he was alone with
me, a place he liked so much to be, he was
as gentle and manly as a boy could be, always
ready to help me in whatever I was doing,
— cooking, sewing, or whatever it might be.
^' Mama, can't I help you?" rang out so merrily
on my ears that the words themselves seemed to
do half the work and lift the burden from
everything. He was my right hand.

Oh ! the companionship ! I think we were
more together than the others. His eyes not
being very strong, I had always read much to
him, and used to help him in his lessons, so that
every day we had one or two hours alone
together.

Wilbur David. 79

How I used to enter into their play. He and
his brother were both very fond of soldiers, and
much of their play v. as in imitation of them,
—marching and drilling with all sorts of uni-
forms and make-believe swords and guns. The
two little sisters were always ready to join
in with all sorts of tin pans and broken bottles
for drums and bugles, with streamers and flags
flying — the trophies of many a battle. In their
play last year the Spanish were routed and
Manila taken many times over. How fitting it
was for the brave men of the Munster Regiment
at Darjeeling to carry our boy to his last resting
place ! There were no others whom he would
have preferred.

Wilbur, too, was a singer, and of late years

his voice had become very strong and musical.

He was also learning the violin, and played

several pieces very well. One of his special

songs was "The hand-writing on the wall";

others, "Tell it to Jesus," and,

" Someone will enter the pearly gates,
Shall you, shall I."

He was very fond of visiting the hospital and
taking flowers and papers to the sick, and
enjoyed distributing tracts.

8o The Darjeeling Disaster.

I find an entry in Vida's diary of last year,
as follows : " We were out in the square this
evening, the boys distributing tracts as usual.

Wilbur gave a gentleman one, and h^, making
fun said, ' Where will this ticket take me, m\'
lad?'

' To heaven, I hope,' said Wilbur, and walked
on.

He was a very sociable boy. He liked to
meet people, and had many friends among
young and old. He had such a gentle way with
little children, and he knew how to win them.
Then, too, he was so full of play. He could
amuse and interest others.

He was a great boy to tell stories and inci-
dents, and if he ran out of those he actually
knew, invented one for the occasion — such as a
shipwreck.

If I would say, " W^hy, Wilbur, where did you
read that interesting story ?"

He would answer, '' I did not read it, mama,
it's just one I made."

When I suggested a doubt as to its being the
thing to do, he would say, " Why, mama, people
imagine these stories and write them in books ;
what harm is it for me to imagine a shipwreck

Wilbur David. 8i

and tell it to others ?" Herbert would listen to
him by the hour.

While he was a natural boy and enjoyed boys'
toys and games, he was also very fond of
dolls and girls' play. Only two years ago he
was very ill, and had to be in bed two or three
weeks. One of our missionary's daughters
came to see him, and said, "Wilbur, what can
I do for you ? What can I send you ?"

" Have you not a lot of dolls ?" he said, "sup-
pose you send me one of them."

She sent him one dressed as a sailor-boy.
He then coaxed me for a wife for his sailor. A
few days afterwards he saw a beautiful little baby
doll only about three inches tall, and said, " Let
me have that for a baby for my sailor-boy ; than
I will have a whole family." These he kept
among his treasures to be brought out when-
ever little friends came in, and we found them
still among his things after he was gone.

He was very quick to understand that
boys are sometimes unwelcome guests. He
and his brother had a lady friend who often
invited them to her place, and always seemed
glad to see them. I overhead Wilbur remark
one day concerning this friend, " She is a fine

82 The Darjeeling Disaster.

lady. She does not think boys are in the
way."

Herbert chimed in and said, " Yes, and she
knows what boys Hke, too." **-

Then "Hip ! Hip ! Hurray for Miss G. ! !" and
all, little and big, joined in the three cheers.

Wilbur was very fond of flowers and ferns.
He delighted in the mountains, and was contin-
ually finding some new flower or leaf to bring
home to me. What jolly times they had climb-
ing and racing ! Could other children ever have
a grander time together than they ? During their
two months' vacation, each hot season, for the
past four years, they have roamed those dear
old hills over and over from Kurseong to Dar-
jeeling ! Oh I the freedom and the enjoyment
of those times ! Is it possible these days are
gone forever ?

This year was also one full of joy. In spite of
the excessive rains they would have their picnics
and outings and days with their ponies, often
coming home drenched. Wilbur was one to
propose their staying up at the hills during the
hot weather while we were getting their home
ready for them in Calcutta, and he to^k no little
share of the responsibility about the house.

Wilbur David. s$

He looked after things, and he and Herbert did
all the buying and keeping them in food. He
was so helpful and kind that Vida often spoke
of it in her letters.

He was also happy in his school relations,
and seemed to be studying hard. In my last
letter to him [ said, "If you pass your examin-
ation this year, Wilbur, papa and I are going to
give you a bicycle," the thing he so much
coveted. He wrote back how pleased he was
and that he had so long wished for one, and as-
suring me he was trying to win it.

"But," he said, *' mama, do you know who de-
serves a bicycle more than I? It is Vida. She has
been so good to us children ever since you went
down— just like a mother to us. I think she ought
to have a bicycle if no one does."

Vida as the oldest sister was faithful to her
trust until the last. So was our darling boy to
his, and their reward— what can it be ? Some-
thing far better than a bicycle,— something that
fills them with joy supreme. Oh! how we long
for one glimpse of their bliss ! Just one look a't
our boys' cheery faces, how it would comfort our
tired, aching hearts. ]^ut the Lord only took
us at our word when we gave them to him, and

84 The Darjeeling Disaster.

had need of them on the other side. Instead
of the strong arm of my boy that I had hoped to
lean on, He puts underneath us his everlasting
arms, and we just rest there until the time for
Him to bear us home :

There'll be songs of greeting when Jesus comes,
There'll be songs of greeting when Jesus comes :
And a glorious meeting when Jesus comes.

To gather his children home.
There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes,

To gather his children home.

o

CO

>

12
O

o

Q O

Chapter VII.
LOIS GERTRUDE.

She is not dead — the child of our affection —

But gone unto that school
Where she no longer needs our poor protection,

And Christ himself doth rule.
Day after day we think what she is doing

In those bright realms of air ;
Year after year, her tender steps pursuing,

Behold her grown more fair.

— Longjellotv.

Lois, "Timothy's Grandmother," as she called
herself — was born in Freeport, Ohio, U.S.A.,
July 2, 1884, ^'^d was baptized by our presiding
elder. Dr. E. Hincysley, August 10. After
the dear old man had baptized her he put her
again in my arms, saying, " As Pharaoh's
daughter said to Moses' mother, so the Lord
says to you : ' Take this child away and nurse
it for me, and I will give thee thy wages'."

From that moment the care of this child
became a sacred trust, a special work for God,
and what a sweet, blessed work it has been.
How I did enjoy that darling girl. She never

(85)

S6 The Darjeeling Disaster.

gave me one hour of sorrow, not one moment
of anxiety, in all the fifteen beautiful years of
her life. She was our joy and sunshine, our
never failing comfort. Can it be possible any
one so real, so full of life, so a part of ;/ij life,
could be dead ? Oh, I am so thankful she is
not dead, only just crossed over ahead of us,
and is living, rejoicing, and loving us just the
same to-day.

But the greatest wonder of all is that we still
live and s/ie gone. I had for a long time thought
I could never part with her, not even for a few
years to allow her to finish her education. I
said over and over again, " It will kill me to
send her home." The Lord knew he could not
trust me to tell me beforehand what he
intended to do, but did it without our know-
ledge ; for our darlings were nearly twenty-four
hours in heaven before we knew they had gone.

How can 1 portray her sweet, beautiful life I
Oh that I could tell the half of what her lite
was to us !

She was unlike any other child we had. I
seldom ever had to reprove her, and when it
was necessary, just the mention of her fault was-
enough, and it nearly broke her heart to think

Lois Gertrude. 87

she had done wrong or had in any way dis-
pleased us. Her Sister Vida used to say,
" Oh, it's nothing for Lois to do right ; she is
naturally good ; but it means something when
1 succeed."

When our Lois was a baby, even then she
was no trouble, and was so quiet and gentle.
The winter she was a year and a half old I
taught a Sunday-school class. Every Sabbath
morning I would go into the Sunday-school
room and find the seats arranged for the class,
with two chairs side by side facing it — one for
myself and one for Baby Lois. Placing her in
one she would sit quietly without a word for an
hour, until 1 had finished my work ; and yet she
was anything but pokey. At other times she
would run and romp and play equal to any of
them.

She was very bright and quick in her lessons
as a little girl, and began the study of music
when but seven years old. She used to play
the organ for family prayers when her little feet
could hardly reach the pedals. Her music was
more the result of every-day home practice
rather than constant work under a professor.
She had about three terms of lessons at different

88 The Darjeeling Disaster.

times with the best professors to be had, but it
was the every-day practice, and her playing for
prayers and our times of singing in the even-
ings in our home, that made music- such an
easy thing for her. There were many girls who
had taken more lessons, and upon whom
more had been spent, who could not begin to
play as well, — in fact, who seemed unable to
play much sacred music ; but it was in this that
Lois felt at home. I say this to encourage
some parents who may regret not having the
money to give their children a musical educa-
tion. It is surprising what can be done by one-
self in the home to stimulate in the children a
taste for music, even though not a professional
musician.

I believe we as parents are more responsible
for our children's so-called talents than we
think, and our children are much more what we
make them than any of us has any idea. I
loved music so much, though I had no special
musical education, and i so longed for our
children to be musicians. I used to sing a great
deal myself, and each baby that came was sung
to sleep night after night. But we were dis-
appointed to find that Vida and Lois seemed

Lois Gertrude. 89

to have no gift in that direction. I tried to
teach them the simple child-song,
" Jesus loves me,"

singing it to them daily, and having them
repeat strains with me, but they were neither
of them ever able to carry a tune until Vida was
about nine years old. At last they began to
sing and to play, and how rejoiced we were.

We had a desire that each should choose and
learn to play a different instrument, and after
the two girls could read notes they made their
choice, Vida taking the guitar as hers, and Lois
the piano and organ. We afterwards gave our
boys each a violin, and by keeping them all at
it a little each day they had become able to
play a number of pieces together in such a way
as to be a great joy to us. The evening hour
of music was my rest hour, and their papa's
interest in their music had much to do with
cheering them on over the hard places.

It is wonderful what an effect even a child's
toys will have in moulding the child, and the
bent in life is often had from some familiar
object seen daily or used in childhood. I have
known instances where a desire to go to sea
had been kindled in a boy's heart by the

90 The Darjeeling Disaster.

picture of a ship which hung on a wall in the
home ; also, a thirst for war and to be a soldier,
by pictures of battles. If so, how careful we
should be in choosing even our pictures and
picture books for the home.

We found that our children got a love for the
Bible in this same way. Illuminated wall-texts
— very beautiful ones — were hung in the family
room for this purpose, and those special texts
they learned before they could speak plainl}^,
and to the last they could tell where each text
hung, and seemed to learn to love it, as it was
associated with their daily lives.

So, too, I believe many children who may
not have inherited any special talent, would
become beautiful musicians if before they
knew even how to use them they were given
musical instruments to play with. The same
might be said about drawing and painting ; also
a love for reading might be induced in the
same way.

The Bible story was the charm of our child-
ren's lives and next to it was our music, and
the helpful books read to them before they
were able to read for themselves. What a
responsibility rests upon us parents. We make

Lois Gertrude. 91

or ruin our children by the use of the God-
given power we Lave over them. Oh, that we
all felt more awake to this and taught our
children the word of God more like the people
of Israel were commanded to do — writing it on
the posts of the house ; " i\nd these words
shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach
them diligently unto thy children, and shalt
talk of them as thou sitteth in thine house, and
when thou walkest by the wa}', and when
thou liest down and when thou riseth up."
How much more conformed to God's will
would their lives be, and mothers woula have
less cause for heartache.

I prefer this way, to that of giving them an
education in worldly things (such as teaching
them to dance, that they might shine in society,
and all the other paraphernalia to prepare them
for this style of life). This latter way I consider
most dangerous, and while some children may be
able to withstand the influence and yet become
spiritual Christians, I believe the majority will
choose the world instead of Christ, and by
these very things we teach them, they will be
weakened for life's duties and totally unprepared
for eternity. My one regret is that I was not

92 The Darjeeling Disaster.

more alive to all these things while the blessed
day of opportunity was mine. If these words
might only be used to stir up other mothers to
realize more fully their responsibility ^-and priv-
ilege, I shall be thankful.

Lois, like the rest, was passionately fond of
flowers. When a wee child she used to watch for
the first dandelions and white clover. With the
latter they used to weave great wreaths and play
with them every day. Buttercups and daisies
were her delight, and many were the offerings
brought home to me, and a bouquet I must
always wear, pinned on with her own hands.
Pansies and chrysanthemums were other favour-
ites of hers. Her favourite fruit, flowers, books
and songs — all seem to suggest to us our great
loss. Her songs we feel we can never sing
without her, and everything about us seems
changed because of her absence.

She was a natural elocutionist, and many
were the home entertainments which she helped
to make delightful with her witty or touching
recitations, — one moment making us laugh with
delight, and the next, cry. If this talent had
been specially cultivated, certainly she would
have excelled in it.

Lois Gertrude. 93

She was a most tender-hearted girl, and could
not bear to give pain or see anyone in distress.
This only developed as she grew older. She
was converted in July, 1893, when but nine
years old. She had been attending a meeting
for children, at which her Sister Vida had given
herself to Jesus a few days before. Lois did not
seem to have anything to repent of, as we could
see, and we thought she was all right ; but one
evening on coming in from some gathering,
instead of finding all the children asleep as 1 had
expected, I found them in a great commotion.

Wilbur met me in his night-clothes, and
said, '' Mama, what's the matter with Lois ?
She woke us up singing, and now she is laugh-
ing and crying." I went to her room and found
her rejoicing in a most natural, childlike way.
She threw her arms around my neck, her face
just beaming with the light of heaven, and said,
I'Now, mama, I'm ready to go to India, or
anywhere God wants me to go." From that time
she reckoned herself a child of God, and was
always ready to testify or pray in her sweet,
child-like way. We have often known her to
work for the conversion of others, praying for
persons by name.

94 The Darjeeling Disaster.

She and her Sister Vida, although such
opposites in disposition, were from childhood
devoted to one another. They were together
in everything, one not being able to enjoy any-
thing without the other. If one's doll was
broken, the doll of the other was carefully put
awa}^ until the broken one was replaced. A
box of sweets could not be enjoyed until the
other one had them too. One seemed to be
the complement of the other. I am glad they
were saved the sorrow of separation.

Lois was, as we called her, grandmother to all
the children, and had a wonderful motherl}' way
with the little ones, which was a great help in
the home. She always said she was going to
study medicine and be our medical missionary,
a sa\'ing which during the last year or two had
grown into a deep conviction. She loved her
Bible, and read many chapters daily, as her
diary shows, and had many uncommon verses
which she had memorized and could tell where
they were. She had special verses for every
day in the month, and often gave us her ^' find"
for the da}'. On the 9th of May, 1898, I find in
her diary this entry, — " My verses for to-day,
are Matt. 9, 29 : ' iVccording to your faith be

Lois Gertrude. 95

it unto you'; Mark 9, 23, 'Jesus said, if thou
canst believe, all things are possible with him
that believeth', and II Cor. 9, 8 : ' God is able
to make all grace abound toward you ' "

Once, when I was talking to them about their
education, and regretting that we had not the
money to send them home to finish their school-
mg, she said " Mama, ' the Lord is able to
give thee much more than this ;' this is my
verse in IF Chron 25, 9." Since that day it has
been one of my anchor texts.

In her diary for 1896, we find several notes
of great interest to us, such as, " My text for
this week is, ' Blessed are those servants whom
the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watch-
ing, ' " and in another place, " I am sorry I was
naughty to-day ; I will try and never be so
again ; ' Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved.'"

The following gives us a glimpse into her
inner life: " I have been trying to be good and
get full marks this week in conduct and in
everything (this was about her school life). One
of the girls put my name down when I never
spoke, so one mark is off already. Mama is
is away to the South Villages, so we all have to

96 The Darjeeling Disaster.

be mama, and are trying our best. I read
Psalm 20. I must go to bed now; so good-
night, my dear old diary."

In the beginning of 1897 we find under notes
for that year : "1 am going to be a very good
girl, with God's help.''

2. " I am going to try and make everybody
happy."

3. " I wish to remember the Golden Rule."

4. " I wish also to have good lessons."

5. "My text for the year, is, " Except the
Lord build the house, they labour in vain that
build it," Ps. 127, I.

On Sunday, March 6, 1898, we find this-
sweet entry : " I went to all the Sunday services
to-day. I got a great blessing. God help me
to be good.

' Oh, how sweet the glorious promise
Simple faith may claim ;
Yesterday, to-day, forever,
'Jesus is the same.' "

Another in the same month : " We went to^
the Zoo to-day. Mama could not go, so I
brought her a pansy."

A few days later, she writes : " I am asking
Jesus for an organ." She had saved different
sums of money since quite a little girl, hoping

Lois Gertrude. 97

to gather enough to buy an organ. When only
four years old her papa gave her a little pig,
which she fed and cared for, and when we
removed from that place, it was sold, she keep-
ing the proceeds for her organ.

Later, when we came to India, the old
melodeon on which she had practiced as a
child was sold at our sale. When the men
carried it out of the house, the children
hid their faces, as though they could not bear
to see the old friend go. Lois had a quiet
cry to herself.

Her papa handed her the money it brought,
and told her to keep it for a new one. Another
friend gave her a sovereign, and often even her
pocket money went into this fund.

At the beginning of this year we found she
had money enough to buy a little American
organ which was offered very cheap, so her papa
purchased it for her, and she was delighted with
it. We took it to the hills, and this organ, and
the boys' violins, and Vida's guitar lie beneath
those awful ruins.

They each had their bank account, and
handled their own money. We find they had

98 The Darjeeltng Disaster.

saved a good bit of their pocket money ; for
there are still sixty rupees (|2o) to their credit.
This we have put into their " Memorial Building
Fund."

Another entry, dated March 27, 1898, runs:
"To-day I read Luke from the 13th to the 20th
chapter. 1 got a great blessing this evening.
Oh, God, help me to help Wilbur and Herbert.
' Walk while ye have the light.'

"'Tis done, the great transaction's done,
' I am my Lord's and He is mine.'"

On her birthday in 1898, we find these
verses, taken for the last year of her life, — Isaiah
54, 10, 14: " For the mountains shall depart
and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall
not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant
of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that
hath mercy on thee."

The 14th verse is underscored : " In right-
eousness shall they be established. Thou shalt
be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear ;
and from terror, for it shall not come near thee."

These seem to us like prophecies fulfilled in
her death.

Lois Gertrude. 99

The mountains did depart, and the hills were
removed, but I believe the Lord's kindness did
did not depart from that dear girl, and it
was in the keeping of His covenant of peace
that he snatched her out of the destruction
caused by the fury of the elements on that
awful night, and this prophecy was literally
fulfilled in saving her from fear and terror in
the hour of death. He folded her in his loving
arms and bore her away to be forever with him.

A part of her diary for 1899 was dug out
of the ruins. It has a few characteristic
entries. On June ist, we read, "To-day I
made out a routine, and mean to keep it with
God's help. I took the daily prayer-meeting
this afternoDn at the school. My verse was,
' Call upon me and I will answer thee and
show thee great and mighty things which thou
knowest not.' "

June 2nd : " I did not go to school to-day as
it was very rainy, but wrote letters instead.
1 found out that my great grandfather on
mama's side was a Methodist preacher ; my
grandpa on papa's side was a (local) Methodist
preacher ; my honourable dad is a Methodist
preacher, and my kids will most likely be

loo The Dakjeeling Disaster.

Methodist preacher's kids." This last shows-
how full of wit and mischief she was. No girl
ever got more joy out of life than she.

She speaks in these entries very affectionately
of her bosom friend, Flora, the daughter
of one of our missionaries. On June 24th,
our last Saturday before we left them to return
to our work, she speaks of the glad, joyous
time, and says, " Flora came. She is such a
sweetheart. L love her so much. I think God
meant us for each other."

June 27th " Mama and papa, with Frank and
Esther, left for Calcutta to-day."

She afterwards writes of the Fourth of July
they had together, and the state dinner, as they
called it, which they cooked and served them-
selves, having invited their principal. Miss Stahl,
and Flora, to dine with them.

Her spiritual life seemed to develop rapidly
this year, and to her joyousness there seemed no
bounds.

She had a way of getting around her papa \
in fact, every one. It was difficult for anyone
to refuse a request she made. She seemed to
make only reasonable ones, and had such a
loving, irresistible way about her that we would

Lois Gertrude. ioi

deny ourselves anything to please her. And
gladly would we have given our lives to have
saved her from pain and death.

Oh, how cruel it seems that her bright life
should have been crushed out and that dear
form bruised and mangled. Just think — thrown
nearly 200 feet down the mountain side and
found buried in the sand, all but her pretty
white hand. She was dug out by friends, and
carried to where kind strangers prepared her for
the burial.

Then from the spot where she had often
heard the word of God, and had played the
organ for Sunday School, and united her voice
in the singing the beautiful hymns of praise —
from the little church in the hills, they bore
her all covered with her favourite chrysan-
themum, and laid her away, long before we
could reach her. No " good bye, mama" nor
parting word.

But our hearts would break should we dwell
on this part of this awful mystery. So we try
to drive it all away and think only of her
glorified spirit, happy with God in Heaven.

She wrote just a few weeks before : "Mama — -
you have written to all the rest, but not to me for

102 The Darjeeling Disaster.

a long time. I think you have forgotten you
have me." The thought of not having her would
kill me — and the future without our darlings i&
so dark and dismal that to-day we feer we can
never face to-morrow. But as we turn from the
busy whirl of life to see the sunset each day, we
say to ourselves : It is one day less until we
shall go to them, — one day nearer home.

As we think of Christmas without them, it
seems impossible for us to ever live through that
once joyous tide again — and we catch ourselves
breathing the prayer " Come Lord Jesus, come
not only for our sakes — but for others — and make
this sad world glad. Usher in the time John
spoke of when he said, ' Behold the Tabernacle
of God is with men, and he will dwell with them
and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them and be their God. And God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain,
for the former things are passed away.' "'

In her writing desk we found the following in
her own handwriting. Surely her ambitions
have been realized and she is now all she hoped
to be.

Lois Gertrude. 103

JO ^ a '^cCotJZA.'

'^^oA.eA. C^ l%9q.

dLo-L/y gLaZ .

How perfectly she must play and sing now.
I remember on two occasions — once on my
birthday anniversary, I was awakened from a
sound sleep, by Vida playing her guitar at the
door of my room. Another time, only a year
ago, I had gone to sleep earlier than usual, and
was awakened by Lois playing on the piano
and she and Vida singing so sweetly.

I thought, at first, I was in Heaven — so sweet
were the sounds, that it seemed the angels were
singing. Tears of joy flowed down my cheeks.
Methinks one day I will be thus awakened by
their music, and will open my eyes in Heaven

I04 The Darjeelixg Disaster.

with them all about me — each one trying to be
first to greet m.e.

When I shall meet with those that I have loved.
Clasp in my arms the dear ones long reftioved,
And find how faithful Thou to me hast proved,
I shall be satisfied.

Horatius Bona?'

Chapter VI IT.
VI DA MAUD.

In the clear morning of that other country
In paradise

\Vi:h the s.ime lace that we ha^ e loved and cherished
She shall arise.

Let us be patient we who mourn, with weeping,

Her vanished face.
The Lord has taken but to add more beauty

And a diviner grace.

And we shall tind once more beyond earth's sorrows

Beyond those skies.
In the fair city of the sure foundation

These heavenly eyes.

The name of our first born, V:ca Maud,
would have been David had she been a bo>-. A
friend suggested the feminine ci Da\*id, which
is Vida, so her name is that of her father's, and
the pronunciation suggests the country oi her
birth — the Land of the \'edas. She opened
her eyes nrst in a little mtid cottage in the
beautiful city of Bangalore, July 20, iSSj. She
was dedicated to God at her birth, and again
publicly in baptism, September 10, the Rev.
Ira A. Richards officiating^.

(105)

io6 The Darjeeling Disaster.

She went to America with her parents, —
her father being very ill, — starting when only
seven months' old, by sailing vessel. The
moon and the stars and the sea-bitds were
her first friends, in all of which she took a
lively interest. After nearly four months
on board she landed in the noisy bustle of
New York city, which so frightened and
bewildered her that she never was happy while
there excepting the day we returned to the
ship where she saw her friends, the sailors,
and the only home she knew — the dear old
vessel which had brought her safely through
man\- a storm.

She began her missionar}- work in travelling
from place to place with her father and mother
while they were speaking on India. After a
few months she settled down as a preacher's
baby, who is usually the centre of much loving
attention and kind thought.

When only three years old her grandfather,
who lived with us, and of whom she was very
fond, died. As the funeral passed out of the
church and she saw her grandma leaning on
her father's arm weeping, she ran up to her
and catching her by the dress, called out,

ViDA Maud. 107

" Don't cry, grandma, Vida will take care of
you now." Her little heart was almost broken
to see her grandma's grief.

.From infancy she was a child very difficult to
control. One of strong passion, with a temper
beyond an}* power to subdue, and yet a
child with a most affectionate nature and of
sterling honesty. She hated falsehood and
deception with all the powers of her being.

Many times we knew not what to do,
and confessed our inability to guide and control
this strange child, and earnestly prayed for the
day when Vida should find Jesus and the new-
nature He alone could impart. This was con-
stantly kept before her, and she, too, became
desperate about herself, and often sought earn-
estly. That blessed da\^ came, and she was
converted at a camp meeting held at Mountain
Lake Park, Maryland, July 2, 1893, when eleven
years old.

She and her sister Lois, two years younger,
at an invitation for seekers, knelt at the
altar together. The first meeting closed
without her getting into the light. She came
home deeply convicted of sin, and after prayer
together and a bit of instruction she returned to

io8 Tiib: Dakjkkling Disaster.

the afternoon service and again went to the
altar. She was brightly converted, and testified
before a large audience to Jesus' saving power.
Her face beamed with joy, and many hearts
were moved by her sweet, childish testimony.
She was a changed girl from that time, although
she had much to contend with, and it was no
easy thing for her to live out her high ideal of
what a Christian life should be.

Shortly after this, in a holiness meeting, she
sought definitely for the blessing of sanctifica-
tion, and no one who knew her ever doubted
her receiving it. Her joyous, childish simplicity
in it only made her a greater blessing to others.
She did not always retain this blessed experi-
ence, but she was never satisfied without it.

A young man, a backslider, came to
that convention so dejected that he was
almost in despair and ready to take his
own life. He was a perfect stranger, but the
child noticed his sad, hopeless face, and went to
him with so much joy that the man was over-
powered by her influence.

"You look so sad," she said; " it's because
you want Jesus. Come along with me and
find Him."

ViDA Maud. 109

He went forward as a seeker, and never left
the place of prayer until he too was happy in
Jesus. He wrote of this to us after our return
to India, saying he could not resist her, and that
he felt she had been the means of his salvation.

She went to school but little in America, and
found it difficult to get along with her studies,
but being desirous of having a good education,
she became a persevering student. She was
specially fond of history and mathematics. She
was also a great lover of the beautiful in nature
as well as in character. Flowers and ferns were
her delight ; buttercups, daisies and wild
flowers being special favourites. She had a
passion for music and motion, and had she
been thrown into such surroundings in her
younger years she would have been led away
by gaiety, dancing and dress.

She was a splendid letter writer for one of
her age, and could write most interesting letters.

At twelve years of age she returned to India
with her parents and soon entered on her
school duties with a persistency which showed
that she would win in the end. She had
dedicated herself to God for mission work, so
took up the study of the Bengali language, and

no The Darjeeling Disaster.

living with the BengaH girls in our school she
soon understood and spoke it very well. She
•was also able to read and write it. For a year
she had been helping in mission work.

She had been conducting a native Sunday-
school, taking two of our Bengali girls with
her to help in teaching the children. After
the Sunday-school she would go into the homes
among the women and talk and sing with
them. Her Sunday-school numbered seventy-
five children.* She loved the children and
women very much. They now gather around
and ask for her, and wonder why she does not
come to them. She also helped me in the
prayer-meetings among the girls, and we had
looked forward to her help this year. She at
her own request, had been appointed the
Sabbath-school superintendent for the next
year. How can we do without her !

The following is an extract from an unfinished
letter written to a friend in America which we
found in her writing desk :

" I am vice-president of our Epworth League
and head of the Spiritual Department and
working for the conversion of the young
people.

* See photograph.

ViDA Maud. hi

" I know I am right with God myself, and do
want others to feel the sweet peace I have in
following Christ. There are very few young
people who profess the baptism of the Holy
Ghost. There are a good many converted, but
they don't know that there is a higher life for
them.

" I was talking of our English girls, but there
are several of the girls in mama's school (native
girls) who have found that place in Jesus.

" I do want to tell you about a little Sunday-
school which mama opened away out in a
village where the people are very poor. I call
this my Sunday-school.* I go there now on
Sundays. First, we open with a hymn ; and
you should hear those dear children try to join
us, one making awful faces, another holding the
notes too long in one place and racing in
another place, while most all are flat ; but it is
so touching. They are all little boys and girls,
some with only a little cloth tied about their
waists. We then have prayer, and it is pretty
hard to keep their little tongues quiet and their
eyes shut. I take two Bengali girls with me ;
then two boys from Mr. Chew's school come
and help us.

* See photograph.

112 The Darjeeling Disaster.

" After the prayers we have the lesson ; then
the children receive a ticket. Mama gives
■them a little ticket ; then when they have four
little ones they have a larger one, 'then four
more big cards gives them a big card to keep.

" While Sunday-school is going on I take
one of the girls and we go to visit the zenanas-
where we have met such nice bos (or young
wives), and we sing and give them the lesson
also. It is so nice, but I feel very sorry for the
poor people, and I do wish that I could help
them."

Vida was an earnest Bible student, — read her
Bible from real enjoyment of it. She often
read it as some girls read novels, — sitting down
and finishing a whole book without putting it
aside.

She at other times carried out prescribed
plans for Bible study ; was always anxious to
attend Bible readings, working out subjects
suggested, and had many verses memorized
and their place fixed. The most enjoyable
hour of the day of late years has been the
evening hour, spent with the other members of
the family in music, and in calling up old texts
and learning new ones. Vida played the

ViDA Maud. 113

violin, but her special instrument was the
guitar. She played sweetly, often accompany-
ing with her voice, which was so adapted to its
soft music.

Her sister Lois was the organist ; and the two
boys with their violins, together with Vida and
Lois with their instruments, often formed a quar-
tette whose home concerts made the evenings a
delight. Now there is a blank in our home
which can never again be filled. How perfectly
they must play and sing together now ! The
piece which Vida and Lois often sang together,
Lois singing the alto, was :

" In our Father's blessed keeping
I am happy, safe and free :
While His eye is on the sparrow
I shall not forgotten be."

Vida's plaintive soprano rings in our ears
yet. They all sang together so often, '' Behold
the Bridegroom comes, be ready," " When
the Roll is called up yonder I'll be there,"
these being the favourites of the boys. A
favourite, and one sung so much during the
past year, was, " Peace, Perfect Peace," and
" There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes "
and " We'll never say good-by in Heaven."

Oh, those darling children ! How can we ever

114 The Darjeeling Disaster.

do without them ! Some days the dreadful
silence seems unbearable ; but in the morning
we will have them all again, praise His name.

For the encouragement of others ^trying to
overcome evil dispositions and to live a true
Christian life, there are many things in Vida's
diary which should be knov^'n. In her diary
for 1896; three years ago, she has written :

April ist. "Had a nice talk with Mama.
I am going to try to be a better girl
and let my light shine. — ' Let your light
so shine before men that they may see your
good works.' "

May 5. "I solemnly promise, with God's help,
to never speak another unkind word as long as
I live. People may think it impossible, but I
do believe with all my heart what God sa}s :
'Things which are impossible with man are
possible with God,' so I go to Him ....
God helping me I try. V. Lee."

Underneath we find the word " Broken "
underscored.

July 2nd, this year, 1896, we find the words,
"Three years ago to-day I was converted."
Another entry on July 4th, shows her plax-ful-
ness : " I received such a nice ]it:le dolly, only

ViDA Maud. 115

two inches long. I don't know what to name
her. Lois is her godmother."

I find in the back of her diary a Httle play
for the youngest children, Ada and Esther.
She evidently said it to them sometime.

Ada is — My honey, — violet-bud, — rosie-bud
Ink-pot,— duck-pie, — curly-burly, — Pearly, — Pussy cat :

Esther is, — ^Vida's Dumpling — Daisy-bud
Honey-suckle, — lilly-bud, — chika-biddy.
Ranee, — darling, — lovie-dovie, — pigeon-pie meti.

So often she speaks of having been naughty
during the day, and being so troubled about it.
She comes away and seeks pardon, and can not
rest until she has obtained peace.

Sunday, x^ugust 16. "1 got a blessing this
evening ; I had a great treat — a nice talk with
Mama, which I hardly ever get. I am going
to be a better orirl."

If mothers only took more time for confiden-
tial talks with their boys and girls, how much
trouble it would save. Some of us would give
worlds for the blessed opportunity again. We
would make more use of it than ever before.

Her diar}^ for the year 1 897 could not be found.

Her text for the year 1898 was, " He that
ruleth his own spirit is better than he that

ii6 The Darjeeling Disaster.

taketh a city," and all throughout the year
' her struggle to live out that text was most
heroic, as many entries show. *-

February i8. "I am afraid I am not getting
along as nicely as before. I am naughty again
... I feel very bad because I have not read
my Bible. I believe that I can not be good
without my ' morning watch.' "

Sunday, April lo. " I did something against
my conscience ; I read some in the book, ' Out
to the Wilds.' I felt bad, but had a real nice
talk with Mama on 2nd Thess. 3 • 3 : ' The
Lord is faithful who shall stablish you and keep
you from, evil.' i John, i : 9: 'If we confess, —
He is just to forgive . . . and cleanses me from
from all unrighteousness.' "

April II. " God has kept me to-day, except
once I scolded Mama about giving Esther
rhubarb."

April 14. " Had my ' morning watch,' and
was the only girl in the class who had her
physiology lesson. Mama is so sweet. Read
to-day Josh. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 chapters."

April 15. "I am longing for a talk with
Mama. I was helped by reading about His
care for his people, Luke 14th chapter."

ViDA Maud. 117

April 21. " Lots of lessons. I did not go
for a drive, but stayed at home to pray and talk
with Jesus. I got a blessing. I had spoken
cross to Mama about my dress. I read three
chapters of Peter, and nine chapters of Joshua."

April 29. " Miss C . . . . , my teacher, is
very nice. I played my guitar at literary so-
ciety."

May I. "The last Sunday before going to
the hills. Mr. Warne preached a nice sermon,
and I said good-by to friends."

May 2. " Started for Sonada to-day. Miss
Gardner gave us a nice box of sweets, cake, etc."

May 3. " Very sick while in the sleeper and
coming up the hills ; but our verse which we
took for the journey, was, ' In everything give

thanks.' It did not rain, and Mrs. B

had a nice dinner for us."

The following shows her taste for reading :
*' Started to read ' Quixote.' I would rather
have a history book, but shall read my Bible
first always."

Sunday, May 15. "I wished to read all of
2nd Samuel to-day, but read from the first
chapter to the 20th. Oh, I do want to be God's
child !"

ii8 The Darjeeling Disaster.

May 19. " Had a long walk of about two
and a half miles. Dr. Mulford sent word to us
.to keep on pads* (spiritual pads) and ' keep
hips back ' (physically). I read ist Kings from
the 7th to the 17th chapters. I feel Jesus'
presence."

May 20. " I was not very happy to-day be-
cause I did not read God's word and did not talk
to God. In the evening I practised my guitar."

Sunday night, May 22. " I read 2nd Kings,
the first 14 chapters. I do want to be a good
girl to-morrow. I do not feel at all good or
comfortable and peaceful, but all bad and mean
and unhappy without Jesus. I wont go to
sleep before I get blessed."

May 25. " Read 8 chapters in 2nd Kings.
Mama sang, ' Oh my Redeemer' while I played
the accompaniment on the guitar. We are
reading ' Uncle Tom's Cabin.' "

May 27. " 1 wrote to Grandma Jones and
Cousin Eddie. I am not very happy ; did not
do just right. Oh ! that I were in the ' secret
place.' " She speaks of this so often.

Again, on Sunday, May 29 : ''I do want to
get into the 'secret place.' Read Psalms i8th

Referring to pads used in Cricket.

ViDA Maud, 119

to 36th and I St Cor. i8th to 29th chapters
[19 Psalms and 12 chapters in one day]. I
did not to go to sleep in the afternoon, but
read instead."

Sunday, June 5. '' We had a nice little
meeting (at home). I do wish I was in the
' secret place' and had a real strong Christian
character. Went for a long walk in the morn-
ing, and read the Songs of Solomon and five
chapters in John."

Tuesda}-, June 7. " I did not have a nice
day. Mama feels heartbroken about Lois and
I disagreeing. I am sick of myself Read six
psalms, from the 38th to the 43rd."

June 8. " Lois taken ill. She was caught
in the rain. Mama is so sweet. She says that
she believes God will answer her prayer and
save mer

June 12. " I started a few days ago the
study of the Kings. It's very interesting. I
have lost Mr. Campbell White's Bible reading on
' Personal Work.' I do feel so badly about it.
I do hope that Jesus will show it to me. (I
found it.)"

This last entry shows her habit of taking
everything to God in prayer and expecting an

I20 The Darjeeling Disaster.

answer. Prayer during that terrible night of
the landslip, was not just forced by the fearful
■occasion ; it was the habit of her life. She knew
what it was to turn to God about everything.

During this month of June, 1898, she
seemed to have one of the greatest conflicts
of her life. Satan seemed to beset her on every
side. I, in trying to bring it to a crisis, told
her that her spiritual condition was alarming,
as the following entry shows : " Mama said
I died to-night she did not think I would go
to heaven. I am feeling badly. Read Ezra
from chapter 2nd to the end of the book. I
will try again with God's help."

The next day she writes, " I made a spiritual
pad for myself. I was a much better girl to-
day, through Jesus only. Mama said so too."

June 18. " Mama is so sweet to-day. I
played my guitar. Papa still very sick. I do
hope he will get well very soon."

Sunday, June 19. " Papa is better. Started
Christian's journey in 'Pilgrim's Progress.' Had
a great victory to-day. I feel so happy to-
night. I am reading Job."

June 21. "We had a "state dinner" for mama
and papa (play\ and a home entertainment

ViDA Maud. 121

afterwards. Had my geography lesson, but I
did not have my 'watch and pray' to-day, so
I do not feel so happy. Read Proverbs, first
5 chapters."

June 22. " I went to see the Bengali women.
"VVe are reading 'James Garfield.' We are
trying how many new words we can get from
this new book. Read to-day 8th chapter of
Proverbs."

June 26. " I wish I had not played train
to-day with the boys. I did not get a rea
blessing, so am not happy. Mama promises
me a gold mohur when I can play my guitar
book through."

The above shows how tender her conscience
was, and how she looked daily for special
blessings. This she felt she missed by taking
part in some game she felt not suited for
Sunday. How many of us are content to miss
the blessing which comes from communion with
God and spend our time on Sunday in a trifling
way, if not in out-and-out worldly amusements,
or in otherwise violating the day.

June 27, Monday. " I wish I was hid in the
' secret place.' I do not feel safe out of it."

122 The Darjeeling Disaster.

June 30. " Mama went to Calcutta to-day.
I fixed all the children's clothes. I feel happy
to-night. I want to do right."

July I. "I bathed the children and looked
after home. Papa said, Mama would be
delighted."

Sunday, July 3. " I did not take time to
read my Bible during the day, but to-night read
the 1 2th chapter of Isaiah. I never saw the
second verse as I do now: 'Behold God is my
salvation. I will trust and not be afraid.
Jehovah is my strength and my song.' ' My
Song' — so I can be happy if I have ///;//."

Oh ! if we could all learn this secret which
our dear girl had learned ; i.e. that our happi-
ness is in Him, not in the world, nor in worldly
things.

July 8. " Mama wrote that she laughed over
my letter as much as she did about Wilbur's
slipping over the pony's head the day we went

to C I played 'Blue Bells of Scotland'

perfectly, and walked nearly three miles."

July 12. "I am not very happy because the
house is not very tidy, and I know papa does not
like it. I am a real naughty girl."

July 21. " I weigh 130 pounds."

ViDA Maud. 123

July 31, Sunday. "We are back in Calcutta.
Mr. Campbell White preached one of his
beautiful sermons in the morning. He said,
" We each have 499 souls to save in India
alone."

Sept. 18, Sunday. "Mr. Warne preached a
sermon on Holiness. I do not feel as if I was

holy enough by far. Mr. B died, and

I spent the day and night with his daughter
A."

Sept. 26. " Test examination again to-day.
My verse, ' He will bring all things to your
remembrance.' I do hope I will pass."

She did pass ; also passed her eighth standard
in the final examination, to her ijreat delight.
This year she was taking the two years' course
of high school examination in the one, and had
set her heart on passing the "high school" in
November, 1899, and the Entrance Examination
of the Calcutta University the following March.

Vida from her childhood always had special
love for old people. She liked to be with
them, and in nearly every place we have had a
home, she has had some old, blind or helpless
person whom she visited regularly. When only
five years old there was a crippled saint of His,

124 The Darjeeling Disaster.

to whom she and Lois used to carry their little
basket of fruit, or flowers, or some other dainty,
•regularly. When only ten years old she used
to take her Testament every Sunday- afternoon
and go over and read to an old blind lady.

Many of these old friends, we believe, gave
them a warm welcome that nicrht when the
angels carried them through the gates of heaven.
She was anxious that her old friend in Calcutta
might be visited while she was away.

We all went to Darjeeling together, May ist,
this year (1899,) after much prayer about the
selection of the house, and when we saw the
beautiful two-storied building covered with ivy
and surrounded with lovely flowers, we thanked
God for selecting us such a beautiful place.

As we rejoiced over it, how little we thought
it was to be our darlings' tomb, and that with this
beautiful spot should perish our happy earthly
home with so many of its delights.

During the two months we remained Vida
seemed to grow more affectionate and cling to
her mother, and so much of the time wished to
be with me.

ViDA Maud. 125

About two weeks before I returned to Cal-
cutta she seemed so disturbed about herself,
because she sometimes spoke impatiently and
unkindly to the others.

One day she said, " Mama, I feel I must get
the victory over this habit, or I fear I will lose
my religion. I must get back that blessing I
once had, of full salvation, or I fear I will lose
all.''

I said, " Yes, Vida, you must get a victory
or your life will be ruined. Why not get it
to-day ? "

It was Sunday, and neither she nor I were
very well, so, while the others went to church
we got our Bibles and had a blessed search
together.

After selecting a number of His promises
on which to lean, we got down before Him and
poured out our hearts to Him. We together
sought for the fullness of His love.

Oh ! that blessed hour together. I fear I did
not fully realize all it meant. As we finished,
I said, *' Vida, dear, do you take your Saviour
in all His fullness and trust Him to keep you at
all times?"

126 The Darjeeling Disaster.

"Yes, Mama, I do. I trust never to let go
of him again."

She arose so comforted and threw ^er arms
about me, calHng me her "sweet Httle mama"
(for she was so much taller than I and bigger
in every way that of late this had become a
favourite expression of hers — "my little mama"),
pressing her cheek to mine with a caress I shall
never forget.

The next three weeks, which were my
last with them, she was gentle and loving,
and so helpful in every way that the joy of
those days will linger until I clasp that
dear, brave girl in my arms again in the
homeland.

After much prayer we decided that it was
best to leave the children with Vida while we
returned to our work in Calcutta, as we were
buying property and altering the house there
which would require three or four months.

It was so hard for us to leave them, but the
children were so happy going to school to-
gether, and Vida was so proud of being trusted
in charge of them, and all were so sure they
could get on nicely together.

ViDA Maud. 127

I remember the last night ; I could hardly
sleep, and kept praying that if it was not the
right thing to leave them, the Lord would show
us so plainly we could not be mistaken. I
decided, should the Lord send us, before the
train left that morning, a good cook-woman to
stay with them night and day, I would go ; if
not, I would remain until we could make other
arrangements. Next morning a nice hill woman
came, and everything was arranged and we
came away.

Vida and Lois fixed our tiffin, and then came
to the station. I remember how erect and
brave Vida looked as she bade us goodby at
the station, and how I had to harden my heart
and call up all the courage I had, to leave
them.

Many regrets have since come, but He whom
we have always trusted. Who promises to lead
in the way we shall go and to guide with His eye,
must have guided us in leaving them, and it
was a part of His great plan to prepare them
for the higher work for which He felt he must
take them at anv cost.

Their papa returned in August and spent
three delightful weeks with them, taking Esther

128 The Darjeeling Disaster.

back ; whom it seemed advisable to leave with
her brothers and sisters until we got settled. It
was arranged even after her papa's ^return, to
bring her down, but Vida felt it was so much
better for her to remain, and we yielded. Some-
times we can hardly bear the regret for this
decision, but the Lord had need of this dear
child too, and we believe we will understand
why by-and-by.

By-and-by when our work here is finished

And the gates of the city appear
And the beautiful songs of the Angels

Float out on our listening ear.
When all that now seems so mysterious,

Will be bright and as clear as the day,
Then the toils of the road will seem nothing

When we get to the end of the way.

Chapter IX.
THE CHILDREN'S LETTERS

Many of the children's best and most in-
teresting letters had been sent home to friends
before the parents knew they would be needed
for such a time. The following are extracts
from some they still have with them :

SONADA, July ^th, i8g8.

Monday Night.

Mv Own Sweet, Darling Mama : — You
are such a dear good mama to send me that
pretty ribbon. I don't really deserve such a
nice thing.

We were all delighted with our presents,
Esther still carries her watch around with her,
and it is a great temptation to use the cup in the
same way.

Lois seemed to enjoy her birthday, and it was
not until to-day that she discovered that one
of those little cakes was her birthday cake.

To-day, being " America's birthday," as
Wilbur says, they each had a pistol and

(129)

I30 The Darjeeling Disaster.

candy ball, and, even Esther, played they were
fiehtinsf the Engrlish. The bovs made four
.swords on purpose. The four marched, while
they sang "The Star Spangled Barmer" also
sounding their whistles and shouting " Three
Cheers for the Red, White and Blue."

In the evening, I played on my guitar, but the
dampness let down the soprano string, and
there was a great discord. I soon got that
right, but how we missed your voice. I never
was made, like you, to lead. Esther had us
sing that verse over twice :

' ' When I was playing with my brother,

Happy was I.
Oh I take me to my dear old mother^

There let me live and die."

Then she said " Why did he want to
die when he got to his mama ? " So Papa ex-
plained it to her, but she was sure she would
not like to die when she got to you.

I have all the stockings washed up for
this week. I hardly know what to do for
Herbert, poor boy, it is a waste of that
good yarn of mine to mend his stockings.

The boys were so delighted because Papa
let them go to Darjeeling alone to do the

The Children's Letters. 131

Bazaar and cret the bread. So thev two set ofY
looking very well and tidy ; they have each
grown about three inches since Papa told them
to go and get a soup bone.

Papa says for you to remember that " good
women '' are scarce and for you to take care of
vourself there in the heat. I am so crlad vou
left Esther ; she seems to enjov herself, thoug^h
she does miss you much. She is better now, and
sits b}' me at meals. Kisses from us all. Papa
sa}'s everything is stattisquo. With much love,
Good night, Mama dear.

Your own dearest

ViDA,

Darjeelin^ letters written by Vida to her
parents in Calcutta.

Vidas letter to lier Father on his birth day.

June 28, i8gg.

My Owx Darlings : — It is almost going to
bed time but we wanted to send Papa a birthday
letter. I hope you will like the paper cutter,
dear, it is from us all. ]\Iany happy returns of
the dav ; mav vou have manv lon^ vears with

132 The Darjeeling Disaster.

us still, as we can't get on without you yet,
'We are going to try and be your good children,
especially I, and cheer you now that you are
getting older.

1 want to be really and truly your Vida
Maud, which means, you know, " your beloved
heroine." I wish I could get the victory over
self and be a true heroine.

You spoke of showing the people that I can
pass, but really I feel very discouraged about
it, I have such a lot to learn, — but you have
enough to worry you and I wanted this to be a
birthday letter.

Now the children are all nicely fixed in the
train on the way to dreamland. 1 am trying
to be their mother. I only want to wish
you again many good and best wishes for your
birthday. Papa, then say good-night.

This is a very funny birthday letter, it
is only a common one, but I think you will
count it as full of love and fondest kisses as a
daughter ever sent her father and mother.
Remember me now, as always, your

ViDA Maud.

The Children's Letters. i33

Letter written on her last birthday
anniversary.

July 26th, i8g^.

My Own Precious Mamma and Papa: —
This has been one of the happiest birthdays that
I have ever had. 1 woke up this morning and
found Wilbur, Herbert, Lois, Ada and Jessudar
all around me, and Ada handed me a slate
covered with nice things. I never expected any
thing, and they had no chance to go to the
Bazar.

But I felt very sorry and sad to think
how cross I have been to them so often, and how
mean and naughty I have been to you some-
times. How can you love me ? I hate myself.

You said for me to be more loving and gentle
to the children than you have been. Oh ! dear
Mama, I will never be half so good as you are.
I only wish I could be quarter as good ; but I
am really trying, and pray hard that I may get
the victory.

Lois gave me a set of silver locks (links and
studs). I don't think she should have spent so
much. Wilbur and Herbert gave me a horseshoe
brooch, silver — dear boys ! Ada gave me some
pretty flowers, rosebuds and fuchsias, which I

134 The Darjeeling Disaster.

think so much of. Jessudar gave me a string of

beads. Lois sHpped and hid the ribbon and

chocolates, so I didn't see them until this morn-
it

ing, so it was such a surprise, for 1 never ex-
pected anything else as the ribbons you sent in
Lois' basket I took for my birthday present
from you, and I thought the nuts had taken the
place of the chocolates.

What a dear, sweet Mama and Papa ! The
books are just beauties. I have been reading a
good deal in that book that Mr. Ross gave Her-
bert, about Wicliffe, but I never thought I would
receive his biography for a birthday present, and
I hear so much about Luther in history but I
knew nothing of his life, and the life of Paul too.

Lois has an examination on it this year
and it will help her, besides I want to study his
life myself. Thank you. Papa, ever so much.

I do want biographies and now we have six to
add to our library, — Clive, Nelson, Wicliffe,
Lawrence, Livingstone and Luther, but I like
mine best.

Mama, you can't guess how much I
prize that ribbon. I have often envied other
girls who had that kind of ribbon, yet I did not

The Children's Letters. 135

exactly envy them either, for I have the best
Papa and Mama in the whole, round world.
Papa said he was proud of me. Oh, you will
never know the good it has done me to be
trusted up here with the children.

I wish Papa could have come down the
hill and had part of my lovely birth-
day tea that Lois (such a pet) gave me. And
indeed I looked often up the hill to see if you
were really coming. 1 think every thing is
pretty straight. Lois is getting a nice dinner
too, — roast chicken ; come and have a bit.

I got a letter from Mr. Fraser. It has been
rainy and cold and windy to-day, but Jesus
whispers " Peace within." I forgot to tell you
about some more presents I got. Suee gave me
a good sized cucumber and five pears. The wind
whistled " many happy returns of the day " and
blew down a large branch of ivy to me. The rose
tree, the one near the drawing-room window, put
out such a beautiful, yellow rosebud, and the
dhoby [washerman] gave me the present of bring-
ing the clothes. Well, we have had a nice dinner,
Flora sent me a birthday wish in the form of a
poem ; she is quite a poet. Well goodnight.

136 The Darjeeling Disaster.

Lois is sending you some doilies. We have
had a very nice time to-day, especially I.

With all the love I can give and piles of
kisses.

From your seventeen-year-old

ViDA Maud.

P.S. — You naughty Mama to say " Sweet
Fifteen " to Lois when it is " Sweet Seventeen''
and '-Bashful Fifteen."

But I will forgive you for Lois is a very
'' Sweet Fifteen."

" Peace ! perfect peace ! our future all unknown ?
Jesus we know, and He is on the throne."

[This ending of her birthday letter seems like
a prophecy to us all now.]

Sunday Morning.
My Own Sweet Mama : — How glad I am
to tell you that Esther's fever has gone, she

hasn't got loi, only a little over 100

Lois is a very funny doctor, and I am afraid
will have to reform before she becomes a good
one. Early in the morning before I was awake,
she gave Esther a big piece of cocoa candy
which Mrs. Munroe had sent ; now wasn't that
foolish ? Now 1 must say good-night. Oh if I

The Children's Letters. 137

could have but one kiss from each of you it
would do a world of good. The children are
asleep and, thank God, Esther sleeps peacefully.
Always your own daughter,

ViDA.
P. S. — The boys are so good, especially
Wilbur, and help such a lot.

A letter written just after the three birthday anni-
versaries. Esther^ August 2^th ; Wilbiir^
August 26th ; and Hei^bej't, the Jist.

Mall Villa, No. 2.

September ist, i8gg.

My Own Dear Papa and Mama : — We
have had such a nice week. I rather like birth-
days. Wilbur was very proud of his Bible and
Mama's letter ; he reads both every day. I
hope he will keep it up.

I captured the package and letter before he
could turn round, and as a letter came to
" Ranee," [Esther's pet name,] he never suspect-
ed any thing. Next morning we gave both to
him. We hid them in his shirt, but to our
dismay we found it was a dirty one, and he was
putting on a clean one.

138 The Darjeeling Disaster.

What could we do but declare he had only
worn the other a day or so, and that we
believed it was quite clean enough to go to
bazar in. So he went off to show us how
dirty it was. There was silence, then he said,
" Cunning chaps you are. I see why you
wanted me to wear the dirty shirt." We gave
the little book in the afternoon, hid it in his
Bible box. Herbert gave Jiis present at break-
fast. Lois and I, also Ada and Jessudar, had
given ours before.

Esther had a real nice time on her birthday.
Ada enjoyed herself just as much. Mrs. M. sent
birthday cards. Miss — was going to send a
donation but hers came to be a no-nation. May
be it will turn up some day though. Our beau-
tiful kid gloves went " up the tree," too

We are getting on much better now, that the
children are well again. Let Esther stay up, it
won't be long now, and it is so nice. We want
her so badly. Pray for me.

.... I am sorry Ada's letter did not get
off yesterday. Pray for Ada ; she is seeking a
clean heart,* and I believe she was converted

* See Ada's letter, page 54, written the day before they were
taken.

The Children's Letters. 139

last night ; she seems so different this morning.
I think that Jessudar is moved and wants a
clean heart too. We have been praying for
Ada and I know you have too. Ada says she
feels so happy, and there is such a sweet ex-
pression on her face. Oh, I do hope it is true
conversion. . . . Esther is a darling, no trouble
at all, she is playing with dolly now. Don't
take her away from us, she is all right.

My Dear Papa : — ... We had a nice
little evening at the Emerson's last night ; it
was our Sunday School social evening. I
played my guitar. The boys both played
beautifully. Herbert played " Home Sweet
Home " and " Annie Laurie " and Wilbur,
" Blue Bells." I put Ada and Ranee to bed
and left Jessudar and Sebe with them. We
came home early. Mr. Emerson is going down
soon, so it was a kind of good-bye ; there were
not many present. .... I really should take
more time with my Bible. I don't feel
satisfied. I am afraid it (this blessing) will not
stay. 1 wish I had faith, but I believe I have
almost all I ever had. I believe in God and
know he can do it, but I want to feel it will stay
forever, then I could be happy. I am still

I40 The Darjeeling Disaster.

seeking for a fuller salvation that can keep me.
Pray for me. I must have it and before I see
• you again.

With ever so much love and feisses,

Your own girl ever,

ViDA.

From a lettei' greatly prized by her mother :
written Sept. ^th, i8gg.

Darling MamA: — The children are not
homesick, at least they don't show it much ;
only they wish to see you so much, and I try
to be brave and not be cross or ugly to them.

I am really too big to be "Homesick"
because it won't be long maybe until I will be
away from you.

But I will come back and help you. I prom-
ised God that when I was converted, although
I am so naughty. I have made up my mind ....
I am yours forever in the work God has given
you, and I will study hard and prepare for that
work. I have always wanted to go to America
so, so bad, but we can't afford it, and I believe
now, that Jesus will give me patience and I will
wait. You never sent a verse in your last two
letters, they are so helpful. Don't forget next

1

-^/^

f

i

■^

1

Two Child- wives fi-om Vida's Sunday School.

The Children's Letters. 141

time. Papa always remembers. Pray for us all.
I haven't time to read this over, 1 must go
to my lessons. I left the soldiers trying to

catch " King Lear." We are

getting to know each other better, and will try
hard, all of us, to be real ladies and gentlemen
and make our home a home. Thank you
Papa, for the last verse you sent me.

God bless and keep us all very close to Him.
Oh ! pray for me. I will be victor in the end.
Now with many, many armfuls of love and
kisses and hugs. We are all your darlings.
Don't want Esther ; it is wrong to covet you
know. Will be all right.

Your

ViDA.

This letter was written about two weeks
before she went to heaven.

My Own Dear Papa and Mama : — I have

just received your dear letter I wish

that the contracts [referring to the new house]
would come to a close, so you could get to
work, or if it drags on so slowly, you will not
be ready for us : and we want to come back to
home.

i42 The Darjeeling Disaster.

I am afraid that Papa has not bought him-
self a new coat and pants for this winter,
-I won't be able to walk with him with my
nice skirt unless he does. I can make my last
winter's dress do nicely by letting out the
tuck, so you get yourself a suit, instead of me
a new dress ; mine is all right and good.
Mama must have a new dress too, I wish I
could give it to you.

We were all talking the other night, of what
we would all do for you both, and I am sure
Frank would have joined, if he had been here.
Wilbur says he won't charge any thing for your
teeth being fixed. Lois will doctor you free.
The rest of us, you know, arn't so sure
of our money as they are, and Herbert,
'' Professor Lee" will keep your home comfee.
I will try hard to keep up your work. Yes, I
am sure God has called me to it, and will be
with me though it is strange he should have
made me of such funny stuff. I never saw
a girl, like me, before or after. I don't believe
there has or will be such a naughty girl.

I think it is harder for me to be good than all
the rest. But I know that God has not given

The Children's Letters. 143

me anything to do, nor will he ever, without
the grace for me to use. He will prosper
your work. You don't know how unworthy I
feel for such a place. Your work is His work.

So in a few years (D.V.), for you and Papa
are getting old now,- — ^just think, Papa — fifty next
birthday, isn't he? — you will be able to see your
work progressing and yourselves taken care of.
Because God never throws off His own when
"hoary hair their heads adorn."

You and Papa must never speak of dying now,
when we are all just beginning to live. God
has lots for you to do yet (no sons-in-law will
come to bother you unless they are willing to
help).

T know I have been so very naughty
and hastened your ages, but you will never
know how I have been struggling for two and
a half years, yes, really three years against God.
I am afraid sometimes there has been no peace
in my heart, once in a while I seemed to get back
to God but only for a few days at a time, then
it was all dark again. Oh ! I hope those days are
over now. I never have known such misery and
I just could not be good.

144 The Darjeeling Disaster.

I have given all over to the Lord and
Oh if it would only stay all right. This
is one reason why I dread Calcutta. But
I trust God will keep me. I don't know how
He has held on so long. Oh pray for me, I
never can stand any such days again. But
I have peace and happiness now. I have told
you what I didn't expect to. 1 told you what
was in my heart. I am God's for your work.
Trust me and believe me,

Ever your loving and affectionate,

ViDA.

P. S. — I never can forgive myself for the way
I have treated my dear Papa. No girl ever
had, or will have a better, kinder father. Oh
forgive and forget, Papa darling, I am truly
sorry,

*Dr. Lois is progressing ; she pro-
tests that I have said nothing good about her,
but you know I think her the best girl in the
world, and she really is

With piles of love and kisses from all,,
especially

Your girl,

ViDA.

^See Lois' ambitions, page 103.

The Children's Letters. 145

Vidas last letter.

September 22nd, i8gg.
My Own Dear Mama and Papa: — I thoueht

'W

I would take a moment to write you a note,
as to-morrow at this time I will be with Miss
S. (D.V.). We are all well; my cold is gone;
the children are at school. Esther has gone
out with Jessudar and her bucket.

To-day is one of those days when the air
is " laden with the breath of flowers" when
you feel like dreaming, when the sun is shining
not too strong, but throwing sunbeams into
the room, until you are warm and feel happy
even deep down in your heart.

This is the way I feel just now, only a little
troubled when I think how soon the examina-
tion is coming, and this makes me feel like
study.

The birds are singing and we all join to
thank God for such a day after the rain of
yesterday.

You know Lamb always has some such long
introduction and I'm afraid you will feel just
like I do when I read them, if I don't tell you

146 The Darjeeling Disaster.

some news now. The service of song takes
place to-morrow ; Lois will take part, but I
■really did not have time to attend the prac-
tices, so did not join. I believe it h going to
be real nice

Mr Oh, I don't know his name, is

so nice. He preached on Sunday. Lois
and I went both times, though it was rain-
ing. I hope he preaches this Sunday too; he
is such a dear old man, I wish he would come
down and see us. He came and introduced
himself. I don't know whether he knows we are

the Lees or not I just feel like

having a long talk but I must go and study my

lessons We all send piles of love and

kisses ... I want to see you so much. I am
very happy this morning, but I am not satis-
fied. Do pray for your girl. Here is a big
kiss for dear " Octavius Noel," [a pet name for
baby Frank] and Papa and yourself.

From ViDA.

Tkzs card was sent the morning of the awful day.

My Own Dear Papa, — It is raining hard, so
we are not able to go to Sunday school ; it is

The Children's Letters. 147

Mr, E.'s last Sunday. The nice minister is the
Rev. P. R. Mackay. The service of song came
off nicely. It is just pouring and we have heard
-a landslip come rolling down just now.

We are all well, and send piles of love.

Your own girl,

ViDA.

[A few hours after, she was in heaven.]

Extracts from Lois' Letters.

Letter to Vida when she was ill in Hospital,
February^ i8g8, with diphtheria.

My own Darling Vida : — .... I have
been wondering all day what I could do to
tnake you happy. I would like so much to
come in and give you a great big hug and kiss,
but as I can't do it myself, I send this dolly to
do it for me. Remember this dolly was born
two months before our Ruth, [Ruth was born
May 7th, 1893]. I hope you will soon be better.
Good-night.

Your own sister,

Lois.

148 The Darjeeling Disaster.

This note was sent to her friend Flora on her
i^th birthday.

144, Dharamtala Stj<eet,

Calcutta^ October i6th.

My own dear Sweetheart Flora,

Many, many happy returns of the day.

And may you live to see eighty-six more.

Lois,

From Darjeeling.
Lois' letter on her Papa's birthday.

Mall Villa, No. 2.

June 26th, i8gg.

The day after you left.

Now your birthday comes again,
One more link in life's long chain,
May this day be bright and blest,
On your life may blessing rest,

Friday Night, Sleepy time.
My precious Mama and Papa : — We are all
safe and sound, and getting on fine, though
it seems rather strange without you.

We have had a lovely day ... I got dinner
all myself, and after dinner, we four, with Luce's
[the hill woman] help brought the organ up-
stairs to the boys' room. We sung a few

The Children's Letters. 149

hymns. Then had prayers, Vida and Jessudar
[the Bengali girl] read the 103rd Psalm, and
we all went to bed and slept soundly.

It is school time, so with hugs and kisses for
Esther and Frank, and wishing Papa the happiest
birthday he has ever had.

With piles of love and kisses for you both,
Ever your loving,

'' Grand Mother Lois."

My Precious Mama and Papa : — It seems
ages since I have heard from either of you.
Vida is getting all the letters and praise and
being called " doctor" and it makes me feel so,
so jealous. Esther is much better to-day.

I never dreamt the Doctor's bill would be so
much, but Vida and I will earn it. If you and
mama take me on as your family physician
when I'm big I won't charge quite so much.
Don't worry about Esther, whatever you do, we
are taking good care of her. . .

It must be boiling in Calcutta to-da\% but
it is simply beautiful up here, a perfect day.
The sunrise this morning was one of the most
beautiful I have ever seen. The sun had not yet

150 The Darjeeling Disaster.

appeared and the horizon was streaked first
with a rich, deep orange, then a more del-
icate shade, and so on, until it came to
a pale soft yellow. I wish you and papa could
have seen it . . .

We are all well and happy, studying hard.
I help Wilbur for more than an hour every

day Ada got your letter yesterday.

We are all looking forward to the warm
feathered nest. [The new home in preparation
for them in Calcutta.]

We have been having a fine time

opening the basket, and finding such lovely
delicious treats inside. You always seem to
know just what we want. Those custard apples
are just beauties ; the hulwa " scrumpshush ;" the
figs delicious ; the nuts excellent ; the mango-
steens lovely; and the amras "nectar for the
gods" (Vida thinks.) Everything reached all
right : there were just enough mashed custard
apples (but delicious) for tiffin, and Oh ! but we
did enjoy them. They are really my weak
point, Mama.

Good-bye, love piles, always your

Lois.

The Children's Letters. 151

A part of Lois' last letter^ written just a week
before she went to heaven.

Mall Villa, No. 2,

Sept. ijth, i8gg.

My Darling Mama and Papa : — I received
mama's dear, welcome letter the other day and
was very glad to get it (although a little insulted
at being called " duck legs.")

We had a lovely little social at Mr. Emerson's.
He asked us to take our instruments. I played
for the hymns and solos, WMbur and Herbert
on their violins, and Vida on her guitar.

Everything went all right. ...

He thanked Winnie and me for presiding at
the organ for Sunday School. It has been
good practice and I can play by first sight pretty

well now There is to be a Service of

Song, "Jessica's First Prayer," in aid of the
Sunday School Hall Fund, next Saturday.

Lois.

Lois' letter written on her birthday, July 2nd,
was a beautiful one and brought joy to the
hearts of her parents. This, with other such
letters, had been sent home to relatives.

152 The Darjeeling Disaster.

Her Father had sent her two books — bio-
graphies belonging to the series called " Men
with a Mission." She spoke of the preface in
one of the books and said, " I believe t am a girl
with a mission, and feel the necessity of being
holy, for my life verse is, " The Lord hath set
apart him that is godly for himself." Psalm 4, 3.

A fragment of an exercise written by Lois in
class one day during her last summer.

Calcutta.

" The great city now called Calcutta, was
formerly a flight of stairs leading from the sacred
waters of the Ganges, up the muddy banks, to
the shore, where stood the temple of the goddess
Kali, worshipped by the Hindoos, and it was
here they came from all over India to wash away
their sins in the water of this sacred river.

" Gradually buildings sprang up around the
then-called Kali Ghat, and in the seventeenth
century, when the East India Company was
formed, a factory was built and, in time, for the
defence of the Company, Fort William was con-
structed. For some years afterwards the place
was called ' Fort William ' by the English.
But in the end it came to be called by its

The Children's Letters. 153

native name ' Kali Ghat,' now modernized into
' Calcutta.'

" Calcutta is situated on the Ganges, ninety
miles from the Sea, and in the monsoon
district. The cold weather lasts from the middle
of November to the middle of March, then the
hot and dry weather lasts until the middle of
June. The rains then set in and last until August.

"Calcutta is called the ' City of Palaces ;' it
contains many large and magnificent buildings."

Wilbur's Letters.

Darjeeling, Mall Villa No. 2,
July ^th, i8gg.

My Dear Mama and Papa : — I am writing to
you for it is my turn. This letter will be more
of an '' Essay " than a letter, for I am going to
tell you just how we spent " The fourth of July."

I bought some fireworks. Vida and Lois
invited Miss Stahl and Flora to lunch (or rather
dinner) which we called our "AMERICAN State
Dinner." Herbert and I got up early and
went to the bazaar and got the things for the
state dinner. Jessudar and the Nany came
with us. While we were away Vida and Lois

154 The Darjeeling Disaster.

killed two chickens and cleaned them, and had
the beets boiled ready for slaw. Miss Stahl and
-Flora came at 2 o'clock and we fired off some
fire-crackers after dinner. We had for desert :
mangoes, peaches, lichees, plantains, figs,
dates, pomegranates, and the little chocolates
which you sent up. We have the grapes and
big chocolates yet, though they are disappearing
one by one by two-legged rats.

After coming from the market we spent the
morning practising for a concert which was held
in the evening in the dining-room of the Girls'
School. And we played ' Old Folks at Home"
all together and it was a success. After it was
finished Mr. Hart gave us an address and said
that he wished the English would be beaten
again, and after he was finished Miss Stahl
allowed us to fire some fire-crackers. We went
home and fired a big fire-cracker in remem-
brance of you and papa, and after singing " My
Country, 'Tis of Thee ! " fired off our last fire-
cracker and then said prayers.

We have been having prayers every day, and
Vida has been praying that when we go to
Calcutta you will have two gentlemen instead
of two boors.

The Children's Letters. 155

Pray for us all ; we are getting on nicely ;
don't worry about us. Ada sends her love to
Esther and Frank. We are praying for you
every day. I will write another letter soon.
To-day is a very nice day ; we could see the
snows all day till 3-30.

Your son,

Wilbur.

Wilbur's letter written on his last birthday
anniversary.
Mall Villa, No 2.

August 26, i8gg.

My Darling Mama and Papa : — I got your
nice birthday letter this morning and papa's
present. Vida kept my Bible and letter, and
this morning put them in my banyan before I
awoke, and when I put it on, I felt something
heavy which scared me ; then I had a nice laugh
to myself when I found it was my Bible. I
then dressed and read your nice letter. It
made me feel like a man, no longer a boy (nor
baby) as you said. Vida did not like you tell-
ing me about the cake and chocolates, for she
had hidden them from us, also the nuts, to
surprise us.

156 The Darjeeling Disaster.

Esther is very well and happy, and the girls
say they will not hear of Esther's going down
until we all go down together. So do not
trouble about us. *,

I am getting on nicely with my violin. I
have had perfect lessons ever since papa went
down, and Mr. Burnett says it is only my
bowing that is bad.

I am going to try hard so as to pass first and
get "the bicycle" which you and papa are
going to give. Tell papa that my Bible just
looks like him and you. It is just the very kind
I wanted ; the two verses you and papa gave
me were nice. I am giving you a verse and am
putting in a few words : — Psalms 64 : 13, " and
(his) pastures are clothed with flocks (of them
who love him) and (his) valleys also are covered
over with corn, they shout for joy, they
also sing."

May God bless you, papa, and little Frank ;
and now mama, do not worry about Esther, for if
she goes down she will suffer with the heat and
be sick ; she is all right up here. Good-bye.

Love to all,

Your man,

Wilbur.

The Children's Letters. 157

Wilbufs last letter wintten three days before
the landslide.

Mall Villa,
September 21st, i8gg.
My Dear Mama : — I got your nice letter
on Sunday last. I am glad to hear that the
house is about ready for us. I am very home-
sick for you, papa, and little brother Frank.
He must be about big enough to " play horses."
I am trying hard for a horse which has never to
be fed (except oil) and never gets tired.

Vida got Rs. 30, which you sent, from Miss
Stahl and gave me one for lessons. Vida has
been writing letters and learning ver\- hard ;
she deserves a bicycle if any one does. She
has been so kind to us.

Lois is teaching me the piano. I have a half
hour's practice at school every day while the
girls are at dinner. Tell papa we need two or
three sets of violin strings. I read my Bible
every day and have done so ever since my
birthday.

We all send love and kisses now, for I must
close.

With love from

Wilbur.

Chapter X.
WILBUR'S STORY *

" And God shall wipe away all tears from
theii^ eyes, and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there
be any more pain. ^^ Rev. 21. 4.

" He shall swallow up death in victory, and
the Lord shall wipe away tears from off all
faces'' Isaiah 25. 8.

The first telegram brought us the word that
Wilbur had escaped. We were so benumbed
by the awful news concerning the other children
that we did not think of his being injured, and
even expected him down on the next train with
the other school children.

How little we knew of what that dear boy
was passing through ! It did not dawn upon us
until some friend telegraphed, " I saw Wilbur
Lee. Doing well." Then we began to fear he
might be hurt. Not until two day^ after did
we get the word that he was badly injured.

(158)

Wilbur's Story. 159

We then said we must go to him at once.
Some said it would be impossible for me to go,
the roads were so torn away ; but I thought I
must go to my boy ; if he was suffering, I
must be with him. The one thought of reach-
ing him spurred me on through every difficulty.

All through that long, uncertain journey —
walking, riding, climbing — nothing seemed too
hard for me, if I could but reach him. All
along the way everybody we met brought good
tidings of Wilbur.

At last the journey was over, and, at 10 o'clock
on Friday, we reached the Sanitarium in
Darjeeling. Oh, the joy of clasping him again
in our arms ! We found him propped up in bed,
very bright and cheery, and seemingly getting
well rapidly.

He was very much affected, and burst into
tears of joy when he saw us ; but we soothed and
quieted him, and he was soon telling us all about
what he had been doing, and asking us questions
about home and ourselves.

He took his baby brother in his arms and
played with him — so delighted was he to see him.
Then he asked for his box, and, opening it,
showed us his bottles of scent and handkerchiefs

i6o The Darjeeling Disaster.

\vhich many kind friends had given him. He
told me how kind every one had been to him,
and seemed specially fond of the house doctor
and the Sister, who were untiring in their devo-
tion to him.

He showed me the names of the ladies who
had called on him, or had sent him some
delicacy, or in any way had shown him a kind-
ness. He had asked a friend to write down
all the names, saying he would write to each
one a letter of thanks after he got well.

I asked him about that night, and he said,
" Mama, let me begin at the first and tell you
all about it."

I said, " No, son ; you will have plenty of
time to tell me, so do not tell me all to-day.
But 1 wish so much to know if you tried to save
yourselves."

He then told me that they first tried to
escape from the south side and to get down to
Nos. 4 and 5, [the nearest houses,] but they
cam.e to a flood of mud and water rushing down
the hill-side, as Wilbur said, " like the Ohio
river." It was impossible for them to cross it.

They then went out the back way, going
up the narrow foot-path to the road, and

Wilbur's Story. i6i

started to the house above toward the Mall,
but they found the road washed away, and
nothing left on which to tread.

Vida then led them back down toward
Lebong, the opposite direction, but they were
met by insurmountable piles of earth and debris.
Boulders were rolling down the mountain
side, trees were falling, and stones flying
through the air. The rain poured in torrents ;
the roar of the cyclone and the pitch darkness
were enough to terrify the bravest heart.

Vida found she could not keep them together,
and said, " I am afraid we will get lost from
one another, and I promised papa I would
take care of Esther. Come, we will go back to
the house, and, if the Lord wishes, he can save
us together, and, if not, he will take us together."
So they returned and went upstairs and built
a fire and began to dry their clothes. They
knelt in prayer several times asking God to pro-
tect them.

Soon they heard some one knocking on the
front door. They went down and found a poor
native man, all crippled, and his face bleeding.
He told them their house was going to fall ; but
he was so ill and shivering with the cold that

i62 The Darjeeling Disaster.

the children became interested in him instead of
themselves.

Vida took a cloth and wiped the blood
from his face. They tried to lift him inside, but
he fainted away. She then took the durry
[large rug] from the floor near by and wrapped
him up in it. Two other native men passed
the door, and said, " Children, the mountain is
falling down, and you had better leave."

The children told them they had tried, — how
could they get away ? The men then passed
on, not able to render them any assistance.
The hill woman who cooked for them helped to
get everything in from the out-houses, — the
cooking utensils, etc. ; and just as she came out
of the cook-house the last time, it was washed
away.

The native man lying at the door became
conscious again, and said he must go to his
master at Nos. 4 and 5, and went away, dragging
himself along the ground. He says the last
time he saw the children they were kneeling
together in prayer.

Vida took them all back upstairs again to the
Are, and while praying, the corner of the room
cracked open.

Wilbur's Story. 163

I found it agitated Wilbur very much to tell
me about it, so I checked him ; but he said,
" Mama, I must tell you about Vida. She
sprang to her feet, her face just beaming as she
said, ' Children, the house is coming down, and
we will soon be in heaven.'"

"But were you not afraid, Wilbur?" I said.

" No, mama ; God had taken all the fear
away, and we were all so happy. We felt just
as if we were in the train coming home to you.
We said to each other, ' Now if papa and mama
and Baby Frank were only here, so we could
all go to heaven together, how nice it would
be.' Oh, Vida's face ! Mama, if you only could
have seen her ! how beautiful she looked ! Her
face shone like an angel's as she talked to us.
She then led us into another room, and again
we knelt about the bed, and we all prayed.
Jessudar (our Bengali girl) was kneeling with
us, and with hands clasped and looking up to
heaven, she said, "C^ ^^T^^^t^, ^t^Tfi-Jf^^ >^^^6|
^l^f^^l «^^" [Oh merciful God, take us now].
These were her last words.

" Then there came a tremendous crash. I
sprang to my feet with a lamp in my hand just
in time to see the wall come in, and I knew

i64 The Darjeeling Disaster.

nothing more until I awoke in the darkness in
the mud and water below. It was still raining
hard. I could see two lights in the , distance,
and I tried to get to the one I thought nearest
me. I walked a little, and then fell down
asleep."

Wilbur had been thrown more than a hundred
feet down the mountain side. When daylight
came there was not a vestige of the house left.
The beautiful flower garden and trees were
gone ; nothing but fresh earth and roots of
trees, and boulders piled up so high that no
one could recognize the spot on which the
house had stood.

In the house just near, only farther out on
the mountain side, twenty-four persons had
stayed all night unable to get away, and
expecting every moment that their house
would go, the stones rolling down on the
roof all night. Two gentlemen attempted to
get to our house several times, but the mud
and water were so deep and the darkness so
great that it seemed impossible.

As day dawned two ladies were looking out

from the porch to see what had become of their

-servants, when on a little knoll some distance

Wilbur's Story. 165

away they saw a muddy object rise up and throw
up its arms, and then fall back. As it grew
lighter they discovered it was our Wilbur, and
called to him to lie still, that they would send
him help. What joyful words these must have
been to the poor boy who had been trying so
long to attract attention.

Some kind gentlemen went to him, wading in
mud and water up to their waists. After
a desperate struggle, an old gentleman reached
him ; the boy threw his arms about him, so
grateful was he to him for coming. They
carried him, through much difficulty, to the
house, where they washed the mud away,
put on warm clothes and wrapped him in
blankets, and then sent for the doctor.

He w^as very cold. In the meantime they
put hot bottles about him and brought him
some brandy. This he refused to take, say-
ing : " It's wrong to drink brandy ; I can't take
that."

A lady said to him, " No, it's not wrong,
Wilbur, for you to take it now as medicine. Do
you not remember that verse where Paul told
Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach's
sake ? so it's right for you to take it now."

i66 The Darjeeling Disaster.

"You are sure it will not be wrong?" he
said. "Then I'll take it."

' The doctor came and dressed the terrible
wounds on his head and found, that, although
badly cut and bruised, he had no bones broken.
He was then sent to the Sanitarium, where all
that kind friends and human sympathy could
do was done.

That first day we arriv^ed Wilbur seemed well
and bright all da}-. What a blessed day it was l
His sister Lois' ring, which had been taken
from her finger, was handed to her papa soon
after our arrival. He gave it to Wilbur, who
showed it to me and was trying to clean the
mud out of the sets. He asked me what we
would do with it.

I said, " We give it to you, Wilbur, as no one
deserves it more."

He thanked me, and with tears in his eyes
he put it on his finger, where it stayed until his
death.

During the day he said to me, "Do you think
I will be able to go up for my examination this
year ? I fear I will not earn my bicycle."

I assured him he should have his bicycle
whether he took his examination or not, which

Wilbur's Story. 167

seemed to greatly please him. He kept refer-
ring to the other children several times during
the day.

He also asked about the house. " Is there
none of the beautiful ivy left that covered the
house?" If there were, he wished to take some
of it to Calcutta. He told how well the two little
children were, and how they had grown ; also
spoke of their all having gathered ferns and
grass to take home to me.

I said to him, " Wilbur, there is one thing 1
wish you to tell me about. You know you
could never quite say that you had been con-
verted ; that you had really been saved from
your sins. How was it that night with you?"

" Oh, mama ! " he said, " I know I have been
converted ; that Jesus is my Saviour, I was
not afraid to die. I knew it was all right. It
has been a great blessing to me to help take
care of the children this summer. It has made
me a better boy. It has been good for us all ;
for we have lived for, and loved each other more
than ever before."

Toward night he became restless, and com-
plained of his head hurting him. He grew
worse, and, after a troubled sleep awoke, scream-

i68 The Darjeeling Disaster.

ing with pain, his jaws having shut, catching
his tongue between his teeth. I then feared
tetanus, which it proved to be. Oh, the awful
suffering of the next two days and nights ! Yet
between the spasms, he would be so bright and
cheery.

Friday evening he asked me to read his chap-
ter to him, and we read, " Let not your hearts
be troubled .... I go to prepare a place for
you " (14th. ch. of John), and prayed with him.
The next evening, he had suffered so much
during the day, that I suggested instead of
reading we should repeat a few verses. We
each repeated a verse.

He then repeated the one, "They that trust
in the Lord shall be like Mount Zion, which
can not be removed, but abideth for ever."
And he added, "This is Ada's verse, mama."

We then prayed. He had just passed
through a very severe paroxysm, but he prayed
too. His prayer was, " Oh, Lord, I thank thee
for not letting me die in the dark, that awful
night. Bless papa, and mama, and Baby Frank ;
take care of them. Bless me and take care of
me, for Jesus' sake, Amen."

Wilbur's Story. 169

He had said to me during the day, " Oh,
mama, that awful pain ! Why does God let me
suffer so ?"

I had been asking myself the same question
all day, and the answer seemed to be given me
as I said, " To make you perfect, I suppose, my
darling. Be patient ; there is a land where
there will be no more pain. We will ask God
to help you bear this terrible suffering. He
will give you no more to bear than he will give
you grace for."

He was very brave and patient. He would
often put his arms around my neck and draw
my head down on his pillow, and patting my
cheek, would say, " My precious mama ; you
are my sweetheart."

How these loving words linger with me yet !
And another time he embraced his papa, and
then asked for Baby Frank, and drew him down
to him and kissed him. He seemed to know
every one, and had a word for everybody.

Sometimes he seemed to be gone, but would
revive again after the paroxysm wore off. His
papa said to him, "Wilbur, if you see Vida and
Lois before I do, give them our love."

I/O The Darjeeling Disaster.

" Yes," he said, " I will ; but why ? Do you
think I'm going now ?"

We said, "You are very ill ; it looks as if you
would go to heaven soon."

"But," he said, "did you not ask God to
make me well, mama, and don't you believe
he will ?"

I said, " Yes, I asked Him to make you well,
but it may not be best."

"Yes," he answered, " God worked one mira-
cle to save my life, and, if best, He can work
another."

After another severe spell, I said, " Is Jesus
with you, Wilbur ? "

" Of course, mama."

" Are you afraid ? " I said.

" Oh, no ; I am not afraid. Don't you and
papa be afraid."

Once when I asked again if Jesus was with
him, he answered me, " Of course," as he
did so many times, and said, " You thought I
was gone, mama, but I am not.

" But are you afraid to die, Wilbur ? " I asked.

" No, mama, but I wish you and papa and
Baby Frank could go too."

Wilbur's Story. 171

And oh, how I wished we might go with
him ! A little later in the night I had to leave
the room.

He drew his papa down, and said, " Papa,
go and comfort mama."

His papa said, " What shall I say to her,
Wilbur ? "

"Tell mama I am so happy in Jesus."

I prayed constantly that the Lord would
spare him, but we came to where we felt we
must crive him into God's hand's, willins: for
Him to take him if it was His will.

A few hours before he left us it seemed to
me it would kill me, and I went alone in my
room, feeling that unless God wonderfully
helped me I never could meet it.

As I was praying that the Lord would take
him out of the suffering, in my anguish God
seemed to come so near, and gave me such a
glimpse of heaven, with Wilbur just entering in
and the other children greeting him — all so
happy — that the awfulness of death seemed to
be taken away, and I myself made to rejoice
with them in their victory.

So real was the vision that I seemed to re-
ceive from it supernatural strength that bore

172 The Darjeeling Disaster.

me through those awful days that followed.
The hour that Wilbur's spirit left the poor,
^ bruised body to join his brothers and sisters,
their spirits seemed to hover all about us. They
seemed to come to take him home. It was an
hour of victory for them, and also for us.

As we marched to the cemetery the day we
laid his dear body away, the clouds hung over
us all the morning ; but, just as they lowered
the casket into the earth, the sun burst forth in
all its warmth and brightness, lighting up the
grave and all about it.

It seemed to say to my heart,

" Oh, death, where is thy sting,
Oh, grave, where is thy victory ? "

and I seemed to see beyond all this, when
Jesus would come and bring them again, and
we should be forever with the Lordx

" Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory
through our Lord, Jesus Christ." Oh, that
blessed day. How we rejoice even now in
anticipation of its glory.

Oh, how sweet it will be in that beautiful land,

So free from all sorrow and pain.
With songs on our lips and with harps in our hands,

To meet one another again.

Jessudar the Reno;ali Girl.

Chapter XI.
JESSUDAR, THE BENGALI GIRL.

Into our training school a short time ago
came little Jessudar, not more than nine years
old. At the very mention of her name my
heart thrilled for a lovely girl by the same
name, I had rescued from an awful life some
years ago. And now God has sent another,
wonderfully delivering her from a life of shame.

Her father and mother were Hindus — the
former dying when she was quite small — leaving
her mother with five children and no means
of support. Only God knows the story of their
sufferings, as they worked in the rice fields,
gathering a little here and there, enough to
keep soul and body together. Only God
knows the anguish of that mother's heart as
she often heard their cry of hunger — for a
Hindu mother has not one whit less a mother's
heart.

No one but God knows the temptations to
which she was subjected, nor the evil influence

(173)

174 The Dx\rjeeling Disaster.

of her surroundings, with no knowledge of a
Saviour — no protection anywhere.

Only those of us who know the, sad story
of Hindu widowhood, and see it enacted about
us everyday, can form any conception of a41
Jessudar's mother passed through. One day
when the children were hungry and naked, with
no hope of food or help from any source, the
tempter came to this woman in the form of a
wicked man, who fixed his hellish eyes on
little Jessudar, and said to the distressed
mother, "You are in great straits. Sell me
your little daughter and I will give you rupees
eight (I2.25) for her, which will feed you all for
some weeks."

The mother looked on the sweet face of her
child and her heart sank within her, as she
thought of Jessudar's future. She shrank from
the deed and answered her tormentor, saying :
*' No ; we had better die together."

But this man was not so easily put off, and,
showing the shining silver said : " No ; you
take the money now, and I will not claim the
girl until she is old enough to be married, then
she is mine."

Jessudar, the Bengali Girl. 175

The mother looked at the money, and then at
her hungry children, and being deceived by his
enticing words, yielded, accepted the money,
and Jessudar was sold.

About this time the mother met with some
native Christians of the village, who became inter-
ested in her and began to teach her about Jesus,
and soon after she forsook her idols, and, the
following Christmas, she and her children were
baptized. A short time afterwards this wicked
man, in company with a few of his Hindu
friends, came to the mother and claimed the
child he had bought. She refused to let her
go, saying she was still too young.

One day, when the mother was out of the
house, he came to the child and ordered her to
come with him. She refused to obey, at which,
in spite of her entreaties, he bound her, and
carrying her away, hid her in his house. The
mother turned to her Christian friends, who
immediately went and by force took the child
from him. These friends, feeling that she was
unsafe with them, brought her to us.

Jessudar soon became happy with us, and we
find her a most lovable, obedient child. A few
evenings ago we taught her her first prayer, and it

\j6 The Darjeeling Disaster.

is sweet to see her learning to sing the songs of
Jesus with the other children, and hear her as
she joins them in prayer. She is most attentive
as we tell the story of Jesus, and as a token of
her desire to serve Him, the other day she took
her iron bangle [a relic of Hinduism] from her
wrist, and throwing it on the ground, said, " I
have nothing more to do with these things,
neither am I bound by them ; I intend to serve
Jesus."

She is a most industrious child and takes
interest in everything about her. She knew
not even her alphabet, but will soon be reading,
so intent is she on learning.

As I think of the awful life of prostitution
from which this child has been saved, I do
praise God that she is with us, and that we
have the blessed work intrusted to us of leading
her to Jesus and training her for Him.

This is one of the many phases of our much-
loved work. There are many bright young
lives all about us, crushed to the earth, bound
by cruel galling chains that only the power of
God can break ! There are many Jessudars to be
saved, and time is going, oh, so swiftly. Oh! that
the Church of God was awake to this great work \

Jessudar, the Bengali Girl. 177

We are thankful for the hearts God has
touched, and the friends he has raised up to
become partners with us.

The above was a leaflet written nearly four
years ago when Jessudar first came to us and
little did we then know through what portal she
would go from us. Several attempts had been
made, by the wicked man from whom we had
rescued her, to entice her away — he having suc-
ceeded even in leading her mother away — and
bringing her with him, hoping through her, if
possible, to get the child into his hands.

She often came upstairs for us to protect her
from them. She had never been out of our
home, had become a good, useful girl, and was
very much interested in her lessons, as well as
her work. She had sought Jesus and had
become an earnest little Christian.

As we were breaking up house-keeping in
May, we felt it would not be safe to leave her
in Calcutta ; so we decided to take her with us
to the hills, which we did. She was very well
and very happy with us, and was devoted to our
children : so much so that when Mr. Lee and I
were coming down to our work and leaving
them behind — Vida said, " Mamma, let Jessudar

178 The Darjeeling Disaster.

stay with us ; she will be so much company and
such a help to us." So we decided to leave her,
having arranged for her to go to ^.chool with
them in the afternoon to learn Kindergarten
and English.

She used to take part with us at prayers and
in the little home prayer meeting the same as
one of our own children. She had received a
Bible the year before as a prize for good con-
duct which she read daily, and always seemed
very penitent for any wrong she may have done.
She was about thirteen years of age and had
become a promising girl.

On that night she was with our children as
they knelt in prayer. She prayed too, commend-
ing her spirit to God. So when Vida opened
her eyes in heaven — after that terrible crash —
and looked about on her little charge, her last
thought on earth being for their safety, it must
have been her first in heaven, I have no doubt
she rejoiced to find faithful Jessudar among the
rest. And we rejoice here to think of her as
safe eternally, and hasten to rescue as many
more like her as the Lord may permit.

CHAPTER XII.

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS.

Most touching letters of sympathy have been
received by Mr. and Mrs. Lee from the Secretaries
of Temperance Unions, Conferences, Leagues,
Boards, Missionary Bodies and Young People's
organizations ; from all denominations of Chris-
tian people and every part of the world — each
containing beautiful and appropriate resolutions
and tributes, but space will not permit their
insertion here, nor allow the publication of but
a very few of the hundreds of private letters from
so many parts of the world.

LADY CURZON.

Lady Curzon in a telegram to Mrs. Lee, said :

Will you allow me to express my deep sorrow and sym-
pathy at the grievous blow that has fallen upon your family
Every woman and mother in India will be feeling for you.

THE METROPOLITAN OF INDIA.
The Bishop of Calcutta expressed his sym-
pathy in the following letter to Mr. Lee :

September 2'/th, i8gg.

Reverend and Dear Sir : — The tragical news
received from Darjeeling leads me to claim the Chris-
tian privilege of offering you my most true sympathy

(179)

i8o The Darjeeling Disaster.

in your bereavement, which is so terrible that I can
hardly write or think of it. I have so lately left
Darjeeling, that the desolation in which it is pl^unged poss-
esses for me a most vivid reality. But the tears are in
my eyes when I thmk that your own home has in a
moment been bereaved of all that had made it so bright
and beautiful before. I can but commend you in faith
and sympathy to the hands of Him who alone can send
such wounds as yours and alone can heal them, praying
that even now the light may spring up in your darkness
and you may humbly and faithfully accept His av>'ful and
holy will.

Believe me. Reverend and Dear Sir,

Most faithfully yours,
}. E. C. Cat.cutta.

BISHOP THOBURN.

Cincinnati^ October 6, iSgg.

Dear Brother and Sister Lee : — The Advocate
came to hand last night, bringing the news of the cable-
gram which had been sent, but which, for some reason,
the people at the Mission Rooms did not forward to
me. I have seldom been more shocked in my life
than when we read that five of your dear children had
perished in the land-slide. It seemed to bring the
awful calamity very near to us. Those children had
become well known to us, and especially to my wife.
We have talked together about how useful they would
become, and Vida seemed nearing the age when she
could begin active mission work. We move in a
sphere of mystery, but of all the mysterious events
which have befallen us as a mission, this seems to me
the most inscrutable, and this awful tragedy which has
overtaken your family, is simply stunning to one's sen-
sibilities and thoughts.

I do not suppose we will ever get much light on this
problem until we rejoin the lost ones in the other world.
In some way, however, light in a measure will un-
doubtedly come to you. Instead of breaking up the

Extracts from Letters. i8i

work, or even putting it back to any great extent, I shall
not be surprised if this becomes the means in God's
hands of rousing our peonle to greater efforts than ever.
It will undoubtedly produce a great effect in this country
and it cannot but unite our people in a more determined
way to establish the work of God on everlasting founda-
tions in India.

The cablegrams distinctly state that a service for the
dead has been held over the supposed entombment of
your children.

A note from Miss Knowles explains that you had taken
a small house near Ida Villa, and that you had gone
down, leaving Vida in charge of her brothers and sisters.
No doubt you were in Calcutta when it occurred, and it
must have been an agonizing time to you to have been
thus cut off from the children. I suppose also the tele-
graph line was interrupted so that some time must have
elapsed before you knew the full measure of your loss.

In your sorrow you will have the sympathy, I may say,
literally of a million souls. God help you and comfort
you. The death, no doubt, was painless and although
the grave seems a frightful one, it after all, I think, would
not be saying too much to remark that God has buried
them. We have laid away three of our little ones in quiet
graves, and yet we cannot understand what it would
have been if all three had been taken from us in a
moment's time. The mysteries of life are many, the
mystery of pain, the mystery of sorrow, the mystery of
bereavement and separation. All these things belong to
problems which cannot be solved this side the grave.

I arrived home last night after a very laborious cam-
paign. If God wills I will see you in about three months.
In the meanwhile may His grace sustain you. His love
abound in you, and His everlasting arms uphold you.

My God help you, I can say no more. I am sure He
will help you and I am also sure that in the years to come
when we all meet in the other world we will be able to
say with a depth of meaning which is impossible now,
that God hath done all things well.

In great haste. Your sympathizing brother,

J. M. Thoburn.

i82 The Darjeeling Disaster.

MRS. THOBURN.

Chi'isfs Hospital, October 6th, i8gg.

Dear Brother and Sister Lee : — What can I sayl
If I could sit down beside you and weep wj^th you, it
would be much more in keeping with my idea 6f showmg
sympathy. How thankful we are to know that you know
how to trust God in an hour like this, and that there wdll
be no element of rebellion in either of your hearts.
What peace and comfort God can give to such ! It has
seemed to me like the burial of Moses — as I have thought
that you could indeed say, that God himself did it. I
have a peculiar feeling for your dear children They were
so much a part of the mission — and what blessed mission-
aries they would have made— nay, were already. But the
higher service is better. God's best for you and yours.
If the dear people over here, who love you and your
work would only have it in their hearts to put up a
memorial building for your Bengali children, what a
fittmg thing it would be ! Let us have the privilege of
giving the first hundred dollars in the hope that many
more hundreds will follow. May the Lord soothe and
comfort as only He can. He knows what He is doing
and we can afford to "wait patiently" for Him. Dear,
dear friends, I am persuaded that riches of grace will
abound toward you, and that you will be able to do
more for India than you have ever done. " Call upon
Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you and ye
shall glorify me.'''' I am sure this promise will be
verified in your case.

With much love for you and tenderest sympathy.

Affectionately yours,

Anna J. Thoburn.

LADY WOODBURN.

The following was received from Lady
Woodburn, wife of the Lieutenant-Governor of
Bengal on the morning of Wilbur's death :

Extracts from Letters. 183

The Shrubbery^ Darjeeling:

Dear Mrs. Lee : — When the sad news, this morning,
of your little son reached me, my first impulse was to
write to you, and then I felt the words v/ould not come
to express all I felt for you, in your overwhelmmg sorrow.
You and Mr Lee have been little out of my thoughts
since we heard the terrible news of that Sunday night.

The consolation must be so great to think how the
dear children passed away, their hearts full of love and
obedience to you, and their last conscious act — prayer.

My whole heart goes to you in sorrow and sympathy.
One knows where your darlings are, but the awful blank
is with you, of where they are not.

They are indeed in God's safe keeping and may you
who are left, be comforted and supported till life's
journey ends.

With deep, deep sympathy.

Yours sincerely,

W. WOODBURN.

BISHOP CYRUS D. FOSS.

Philadelphia^ Pa., Nov. 24., i8gg.

My Dear and Most Sorely Bereaved Friends :
— Since the tidings of your great trial sent a shock of
pam through our whole church, and far beyond it, the
bare thought of writing you a word of sympathy has
paralyzed my pen all the time., until I saw Mrs. Lee's
letter in the Christian Advocate. For such a triumph of
grace as that letter evinces I thank God from the bottom
of my heart.

I send up my prayer with thousands more that you
may have measureless comforts of the Holy Spirit.

One of my jewels for forty years has been : " My God
shall supply all your needs., according to his riches in
Glory, by Christ Jesus. ''''

Mrs. Foss joins me in kindest sympathy.

Yours most truly,

C. D. Foss.

1 84 The Darjeeling Disaster.

R. LAIDLAW, ESQ., London, Eng.

October 6th, iSgg.

Dear Mrs. Lee : — I feel that I must send you a few
more lines to-day, not that any words of mjne can bring
you any consolation, but I just want to say liow very dis-
tressed we all feel. We have not passed a day or night
since we got the terrible news without having the dear
sweet faces of your children before us, and now poor
Wilbur has gore too, to be with the others. The tele-
grams tell us how dear Vida told them all to pray ; she
knew where to seek strength in moments of trial. One
was spared a few days to carry you a message of comfort
and consolation.

You and Mr. Lee have the profound sympathy of many
thousands in this country. May the little one that
remains be spared to be a joy and a comfort to you, and
may the Lord abundantly sustain and comfort you is the
earnest prayer of

Your very sincere friend,

R. Laidlaw

REV. R. BURGES, Secretary of the LS.S.U.
Mr Burges was a special friend of the Lee

children.

MiLssoorie, joth September, i8gg.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lee :— My heart's love to you !
The God of our Father's be your God nozu. Words fail
me. I have been in the Vale of Tears for eleven months,
and I know, in some measure, your darkness of home and
heart. But He is able. Your childrsn, who were my
friends, are with the King and see Him in His beauty.
The grand re-union is not far off. They are safe and we
are pressing on to the place where they are.

We now see parts ot His ways ; this is why we grieve.

Love deep and strong,

Yours ever,
R. Burges.

o

cq

h

.J

Extracts from Letters. 185

REV. W. S. MATTHEW, D.D., Editor,
" California Christian Advocate."

Sa7i Francisco^ Noveinbei-- 2jrd, i8gg.

My Dear Brother and Sister :— You can scarcely
imagine in how many homes in America the sad
story has been rehearsed, and at how many family
altars you and sister Lee and the dear baby boy
have been remembered. I think your dear wife's letter,
published in last week's New York Advocate^ is the most
touchingly beautiful thing I ever read. /\s we all sat
about the sitting room table, Tuesday evening, after
supper, I undertook toread it aloud to the dear ones of
my own family ; but I broke down again and again.
Finally I did manage to finish it, and we all wept together
with you. Our hearts can only cry, God bless you and
keep you.' But what a glorious picture remains in our
minds of those brave children praying together and
trusting God amid the horrors of that awful storm ! Surely
their sweet faith and triumphant death must make a
profound impression upon the people, wherever known.
Thank God for such examples of his saving power as are
given us in the sweet lives and glorious translation of
your six dear ones ! And how glad are all our hearts
that the Father above has spared you one sweet lamb of
the flock to comfort you m these days. God bless him 1

Dear Brother and Sister, tears rain down my face as I
try to write, and I can only say, God bless you. Surely
He will keep and comfort you. My wife joins me in all
I would say.

Always your friend,

W. S. Matthew.

WALTER DAVIES, ESQ., Calcutta.

My Dear Mr. Lee : — I never met a family of children
which so charmed and interested me, and I shall never
forget the happy afternoon we all spent together at our
first meeting in Darjeeling. We looked forward to many
happy days in their company, and had planned to find

1 86 The Darjeeltng Disaster.

ponies for all the children and have a good day at Ghoom
Rock on my return the following month.

My wife and I were strongly drawn to them all ; their
winning and natural manner appealed at once to our affec-
tions, and I feel I should like my own boy>3 to grow up
with such ideals as lived in yours.

They will always live in our memories and we greatly
prize the photographs you have so kindly given us.

Our hearts go out to you both in deepest sympathy.

Sincerely yours,

Walter Davies.

C. M. D.

Calcutta^ October i6th, i8gg.

I cannot conceive of a more truly appropriate time, or a
more beautifully appropriate attitude, to pass over, than
that of prayer- — the attitude in which your darlings received
their last call " to go up higher." And may it not be pos-
sible that the incense and the fragrance of that beautiful
prayer may linger round the eternal hills forever?

The whole picture of your dear Home is to me indes-
cribably beautiful — so sweet, so bright, so divine. One
evening your darlings form a miniature heavenly choir
the next evening they are members of the Heavenly choir
itself! How inspiring I Truly " they were lovely and
pleasant in their lives, and in death they were not
divided".

And your brave, patient, darling little boy ; how can
words express the pathos and patience of his sufferings ?
His brightness, his thoughtfulness, on his sick bed, and,
after all, to be called to join his dearly beloved sisters and
brother in Glory ! How unspeakably beautiful ! Just
as if his special mission had been to come out of the
gloom to tell how his dear sisters and brother had passed
into their eternal home, and then joins them immediately
himself! How angelic ! What an unspeakable comfort
it must be to you, my dear friend, to know that your
darlings were like flowers in bloom fully ripe for the
kingdom.

"Extracts from Letters. 187

I sincerely and devoutly pray that our Heavenly Father
may grant you both all grace, and faitb, and strength and
fortitude, to bear this grievous burden, and to enable you
to say, " thy will be done". "The Lord giveth, the
Lord taketh avv^ay, blessed be the name of the Lord.''

Yours in the Lord,

C. M. D.

DR. W. W. WHITE.

Dear Brother and Sister Lee : — May the Great
Good God bind up your broken hearts. I know you will
be brave in Him. We pray for the consolations of the
one whose sorrow was greater than any sorrow.

Words are cheap and do not serve one's purpose at
such a time as this. Be assured of the most cordial
sympathy of us all. The children remember well your
precious family.

Yours in Christ's behalf,

W. W. White.

MRS. HOLCOMB,

American Presbyterian Mission.
Mrs. Holcomb was one of the first to suggest
the memorial building in the following to Mrs.

Lee :

Mission House^ Jhansi^ yth Octobej^, i8gg.

My Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lee :■ — The measure of your
awful grief God alone knows and He only can comfort
you. " It is the Lord." How much of the brightness
and the joy of earth has been quenched for you — how
near has heaven come down to you ! I have thanked
God for the precious infant spared to you. When He
committed to your keeping this dear child, He knew,
though you dreamed not of it, that the other children
lent to you were to be taken back to Him who gave them,
and in tenderest love this little one was sent to be your
comfort in your unfathomable grief.

i88 The Dakjeeling Disaster.

In connection with you I have been thinking" much
of a dear friend at home — now with the Lord, who, when
but twenty-two years of age, was called to give back to
God her husband and her two children. While at the
home of a brother, coming down late for breakfast
she found on her plate a card on which haS been written
the following lines :

" Enough ! the dead have had thy tears.

The living need thy care,
A sinner in a dying world,

No time hast thou to spare."

When we knew this lady she was seventy years of age,
and her life had been spent in doing good. She told us
that the message on the card seemed to her a message
from the Lord himself. She felt a peculiar compassion
for children. I do not know how many homes she
had establ'shed, but through her efforts thousands of
children had been rescued and trained up for God. I am
sure that you will seek to ease your heartache by trying
to bring brightness to other lives. I know how deeply
interested you are in the children of India, and I ha\'e
thought how suitable it would be, and how beautiful
a memorial to the precious children God has taken,
if an orphanage ur a home bearing their name could
be established. I am sending you by money order a small
contribution toward this object now, but I may be able
to send you something in addition later.

May the God of all comfort be with you in this time
of sorest trial. My husband unites with me in this.

With deepest sympathy and much affection I subscribe
myself

Your sincere friend,

Helen H. Holcomb.

REV. J. H. BARROWS,

President Obenlin College.

My Dear Bereaved Brother: — Though The Indian
Witness I have been made acquainted with your un-
speakable affliction. The overwhelming loss which has

Extracts from Letters. 189-

drawn to you such world-wide sympathy. Your sorrows
touch me very closely. The missionary circle in Calcutta
are very dear to me. Be sure that my family have
remembered you in our prayer to the God of all comfort.
Mrs. Barrows joins me in deepest sympathy for Mrs. Lee
and yourself Your resignation and ^racious acceptance
of God's will are a wonderful evidence of the proof of
that Gospel which you have gone to India to proclaim.

Believe me, dear brother,
F'aithfully and affectionately yours,

John Henry Barrows,

Extracts of letters from friends who knew
the Children.

W. ROSS, ESQ.,

Superintendent of Government Printing in India.

Air. Ross had them often in his house while

in Calcutta. He was a friend to wliom the

children were orreatl}' attached.

Edi7ibu7'gh^ Scotland^ September 2Sik, iSgg.

My Dear Mrs Lee : — I know you will not think I am
claiming too much to share your sorrov\ with you and } our
husband. The dear children. Of all the little ones in
India, they had the biggest place in my heart and I am
glad to think I had a big place in theirs. It seems to-
day as if my own had been stricken down. May the
Infinite Comfort which you have been privileged to carry
to others in bereavement be yours at this time is the
prayer of all in this house.

Yours Sincerely,

Wm. Ross.

190 The Darjeeling Disaster.

MRS. GORE,

An old Quaker lad\', who once lived with the

children, writes : **

How the dear ones were looking forward to helping you
in your work. Lois said one day, ' Sister Gore, when you
read of some big things we children are doing some day
in India, you will be glad you knew us, and spent a
winter with us.' Yes, I am glad I kne'v them.

MISSES FROST AND SIMPSON.
The following" is from two lady evangelists in
the United States, who were present when the
two older girls were converted :

Can it be our darling Vida and Lois are gone from us
in such a fearful way. I am all broken up and can hardly
write to you as I think of it.

"N'ida was a rare child. I never saw her equal. We
did love all your children and were interested in all that
concerned them, but Vida had a place peculiarly her
own, perhaps it was because in one sense she loved and
trusted us perfectly — and yet, other children love and
confide in us, but no child has ever had the place in our
hearts like Vida. It was her own rare beautiful nature,
her spirituality.

MRS. J. E. ROBINSON.

This letter is from the wife of the Editor of

the Indian Witness, showing how the children

were loved bv our missionaries in Calcutta.

Their death was like a family grief to us all.

46^ Dharamtala St, Noveinbe}- 2gth, i8gg.

My Dear ]\Irs. Lee : — Thank you very much for your
'kind invitation for the thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.
We shall be very glad to come and thank God with you

Extracts from Letters. 191

for the precious memories of the dear ones. How I miss
them every day I cannot tell you. But how wonderfully
they have been just lifted into the beautiful life beyond,
and I love to think of them there. It seems a fitting
place for them — beyond the sin and sorrow of this world.
I thank God every day that we ever knew them and for
you

'"Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all "

and past memories are only a promise of future joy I
believe.

I often tell Muriel that perhaps Esther talks to Jesus
sometimes about her, and it is a very sweet thought to us
both, to think of having friends before the throne, j

With a great deal of love.

Yours affectionately,,

Retta L. Robinson.

MISS GARDNER,

Union Missionary Society of America.

Miss Gardner, who was a special friend cf the
boys, writes to Mrs. Lee, after having sent sever-
al telegrams :

How much it all means to you no one knows better
than I do, who knew those dear children so well. I did
so pray that God would spare Wilbur, but it was not His
will, and so is not mine, and is not yours. I did not half
realize how much I loved them. Their winning, coaxing
ways, especially the boys, come to me over and over, night
and day, and make me realize how great the desolation
in your hearts. I could not read the account given by
Wilbur before he joined the others. I try to think of
them, as I know they are, brighter and happier than ever
they were on earth, bright and happy as their lives were
here, and I know you think of them that way, too, gone

192 The Darjeeling Disaster.

on only d little while before. Believing as I do in the
speedy coming of Christ, it seems only a little while.

Always yours in this hope,

and the deepest sympathy and love,

Sarah Gardner,

MISS B. E. ROBINSON.

8S, Oakhill Ave, Delaware, Ohio.

My Dear Mrs. Lee :— The mail that brought the
news of your great sorrow brought a sorrow to me. I
don't need to tell you how I loved them all, from Vida
down to dear little Esther. They always seemed like my
own brothers and sisters.

Vida and I w^ere like sisters and used to have such
good times together. She was such a help to me and
her sweet, Christian spirit will always be an inspiration
to me. Dear Vida ! how happy she must be now, and
that thought takes all the sting out of the sorrow.

Lois, too, was such a dear, sweet child, always ready to
help some one and to give a smile. She has all the
music she wants novv'. I shall always love the guitar for
Vida's sake, too.

Then there was Wilbur with his bright, l:oyish ways
and his laughter-loving heart. I used to love to hear
his hearty, infectious laugh ; and Herbert, whom I always
called "my little brother" especially. He and Wilbur
used to play the violins so happily together, and — they
have the harps now.

Then Ada and Esther whom I loved next to our own
little Muriel. When I try to think of Calcutta and your
home \vithout the six dear ones, oh ! I can't bear it.
I never thought when I said good-by on the 27th of
March that it was the last we would see of them.
- Mrs. Lee, if you only knew how I would love to put
my arms around you and ask you to let me hug you for
the sake of the dear children. This sorrow has come so
close to me.

Extracts from Letters. 193

It is lovely to know that they were all ready, and that
they are so happy now. I believe that my life will be, and
has been, better for having known and loved your dear
ones, and I feel as if I will need to work harder than
ever to make up for what dear Vida longed so much to
do m the mission field.

Dear little Frank ! how I would love to sister him.

Will you not think of me as one who loved your dear
ones next to my own dear ones and as a second daughter
as it were .^ If I were there and could, in a small measure,
be another daughter to you, how gladly would I do it.

May the God of all comfort be your Guide and Stay —
yours and Mr. Lee's — is my earnest prayer. With my
sympathy, and love,

Ever lovingly and affectionately,

Bessie Ellice Robinson.

MRS. TOMORY, Free Church of Scotland.

My heart is sore for you when I think of your empty
home and of those lovely children of yours. Of all your
children I felt specially drawn to Lois, perhaps because
I saw more of her than of the others, just a short time
before I left Darjeeling she and Ada came to a Band of
Hope meeting. I had a long chat with Lois. When they
were leaving, Lois put her arms around me and kissed
me, saying, "I want to kiss some one as I cannot get my
Mama."

May God be very near to you in these dark days.
We often pray for you and Mr. Lee.

With loving sympathy,

I am, yours very sincerely,

Mary C. Tomory.

MRS. BROCKWAY, London Missionary Society.

A friend of mine sitting behind the dear children in
Church one day, inquired after service, " Who were those
children with ' Holiness to the Lord' written so plainly
on their faces ?" This description fitted them exactly.
From the day I saw them on their arrival in India, to the

194 The Darjeeling Disaster.

last happy times we spent together in Darjeeling the
impression left was a prayer that the same Holy Spirit,
who was moulding these young lives so wondrously,
- would in like manner so deal with my own little ones
in the far-off homeland. *

J. CAMPBELL WHITE, ESQ.,

Sec. of the College Y.M.C.A., Calcutta.

My Dear Mr. and Mrs Lee : — I have just returned
this morning from Mussoorie. A telegram was handed
me from Mrs. White as I came in, saying, " We are
safe." I cannot help thinking that your loved ones would
like to send you a similar message this morning from the
presence of the King ; " Safe in the arms of Jesus."

After joining a search party in Darjeeling

composed of a number of prominent men, who

did all they could to find the bodies of the

children, he writes : —

But we were glad we had gone, for we did all that
seems possible to do, to find either the bodies or anything
from the house.

It was a great blessing to me to be with you all during
the closing days of Wilbur's presence here, and I feel
that I shall always be a better man for the experiences I
had. His own victory and yours were to me a fresh proof
of the larger victory that God makes possible, to every
one of us, in our daily life.

I was thinking much of you yesterday in connection
with God's test to Abraham — Gen 22 : 2, 12. God knew
how severe the test was — "thy son — thine only son, —
whom thou lovest" : — and He knows in your case also.

Some of us feel unable to sympathize as we want to,
because of our lack of experience. You will probably
never meet any one who has had a greater sorrow, and
you will therefore be prepared to sympathize, as few
people can.

With fullest loving sympathy.

Yours most sincerely,

J. Campbell White.

Extracts from Letters. 195

GRANTHAM GIDDY, ESQ.

Newcastle^ N. S. Wales ^

Australia^ Dec. i8th, i8gg.

Dear Brother and Sister Lee : — Yours of loth
ISIov. to hand, together with the paper containing the sad,
sad news. I can only partially realize its awful truth.
To say that I am sorry and sympathize with you in
sorrow, would very inadequately express my feelings in
the matter.

When I looked at the paper, and the full import of its
contents dawned upon me, I had to close it for some time,
so little did I previously realize how strong was that
strange mysterious bond which bound us. It seemed as
if it were my own brothers and sisters that had been so
suddenly called into the Master's more immediate
presence.

On Sunday morning I spoke to our Sabbath School,
and the teachers and scholars in the afternoon passed
the enclosed letter of bvmpathy. As I spoke, I saw many
of our scholars m tears, and after the meeting some of
the little ones belonging to the Junior Endeavour Society
got together, and, ot their own accord, drafted and wrote
the other note of sympathy. I feel that their death has
been blessed to the lasting benefit of many in these parts.
And did I say death '. ! Nay, rather, " Translation."' The
Master has called upon you to lay your costliest gift
•on the altar of sacrifice, and you have obeyed.

I have tried to express my deepest sympathy with you
in your loneliness, and have failed, and so must leave you
in the hands of the " sympathising JesuB," God bless
you my Brother, God bless you my Sister 1 1 and prosper
the work of your hands. Many a little one in these
parts remembers you at the Throne of Grace.

Yours in His service,

Grantham Giddy.

Chapter XIII.

THE LEES, AND THEIR WORK.

David H. Lee was born in Carroll County,
Ohio, 1850. His father, Jonathan Lee, was a
man eminent in the community for his deep
piety and sterling Christian character. Young
David was converted at eight years of age while
kneeling in prayer with his godly mother, in the
little old church on the hill, at Harlem Springs,
Ohio.

Whilst his work has led him far from home
to foreign lands, of this place he has often
been heard to say :

There is a spot to me more dear,
Than native vale or mountain ;

A spot for which affection's tear
Flows grateful from its fountain.

'Tis not where kindred souls abound,
Though that were almost heaven ;

But where I first my Saviour found,
And felt my sins for~iven.

He was educated at Scio, Ohio, — at what was
known then as the "one study university" —
now Scio College.

(196)

Kev. D, II. Lee.

The Lees, and Their Work. 197

After preaching a year and a half in the North
Ohio and Pittsburgh Conferences, Mr. Lee
answered what he felt to be the call of the Spirit,
and arranged to go to India as a missionary.
He came out in connection with the pioneer work
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, amongst the
English-speaking people of India ; and with no
specified salary, shared some of the privations
which are not now so necessary where the
churches are built and the parsonages provide a
home. He left home on the 2nd November
with $50, which went towards paying his fare.

William Taylor, afterward Bishop, who was
then Superintendent of the Bombay and Bengal
Mission, provided the fare from London to
Bombay, where he landed on December 18, 1875,
He was kindly received by the members of the
mission then working in the city, among whom
was the revered George Bowen.

After a few days in Bombay, Mr. Lee came
to Calcutta, where J. M. Thoburn, now Bishop,
was beginning his work amongst the English-
speaking people of the city, following up what
had been inaugurated by William Taylor. Thus
he became associated with the beginning of the
work of our church in Bengal.

198 The Darjeeling Disaster.

His first appointment was, however, to Agra,
, where he preached regularly twice on the
Sabbath, and also during the Aveek, and was, in
addition, principal of the Agra Collegiate School.
At Bombay, in the end of the year 1876, the
South India Conference was formed, embracing
that part of India not then included in the
North India Conference. Mr. Lee became one
of the charter members of the South India
Conference, and served in its different stations
until February, 1883, when a failure in health
compelled his return to America with his wife,
{itee Miss Jones of the Union Missionary
Society) whom he married in 1881 whilst at
Bangalore.

By permission I use here the following sketch
of Mrs. Lee's life taken from the appendix of
her popular book " Chundra Lela :"

"I was born among the hills of West Virginia,,
of poor, but hard working parents, and knew
from the first what it was to suffer hardship. As
early as possible I took my share of the daily
toil. Very soon in life a longing, such as I can
never describe, took possession of me to have
an education. I have walked two miles in the
deep snow day after day, over a rough road, to

The Lees, and Their Work. 199

get to the little school house which afforded
the only opportunity for learning in our part
of the country. God sent a man to teach that
little school who did much to encourage and
help me, and also to lead me to seek in God
the help 1 needed most. He has since become
a great preacher, but his work began in that
little school house.

" I soon got all I could in our country
schools, still I could not be content, and longed
more than ever for greater opportunity than
West Virginia then afforded her daughters.

" My mother used to say I never shirked my
work for anything but books ; but no one could
understand how hungry I was. Physically, I
was frail ; in disposition, gloom.y, unhappy and
discontented ; yet God, in His mercy, led all the
way through the darkness of these years.

"At the age of fourteen, an aunt came from
Ohio to visit us, and offered to take me into her
family if my father would let me go. Thus the
way opened, and the fall of 1871, the time of
the Chicago fire, found me attending college at
Scio, Ohio. I worked for my board and studied
as I could. I was so glad of the opportunity,
I was willing to do anything that I might get

200 The Darjeeling Disaster.

on with my studies. Yet God only knows
■ what a shrinking, timid, miserable creature
I was.

" During the revival held early in the year
1872, the great turning point came in my life.
The music teacher of Scio college, a soul-seeker,
said to me : ' I am asking God to convert you
at the beginning of these meetings, so you can
help bring the other girls to Jesus.' She was
the first one who had ever put hope into my
heart. Such a thing seemed too high for me —
too good to be possible !

'^A few days later 1 was under deep con-
viction— so wretched I could not study,
work or sleep. In the evening meeting,
when the minister invited seekers, I felt I
must go or be lost. I went, alone, and was the
first to go. On the second evening, after such
darkness and agony of soul, as, may be, but few
ever experience, I was wondrously saved ! My
conversion was like coming out of the blackest
of darkness, where I had been chained, a con-
demned criminal, into the bright sunlight and
glorious liberty of the children of God. How
I praise God that He ever, in His mercy, found
my poor soul !

The Lees, and Their Work. 201

" At that time I promised God to do His will,
and life from that day was beautiful ; and I, a
changed, happy girl. The next three years
were spent in college, planning for the future,
doing what I could in the Church and Sunday
School, seeing many of my class-mates and
college friends converted. But soon a settled
conviction came over me that God wished me
to go as a missionary to India. The place I
knew very little about, and the work I felt very
unfit for and unworthy of.

" I am sorry to say I fought against this con-
viction, more probably because I was afraid it
was imagination, and yet, the more I fought, the
farther away from God I seemed to get. In the
meantime I finished school and tried to settle
down to teaching. But God troubled me,
upset my plans and sent me sorrow, to let me
see how much I needed His grace. In the
midst of miy first grief, at the loss of a dear girl
friend, I fell on my knees in submission to God
and said, ' Oh, Lord, I will go anywhere, if Thou
wilt with Thine own hand open up the way that
1 make no mistake, and give me Thy presence
and love in full measure.' I arose comforted,
restful and happy, leaving it all with Jesus.

2C2 The Darjeeling Disaster.

" One whom I had loved quietly, unknown to
him or any one else for several years, and to
whom I had always been true, was a young
minister in the Pittsburg Conference, and had
formed a large part of the sacrifice I made,
when I told the Lord I was ready to give up all
and go to India. What was my surprise, when, a
few weeks later, I returned home from my school
work, to be told that this same person was going
to India under William Taylor (now bishop), and
was to leave in a few days. I said " good-bye"
and let him go away to India without ever
telling him of the two years' struggle and the
consecration I had made.

" The next six months were days of waiting in
which my faith was put to some severe rests.
With my consecration I had asked God to open
up the way with His own hand, and I had pro-
mised my mother I would never apply to any
missionar}/ society. I was back in the old
homestead in West Virginia. Sometimes I
wondered if I had been mistaken in the call,
and would God ever open the way. One day
after several weary weeks of suffering with
typhoid fever, they all thought I was dying
and were gathered about my bed.

The Lees, and Their Work. 20:

" A cold shiver passed over my frame, and I
said to a dear aunt who was bending over me,
' Is this death?'

" She answered softly, 'Yes, dear. Are you
afraid ?'

''I said, 'A^o.'

" And then God seemed to say to me, ' If you
live, will you live for India ?'

" I answered back, ' India or heaven, which
ever be Thy will. Oh, my Father !' Then what
peace filled my soul !

"A few moments later, God turned the whole
course of that awful disease and I rapidly
came back to health.

"A short time afterwards, I was sitting alone
in the veranda pondering these things and
wondering when God would open the way.

" Just then my uncle called to me from the
road telling me he had a letter for me. The
post-mark was ' New York ;' the address in a
strange hand-writing. I hurriedly broke the
seal, feeling somehow it contained the light for
which I was asking.

" It was a letter from the now sainted Mrs.
Doremus, of the ' Union Missionary Society,'
the first women's society in America. She

204 The Darjeeling Disaster.

stated that Dr. Thoburn, in passing through on
his return to India, had handed her nay name as
a candidate for missionary work in India, and
enclosed was the list of questions I was ex-
pected to answer.

" I had never met Bishop Thoburn and knew
very little about him, and how he had gotten
my name I knew not. I afterwards found
that he and my pastor at Scio had been school
friends, and that the Bishop while visiting
him had asked for young ladies likely to make
missionaries, and from him obtained my name
and address.

"My age, as well as other things, were against
me, as I was not twenty-one, but in spite of all
I was accepted by the Society, and on Nov. 4th,
Centennial year, I stepped on board the steamer
bound for India, the happiest soul the sun ever
shone upon.

" Early in the voyage a deep conviction came
over me of my unfitness for this holy calling.
One of the parting gifts had been Dr. Steel's
' Love Enthroned ;' the more I read and prayed
and thought, the more wretched I became. Not-
withstanding my bright conversion, my Christian

The Lees, and Their Work. 205

life had been an ' up and down ' sort of an
experience ; a constant struggle with evil
tempers.

" Other members of the party seemed to be
convicted at the same time and two or three
entered into the blessing of perfect love. But I
got more wretched until I felt that unless I got
a clean heart and could find a place of constant
victory over sin, I could never go on to India to
preach the gospel to her sad daughters.

"At Liverpool, a noble man of God — an officer
in the India army — came on board as a passen-
ger. His face shone with the love of Jesus.
One day he handed me a slip of paper on
consecration, and asked me if I could take each
step it marked out, and i{ so, to sign it.

" Among other things were the words : " I
take the Holy Spirit as my Sanctifier." I
prayed all day, and was determined I would
not sleep until I could conscientiously sign that
paper. I was worn out, so threw myself on
my bunk, saying, ' Oh Lord ! take temper and
all else connected with sin and give me that for
which my soul longs,' and a flood of peace
came into my soul such as I could never
describe.

2o6 The Darjeeling Disaster.

" I lay there singing softly to myself —

' The great Physician now is near,
Jesus, blessed Jesus,' \

until the waves of the Red Sea lulled me to
sleep. I lived this life as best I understood it,
for the first sermon I ever heard on sanctifica-
tion was after I reached India, and preached
by Bishop Thoburn. But oh ! how much God
has had to teach me !

"x\fter reaching India, I began the study of
the language, and to work among the Bengali
women of Calcutta. For five years I went in
and out among them, spending much of my
time in their homes. God gave me to see some
bright and definite conversions among the
women in the zenanas. And yet how imper-
fectly I felt I did this work !

" The two paths which sometimes had been
so near each other and at other times so wide
apart that oceans rolled between, at last came
together. God plainly led me, and the other
part of my life, until the two became one by law,
who had been so long one in soul. Thus, after
five years of missionary service, I was married to
David H. Lee, not to leave our work, but united
to work together for the salvation of India.

The Lees, and Their Work. 207

"Two years later, on account of my husband's
health, the Lord showed plainly He wished us
to return to our native land.

"It was a sad day, the day I left Calcutta in a
sailing vessel, with a wee baby in my arms and
a sick husband by my side. It was a long,
weary voyage of nearly four months, but our
Father was still leading and brought us through
storms and calms around the Cape of Good
Hope, and safely home, at the cost of less than
$200, and that not missionary money, but sent
in answer to prayer.

" India was on our hearts at home, and while
we tried to do faithfully what was intrusted
to us by the church there, our hearts used
to lone^ for India. I would dream about the
imprisoned women in the zenanas, and of
sitting among them, telling them of Jesus,
and would awake so disappointed to find
I was so far away from them. How I prayed
and waited ! God had to give me a mighty
baptism of freedom and of power before I was
ever able to speak in public.

"After receiving this, wherever I went I
pleaded lor the Bengali people, that the gospel
might be sent to them, for while some of the

2o8 The Darjeeling Disaster.

oldest mission stations are in this province, the
millions are practically untouched. Wherever
I told of the need of the people of In9ia, God
blessed me and persons became interested,
but the different Societies said ' our old work
fills our hands ; we cannot enter new,' and
wherever I turned, the way seemed blocked.

"God sent our children into our home, one after
another ; each one, in the eyes of the church
and the world, making it more impossible than
ever to return to India. Every one of them
was, as soon as born, consecrated to God and
laid on the altar of India.

" Whenever we spoke of our desire to
return, we were commended for our interest
and devotion to the work, but were frankly
told that there was no money to send or sup-
port us. Still the burden was upon me, until
one night, after much prayer, my Father assured
me that my work was not done in India, and
that He was able to send us the means.

" I astonished my husband next morning by
telling him that I was going to trust God for
$20,000 for a missionary fund. Even he
seemed a little doubtful, and thought I was
beside myself, and w^ould soon get over it, but

The Lees, and Their Work. 209

I never did. I went on praying day and night,
asking God to use me in any way He saw best
to gather it. It is wonderful how He led and
blessed me.

** At first I held meetings, taking my baby
with me, but soon the Lord showed me that
He had another plan, and put it into my heart
to write about the people and the work I
loved.

*'My first article was, 'J^ssudar, the Kidnapped
Girl,' and was published first in the Western
Christian Advocate, and afterwards in many
other papers. Money began to come through
the mail, and many very dear friends have been
found thus.

** In 1893, the sum had reached |4,ooo, which
came from persons of all denominations. One
Sabbath, after weeks of earnest prayer, God
gave me the answer in the verse—' Commit thy
way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he
will bring it to pass.'

" I was so sure it would come that I arose
from my knees and wrote to my husband to
get ready to return to India. I, at the same
time, wrote to several friends sa\'ing I believed
the remaining 1 16,000 would soon come. In

210 The Darjeeling Disaster.

less than two months afterwards a Christian
■gentleman gave the fund $15,000! "

[Although this money has not yet been realized,.
the interest was paid for three years, which sup-
ported the Lees, and aided the work until the
Lord raised up others, and the work goes on.]

"October, 1894, found the fund complete,
and we and our six children on the good ship
which carried us back to India. Our youngest,
Esther Dennett, was a baby seven weeks old when
we sailed from New York. It was with a heart
full of thanksgiving to God for the privilege of
going as His messenger to the lost ones, that I
watched the ' Goddess of Liberty ' fade in the
distance, and again bade farewell to the dear
home land. It was with joy of heart such as
no words can express, that, after a voyage of
six weeks, my eyes again looked upon the great
plains, fern clad hills, and beautiful palm
groves of dear, old India.

We believe God led us to begin our work in
Calcutta, the metropolis of India, and a strong-
hold of idolatry. We live in the midst of the
people and expect to spend the remainder of
our lives for their salvation. Our one desire is
to be completely in his hands that his will

The Lees, and Their Work. 21 r

and way may be accomplished through us.

"We are opening up different departments of
work just as God sends it to us, trusting Him
for all we need. We are asking God for good
substantial buildings, and a part of the money
for this has come; we know He will send the rest.
Children come to us without bread, others flee
for protection from the awful curse of child
marriage ; others who have been sold into sin
turn to us to be led back into the path of
virtue.

" Some wish to prepare to preach the gospel,
both young men and women, and we have had
much joy in being the link connecting a number
of these worthy cases with God's children at
home, who feel specially led to educate these to
represent them in India.

" To what proportions this work will grow we
do not know. At present we have thirty-eight
girls and sixteen boys in training. We take
these trusting for their support. We believe this
to be only the beginning of a great movement.
There is no end to the evangelistic work among
the hundreds of thousands of imprisoned zenana
women of this city, and a vast field is open for
^' from house to house" medical work. The

212 The Darjeeling Disaster.

number who suffer and die for want of proper
treatment- is appalling!

''''Eight inillions die in India annuatly !

"Half of these are children who go home to
Jesus. Of the other four millions ninety-nine out
of every hundred go down to a Christless grave.

" Think of this great host of more than a
quarter million marching into eternity from
India every month without the gospel !"

The above was written by Mrs. Lee, at the
request of a number of friends, in 1897. Since
then their work has grown and opened up in
many directions. They have in the Home and
Training School over one hundred girls, besides
about twenty boys.

During the past five years, twenty have gone
out of the home into the work* as teachers and
Bible women. These teach in the schools and
work in the zenanas — a work which has grown
up around the home.

The Lees are now joining in the work of
rescuing widows and children from the terrible
famine. They have already taken in 30, which
gives them a family of 150 souls. The Marwari
widows saved trom that famine district they

* See Photo

w

The Lees, and Their Work. 213

hope to train for Bible work, and through them
to reach the Marvvari people, of which there
are thousands in Calcutta with no mission work
among them.

They also are opening up work in new parts
through workers trained in the home. Already
they have an interesting work in the suburbs of
the city, day schools for girls, and a night
school for boys who work in the shops all day ;
also Sunday schools and preaching. Mr. Lee has
many interesting cases of inquirers among the
Hindu students, of whom Calcutta now has over
15,000.

They also contemplate starting a branch
school out of the city where the industrial
department can be more successfully worked.

Many friends seemed to fear that the Darjeel-
ing disaster, which so suddenly crushed their
home, would also crush them and they would
be compelled to give up their work. But
although the pruning has been most severe,
God in his mercy has sent equal grace and
strength, until, instead of crushing them, it
has, we believe, better fitted them for this great
work, and it has already given an impetus to
the work itself it could not otherwise have had.

214 The Darjeeling Disaster.

Many wonder at these friends and some have
even said, " Oh, this mother does not realize
her loss." But she herself says, " Some days it
seems that the weight of that terrible mountain
in Darjeeling is upon my heart, and would crush
out my life. As I think of the four lovely forms
of those dearer than my own life, crushed and
buried by it, and of the other two lying in the
cemetery on the other side of the hill, it seems
impossible to live.

" There is another baby grave in the beautiful
home land, making seven in Heaven, and one
darling left to share our loneliness. When the
evening tide comes, the longing to hear their
footsteps and their ringing laugh is greater
than words can express. But I quickly turn
away from these thoughts and with a cry,
only Jesus can understand, I look to him and
he just seems to lift me above earth, and the
lonliness and weariness (for the weariness
caused by fighting sorrow is different from all
other kinds).

" I sometimes seem to be all but in the heaven
land and see the loved ones so joyous and
happy, that before I know it I seem to be
sharing with them in the victory. The one

The Lees, and Their Work. 215

heart desire of these days has been that God's
purpose in all this stupendous mystery might
be fulfilled in me.

"So much has been accomplished already.
It has enabled me to see life as never before,
and to see my own weakness and nothingness.
It also has put heaven in the right light — the
one thing for which to live.

"The Bible has become a new book, and its
promises are my food and drink. Oh, how my
soul feasts on them. Jesus has become my all in all
as never before — and to know him, whom to know
aright is life eternal, has become my one study —
and to be blameless in his sight my one aim.

" ' Only one day at a time — and one to please.^
Now while, with redoubled energy, I work to
make Jesus known to those about me ; and
the desire to save as many as possible of his
little ones in this heathen land, has become
greater ; still in it all I live like unto one who
waits for his Lord. And while it seems almost
impossible to rejoice and sing as once I did, my
heart wells up with gratitude to God for his
mercy in sparing to me my husband and our
precious baby Frank, and permitting me the
joy of still living for them and the work.

2i6 The Darjeeling Disaster.

" But above all I praise Jesus for himself and
for the fulfillment of his promise : * Lo, I am
with you alway ' and for his saving power. So
I rest in him and leave the future in his hands,
but 1 have joy in the thought that one of these
days the end will come. " The silver cord will
break." Then I shall see Him whom my soul
loveth and shall have the unspeakable joy of
presenting to him those whom he gave me and
those also whom he sent me to bring from
India."

Some day the silver cord will break,
And I no more as now shall sing.

But, oh, the joy when I shall wake
Within the palace of the King !

Some day my earthly house vvill fall
1 cannot tell how soon 'twill be,

But this I know, my all in all

Has now a place in heaven for me.

Some day, when fades the golden sun,

Beneath the rosy-tinted west.
My blessed Lord shall say " Well done ! "

And I shall enter into rest.

Some day ; till then I'll watch and wait.
My lamp all trimmed and burning bright

That when my Saviour ope's the gate.
My soul to Him may take its flight.

Chorus. — Then I shall see him face to face,
And tell the story saved by grace.

CHANDRA LELA:

THE CONVERTED FAKIR.

BY

Mrs. ADA LEE.

This is one of the most interesting missionary books
now being circulated, and wonderfully quickens missionary
zeal.

CONTENTS

CHAP.

VI.

Awful Deception of Hinduism

I. Birth, Marriage, and Widow-

disclosed.

hood.

VII.

Breaking her Fetters.

II. The Temple of Jaganath.

VIII.

Money Making and Preaching.

III. The Temple of Ramanath.

IX.

Chandra Lela baptises her own

IV. Sorrow and Suffering by the

brother.

Way.

X

Should Women Preach.

V. As a Fakir.

Wee Glimpses of My Life

Lady Curzon says: — "I am very grateful to you for your most interesting
little book, which I have read with great care."

Bishop Welldon— the Metropolitan of India. "Thanks for a copy of your
book. It is an interesting and touching story."

Bishop Foss — of the Methodist Episcopal Church, says: Chandra Lela is an
exceedingly fascinating picture of the conflict of Christianity with the
hoary and decrepit heathenism of India."

The following minute was passed in one of the largest representative Mis-
sionary gatherings in India — the Central Conference — ^^ Chandra Lela.
the heroine of Mrs. Lee's interesting biographical sketch, was introduced
to the Conference. Her narrative, in Hindustani, of the steps by which
she was brought to a saving knowledge of Christ was listened to with
deep interest."

TO BE OBTAINED FROM

CALCUTTA

Methodist Publishing House.
Bible and Tract Society.
Methodist Publishing House.
Methodist Publishing House.

AMERICA :

Mrs. Fannie Sperry, Mountain Lake Park, Maryland,

or any Bookseller.

MADRAS :
LUCKNOW

Price

( 25 cents and 50 cents ;
1 12 As. and Re. 1-8.

MRS. LEE'S

Beautifully Illustrated Booklets and Leaflets
should be read by everybody/

A PARTIAL LIST.

" Jessudar, the Kidnapped Girl."

" Died as a Christian, Burned as a Hindoo."

" Kamal Dassee, The Bengali Widow."

** What it cost a Bengali Woman to become a
Christian."

" Child Marriage, the Curse of India."

:o:

To BE OBTAINED FROM

MRS. LEE, 147, Dharamtala Street, Calcutta;

OR

Mrs. Fannie Sperry, Mountain Lake Park, Maryland,

U. S. A.

■:o:-

"The Darjeeling Disaster"

BY THE

REV. R W. WARNE

may be obtained from the above.

■^ \,YJ^^

:^^JAr/'

■ ■' r -^-

DATE DUE

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ff^\ ^ ^JZ^S

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Br^NGOR THEOLOGICf^L SEHINARV

The Darjeeling disaster : its b
nOUB 275.4 L51 U241d

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Warne, F. W. W2lild $%

AUTHOR

The Darjeeling disaster: its

TITLE

bright side

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BORROWERS NAME

273.hr

L51
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